Tackling the Opioid Crisis with the Simplicity of SMS Text!

This project (in many forms) is being piloted at various health and human service agencies (211, I&R and community impact programs) and we're very excited about how much impact this can/will have!  This project was fundamentally designed to offer the very best of PreventionPays including options for live, two-way support, and integration with your CRM (Client Resource Management Solution), so that, as referrals are identified within your CRM, they can be automatically extracted from there and sent to the end user's mobile device and this is completely seamless to the end user!  If you don't use a CRM and simply want to partner with agencies that do, please reach out! We want to hear from you! There are many layers to this work and will require partnerships across all sectors of the help-seeking ecosystem.  This project will provide addresses/links to the most current, vetted resources in closest proximity to the individual's mobile device! 

Are you interested in partnering with an agency from your local community? Email info@preventionpaystext.com and in the subject line, send "Opioid Text Project"!

GOALS:

1. Reduce harm/death from opioid/drug addiction!

Outcomes will be tracked and self-evident through the follow-up work with individuals that text the service.

AIMS

10% of the population in the target zone text the helpline.

50% of those that seek help, will follow through with the resources/help.

50% of those that follow through with the help will report they continue to receive ongoing support with meetings and other suggestions (as identified by the partner agencies and content curators).

The project is two-fold: marketing website updates/banners/messages/PSAs/Press Release/Local News and the text message program/sms mapping and opt-in protocols

Marketing:

Web banners for partner, community agency websites

School-based programs work really well; posters, brochures, take-away cards strategically placed in public/private spaces will encourage use of the text program.

Add posters and take-away cards in schools and community venues at little to no cost!

Text Module:

End user texts keyword to short code to begin automated Q&A to obtain end users' risk level and then provide end user with recs for treatment/support. (support also available for friends and family so that everyone in the community can gain something from texting the service! We are all impacted by addiction.

End user will get an automated survey querying for zip, county, age of individual that is seeking help.

End user will select whether they need long-term care w/ detox or short term care w/ detox or detox only.

This will trigger referrals to resources that are closest to them according to their need.

After the referrals are delivered, there is a follow-up text letting them know they can call 211 or text their zip code for more support.

5-7 days later:  You requested help with “short-term care w/ detox” for yourself or a loved one. Did you find the information helpful? 

Did you or your loved one enter treatment?

Please remember, 211 (or named agency) is here for you! if you need more assistance or would like to talk with someone at 211, please call 211 or text your zip code at any time.

Then, one week later: We’re thinking about you! We know seeking help for yourself is an emotional and difficult matter. We want to help. 

If you want someone to talk to, call us or just text us and you’ll get a live response from one of our call specialists!

Then, 1-2 weeks later survey:

Did you make contact with the help you were given?

yes responses

Would you like a list of AA meetings for your area?  Per request send additional tips/resources and statements of encouragement/hope etc. 

no responses

Are you still looking for help with short-term care plus detox?

yes responses

Set a time to call or text with a Specialist

no responses

Please make sure to check with us. We realize there are several barriers to getting help. Please call us or text us so we can help you.

Evaluation:

The survey data and outcome data will be prepared in a formal document to be shared with participating agencies and funders. 

Project aims and protocols will be published for replication/uses in other regions/states.

Goal:  Reduce harm and cultivate better health outcomes! Present this project at conferences!

Interested in learning more about this project and others like it? email opioidtext@ustxt211.org

Want to partner? email opioidtext@ustxt211.org

Have You Seen the Email from AIRS?

“Text allows I&Rs to explore innovative opportunities to push information and messages out to clients within seconds (think disaster, think public health, think appointments).”

— clive jones, AIRS

You’ve probably seen or heard a reference to the email from AIRS called “It Is No Longer All About the Calls…”

The ideas expressed in the email mark a significant shift in the way AIRS members communicate with their clients. With the rapid growth of text across all demographics (Americans under 55 text more than they talk on the phone and email) this is also an important time to learn about the crucial role of texting and how to differentiate between services and capacity. 

In fact, here at PreventionPays we are hyper-focused on making the platform more useful to contact centers. To further demonstrate our commitment to the AIRS sector, PreventionPays Text has partnered with AIRS to bring members a significant cost reduction in the standard I&R package!  Read more about our partnership with AIRS by going here: http://www.preventionpaystext.com/airs-ems-specialoffer/

Join us in an upcoming webinar or schedule a live demo today by going to:  http://www.preventionpaystext.com/contact/

If you haven’t seen the AIRS email, here it is in its entirety:

Is your I&R service answering fewer calls than two years ago?

Maybe that question reads hollow as your I&R phones seldom stop ringing but even if you are struggling to handle existing demand without more staff … there is still a fair chance that fewer calls are coming in, even if you still can’t answer them all …

However, we do know that for many I&Rs, decreasing call volume is a discernible pattern. And this should not be surprising as it reflects the reality of changing demographics and personal preferences that has been widely predicted within I&R circles.

Economic improvements might be one factor but what we are seeing is the continued shift to web-based assistance and the use of Chat and Text. Put crudely, every year at one end of the age spectrum, a percentage of I&R clients who prefer the telephone leaves our active market and are replaced at the other end of the spectrum, by I&R clients who use voice interactions far less. And as for the folks between those extremes – people like you and me – to varying degrees, phoning has become what you do when you don’t have other options.

This is something that we all know and within I&R, we need to keep translating this knowledge into actions.

This is far from a complete list of the enhancements, improvements and opportunities that make up everyone's I&R to-do list. But it is a snapshot of what every I&R should be looking at...

Website:

• It needs to be promoted as much as your phone number.
• If there is an online resource database, it should be easily found (i.e. your website either opens up on the database or it is the most central and most visible click on the page).  
• Your online database should not look like a database. It should use graphic guided searches geared to the most common needs of your community.
• You should also add extensive meta-tags to ensure it shows up in relevant Google searches
• And it must be mobile friendly

Online Chat

• You need to have it available or be moving quickly towards it.
• Many I&Rs have introduced Chat over the past 2-3 years (while some have been offering it for 5+ years). Chat is being used by all ages and all sectors. ADRCs that offer Chat find it being used by clients with disabilities and by caregivers.
• The number of I&R Chats is increasing exponentially every year.

Text

• This is the next growth area for I&R coverage.
• One 2-1-1 launched Text service early this year and now handles more than 1,500 text inquiries a month.
• Text allows I&Rs to explore innovative opportunities to push information and messages out to clients within seconds (think disaster, think public health, think appointments).
• Logically, the use of Text skews to lower income individuals (people who only have mobiles and where Text usage is the cheaper option).

Here is some information from the commercial world to consider … Texting to Surpass Phone Calls for Business Communication … and … Can I Text Your Call Center … and from a different angle, this is from Innovations for Poverty Action … and this on the ‘Art and Science of Reminders’ (and could this seem to signal a potentially new dimension to I&R follow-up?! – some I&Rs are already exploring variations of this for income tax programs).

Essentially, we need to continue to provide communities with I&R services that meet everyone’s current and future preferences.

In case you missed them the first time around, here is an AIRS website self-assessment template and an AIRS guide to providing online Chat. Going on the AIRS Networker and entering “Text” into the main search box will bring up a number of discussion threads on this topic that have been part of an active dialogue over the past year.

AIRS

Pew Internet Says "Over 70% of Americans Prefer Text Over Calling"

“We started using PreventionPays Text for our I&R and we are seeing tremendous pickup that’s proportional to our decreasing call volume. ”

— United Way Heart of Florida 2-1-1

According to Pew “Over 70% of Internet users will opt for mobile service applications as their first option.” This is a significant shift that brings with it enormous challenges and opportunities. Agencies and brands that honor this “mobile first” preference must understand the intimate relationship that people have with their mobile device, and how their brand experience on these devices will shape the relationship they are building with each individual.

It is also important to understand how people are currently using their mobile phones, and to extend existing behavioral patterns into the new context of SMS client support. For example, despite the popularity of email, social networks, and web browsing on mobile devices, text messaging is by far the most common activity people do on their phone with 81% of American adults texting. Texting is vastly more popular than phone calls: on average, people receive 42 texts a day, compared to six calls.

What End Users Expect From Text

To implement a text support strategy, agencies must consider what the implied promises are of SMS as a channel. For example, most people who text are usually doing so with someone they have a relationship with, it's intimate. Whether it’s friends, family members, or co-workers, people tend to text with those that are closest to them. This means that they expect to get a reply, or to offer one. In other words, text is inherently conversational.

Grammar and spelling rules may not always apply, but people expect some sort of indication that you got their message. Even a simple “ok” will suffice. Still, the second someone doesn’t reply to a text, people naturally assume that either something went wrong, or that they’re being ignored. In either case, it has a negative impact on the overall end-user experience. 

So how does this impact SMS as a viable channel for live help? Simple! Agencies that prioritize the end user experience should commit to the fact that people are used to texting with other people and let them text directly with one of your responders/specialists. Simply put–text support is a two-way street.

Another way to show that you understand your clients’ preferences and the implied promises of this channel is to allow them to initiate a text message the same way they are used to doing it with friends and family- to a number already saved in their contact list. Enterprise short code texting helps you brand your service and simple click to text widgets on your website can even launch the sms app with the short code pre-populated. If you're browsing this article from a smart phone, try it! Click To Text Now!

How To Implement a SMS Live Help Strategy

How can agencies manage the inbound text messages they receive? Step one is to answer them, of course. However, this isn’t just with a robot (though a sophisticated Automated Triage  system can be used to effectively allow for appropriate levels of self-service and pre-chat data collection for routing purposes). The agencies who are truly committing to offering a delightful experience will answer each inbound text message with a response from a real person.

Contact center managers are realizing that companies like PreventionPays Text can help combine automated intakes with live help that will be seamless for the end user and also reflect the same way in the data, as if a live conversation was completed from stem to stern (which will be to the delight of both your constituents as well as your funders!).  

Imagine the following - a client initiates a text conversation and asks for help finding energy assistance. That request is responded to by a real person, who then sends the customer into an automated interaction that walks the customer through the process of obtaining the requested referral. Even better, at each step the automation engine uses relevant information pulled form a CRM product to personalize the interaction. So really, it’s personal interaction blended with personalized automation. This blended experience will result in happy end users while cutting down on responder time and overall costs per encounter!

Are you an I&R? Do you have ideas for how you can put PreventionPays to work for you? Contact us! We want to hear from you!

AIRS Member? We're offering your AIRS members our lowest prices yet!  

2-1-1 Contact Centers and Enterprise Short Code Texting

It is an irrefutable fact that 2-1-1 has become an essential service. The calling for 211 ACT (which would enable 2-1-1 to receive government funding) is a crucial next step toward long-term sustainability. It is incumbent upon 2-1-1 Contact Centers to make themselves more relevant and valuable to the communities they serve, particularly as communication needs evolve.

Americans under 55 are now texting more than they make voice calls.  Gen-Y has come to expect social services be available through multiple channels. According to a recent article in Mashable, Millennials own an average of 2.5 web-enabled devices and chances are, they are texting on all of them. For reaching individuals, regional groups and specific priority groups, there is nothing more effective than text.

When phones are down, or over-burdened, text is the only communication channel that survives during disasters. The very elements that comprise a text are, by nature, resilient. In fact, SMS was first developed to help the Armed Services communicate in a safer, more secure manner in war-torn regions where communication infrastructure is compromised. During moments when every second counts, mobile phones are helping keep us all safer. Text based alerts offer the quickest, most efficient method for getting short bursts of information to entire communities in seconds.

2-1-1 has expanded into nearly every community in the US making the 211 network ideally suited for text message based alerts and resource provisioning. In the US, the use of SMS during times of catastrophe or natural disaster has proven to have an incredible impact. “Phone lines, fax, and electricity could fail and the only tool you can use is your cell phone ,” said Safe America Foundation Spokesperson, Carla Shaw. For example, during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast of the United States, SMS was the only mechanism available for much of the country to contact those in the affected areas, due to the small amount of data that is required to send a text message. SMS messages are inexpensive and easy-to-use and in recent years the mobile phones that are needed for sending and receiving them have become ubiquitous. Homeland Security published an article in 2010, “The Unprecedented Role of SMS in Disaster Response,” where they pose the question, “what if we could communicate with disaster-affected communities in real-time just days after a major disaster like the quake in Haiti?”

With 898211, the 2-1-1 network has that capacity now.  2-1-1 contact centers are uniquely positioned and skilled to provide this level of service to the communities they serve. What would 2-1-1 Based Text Alerts mean to government agencies like Homeland Security and CDC? Is the case for passing the 2-1-1 ACT strengthened with 2-1-1's capacity and reach to provide first alerts to disaster affected regions? Enterprise short code texting through 898211 offers an ideal opportunity for Homeland Security and other first alert programs to collaborate with 2-1-1 in an effort to maximize resources and utilize infrastructure that's currently available and being deployed at state and national levels.

2-1-1 contact centers already using 898211™ (Enterprise short code texting through PreventionPays Text) are revolutionizing how referrals are administered. Individuals in their communities are a text away from housing, food banks, childcare, elderly care, or any other social services that help them connect with resources. They are also setting new standards for emergency and disaster alerts, disseminating crucial, time sensitive information with pinpoint accuracy.

This capacity is currently available through 898211™ services!

In areas currently using 898211™, individuals simply text their zip code to 898211 to get immediate help with resources. 898211™ platform increases reach to many of the most disadvantaged and difficult to reach groups e.g. youth, hearing/speech impaired, homeless, and the millions of unemployed and/or temporarily displaced Americans.  898211™ increases operator efficiencies, while decreasing missed calls.  898211™ supports fully-automated follow-up triages so that 2-1-1 can collect data required by their funders without having to expend precious staff time on time-consuming followup calls. I&R Specialists should be doing what they do best – linking individuals to resources.

Key facts about 898211™

The Short code 898211™ is provisioned with every mobile carrier in the US

Carriers have provisioned 898211™ on their gateways to function in two very specific ways - 211 I&R and 211 Disaster/Health & Safety Alerts

Over 89 Million US households no longer own a land line

Americans under 55 text more than they make voice calls and email.

Not all mobile phones are able to call 2-1-1, but every mobile phone can send a text to 898211™

898211™ is ideal for post disaster alerts, getting people connected with resources when it matters the most

For more information about the 898211™ Platform, please text MYTEXT to 898211 (Standard msg&data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt out). Or call 805-653-6000.

Or visit us at PreventionPaysText

Affordable Care Act Needs Millenials To "Opt In"

ACA Text Navigator:  Awareness, Outreach, Enrollment

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Sample outreach uses automated triage (zip code) to route individuals to their closest "Navigator".

Helping 2-1-1 Contact Centers Engage, Educate and Enroll Millennials Using the Communication channel they know and use every day - SMS.