The MTN Do Not Disturb is a policy which allows the restriction of all bulk SMS services and third party promotionals from prompted MTN line. The Do Not Disturb guiding principle was formulated by the Nigerian Communication Commission, the telecommunication regulator in the country, to stop the incessant spate of unsolicited messages sent to mobile phone subscribers. Most of these messages regularly precedes the deduction of some airtime amount for services which are usually not initiated by the subscribers.
Additionally, the Do Not Disturb policy was instituted to guard subscribers from adversities associated with bulk text messages. DND automatically blocks the inflow of messages and calls from sources it deemed unwanted especially from bulk message services.
The service effectively pauses certain notifications from mobile network operators, especially those that are are targeted at airtime deduction. These are usually value added services and many other third party service prompts.
It should be noted that subscribers are not to activate DND by texting unrecognized keywords to just any short message service number. Rather, subscribers are to send a directed keyword to a recognized number. And before activating a DND request, users need to foremostly as a matter of identification, check his/her MTN Do Not Disturb status.
How To Check MTN Do Not Disturb Status
Identifying the status of your MTN DND is very simple. You just need to key in a keyword and get it sent to a specific number. The keyword to send is “Status”. You are to send this keyword to 2442, and get your status confirmed.
Making the message would prompt an almost immediate reply from the provider, signifying whether you’re activated to the service or you aren’t.
If the DND Service is active on your line like mine, you reply would state the type of DND activation you’re subscribed to: whether it’s a full DND activation or partial one.
Below is the message gotten when I initiated the SMS:
Your DND status is Full DND. Send ALLOW to optout of DND.
How To Activate MTN Do Not Disturb
Like checking the status of a DND service, activating an MTN DND service is actually easy. All what you do is to text “STOP” to 2442. You would be replied almost immediately with a notification recognizing your choice and activation of Do Not Disturb service.
Deactivating MTN Do Not Disturb
Deactivate a DND service by sending “ALLOW” as a text message to 2442. This would enable the receipt of bulk SMS on your MTN line. This is in addition to Value Added Services and promotionals from the operator and various others alike.
After the above is done, you will then receive a confirmation SMS that you have been “successfully deactivated” from the MTN Do Not Disturb Service.
You can choose to activate a specific value added service and that would require that you deactivate a specific DND service.
To get an array of MTN Do Not Disturb options available for you to deactivate, text “HELP” to 2442. Below are the picks which would be presented.
- To receive all SMS and IVR Messages: ALLOW
- Banking/Insurance/Financial Products: 1
- Real Estate: 2
- Education: 3
- Health: 4
- Consumer goods and Automobile: 5
- Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT: 6
- Tourism and Leisure: 7
- Sport and IVR: 8
- Religion: 9
- Christianity: 91
- Islam: 92
- Others: 93
- Information on new products and services: 10
- News Alerts: 11
You would need to send any of the above-listed code at the right of the Value Added Services to 2442. Example is sending 8 to 2442 in order to activate Sports and IVR news. This would trigger the activation of promotional and bulk SMS to your MTN line.
Other Ways To Deactivate Unwarranted Messages To Your MTN Line
Aside activating an MTN Do Not Disturb, as an MTN subscriber, the next thing one could do if he/she still receives persistent unwarranted SMS is to deactivate a Value Added Service, VAS, each separately using it’s particular service code. This method is ideal for services which attracts airtime when activated into, as you would have the convenience of getting it deactivated and assuredly so.
To guard against unwarranted SMS and service charges, subscribers should not be quick in getting a reply to messages sent from service numbers (which are usually obvious, being brief in length). Aside this, users should watch out against pop-ups which do prompt a reply for them, especially after making a call, engaging data or using the SMS function. Popular among them are those that require you key in a “1” or “2” for acceptance or decline.
Another way to end the issue of unwarranted SMS on your line is by making a call to your MNO’s dedicated call centre. There, the agents would be able to independently deactivate your line from the VAS you were earlier subscribed to. Contacting a call centre agent should be the last resort after all the above steps seems futile. Additional to getting the attention of an agent through phone calls, a subscriber could contact his/her operator (MTN) through social media or any of the under-listed ways:
- E-mail: mtn.foundation@mtn.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MTNLoaded/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/MTN180/
In summary,
- View Status Of DND by texting STATUS to 2442.
- Activate Full Blocking by texting STOP to 2442.
- Opt Out of DND by texting ALLOW to 2442.
- Activate Partial Blocking by texting “A” to 2442.
Where A is the service category to be allowed/whitelisted, as listed above.