Platform access level: Org Admins, Managers, and Distributors (anyone who delivers courses).
Learners can manage their own delivery without leaving the conversation, and system keywords are how they do it. In any Arist enrollment, on any delivery method, a learner replies with a single keyword, typed by itself and in any capitalization, to pause lessons, start them again, opt out, or reach support.
1. Knowing the keywords learners can send
A learner types the keyword as a reply, alone, in the same place their lessons arrive. Arist recognizes six commands, and a few accept more than one word:
Keyword | What it does |
START or RESUME | Starts the enrollment, or restarts a paused one, and sends the next lesson right away. Required on WhatsApp to open the conversation after the welcome message; other delivery methods send the first lesson automatically without it. |
PAUSE | Pauses the current enrollment until the learner replies START or RESUME. |
STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE | Sends the learner a confirmation message and opts them out of their current enrollment. |
SUPPORT or HELP | Provides enrollment information and contact details for Arist Support. On SMS, if the learner is waiting on a lesson, the reply also invites them to send Y to have it resent. |
Y | Resends the learner's last lesson on SMS. The trigger is the single letter Y, not the word RESEND; Arist's SUPPORT/HELP reply invites it when a learner appears to be missing a lesson. |
NEXT | Moves ahead to the next lesson immediately. Works on courses set to an Instant cadence, and on WhatsApp courses using a Custom step-by-step schedule once a lesson's scheduled time has arrived. |
The keywords themselves are built into Arist and cannot be renamed or added to. The wording of several replies a learner gets back is yours to change. An Org Admin can rewrite the SUPPORT reply, the opt-out confirmations, and the message shown when STOP is sent on Teams or Slack, in each language you deliver in. See Managing System Messages.
2. Helping learners take a break instead of leaving
PAUSE stops lessons without ending the enrollment, and replying START or RESUME starts them again when the learner is ready. Point learners to it when they head into a busy stretch, because pausing keeps their enrollment intact where opting out ends it.
Tip: Mention PAUSE and RESUME in your launch announcement, so learners know they can take a break instead of opting out.
3. Understanding how learners opt out
STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE ends a learner's current enrollment and sends them a confirmation message. Learners who opt out show as Opted out in the delivery tracker, so you can see who left and follow up when the training is required. See Understanding Enrollment Statuses.
Important: How a learner opts out with STOP (or UNSUBSCRIBE) depends on the delivery method. On SMS, WhatsApp, and Email, replying STOP opts the learner out of delivery. On Microsoft Teams and Slack, STOP does not cancel an enrollment, which matters when the training is required or compliance related. Learners on Teams and Slack use PAUSE instead, and you cancel an enrollment outright by removing the learner from the schedule.
Related articles
Note: Need help at any point? Reach out to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email [email protected].