Terms of Service

1. The Service

Forthio provides software for organizing customer inquiries, intake forms, follow-up activity, team coordination, proposals, and related commercial workflow. The Service does not provide legal, accounting, financial, or professional advice. Customers remain responsible for their business decisions, communications, service commitments, and compliance obligations.

We may improve or modify the Service over time. We will not use this right to avoid commitments expressly stated in a separate signed agreement.

AI-assisted features

Forthio may provide AI-assisted analysis and recommendations, including tools that help users review inquiry information. AI-generated information may be incomplete or inaccurate and is advisory only. Customers and their users remain responsible for reviewing AI-assisted outputs before acting on them and for applying appropriate human and business judgment.

AI-assisted output does not replace authoritative Forthio records or automatically change Service, Qualification, assignment, next-action, proposal, or commercial-outcome state.

2. Accounts and authorized users

Customers must provide accurate account information and keep it current. Users must protect their account access, use only accounts assigned to them, notify Forthio promptly of suspected unauthorized access, and comply with their organization’s roles and permissions.

The Customer is responsible for deciding who may access its workspace and for activity through its authorized accounts, except to the extent caused by Forthio’s failure to use reasonable care.

3. Customer Content

“Customer Content” means information submitted to, stored in, or generated through a Customer’s use of the Service, including forms, inquiries, customer information, notes, proposals, and workflow records.

As between the parties, the Customer retains its rights in Customer Content. The Customer grants Forthio a limited, nonexclusive right to host, process, transmit, display, and back up Customer Content only as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, support, and maintain the Service; comply with law; and carry out Customer instructions.

The Customer is responsible for having appropriate authority to collect and use Customer Content, providing required notices, configuring forms appropriately, responding to people whose information it controls, and avoiding data the Service was not designed to handle. Customers must not use Forthio for regulated data requiring specialized controls unless Forthio expressly agrees in writing to support that use.

4. Acceptable use

Users may not use the Service unlawfully; violate another person’s rights; access another organization’s data without authorization; disrupt or circumvent security; distribute malicious code; discover credentials or private tokens; materially burden the Service through unauthorized automation; misrepresent identity or authority; collect information deceptively; or resell or reverse engineer the Service except where applicable law prevents that restriction.

5. Privacy and data handling

Forthio’s Privacy Policy explains its general data-handling practices and is incorporated by reference. Specialized privacy terms, including a data-processing addendum, must be agreed separately in writing.

6. Confidentiality

“Confidential Information” means nonpublic information a reasonable person would understand to be confidential, including Customer Content, product plans, pricing discussions, security information, and business operations.

The receiving party will use Confidential Information only for the parties’ relationship, protect it using at least reasonable care, and disclose it only to people who need it and have confidentiality duties. This does not cover information lawfully known without restriction, made public without breach, independently developed, or lawfully received from another source. A legally required disclosure is permitted after advance notice where legally allowed.

7. Forthio intellectual property

Forthio and its licensors retain all rights in the Service, software, design, documentation, branding, and technology. These Terms grant only a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable right to use the Service during the applicable service period. No source-code, trademark, or ownership rights transfer.

8. Feedback

Forthio may use suggestions and feedback without restriction or payment, provided it does not publicly identify the Customer or disclose Customer Confidential Information without permission. Feedback does not transfer ownership of Customer Content.

9. Third-party services

The Service relies on third-party infrastructure and offers user-authorized connected services, including Google Calendar. A user who connects an external service authorizes Forthio to interact with that service only for the disclosed feature. Those services are governed by their own agreements and policies. Forthio selects and manages providers with reasonable care but does not control every action, interruption, or policy of an independent provider.

10. Fees and pilots

Fees, payment timing, pilot pricing, and service periods will be stated in an order, pilot agreement, or written confirmation. Unless otherwise stated, fees are in U.S. dollars and nonrefundable except where required by law or expressly agreed. Each party is responsible for taxes imposed on it, and the Customer is responsible for applicable transaction taxes other than taxes on Forthio’s net income.

A free or discounted pilot does not create a right to continued free service. Conversion requires agreement to the applicable price and commercial terms.

11. Suspension

Forthio may suspend access when reasonably necessary to address a security threat, prevent unlawful or abusive use, protect customers or the Service, respond to law, address material nonpayment after reasonable notice, or investigate a material breach. Where practical, Forthio will provide notice and an opportunity to resolve the issue and limit the suspension’s scope and duration.

12. Term and termination

These Terms continue while the Customer uses the Service. Either party may terminate a free pilot or unpaid account as provided in its pilot agreement or, if unstated, on reasonable written notice. Paid-service rights will be stated in the applicable order.

Either party may terminate for a material breach that remains uncured 15 days after written notice, unless the breach cannot reasonably be cured or immediate action is necessary for security or legal reasons. Forthio may terminate an inactive free account after reasonable advance notice.

13. Consequences of termination

After termination, authorized access ends, amounts already due remain payable, and the Customer should export information it needs. Ending the Service or disconnecting a connected service stops future synchronization but does not automatically delete events previously written to an external calendar. Forthio may retain operational and customer data for up to 30 days for transition or recovery and then delete or anonymize it through ordinary processes, subject to legal, security, fraud, dispute, business-record, and backup-retention exceptions described in the Privacy Policy.

Provisions that should survive by their nature remain effective, including confidentiality, intellectual property, accrued payment obligations, disclaimers, liability limitations, indemnification, disputes, and general terms.

14. Warranty disclaimer

To the extent permitted by law, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” Forthio disclaims implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and noninfringement. Forthio does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, completely secure, or suitable for every business or regulatory requirement.

These disclaimers do not exclude an express commitment in a signed agreement or a warranty that cannot lawfully be excluded.

15. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, neither party will be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or anticipated savings, arising from the Service or the parties’ relationship, even if advised that such damages were possible.

Except for amounts the Customer owes for using the Service, each party’s total aggregate liability arising from the Service, these Terms, and any related pilot agreement will not exceed the greater of (a) fees paid or payable by the Customer to Forthio during the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim or (b) $500. The limitations apply across all claims and theories of liability but do not apply where applicable law prohibits a limitation.

16. Indemnification

Each party will defend and indemnify the other against a third-party claim to the extent caused by the indemnifying party’s gross negligence, willful misconduct, or material violation of applicable law in connection with the Service.

The Customer will also defend and indemnify Forthio against a third-party claim arising from Customer Content that infringes another’s rights, the Customer’s services or promises to its customers, or material violation of these Terms.

The indemnified party must promptly notify the indemnifying party, reasonably cooperate, and allow control of the defense and settlement. A settlement may not admit fault by or impose a nonmonetary obligation on the indemnified party without consent. These obligations remain subject to Section 15 and do not create unlimited liability.

17. Informal dispute resolution

Before filing a lawsuit, a party must send written notice describing the dispute and requested resolution. The parties will try in good faith to resolve it through direct discussion for at least 30 days. Either party may seek urgent protective relief when reasonably necessary to prevent immediate harm, unauthorized access, or misuse of Confidential Information or intellectual property.

These Terms do not require arbitration and do not include a class-action waiver.

18. Governing law and venue

Maryland law governs these Terms without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where federal law controls. Court proceedings must be brought in a Maryland state court with appropriate jurisdiction or the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Each party consents to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts.

19. General terms

Neither party may assign these Terms without consent except with a merger, reorganization, relevant asset sale, or transfer to an affiliate that assumes the obligations. Forthio is an independent contractor. Neither party is liable for delay caused by circumstances beyond reasonable control, except for payment obligations.

Notices may be provided electronically to addresses on record. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be limited to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder continues. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any applicable signed pilot agreement or order constitute the agreement concerning the Service. A signed pilot agreement or order controls only where it expressly conflicts.

20. Contact

21. Transactional text messaging

Forthio operates the messaging infrastructure for participating service organizations. If you voluntarily opt in on an inquiry form, you agree to receive transactional or service-related text messages about that inquiry and related appointments or service interactions. Messages identify the service business as “Organization Name via Forthio,” using that organization’s actual name. This permission does not include marketing messages.

Opting in is optional and is not required to submit an inquiry or request service. Consent is permission to contact you, not a promise that a text will be sent. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.

Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. You can also contact support@getforthio.com for assistance. Because participating organizations use a shared Forthio sender, STOP blocks texts from that sender across participating organizations. START or UNSTOP may restore texts for inquiries for which you already gave consent; it does not create consent for another inquiry.

Delivery is not guaranteed. Carriers or other network providers may delay or fail to deliver messages. Do not rely on SMS for emergencies or other time-sensitive communications; contact the service organization directly when timely confirmation is necessary.