USING TEXT MESSAGES TO IMPROVE MEMBER OUTREACH

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "USING TEXT MESSAGES TO IMPROVE MEMBER OUTREACH"

Crystal Carroll
6 years ago
Views:

1 USING TEXT MESSAGES TO IMPROVE MEMBER OUTREACH John Batchelor Deloitte Consulting

2 Issue for Pennsylvania DPW HOW DO WE INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROACTIVE OUTREACH TO CHILD SUPPORT CASE MEMBERS AND POSSIBLY OTHER DPW CONSTITUENTS THROUGH THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY?

3 Automated Outreach was Already Occurring Pennsylvania s Automated Child Support System (PACSES) configured to issue automated calls and s. INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR) OUTBOUND CALLING Automated calls to remind case members of Scheduled Events Issued 1-3 days prior to the date E-REMINDER AUTOMATED S ISSUED FOR: Scheduled Event Dates within the next 7 days Amount Held Notification Money held because of missing address EFT or EPPICard Deposit Amount disbursed to a custodial parent/caretaker Missed Payment Payment expected on a certain date/time but not received Early Intervention Reminder of support payments that are now due

4 IVR Concerns Despite being limited to a single reminder, concern that IVR outbound calling may be intrusive / ineffective. LIMITED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLS DURING NON WORK HOURS Monday-Friday 5:30-9 PM, Saturday 1-9 PM No calls Sundays or Holidays POTENTIALLY EXCESSIVE CALLS/ CALL ATTEMPTS Attempts a total of 3 calls per day, per member, for both home and mobile numbers up to a total of 6 calls per day until a call is completed (to a person or voic ) Daily volume approximately 6000 calls per day No opt-in/opt-out (everybody gets a call if qualified) CONSIDERED COSTLY AND EXCESSIVE FOR THE BENEFITS ACHIEVED

Changing Technology Demographics for Child Support Case Members ACCORDING TO THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER, 85% OF ADULT AMERICANS OWN A CELLPHONE 80% of those adults use the text messaging function Among

5 Changing Technology Demographics for Child Support Case Members ACCORDING TO THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER, 85% OF ADULT AMERICANS OWN A CELLPHONE 80% of those adults use the text messaging function Among adults aged 18-29, those numbers are 95% and 97%, respectively MOBILE DEVICES AND PHONE NUMBERS ARE DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED TO A SPECIFIC CP / NCP Messages sent to a mobile device are more likely to reach the recipient. Text messages are relatively private, persistent and easy to retrieve and view.

population of registered or unregistered users.

6 Text Messaging Becoming More Prevalent in the Public Sector MANY PUBLIC AGENCIES UTILIZE TEXT MESSAGING FOR BROADCAST MESSAGES AS OPPOSED TO TAILORED MESSAGES SPECIFIC TO INDIVIDUALS Broadcast messages are designed to send a single, canned message to a large population of registered or unregistered users. EXAMPLES: Emergency Notifications Both PA and NY Emergency Management agencies provide text messages as an option for emergency communication. School Systems Text messages for event notification (e.g., early dismissal, weather closings).

7 Text Messaging Becoming More Prevalent in the Public Sector EMERGING USE OF TARGETED, INDIVIDUALIZED TEXT MESSAGES FROM PUBLIC SECTOR AGENCIES TO SPECIFIC CONSTITUENTS AND/OR INTERESTED PARTIES. EXAMPLES: Michigan: MI BRIDGES web-based self-service eligibility system implementing text message capability for clients to receive notification of new correspondence or case actions. West Virginia: Bureau of Child Support Enforcement provides CPs and NCPs with the ability to receive text messages when payments are processed.

8 Text Messaging for PACSES The DPW Bureau of Child Support Enforcement (BCSE) chose text messaging as a new technology for PACSES: TEXT MESSAGES ARE RELATIVELY PRIVATE, EASY TO RETRIEVE, AND PERSISTENT (I.E., CAN BE ACCESSED UNTIL EXPLICITLY DELETED). ALLOWS BCSE TO COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY WITH CHILD SUPPORT CPS AND NCPS VIA A MEMBER-DESIGNATED MOBILE DEVICE. IMPROVES CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CUSTOMER OUTREACH SUPPLEMENTS EXISTING AUTOMATED NOTIFICATIONS AND ALLOWS THE IVR OUTBOUND CALLING PROGRAM TO BE ELIMINATED. Ultimately the use of text messaging increases the likelihood of communications being received, which in turn increases effectiveness.

9 Key Requirements PROVIDE OUTBOUND TEXT MESSAGES FOR MULTIPLE CASE EVENTS: Scheduled events Money on hold Missed Payments Early Intervention (payment to be made) PROVIDE MEMBERS WITH AN ABILITY TO OPT OUT OF MESSAGING. The default is to Opt In. Once members Opt Out no text messages will be sent (with the exception of Missed Payments and Early Intervention) unless or until they opt in again. Opt In/Opt Out can be initiated either through direct contact with the DRS office or through self-service via the Child Support Website. PROVIDE SEARCH/FIND CAPABILITY FOR CASE MEMBERS BY MOBILE NUMBER FOR INCORRECT/EXPIRED PHONE NUMBERS.

10 Key Requirements PROVIDE THE ABILITY FOR COUNTIES TO COMMISSION A MASS TEXT TO BE SENT TO CASE MEMBERS MEETING A SPECIFIC CRITERIA: PIM Projects for support of county-specific outreach efforts. Requires review and approval of the campaign by BCSE to confirm message content and also control use of text messages. LOG THE ISSUING OF TEXT MESSAGES IN CASE DIARY / MEMBER HISTORY PILOT TEXT MESSAGES IN SPECIFIC COUNTIES BEFORE STATEWIDE IMPLEMENTATION. REPLACE OUTBOUND IVR (COMPLETELY SUSPEND CALLS). IMPLEMENT TEXTING AS A DPW ENTERPRISE SERVICE, ENABLING THE USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY ACROSS PROGRAM AREAS.

How PACSES Text Messaging Works PACSES DPW Enterprise

provides case information to a server-based process

with the outside SMS vendor and writes tracking data

11 How PACSES Text Messaging Works PACSES DPW Enterprise Service Message Files (XML) 1 PACSES Mainframe provides case information to a server-based process that formats the message requests and calls the Enterprise Text Service. 2 Enterprise Text Service handles all integration with the outside SMS vendor and writes tracking data to a reporting database. SMS Gateway 3 SMS vendor provides messages to appropriate cell phone services.

12 Sample Messages Scheduled Events: You have a support appointment DRS with questions or to opt out of these alerts Money on Hold: Your support payment is held until you can provide a new address. DRS with questions or to opt out of these alerts Missed Payment: We have not yet received your monthly support payment. DRS with questions or to opt out of these alerts Early Intervention: To avoid enforcement actions you must pay support by the due date. DRS with questions or to opt out of these alerts PIM Projects contain free form text which is requested by County DRS offices and approved by BCSE.

13 Projected Message Volumes Type of Text Message Projected Monthly Volume % of Total Scheduled Event 70, % Money on Hold 150.1% Missed Payment 550.5% Early Intervention 300.3% PIM Project 48, % Total 120, %

14 Considerations for an Agency Texting Pioneer LEGAL COUNSEL AFFIRMED NO VIOLATION OF SPAMMING OR OTHER RESTRICTIONS ON UNSOLICITED TEXTS (E.G., DO NOT CALL LISTS). CONSIDERATION OF MEMBERS THAT PAY PER MESSAGE (AS OPPOSED TO AN UNLIMITED MESSAGE PLAN) WHEN DEFAULTING TO OPT-IN. Significant outreach program by DRS offices and a statewide IVR calling campaign to inform users of the implementation of text messaging. Early release of opt-in/opt-out functionality 3+ months prior to the implementation of the technology. PRIVACY MESSAGES CONTAIN NO PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII).

15 Considerations for an Agency Texting Pioneer MEMBERS RESPONDING TO A MESSAGE AND/OR NON-MEMBERS RECEIVING A MESSAGE IN ERROR: BCSE chose not to accept direct responses to text messages, although the SMS vendor supports the capability. Each message includes the specific contact number for the corresponding county DRS office. System facilitates member searches by phone number in case the wrong number is specified and/or has not been updated. LIMITATION OF 160 CHARACTERS ON A MESSAGE Messages can be longer but Commonwealth charged for an additional message. Typical Outbound Calling and E-Reminder messages run several hundred characters and frequently surpass 500 characters in length.

16 Considerations for an Agency Texting Pioneer SMS VENDOR CAPABILITIES: Record responses received from messages (even if the members are asked not to respond). Designate a specific date/time for a message to be delivered. Verify that a phone number is a valid mobile number. Report on the status of issued messages. TYPICAL BROADCAST MESSAGE VENDOR SERVICES WERE NOT ABLE TO FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS INITIATIVE. The need to support individualized messages for specific phone numbers, as opposed to sending the same message to a large number of recipients.

17 Outcomes AS OF JULY 19TH 494,973 PLAINTIFF AND DEFENDANT MEMBERS ARE OPTED IN TO RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES. 97.5% of all CPs and NCPs on open cases with mobile phone numbers. An increase of 18.5% from the April start date of the pilot. AS OF JULY 19TH 140,238 MESSAGES WERE SUCCESSFULLY ISSUED. A SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY RATE OF 99.8% THROUGH THE SMS GATEWAY. Comparative IVR Outbound daily call success rate of 68%. A MORE DIRECT AND SUCCESSFUL OUTREACH FOR MISSED PAYMENTS: March 2013: 5,530 e-reminders issued for which 666 cases received a payment in March, April and May 12.0% success ratio; total of $386,340 in subsequent payments on those cases. June 2013: 10,419 text messages issued for which 3,016 cases received a payment in June or July 28.9% success ratio; total of $1,505,812 in subsequent payments on those cases.

18 Problem Solved for Pennsylvania DPW IMPLEMENTED AN ENTERPRISE-WIDE TEXT MESSAGING CAPABILITY FOR BCSE AND DPW TO SUPPORT MORE PROACTIVE AND EFFECTIVE OUTREACH COMMUNICATIONS FOR CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

MICHIGAN IV-D ACTION TRANSMITTAL

STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES LANSING JENNIFER M. GRANHOLM GOVERNOR ISMAEL AHMED DIRECTOR MICHIGAN IV-D ACTION TRANSMITTAL 2009-008 TO: FROM: All Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Staff All Friend