One of the many ways health and human service agencies use PreventionPays is our simple "phone-to-text" utility. Also referred to as "phone2text," we offer a very elegant solution that can also be linked to your CRM software. The utility is demonstrated in the video below!
The steps are simple:
1. Enter the mobile number or mobile number(s) you wish to send the referral(s) to
2. Paste the content into the text box (one or more referrals) Don't worry, the system will auto-concantenate messages over 160 characters (split and send sequentially)
3. Select your silent keyword option (this step only has to be done once since the service will default to the last keyword used) The silent keyword ensures your client just gets the content in the text box, thus bypassing the optin message! The queue will not update as it does when a live request comes through. The only time a phone2text referral would update is if your client has a question about the content you've texted them. So, you can create an automated message that says please call us for questions, or if you have live support turned on, you can simply open the case and respond to the question! Simple!
4. Click the big green "Send" button.
Content will go out! Simple. You will see a report at the top of the page confirming the number was sent the content. You can also view the case in your queue by clicking the Users tab. You can search for the number, look in your archives or simply archive to reports. Regardless of what you do with the case, the information went out and most importantly, you can confirm so just by looking at the number in your queue. You will also benefit form a delivery receipt which comes from the carrier (known as "carrier grade delivery notifications") a completely complimentary component of PreventionPays Text!
Why text referrals to people who call you?
According to PEW Research, 80% of adults own smart phones and 80% of smart phone owners text more than they make voice calls and email! And for help-seekers, there's a strong preference for the medium. Most people would rather text about sensitive subjects than "talk" about them.
Information that is texted to smart phones is many times more likely to be used. It's easy to misplace a piece of paper or simply write the information down incorrectly. When it's texted, the information is always correct to the letter. Also, smart phones enable clients to engage with referrals in new and exciting ways. Links are browsable, addresses are searchable and interactive with your maps app, phone numbers are "callable"! In sms, the referral becomes much more consumable! Which is the most important part of the work you do. Also, when you text referrals with PreventionPays, you can interact with your data so that archived results are searchable and reportable to your funders/partners and stakeholders.
Most importantly, Phone-2-Text referrals are producing high return rates! With over 60% return rates for live I&R texting, when you text your caller, they're many more times likely to text you as a first choice medium. Therefore, Phone-2-Text referrals are an on-ramp to live sms help down the road. In the continuum of help, the referral is just the beginning!
How are you texting your referrals? Here are just a few of our very happy clients using PreventionPays Text for all their texting!
“We were using the old system (long code) and many of our clients were calling us up and telling us they didn’t get the text. We started using the short code with PreventionPays and everything goes through instantly. It’s so easy. The best part is, no more complaints! ”
“We had to put in the phone number and the carrier. We thought that was strange. With PreventionPays you just need the mobile number. We really like how easy it is to send texts to callers on 898211! ”
“Our system was not giving us positive message tracking and we were not ever certain if our referrals got through, then ultimately we found out that a whole part of our state had been unbound by the mobile carriers…no texts were getting through.”
“We were using a long code system and were unable to trust any of the information coming into us. We tried to pass along information to our emergency management associates to enable a rescue but they were not able to use the information and said that it was impossible to trace. This created a barrier and damaged our relationships with local authorities. We have since replaced that system with short code texting and repaired those damaged relationships.”
“We tested our existing (long code system) next to the short code system and saw in real time that the long code was not sending our referrals while the short code went through every time! ”