When someone adds you to OkBell

This guide is for people someone else added to OkBell: a mother reminded by her son, a father who is the second contact for his child's class fees, a neighbour who is a Family care contact, a parent who checks in every day, and the people named in someone's Just in case. Examples use Ravi in Dubai, his mother Lakshmi (78) in Hyderabad and her neighbour Sita.

In one minute

Someone you know uses OkBell and named you. Here is what that means.

• You decide. For anything personal (reminders, Family care alerts, Just in case), nothing automatic reaches you until you say yes yourself. The first message comes from the person who named you, from their own WhatsApp or SMS, not from OkBell.
• A business is different. When a class, gym, PG or society names you as the second contact for an account, OkBell sends you one message on the business's behalf, asking whether you agree. If you do not say yes, you get nothing more.
• No adverts, ever. OkBell never sends you offers, prices or "install the app" messages.
• No money, no codes. OkBell never asks you for money, bank details or a one-time code, and never asks you to log in as someone else.
• You can stop at any time. Every message has a way to stop: a Stop link, a Stop button, or a reply of STOP.
• You do not need an account to answer most of this. Some parts (being a contact in the app, a successor for a business, the parent's own check-in screen) need a free OkBell account.

When you are a second contact

A business (a class, a gym, a PG, a society) can name a second contact on a payer's account: the other parent, a guardian, a spouse. Example: Sunrise Music Classes names Ravi as the second contact for his son Aarav's fees, ₹1,500 a month.

1. The business says you agreed. It must tick that you agreed to be contacted about this account. Or the payer adds you on their own pay page.
2. One question from OkBell. OkBell sends you one message on WhatsApp (or email), on the business's behalf: "Hello Ravi, Sunrise Music Classes has added you as the second contact for the account of Aarav. If a fee on this account is late, OkBell may send you a reminder on behalf of Sunrise Music Classes." Tap I agree or No thanks. You can also reply YES or NO within 14 days.
3. No answer is a no. If you do not answer in 14 days, or say no, you get nothing about this account. The business sees that you have not agreed.
4. If you agreed: when a fee stays unpaid some days after its due date (the business sets when), you get a reminder with a Pay button. Payment goes to the business's own account, never to OkBell. If you were reminded, you also get a short note when the fee is paid: "You do not need to do anything."

Automated calls: a business may also ask, on the pay page, whether it may call you with an automated reminder. That is a separate yes, asked only on a pay link that was sent to your own phone. You can stop calls on that page or by pressing 9 during a call.

Rules:

• A business asks the same person at most once a year, however many accounts name you.
• Your STOP stops only your own reminders. The payer's reminders go on.
• Your details belong to the business. To have them deleted, ask the business; it can do that in OkBell.

Is this message really from OkBell?

OkBell's messages follow simple rules. A message that breaks one is not from OkBell.

• OkBell never asks you for money, bank details, a card number or a one-time code, and never phones you to ask for a code.
• A reminder someone set up for you names who asked, with the last 4 digits of their number, and says "Sent via OkBell". A business's message names the business and says "Sent by OkBell on behalf of the business".
• OkBell's links start with okbell.app, app.okbell.app, pay.okbell.app or message.okbell.app. A payment to a business opens on pay.okbell.app and goes to the business's own account.
• No message to you ever has an offer, a price or "install the app".

Check a Just in case message at okbell.app/verify. Type the reference (it starts with DT) and tap Check. The answer is one of:

• "OkBell did not send a message with this reference": do not reply, do not pay anything and do not share any code;
• "Yes, OkBell sent a message with this reference. There is nothing to open yet.";
• "Yes … it can be opened now", with a link to message.okbell.app/verify;
• "Yes … but the time to open it has ended."

The page never shows anyone's details. If you are still unsure, write to hello@okbell.app.

Stopping OkBell

From a reminder someone set up for you. Each reminder has a link to Stop or report these reminders:

• Stop reminders from this person;
• Stop all OkBell: nothing from anyone on OkBell;
• Report this as unwanted: their reminders to you pause at once while OkBell looks into it.

One tap each, no sign-in. You can also reply STOP (this person) or STOP ALL (everyone), or use the buttons on the WhatsApp message.

Other ways:

• On an invite page: Block the person or Block all OkBell.
• As a second contact for a business: reply STOP to stop that business's reminders to you, or STOP ALL for every business on OkBell. Reply START to undo. Press 9 on a call to stop calls.
• As a Family care contact: reply STOP to a Family care message, or ask the organiser to remove you.
• On the parent's own phone: Settings (press and hold the check-in time) → their answer.
• As a trusted person or recipient in Just in case: block on the invite page, or reply STOP.
• As a successor or verifier for a business: Step back on app.okbell.app/continuity.

Your data. Until you agree, OkBell keeps only your name and number as the inviter typed them, and deletes them if the invite runs out. Family care history is kept for 13 months. If you have an OkBell account, you can delete it: okbell.app/delete-account explains how. If you got reminders from a business and have no account, your details belong to that business: ask it to delete them.

Questions

Why did I get a link from my son, not from OkBell? That is on purpose. OkBell never messages you first. The person who named you sends the invite from their own phone.

Do I need to install OkBell? No. Invites, reminders, alert pages, the trusted person's page and the message page all work in a browser or on WhatsApp. The parent's own check-in screen needs the app, and a successor for a business needs a free OkBell account.

Does it cost me anything? No. OkBell never charges you. A business's fee reminder asks you to pay that business, not OkBell.

Can the person who added me see whether I read their reminders? No. They see only whether you agreed or stopped.

I agreed by mistake. How do I undo it? Reply STOP, or use the Stop link in any reminder.

I am a Family care contact. What if I cannot go and check? Do not tap I'm checking. The next contact is told. If you tapped it and cannot go, the next contact is told after 15 minutes.

Is Family care an emergency service? No. In an emergency, call your local number (112 in India).

My mother pressed Help. What do I do? Call her first (the alert page has a Call button). If she needs urgent help, call 112 or your local emergency number.

Can the trusted person read the messages? No. They are only asked how the person is.

I got a message saying someone left me a message. Is it real? Type its reference on okbell.app/verify. If OkBell did not send it, do not reply, do not pay and do not share any code.

I do not have the shared phrase, or I forgot it. If the person is alive, ask them to tell you again or to change it. Three wrong tries end your visit and you ask for a new phone code. Changing the phrase does not clear wrong tries already made: after 6 in a day no code goes until the next day, and after 15 in all your messages can no longer be opened. Without the phrase, the messages cannot be opened.

I never got the code, or the page will not let me in. Check the reference and your phone number, with the country code. A code only comes if you agreed to be named. The code works for 10 minutes. If you never agreed, OkBell never contacts you. Write to hello@okbell.app if it still fails.

I was named a successor for a business. Do I get its money? No. You get owner access to its OkBell account only, so its reminders and team keep going. No money moves to you, and payment passwords and keys are never shown.

How do I get OkBell to forget me? Use Stop all OkBell on any Stop page or reply STOP ALL. If you have an account, delete it from Account.