![]() When someone sends a text to sign up, they will need to send it to a number. This may or may not be important to you but it is easy to understand. Services vary greatly on the use of phone numbers and short codes. ![]() You could have the ability to be sure that all replies to your choir group get forwarded to your choir director's phone. The most advanced services give you control over this. What happens when someone replies to a text message? Services vary on handling replies. For instance, texting worshiptimes to 41411 could automatically send the user your worship times. This allows you to create a keyword linked to an auto-responder. This is a more advanced feature that your church may or may not need. With this feature, you won’t have to remember to send the text out manually, you can schedule it in advance. If you want to be able to schedule texts in advance, you will need a service with message scheduling. For services that share a number among multiple users, a keyword may be used to differentiate you from other users of the platform. On some services, keywords have a slightly different function. Texting the word “choir” to a specific number might get you on the choir list, while “youth” would put you on the youth list. Keywords can be used to allow people to self-select into groups via text. If you are interested in groups, you may be interested in keywords. Others allow people to opt into groups, either in a web portal or by texting a specific keyword to your text number. On some services, it is a manual process that the administrator takes care of. Complicating this a little further is the issue of how people get into groups. Some of the services offer unlimited groups, others have limits with the ability to pay for more. For instance, you may need to get a message to just your choir, or a particular group of volunteers. You may want to have the ability to send some messages to particular subgroups of your overall list. You have likely seen these services as you have been invited to text something like “keyword” to 52354. Many services allow users to opt in and out by text. More advanced services allow people to opt in and opt out. It is important to consider how people will get their number on their list. For the most basic services, the administrator adds the numbers into the database. ![]() After that, the features get more complicated. All of the services listed in this post can do that. The main thing most churches need is the ability to send a text message to every number on a list. Depending on the service, there are many other features that make SMS more effective.īefore you decide on a platform, you need to understand what you want to be able to do. It is much more practical to use a texting service that allows these messages to be sent from a computer or app. Most churches have enough members to make it impractical to just send these messages from a phone. It can certainly have a place in an overall church communications strategy. Texting or SMS (Short Message Service) has been around since the early 90s making it one of the most durable technologies out there.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |