Understanding and Exploiting Texting Technology. Mike Whaley & Kelly Van Hill PHFE WIC Program Local Agency California WIC Program

Transcription

1 Understanding and Exploiting Texting Technology Mike Whaley & Kelly Van Hill PHFE WIC Program Local Agency California WIC Program

2 Our Overall Enrollment in Texting At some clinics over 90% on texting We don t call if they signed up for texting

3 Texting Technology How to text? Several texting technologies? Phones Texting directly from individual phones -- is a problem. Painfully slow, no audit, no automation Confidential messages spread all over Using personal phones -- Employee phones? Where do participants text BACK to?

4 Texting Technology How to text? Computers through modem Assigns a phone number Slow Difficult to text BACK to you Old AUTO DIALER program Vendors will sell you this option If they tell you that you need to install a phone line run for the hills.

5 Texting Protocol SMTP uses basically an interface Very unreliable --- but CHEAP (free) Need to know the telecom vendor of each participant Some programs will just send to all phone companies! No status back Choose a Provider that uses the SMPP Protocol Short Message Peer to Peer This is real SMS texting technology - reliable Costs more -- usually pennies per text

6 Texting Technology - Gateways Ask: Who is your SMS gateway vendor? No they are not their own SMS gateway vendor. We use a gateway service called Twilio. UBER, NetFlix, Airbnb, Nordstrom, Ebay,

7 Texting Warning Signs They are offering to send your messages by short code. Due to cost you are sharing a number with others. Means messages RECEIVED are hard to assign to you.

8 Things to ask for How fast can I send messages? Can I do languages? What is the process to setup a new message? Can setup a new multi-language message and upload a list of families needing the message in 15 minutes. It is so quick PHFE people go crazy creating custom messages

9 Expect these things from vendors Can send a text message a second. System will retry for you Don t need to know the participant s phone vendor Get status so you know if the message made it

10 Texting Problems

11 Getting text messages delivered Cell companies do not guarantee delivery SMTP ( -texting, is a joke SMPP (high end texting) is not even guaranteed They do not admit they DROP text messages We have had THOUSANDS of text messages dropped in an hour Filtering comes up when sending thousands from a single 10 digit number. Slight variations don t seem to help. It is the quantity & THEIR busy? Can start and stop in minutes. Stop all messages! -- then start again Done at telecom vendor receiving messages

12 12:57 PM 1:07 PM 1:15 PM 1:27 PM 1:35 PM 1:43 PM 1:51 PM 1:59 PM 2:07 PM 2:15 PM 2:23 PM 2:31 PM 2:39 PM 2:47 PM 2:55 PM 3:04 PM 3:12 PM 3:20 PM 3:28 PM 3:36 PM 3:44 PM 3:52 PM 4:00 PM 4:08 PM 4:16 PM 4:24 PM 4:51 PM 4:59 PM 5:07 PM 5:15 PM 5:23 PM 5:31 PM 5:39 PM 5:47 PM Messages rejected per minute Telecoms filter long codes (444) Text Messages Rejected per Minute Long Code (xxx) xxx-xxxx Can you see this with your system? Very bad day for us Sending at 60 per second See the pattern? Like software making decision? Temporary black lists? 0 Not the same telecom

13 To the rescue Short Code Texting NOT required don t let vendors tell you it is required for businesses

14 Hero! Short Code Texting 5 or 6 digit phone number Short code messages are NOT filtered! (well, yeah) Extremely high speed High cost! Long code is $12 per year Short code is $12,000 to $20,000 per year It takes MONTHS to do all the paperwork for short codes Arrangements made with all telecom vendors.. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, Boost, Virgin

15 SPEED: Short Code VS Long Code vs (626) Texts Sent per Minute 2 Long Codes threads Schedule your texts Long Code 60 Don t run all day Short Code Single thread

16 Problems with Short Codes Root Problem? Short code allows billing to cell phones! But cell company has to support it with their billing. Short code billing examples: Fund raising for charities Make money off daily inspirational texts Billing for things I can t mention Your participants may fear your messages are costing them money.

17 Problems with Short Codes Some telecom vendors won t deliver short code messages (message salesman lied?) Can t support the potential billing $$$$ Resellers of mostly Sprint and T-Mobile MetroPCS, Boost, Credo, NetZero, EasyTalk, Some telecom vendors will deliver short codes but not allow you to respond. Responding is the $$$$$ billing problem Some phone plans have short codes disabled completely.

18 Problems with Short Codes Some phone devices have short codes disabled by default. We support over 400 types of cell phones!!! To prevent people getting billed Our gateway passes the short code messages to telecom vendors fine.. Just not delivered. We think it prevents retries. (We do get a special return code)

19 Problems with short codes Are our WIC participants more likely to have the low cost cell plans? MetroPCS, Boost, Credo, NetZero, EasyTalk,

20 Problem Summary Long Code (626) Slow speed Sometimes rate or SPAM filtered by telecom vendor No vendors completely block Response back is usually OK Short Code 8765 High speed No rate or SPAM filtering Sometimes completely blocked by telecom vendor Sometimes can receive but not respond Some devices have support turned off by default

21 Problem Summary Long Code (xxx) xxx-xxxx Sometimes it works, keep the message rate down Short Code xxxx If it works it works reliably Cheaper per message HIGH yearly cost

22 Which to use? We try to use both Based on the enrollment experience Setting for which to use for each family

23 Fixing Short Code Delivery Problems Figuring out WHO has the problem is a nightmare. Automation and employees guess.. 14% of our texting families have short codes bypassed Advice: If you need to send a bunch of text messages and need a short code look for a product that allows you to do both.

24 Jan 2016 Feb 2016 Mar 2016 Apr 2016 May 2016 Jun 2016 Jul 2016 Aug 2016 Sep 2016 Oct 2016 Nov 2016 Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 May 2017 Receiving Text Messages 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 Text Messages Received per Month (non trivial) participants interacting with text messaging is very positive. Cheaper than a phone call. 0 Quick

25 Interactive Texting

26 Automated language translation We used Google Translate APIs to automatically detect and translate languages! All the short hand and misspellings made it unusable. Would even guess the wrong language

27 Summary: Vendor suggestions Find out what SMS gateway vendor they are using. Participants should be able to text you back. Don t let vendors tell you a SHORT code is legally required. Can they support a long code and short code both? Can you identify which to use by customer? Can you prioritize immediate texts? Can you accept pictures? & print them? Don t limit yourself to appointment reminders!

28 Text Message Strategies

29 Appointment Reminders & Missed Appointment Notifications The Text Sandwich 1 week before 1 day before 1 day after 1 week after weekly

30 Strategy #1: Human > Robot Hi, it s Ana from WIC. I noticed you haven t been to WIC in a while, we ve missed you! When can you come in this month?

31 Strategy #2: Loss Aversion WIC: FINAL HOURS Don t miss out on your March WIC checks! Go to WIC TODAY before 5:30 pm

32 Strategy #3: Offering the path of least resistance It s time to go to WIC! For your convenience, your new WIC appointment is Tues March 28 at 4pm. Text ACCEPT or CHANGE

33 Strategy #4: Commitment and consistency FINAL HOURS for February WIC checks! Walk in today before 5:30pm. Are you going to WIC today? Text RSVP YES or RSVP NO

34 More Uses for Texting Remind participants to use their mailed checks. Tailored messaging for participants at a high risk of leaving WIC. Extra appointment reminders for participants with a history of missing appointments Encouraging online education Reminders to use checks before they expire; offer to answer questions about food options

35 More Uses for Texting PACE Referrals CalFresh Breastfeeding Support Groups Farmers Markets Future appointment confirmations sent to participants in the WIC office

36 More Uses for Texting Special announcements: o Emergency WIC office closures o Office hour changes o CalFresh enrollment opportunities Interactive Texting

37 Interactive Texting Who: Trained WIC Staff (mostly WNAs) Where: WIC Offices Staff log in to OPI during downtime When extra help is needed: /Intranet message Training: OPI Software Queues Templates Grammar and tone of responses Good customer service

38 Text Queues Queues allow certain texts to be handled by specialists Special languages Pump follow-ups Special pilots Specialists are automatically ed when a text is put in their queue

39 Signing Forms Electronically Participants can electronically sign their Rights and Responsibilities and Self Declaration Statement via text. (Text WIC sign to 91997)

40 Texting Photos Uses for photos: Update proof of address/income Hemoglobin results Proof of birth Proof of pregnancy

41 Newborn Enrollment Pilot PHFE WIC approached CA State with pilot that meets all current policies. CQI process ensures all policies are being followed. PHFE WIC is working with the state to work out issues before pilot is expanded.

42 Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Database (PCDB)

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44 Questions? Mike Whaley Kelly Van Hill