These rules govern when and who you may contact, across every feature that contacts people. Campaign periods define time windows that can be applied as temporary contact restrictions; contact restrictions record people who should not be contacted.
Campaign periods
Campaign periods are defined time windows that can be applied as temporary contact restrictions across the account.
- Go to Settings → Data & records → Campaign periods.
- Select Create campaign period.
- Give it a name, a category, a start date and end date, and the Circles it applies to.
- Save the period so the account applies the relevant rules during that window.
Existing periods are listed under the Active, Upcoming and Expired tabs, with columns for Campaign name, Category, Start date, End date and Circles. Use Manage categories to maintain the categories used to group campaign periods.
Contact restrictions
Contact restrictions mark people who must not be contacted, so they are excluded from outbound communications regardless of which list they appear in. The reasons you can apply are configured under Settings → Data & records → Tags & categories → Restriction reasons. The table there lists each reason's Name, Restriction type (Permanent or Temporary) and Profile, call and visit action. Open a reason to set its Name, Description, Temporary restriction reason and Show as a button on profiles, calls and visits (see Restriction buttons below). The reasons in your account are your own; the examples on this page are not built in.
- Identify contacts who should be restricted from contact.
- Apply the contact restriction (with a reason) so they are excluded from sends.
- Review restrictions periodically to keep them accurate.
On a contact's profile, restrictions live on the Contact Restrictions tab. Its Contact restrictions section shows the current status (for example No restriction), the Restriction type and Reason, and Channel restrictions — a switch for each channel, such as Direct mail, Calls, Visits, Bulk SMS campaigns, Email campaigns and Meta audience. Switch a channel off to restrict contact through it. Channel changes apply to the current circle only.
The restriction badge on the business card
A person or organisation with an active restriction shows a restriction badge in the business card at the top of their profile, directly above the Guest User badge where there is one, so you can see it without opening the tab. The badge carries the same wording as the tab, including the reason or expiry. Select it to jump to Contact Restrictions. The badge disappears once the restriction is cleared or has expired.
Restriction buttons
Any restriction reason, temporary or permanent, can be turned into a one-click action by ticking Show as a button on profiles, calls and visits on the reason. The button then appears in the business card on person profiles (below the profile details, beside the quick-action menu) and on the Calls and Visits screens, labelled with an action such as Mark as Abusive, so a caller or visitor can record a restriction on the spot.
- A temporary reason's button applies the restriction for the active campaign period.
- A permanent reason's button asks you to confirm first, because a permanent restriction blocks contact and does not expire. It does not need an active campaign period.
The badge refreshes as soon as the restriction is applied.
When a temporary restriction ends
A temporary restriction lasts until its campaign period ends, or until the expiry date you gave it. Once that date passes, the restriction stops blocking anything and the tab treats the contact as unrestricted: the status reads No restriction, and the restriction type, reason and channels can be set afresh, just as for someone who was never restricted.
The old restriction is not lost. An information icon (Previous temporary restriction) appears beside the status. Select it to see a short summary: that the restriction is no longer active and does not block any channels, its Reason, the Campaign period it was tied to, its Expiry date, and when it was Last updated. Only the details that were recorded are shown.
Permanent restrictions never expire, so they never show this icon.
Where else restrictions show
- Texts Inbox — when you open a conversation with a person who has an active restriction, a badge appears beside the sentiment chip in the conversation header, worded as the restriction type and reason (for example Permanent - Opted out). See Texts Inbox — reading and replying to messages.
- Visit printouts — the printed visit list can carry a restriction badge (the restriction type and reason) against every person with an active restriction, including other occupants at the address, so a visitor can see it on paper. The badge shows once your account's visit printout template includes it; ask SwiftFox support if yours does not.
- Calls and Visits — the same badge appears on the call screen and the visit screen.
- List Builder — the Contact restrictions field group lets you build a list of restricted people or organisations by Type (Permanent or Temporary) and Reason, or exclude them. See List Builder field menus and operators.
Mail merges respect restrictions
A mail merge (the print-ready mailing export from List Builder, and document generation from a list) leaves out anyone with a permanent restriction, an active temporary or campaign-period restriction, or a direct-mail channel restriction set globally or in the current circle, even if the source list includes them. Expired temporary restrictions, restrictions on other channels and restrictions set in an unrelated circle do not exclude anyone. The check runs before the preview, household grouping and the export itself, so the counts you see already exclude restricted people. If nobody eligible is left, SwiftFox shows an error instead of generating a document. See Mail merge aggregation (print-ready mailing export).
Notes
- Contact restrictions are about lawful and respectful contact — when sending campaigns, only override exclusions where it is necessary and lawful to do so.
- These rules affect every feature that contacts people, including Emails and Text messages. Campaign periods apply to the Circles you choose, and channel restrictions apply to the circle they were set in.