To pause outgoing review requests without disconnecting your CRM, log into your SoTrustworthy dashboard, navigate to Automations, and toggle the Pause Sending switch to ON. Your Jobber, HubSpot, or custom CRM integration will remain fully connected and continue syncing completed jobs, but SoTrustworthy will stop sending SMS messages to your customers until you unpause.
Why You Should Pause Instead of Disconnecting Your CRM
Disconnecting your CRM integration is rarely necessary and usually creates extra work for your office staff. When you disconnect an integration like Jobber or HubSpot, you break the API handshake, remove authorization tokens, and stop data sync entirely. Reconnecting later requires re-authenticating accounts, mapping custom fields again, and risking missing customer contacts who had jobs completed during the disconnect.
Pausing, on the other hand, puts your outgoing SMS messages on ice while preserving your backend setup.
- Preserves settings: Custom delays, message templates, dynamic tags, and branch routing rules remain completely intact.
- Maintains continuous sync: SoTrustworthy continues to log job completions, keeping historical records accurate without sending unwanted messages.
- Prevents setup errors: You won't need your CRM admin to log back in or re-grant permissions when you're ready to restart outreach.
How to Pause Outgoing Requests in SoTrustworthy
Follow these quick steps to temporarily suspend automated SMS review requests across your account:
- Log in to your SoTrustworthy dashboard.
- In the left-hand navigation menu, click Automations and select Sending Rules.
- Locate the Master Automation Status card at the top of the screen.
- Click the toggle switch to change the status from Active to Paused.
- Select your preferred Pause Behavior for incoming syncs (Queue or Skip—detailed in the next section).
- Click Save Changes.
Once activated, a banner will appear across the top of your SoTrustworthy dashboard confirming that review outreach is currently paused.
Choosing What Happens to Incoming CRM Jobs While Paused
When a job is completed in Jobber or moved to "Closed Won" in HubSpot while your account is paused, SoTrustworthy still receives the webhook notification. You get to decide how those incoming customer records are handled during the pause:
Option A: Skip (Recommended for long pauses)
Incoming completed jobs are marked as "Skipped - System Paused." SoTrustworthy records the customer data for reporting purposes, but no SMS is added to a send queue. When you turn automations back on, these past customers will not receive a delayed text message.
This option is best if you are taking extended time off (such as a two-week holiday closure) and sending a review request weeks after a job would feel confusing or out-of-date to the homeowner.
Option B: Queue (Recommended for short pauses)
Incoming customer requests are held in a pending state. SoTrustworthy stores the contact in a hold status until you unpause the account.
If you select Queue, keep review-request throttling enabled. Sending hundreds of queued review requests the moment you unpause can trigger mobile carrier spam blocks and violate Google's anti-spam detection. SoTrustworthy’s throttling feature safely paces queued texts—releasing them in small, natural batches (e.g., 10 to 15 messages per hour) once you resume activity.
Common Reasons to Pause Your Automation
Local service businesses use the pause toggle to stay in control of their customer communications during operational transitions.
- Holiday or Seasonal Closures: If your plumbing or HVAC business closes for Thanksgiving or Christmas week, pause your outreach so customers don't receive automated texts while your office is unattended.
- Staffing Shortages or Quality Audit: If a new technician is in training or a recent job had service issues, pausing gives your management team time to resolve customer complaints before review requests go out automatically.
- Overhauling Messaging Templates: If you are rewriting your SMS follow-up sequences or changing landing page designs, pause sending for 15 minutes while you make and test your edits.
- Spike in Volume: If a major storm hits and your dispatch team completes 200 service calls in two days, pausing or relying strictly on conservative throttling prevents your phone line from getting flagged by carriers for sudden high-volume messaging.
Maintaining Policy Compliance and TCPA Standards
Pausing your review request automations does not change your legal compliance requirements, but SoTrustworthy keeps your account covered in the background.
Opt-Out Compliance (A2P 10DLC & TCPA)
Under carrier rules managed by the FCC's TCPA guidelines, customers who text back "STOP" must immediately be opted out of receiving future marketing or transactional SMS messages.
Even when your sending automations are paused, SoTrustworthy’s system continues processing inbound unsubscribe requests. If a customer replies "STOP" to a previous request while your automations are turned off, their phone number will still be added to your global opt-out list.
Google Review Policies & Anti-Gating
When you unpause your outreach, remember that all review request workflows must adhere to Google review policies. SoTrustworthy enforces a transparent SMS-first workflow without review gating. You cannot use the pause feature to selectively filter unhappy customers or ask for feedback privately while sending only satisfied customers to Google. Every customer who is unpaused and queued must receive the exact same path to leave public feedback.
Plan-Specific Features and Multi-Location Controls
Depending on your SoTrustworthy plan, you have flexible controls over how and where you apply sending pauses:
- 14-Day Free Trial: You can pause and resume sending anytime during your trial to test workflow timing without exhausting your complimentary SMS message allowance.
- Starter Plan: Features a simple global pause toggle. One click halts all outgoing SMS review requests across your entire account.
- Growth Plan: Includes pipeline-level and channel-level pausing. For example, if you run both plumbing and HVAC divisions out of HubSpot, you can pause review requests for plumbing service calls while leaving HVAC installation sequences active.
- Pro Plan: Offers multi-location controls. Multi-unit business owners or franchise operators can pause outreach for a single branch location (e.g., due to local weather delays) without interrupting automated review collection at your other locations.
How to Safely Unpause Your Requests
When your business is ready to collect reviews again, taking a moment to review your queue ensures a smooth transition.
- Go to Automations > Sending Rules in your SoTrustworthy dashboard.
- Check your Daily Sending Cap and Throttling Interval to verify how fast queued messages will go out.
- If you used "Queue Mode" during a long pause, consider setting a strict daily limit (e.g., max 25 texts per day) to maintain a natural review acquisition pace on Google.
- Toggle the Pause Sending switch back to Active.
- Click Save Changes.
New jobs completed in Jobber or HubSpot will immediately resume following your standard SMS timing schedules.
Next Steps
- Review your current sending limits: Navigate to Automations > Throttling to confirm your daily message caps before unpausing.
- Check pending records: Visit the Activity Logs tab to see how many jobs were queued or skipped while automations were paused.
- Verify CRM connectivity: View your Integrations page to confirm your Jobber or HubSpot status remains marked as "Connected."
Ask every customer for a review—without review gating.
SoTrustworthy sends a compliant, perfectly-timed review request to every customer after the job — no filtering, no gating, just more honest 5-star reviews on Google.
