Former Ceo of Mental Health Center in Minnesota Joins PreventionPays Text!

Mark Kuppe former CEO of Canvas Health in Minnesota (a metro Community Mental Health Center serving children and adults with a full array of 35 community based mental health services programs) joins Educational Message Services/PreventionPays Text Messaging Service

Kuppe brings over 30 years of experience in collective impact and communities’ improved outcomes. Mark has served in the role of president of the Minnesota Association for Community Mental Health Centers and served on their board of directors for eight years. He was one of the founding members of the National Association for Family-Based Services and the Minnesota Family Based Services Association and has served on both of their boards. He has served on the Washington County Community Corrections Advisory Board, was a member of the MN Suicide Prevention Planning Task force and has been a part of many task forces and committees statewide in Minnesota on issues of mental health in the community. He presently is a Board Member for the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners.

Mark was instrumental in developing and promoting the innovative suicide prevention program Txt4Life for the State of Minnesota. (see: https://txt4life.org/) Txt4Life serves Minnesota residents across all ages and demographics including all 11 Minnesota Tribal Nations.

Kuppe developed local and state funding for this suicide prevention work that includes 2.6 million over 4 years for this program. This texting model has now been replicated by several other states/regions/communities and their protocols have helped inform national entities including SAMHSA, NSPL, NAMI and CONTACT USA.  

Mark's high esteem for the crisis community coupled with his deep knowledge and unparalleled instincts related to cultivating new funding channels through innovative grant-making will help directors answer their big questions like:  how do I maintain adequate staffing/management for a text hotline/helpline? And how do I leverage my data to quantify the value/need for a text helpline? Mark is a highly regarded professional and friend among crisis line directors.

We are delighted to have Mark on the team! Questions or comments? Email info@preventionpaystext.com

Demystifying Short Codes!

What Are Short Codes?

The US is a highly regulated market for SMS where carriers have established rules for how agencies are to send text messages. Any messages generated by an application are considered Application-to-Person (A2P) and must be sent over a Short Code.

While typical phone numbers in the US are 10-digits and are meant for enabling communication between two mobile phones, Short Codes are 5-6 digits and are leased by businesses intended for (A2P) Application-to-Person traffic.  PreventionPays is unique as we have developed a suite of web-based services that use enterprise Tier 1 short codes to power live, one-on-one communication and tailored group messaging, all under the same, intuitive, easy-to-use application!   

How Are Short Codes Obtained?

Provisioning a Short Code can be a very long and complex process that requires approval by carriers. After committing to your message content you must submit an application to get it approved  by each individual carrier (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile etc…). The timeline is unpredictable and any changes to the application or the message content can require re-provisioning. This impacts your ability to plan, your time-to-launch and overall agility.

Due to the complex approval process described above, provisioning a Short Code typically takes three months and can take longer if you do not have experience with the application process or if your application gets challenged.

Get Started Today!

 PreventionPays Text offers an innovative solution that enables agencies to begin sending messages with Short Codes today. To mitigate the long Short Code provisioning process, PreventionPays offers fully provisioned Tier 1 Short Codes which allow you to get started immediately!

With PreventionPays fully provisioned Tier 1 Short Codes you can begin sending the following types of messages right away:

Two-way, conversational texting!  Provide live help using Enterprise, Tier 1 short codes! A2P use of short codes to create real-time, IM-style conversations. De-escalate crisis, deploy information and referrals, increase client engagements, reach the next generation of help-seeker with secure, live help from your pc, laptop, tablet!

Education/Awareness: With read rates of over 95% within minutes, SMS is a great way to make sure your clients are receiving timely information. A highly sophisticated message track solution that enables you to deploy messages in a series. Create learning programs via text... providing tailored content at the exact moments when your audience will be most receptive. 

Fully-automated referrals with our unique Triage Tool!  Have high contact issues that are over-burdening your call center? Put our smart triage to work and take a big bite out of repetitive referrals. 

New this year!  Appointment reminders with live help!  Send appointment reminders with confidence. Our unique message tracking will update each time an appointment or medication reminder is not delivered. And then, allow your clients to reschedule or engage with live help via two-way text! if you offer sms appointment reminders, it also makes sense to offer rescheduling via the same channel! Your clients will love it!

Ask about our development groups! We're constantly working on new, creative ways to expand uses and push the envelope on texting! 

PreventionPays' Tier 1 Short Codes make it easy for any agency, regardless of resources and budget, to get up and running right away.

The benefits include:

Faster launch times: hours instead of months

Save money with one annual cost or pay by the month!

Avoid application complexity: Spend time on things that matter and let us handle the rest
With fully automated opt in/opt opt we remove the hassle so you can focus on what matters! 

Alerts: Have something that your clients need to know right now? SMS is the most effective channel for reaching large audiences quickly and efficiently!  According to PEW Internet Research, 80% of tweets are ignored, while 98% of texts are read in the first 5 minutes of receiving them!

Create fully-automated post encounter surveys!  Offer live help and then create an exit Q&A and delay delivery for hours, days, weeks.  Funders are always seeking followup data. But agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to collect qualitative data. With voice calls are rarely answered. However, as a preferred channel, text simplifies this process making end user feedback a mutually rewarding experience.  

Are there per message fees or additional charges?

With PreventionPays you can take comfort in knowing you have unlimited messages with absolutely no per message fees. PreventionPays Text was developed for health and human services... the system supports your agency with everything needed to provide deep engagements and elevate your service across all programs and priority groups!

Need a dedicated short code?  Contact us today and we'll get your application underway! 

We make texting the right way! Safe and simple!

PreventionPays services strictly adhere to all FCC and CTIA regulations! End user privacy is our highest priority.

Always FCC and CTIA Compliant!

Demographics Are Changing RAPIDLY!

Big News!  According to Pew Internet Research, Americans under 55 now text more than they make voice calls and email. Helplines, hotlines, crisis centers and many other gateway agencies are turning to text as their call volumes decline despite a continuous rise in individuals seeking help with personal issues. 

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

So, where are they going for help?  Early adopters provisioned text lines for youth and as we all know, use rates among this group have been very high.  In fact, helplines that had 2-3 calls per month from youth were suddenly responding to several text encounters per day.  The data is also showing that adult texters will try to contact youth text lines to get help via their preferred channel.  The age range went from primarily teens in 2010, to an equal distribution of youth and adult texters by 2014.  And the preference for text is very strong - 9 out of 10 texters refuse to be converted to a call.

This group is expanding everyday as more and more individuals (who grew up texting their friends and family) are entering adulthood and facing a dismal job market, massive student loan debt and a disproportionately high cost of living. And it's this group that's seeking social services with the expectation they can text for help.

Preference

According to practicalecommerce.com there are 4.3 billion people carrying SMS-enabled devices, and of those 96 percent send text messages on a regular basis. In fact, text messaging is the most common activity done on mobile devices (Source: Portio Research). Those who have used text Information and Referral (I&R) support as opposed to the phone-based alternative prefer to text. Over 50% of those who text for I&R once have returned for additional support. And that's over a relatively short period of time. Text message I&R has only been an option for the past 2-3 years. 

Privacy

Individuals love the fact that they can receive support in a loud or crowded place through texting and not worry about trying to hear the specialist. And it makes sense. Who really wants to embarrass themselves in public as they discuss personal information about themselves and their families? When people have to talk on the phone in a public space they will often balk at audibly giving or receiving private information. They may not want those around them to hear about their personal needs, what troubles they are having financially, emotionally. Several studies on the behaviors around texting now confirm the belief that it's easier to ask for help by text message.

Quality

I&R demand is only increasing as more Americans continue to struggle. Texting allows the specialist to provide a quality experience for the client by easily and accurately evaluating their needs and texting the referrals (rather than dictating them back over voice). And because automated triage already collected critical information, the specialist can either solve the problem in the moment or take a few minutes for more thorough research. In the end, the client will appreciate the encounter more because they have a record of it, and the referrals are now actionable resources on their mobile phone (addresses with links to their maps and phone numbers that are a click away from help). When referrals are texted instead of written down on a piece of paper that can be lost or destroyed, they are many times more likely to be utilized. 

Efficiency

It is more efficient for clients to use text rather than phone, freeing up more time for specialists and increasing productivity. Our platform allows clients to navigate through your I&R service via texting very quickly. A triage enabled opt-in will help clients provide information about their issue in advance (before they have any contact with a specialist) making the process both faster and simpler for the specialist and client alike. And now, with our Express Text Triage Tools, high use issues can be fully-automated utilities where end user receives their referrals for their zip code and the specialist never has to be involved. Plus, an I&R specialist can help multiple people at once on the PreventionPays Text platform while it would be impossible to help more than one client over the phone at the same time.

Cost

There is an initial cost when adding text due to technology upgrades and training. However, the learning curve will be vastly overshadowed by the timeliness and accuracy of support being delivered (recidivism due to misplaced or forgotten information is extremely low). However, among sites currently offering I&R text, there is over 50% return rate for more help with other issues! They appreciate getting help by text. It is also important to consider the average response time to a text message is 90 seconds. How long does the average call take at your contact center?

Everyday, we see texts from zip codes that are not yet supported by text. Folks will find information about 898211 on the internet from 2-1-1 websites already supporting text I&R, but when they try to text their zip code to opt in, they will get an auto-response stating that text is not currently available in their region and they should make a voice call to 2-1-1.

Text enable your 2-1-1 Contact Center today!  Our platform is easily integrated into any call center environment. Hotlines, helplines and 2-1-1s of all sizes have already done so and one of the most common comments we hear is, that was much easier than we thought it would be.

The demographics of the texter is expanding rapidly.  Data supports that adults are texting for help just as frequently as youth.  "TextChat" is changing the Contact Center paradigm.  PreventionPays Text will help your contact center reach more people and recapture your audience by opening your door to the next generation of help-seekers.

How long does an I&R encounter take by phone? 

AIRS Conference 2014: Creating a Paradigm Shift with Text I&R and Community SMS Alerts

Big News! PreventionPays Text will be highlighted again this year at AIRS 2015 during the 2-1-1 General Assembly! Whether you're a 2-1-1 or other I&R, there will be something for everyone!

We are so pleased to have been a part of the AIRS conference over the last two years!  We want to thank those who contributed to a very successful and enlightening session in the Technology Track:  "Use Enterprise Texting and Create a Paradigm Shift"  A huge thank you to United Way Heart of Florida 2-1-1 for helping pull the proposal together.  Caree Jewell and Larry Olness were instrumental in creating a thought-provoking, and comprehensive study on texting and 2-1-1.  

You can download the full PowerPoint here

Over the past two and half years they have done tremendous work in implementing PreventionPays 898211 across several community programs, in addition to their I&R text support (which operates 24/7 with live texting providing access to social services and assisting members of their community through personal and family crises).  Their highly innovative programs push the envelope on texting by creating enriching and educational alert programs that target very specific segments of their population. The tax assistance program helps educate citizens about free tax help and how they can maximize their return and avoid falling victim to tax scams and advance return programs that unfairly target the poor.  Additionally, they have partnered with state universities and colleges to help educate high school juniors and seniors about the critical life-choice of "going2college". The program sends tailored content to subscribers that helps them meet application deadlines to their chosen institution as well as FAFSA, the two most critical pieces in the process.  Thank you, Larry and Caree for having the insight, creativity and drive to build these programs and see them through!

Additionally, we want to thank Mark Kuppe and Canvas Health for sharing their experience with Txt4LIfe, an award-winning program that led to the unprecedented decision by the state of Minnesota to include the service as part of their annual budget for suicide prevention. Their protocols helped inform a nation on how to provide crisis support via text! Many agencies have used their strategies to inform burgeoning work in their state/region. In fact, CONTACT USA has used their protocols to help inform hotlines in their network on how to implement and operate a text line.  Canvas Health is a thought leader and innovator in suicide prevention.  Txt4Life continues to prosper under a new short code, 61222, provisioned (by Educational Message Services on the PreventionPays Text Platform) to help build awareness about mental health services and prevent suicide throughout Minnesota across all ages, demographics. 

2-1-1 Idaho Careline also shared their experience with obtaining a 3-year contract for PreventionPays Text on 898211.  Much of their funding comes from the state health department. Therefore, they had to investigate several text services.  Eventually, they sole sourced PreventionPays Text, stating, "There’s nothing even close to this product on the market." 

Alex Zamora and Judd Reynolds have deployed text I&R statewide and they are now working on adding the Phone2Text referral tool for calls, and a highly innovative "Text4Lunch Program" using the Triage Tools. Individuals are able to text their zip code and receive referrals for lunch programs in their area. A very simple, yet elegant use of texting!

Other 2-1-1s have implemented fire alerts within moments of a statewide status update to "high alert". A California 2-1-1 provides incoming college students with time-sensitive education about the issues of alcohol and campus violence. Texts with facts, tips and resources are sent on the weekends just as students are keying up for a big night of partying. And during the tremendous storms of 2014, multiple 2-1-1s created text info exchanges that provided automated information about the shifting schedules of shelters (which was a huge lift off their already over-burdened phones).  They have also shared their protocols with each other in an effort to improve response during disasters and create best practice. Text offers new ways to educate communities about services offered by 2-1-1 and make them lifelong advocates and users of your services. Getting tips about going2college can lead to tips about finding a job, which may lead to an I&R encounter on how to find local public transportation which leads to alerts about parenting and so on and so forth. 

At its core, 2-1-1 is about people helping people.  And 898211 is helping 2-1-1s open their door to a new generation of help-seekers.  At our core, we are about helping nonprofits endear themselves to their communities by empowering and enriching the lives of individuals and their families. Text offers many exciting and new ways to accomplish that.  

You can download the full PowerPoint here