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

United Way 211 Atlanta Launches Live Text I&R in 48 Hours!

We didn't think it could be done. In fact, no one did. However, in a recent Webinar, United Way 211 in Atlanta presented on this very topic - how, they deployed their service area, trained specialists and began responding to live text encounters in 48 hours! Individuals seeking live help can text their 5-digit zip code to 898211, a recognized brand among 211 service providers. 

Key facts:

Soft launch with social media produced 200 unique encounters 

Full launch put call to action "text your zip code to 898211" on home page and the volume more than tripled, from 200 to almost 700 unique conversations. 

Specialists like text over all other mediums, phone, chat, email

Calling, emails, and chats keep going down while texting keeps going up. 

During the Webinar Marioly Botero, Data Base Manager, discusses each step from training to launch and awareness and what they learned during the process.  You can click the following link to stream the video on Youtube! 

“The system is VERY easy to use. That’s why we were able to launch so quickly!””
— Marioly, Data Base Manager, United Way 211 Atlanta
“We also do chat and the specialists like the texting platform a lot better!”
— Marioly Botero, Database Manager, United Way 211 Atlanta

Feedback from happy clients is always a good morale boost, but also indicative of the need for the medium. People want to text you! With PreventionPays Text, they can!

                        "This is so much better than being on hold.......great service"

                        "This is so much better than being on hold.......great service"

"Thank you for all of your help. I think this is a great thing which is providing help for people in need. Thank you again!"

"Love this option (text). Thanks"

"Very prompt and great service...would highly recommend!!!!"

Phone-to-Text Referrals Done Right!

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! ”
— 211 Atlanta
“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! ”
— United Way of Central Iowa 211
“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.”
— 211 Indiana
“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.”
— CrisisLink, Virginia
“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! ”
— Contra Costa 211