Terms of Service

1. Service Description & Definitions

ShieldComms is a multi-tenant SaaS platform that provides proxy phone number communications for home service businesses. The platform enables providers and clients to communicate through bookings without exchanging real phone numbers. ShieldComms facilitates a three-party relationship: ShieldComms provides the platform, the Tenant subscribes and manages their business through the platform, and Providers and Clients are end users whose communications flow through the platform.

Service

The ShieldComms platform, including all features, APIs, dashboards, proxy number communications, automated notifications, and AI moderation capabilities.

Tenant

The business entity that subscribes to ShieldComms and manages provider-client communications through the platform. The Tenant is the account holder and primary user of the dashboard.

Provider

An individual who performs services on behalf of the Tenant (e.g., a cleaner, landscaper, or handyman). Providers communicate with clients through proxy numbers assigned by the platform.

Client

An individual who receives services from the Tenant's business. Clients communicate with providers through proxy numbers without seeing the provider's real phone number.

Proxy Number

A telephone number owned and managed by ShieldComms and its telecommunications partners, assigned to facilitate communication between a provider and a client without revealing either party's real phone number.

Assignment

A booking-level link between a provider, a client, and a proxy number. Each active assignment represents one provider-client communication channel.

Message Content

Any text, media, or data transmitted through proxy numbers, including SMS messages, automated notifications, and booking reminders.

AI Moderation

The beta feature that uses third-party artificial intelligence services to analyze message content for compliance, safety, and appropriateness scoring.

2. Account Registration & Eligibility

ShieldComms is a business-to-business (B2B) service designed for home service companies and similar businesses that need to manage provider-client communications.

• Account holders must be at least 18 years of age.
• You must provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and keep your account information up to date.
• Each business may maintain only one Tenant account on the platform.
• Authentication is managed through Clerk. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your authentication credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• ShieldComms reserves the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, or remove content at its discretion.

3. Subscription, Billing & Auto-Renewal

Access to ShieldComms requires a paid subscription. All payments are processed through Stripe.

• Base subscription: $49/month, which includes up to 10 active assignments (provider-client communication channels).
• Additional assignments: Each active assignment beyond the included 10 is billed at $0.15/day. Over a typical 30-day billing cycle, this works out to approximately $4.50/month per additional assignment. Overage charges accrue daily and are invoiced at the end of each billing period.
• Assignment management: You control your active assignment count. To stop incurring daily overage charges for an assignment, you must delete the assignment to release the proxy number. Cancelling your subscription does not automatically delete assignments or release proxy numbers.
• Setup fee: A one-time $49 setup fee covers account configuration and A2P 10DLC registration with telecommunications carriers.
• Auto-renewal: Subscriptions automatically renew on a monthly basis. You will be charged at the beginning of each billing cycle.
• Price changes: ShieldComms will provide at least 30 days advance notice before any price changes take effect.
• Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time by contacting info@shieldcomms.com or through the application. Cancellation stops auto-renewal but your subscription remains active through the end of the current billing cycle. Daily overage charges for active assignments continue to accrue through the end of the billing period.
• Refunds: No prorated refunds are provided for partial billing periods.

4. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree to use ShieldComms only for lawful, booking-related business communications. The following activities are prohibited:

• Sending spam or unsolicited messages through proxy numbers.
• Sending marketing or promotional content through proxy numbers. Proxy number communications are for transactional, booking-related messages only.
• Sending content that violates CTIA guidelines, including SHAFT content (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco).
• Using the platform for illegal activity, harassment, fraud, or threats.
• Circumventing AI moderation or any other platform controls or safety features.
• Sharing proxy numbers externally or attempting to identify the underlying real phone numbers of providers or clients.
• Any use that violates Twilio's Acceptable Use Policy or Messaging Policy.

Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy may result in immediate account suspension or termination.

5. SMS/Messaging Compliance

As a Tenant, you are responsible for ensuring that your use of the ShieldComms platform complies with all applicable telecommunications and messaging regulations.

• Consent: You are responsible for ensuring that all providers and clients consent to receiving messages through the platform before communications are initiated.
• Transactional messages only: Messages sent through proxy numbers are transactional in nature. You must not use the system for marketing, advertising, or promotional purposes.
• Opt-out: Recipients may opt out of messages from a proxy number by texting STOP. ShieldComms processes opt-out requests within 10 business days per FCC requirements.
• Messaging windows: You must comply with TCPA messaging windows, which restrict non-emergency messages to between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in the recipient's local time.
• Legal compliance: You must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding electronic communications, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and state-specific regulations.
• A2P 10DLC registration: A2P 10DLC registration is handled by ShieldComms on your behalf. You must provide accurate business information for this registration process.
• Consent scope: Consent obtained through the platform is specific to transactional booking communications and is non-transferable to other services, platforms, or communication channels.

6. Message Visibility & Monitoring

ShieldComms is a business communications platform. All messages transmitted through proxy numbers are business communications, and there is no expectation of privacy for any party.

• All messages sent through proxy numbers are visible to the Tenant (business administrator) through the ShieldComms dashboard.
• ShieldComms stores and processes message content for service delivery, AI moderation, and platform operation.
• As a Tenant, you are responsible for informing all providers and clients that messages sent through proxy numbers are visible to the business and subject to monitoring.
• ShieldComms recommends that Tenants include monitoring disclosure in their provider agreements and client booking confirmations.
• In two-party consent states -- including California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington, and others -- explicit consent from all parties is required before monitoring communications. As the Tenant, you are responsible for obtaining this consent.

7. AI Moderation

ShieldComms offers AI-powered message moderation as a beta feature. When enabled, message content is analyzed to help identify potentially problematic communications.

• AI moderation is a beta feature and is provided on an as-is basis.
• Message content may be sent to third-party AI providers for scoring and analysis when moderation is enabled.
• AI moderation may flag or block messages based on content analysis.
• AI moderation may produce false positives (incorrectly flagging legitimate content) or false negatives (failing to detect problematic content).
• ShieldComms does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI moderation.
• Customer message data is not used to train AI models.
• You should not rely solely on AI moderation for compliance, safety, or legal purposes.
• Human review by tenant administrators is available for all flagged content through the dashboard.

8. Intellectual Property

ShieldComms and its licensors retain all intellectual property rights in the platform.

• Platform IP: ShieldComms owns all platform intellectual property, including software, algorithms, AI models, user interface designs, and documentation.
• Tenant business data: You retain ownership of your business data, including client lists, booking records, and business information.
• Message content: You own your business communications sent through the platform.
• License grant: By using the service, you grant ShieldComms a limited, non-exclusive license to process your data for service delivery, AI moderation, and platform operation.
• Aggregated data: ShieldComms may use aggregated, anonymized data for service improvement and analytics. This data cannot be used to identify individual Tenants, providers, or clients.
• Proxy numbers: Proxy phone numbers are licensed to Tenants, not owned. Numbers may be reassigned, changed, or deactivated, and cannot be ported or transferred upon termination.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ShieldComms's liability is limited as follows:

• Liability cap: ShieldComms's total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or related to these Terms or the service shall not exceed the total fees you paid to ShieldComms in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
• Damages disclaimer: In no event shall ShieldComms be liable for any consequential, incidental, special, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, business opportunities, or goodwill.
• Exclusions: ShieldComms is not liable for message delivery failures, carrier filtering or blocking, SMS delays, temporary service outages, AI moderation actions (including false positives or false negatives), Twilio or third-party service disruptions, or any loss arising from your misuse of the service or failure to comply with SMS and communications laws.
• Carve-outs: The limitations above do not apply to breaches of confidentiality obligations, intellectual property infringement, or willful misconduct.

10. Indemnification

Each party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other party as described below.

Tenant Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ShieldComms and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• TCPA violations arising from your use of the platform.
• Content sent through the platform by you, your providers, or your clients.
• Your failure to obtain proper consent from providers and clients for message monitoring and communications.
• Your violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.
• Any claims by providers or clients related to message monitoring or communications through your account.

ShieldComms Indemnification

ShieldComms agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless you from any claims arising from:

• Intellectual property infringement claims against the ShieldComms platform itself.
• Gross negligence or willful misconduct by ShieldComms.

11. Termination & Suspension

Either party may terminate the service relationship, subject to the following terms:

• Voluntary termination: Either party may terminate with 30 days written notice.
• Immediate suspension: ShieldComms may suspend your account immediately for Acceptable Use Policy violations, non-payment, suspected fraud, or carrier or Twilio policy violations requiring suspension.
• Upon termination: Your subscription remains active through the end of the current billing period. Proxy numbers, assignments, and all platform features continue to function normally during this time. Daily overage charges for active assignments beyond the included 10 continue to accrue through the end of the billing period. To reduce your final invoice, delete assignments you no longer need before your billing period ends. At the end of the billing period, all proxy numbers are released, assignments are closed, and access to the ShieldComms dashboard ends.
• Data export: You may request a data export before your account is terminated.
• Data retention: Your data is retained for the duration of your subscription and for a reasonable period thereafter. To request data deletion, contact info@shieldcomms.com.

12. Proxy Number Limitations

Proxy phone numbers are a core component of the ShieldComms service. Please be aware of the following limitations:

• Proxy numbers are owned and managed by ShieldComms and its telecommunications partners.
• Numbers may be reassigned, changed, or deactivated at any time based on operational requirements, carrier policies, or regulatory changes.
• Proxy numbers cannot be ported or transferred upon termination of your account.
• Geographic matching (assigning numbers with area codes that match the provider's or client's location) is provided on a best-effort basis subject to number availability.
• Proxy numbers should not be used as a primary or sole point of contact for emergency communications or legally significant communications (such as legal notices or court-ordered contact).

13. Service Availability

ShieldComms strives to provide reliable service but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability.

• The service is provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis.
• ShieldComms does not guarantee uninterrupted service or message delivery.
• ShieldComms uses commercially reasonable efforts to maintain platform availability and performance.
• ShieldComms reserves the right to perform scheduled maintenance with reasonable advance notice.
• The telecommunications and messaging regulatory landscape is subject to change. ShieldComms may modify the service to comply with changes in laws, regulations, carrier requirements, or third-party provider policies.

14. Third-Party Services

ShieldComms relies on several third-party services to deliver the platform. These services are subject to their own terms and privacy policies.

• Twilio -- SMS and voice message routing, proxy phone number provisioning and management.
• Stripe -- Payment processing and subscription billing.
• Clerk -- User authentication and identity management.
• AI providers -- Message content analysis for moderation scoring.
• Cloud infrastructure -- Application hosting and data storage.

ShieldComms is not responsible for outages, changes, or failures of third-party services. Your use of the ShieldComms platform is also subject to the terms and policies of these third-party providers.

15. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to:

• Internet or telecommunications infrastructure failures.
• Carrier network outages or disruptions.
• Twilio service disruptions or API changes.
• Natural disasters, severe weather events, or acts of God.
• Government actions, orders, or regulations.
• Pandemics, epidemics, or public health emergencies.
• Other events beyond either party's reasonable control.

16. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

• Venue: Any legal action or proceeding arising out of these Terms shall be brought exclusively in the federal and state courts located in the State of Michigan.
• Jurisdiction: Both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Michigan.

17. Modifications

ShieldComms reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time.

• ShieldComms will provide at least 30 days advance notice of any changes via email to the address associated with your account.
• Continued use of the service after the notice period constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms.
• Material changes will be clearly highlighted in the notification so you can understand what has changed.

18. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us:

ShieldComms LLC
Michigan, USA
info@shieldcomms.com