Insights and Resources From Alive5

How Pricing Works

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 03:37:41 GMT

Subscription + Usage Fees

At Alive5, our goal is to offer a best-in-class communication platform filled with features, stellar support, and great value achieved through smart and flexible pricing.

Affordable subscriptions and usage-based text credits allow you to easily adjust costs to match the seasonality of your business’ demand for texting.

Users

A subscription plan (Alive5 SMS STARTER, PRO, PRO PLUS, PREMIUM, ENTERPRISE) includes up to a certain number of users or lines.

For example, the PRO plan includes up to 3 users and 3 lines. A user consists of a unique login (email and password) in which a team member can chat with unlimited contacts (mobile cell numbers) which is limited by text credits consumed (explained below).

Additionally, users are limited by concurrent logins. For example, if your plan includes 3 users (using the PRO plan example above), you can create unlimited users (email and passwords) in your account, but limited to 3 users logged in at the same time.

Lines

A line refers to an office phone line you can enable for SMS texting. We do not interfere with the voice functionality, only the SMS messaging portion of a phone line. So you can keep your existing voice phone service (Comcast Business, Vonage, Ring Central, etc), and use Alive5 in parallel. Alive5 does not offer voice.

Think about users and lines like "musical chairs" - you have 3 chairs for users and 3 chairs for lines for your entire team to use.

If you need more users and lines you can easily purchase add-ons or upgrade your plan.

Text Credits

For usage, your Alive5 account is equipped with text credits that are allocated every billing cycle. These credits can be used for sending and receiving SMS messages. Each plan includes a set amount of monthly text credits (150 for STARTER, 500 for PRO, 1,500 for PRO PLUS, 3,000 for PREMIUM, and 10,000 for ENTERPRISE).

One text credit consists of up to 160 characters, or 70 characters if the message includes an emoji. Messages longer than 160 characters will require multiple text credits.

Using Emojis ��: Using an emoji decreases the number of characters that can fit in a credit from 160 to 70. Each emoji takes up 2 characters.

Using Unicode characters á: Using a unicode character, similar to emojis, decreases the number of characters that can fit in a credit from 160 to 70. In contrast to emojis, a unicode takes up 1 character.
MMS: Images �� and multimedia files: When sending smaller files (less than 500KB) from Alive5 to a mobile cell phone, it costs 4 credits, while larger files (greater than 500KB) will be converted to a link and cost 1 credit. When mobile cell phone users send an inbound text with an image or video, it will cost 4 credits.

Try our SMS Length Calculator

This shows how many message segments (text credits) your text will use. Standard messages allow 160 characters per segment using GSM-7 encoding, but including emojis or special Unicode characters reduces this to 70 characters per segment. Messages exceeding one segment are charged as multiple messages, so character count directly impacts your messaging costs.

Example messages and costs:

An Easy Way to Estimate Credits

Before sending, easily estimate credit usage by looking towards the right in the input box:

Broadcasts and Text Credits

When sending SMS Broadcasts, it's especially important to be mindful of how many credits your message takes up. In the above example, if you were to send the first message (without the emoji) to 5000 contacts, it would cost you 5000 credits. If you had added an emoji, it would then have cost 15000 credits (3x more!).

Rollover and Overages

At the end of each billing cycle (monthly or annually), Alive5 will conduct a calculation to determine the total number of text credits utilized over that period and deduct it from your balance. Any unused credits will be retained indefinitely in your account as a pool for all users ("Rollover") until it's used up or you cancel your account. Any usage exceeding your balance ("Overage") will be charged at the text credit rate multiplied by the number of excess text credits.

To view your account's text message usage, log into your Alive5 Desktop Console, and click on your name at the top right, then ACCOUNT & USAGE.

Privacy Policy Compliance for 10DLC

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 23:34:05 GMT

Why is a compliant Privacy Policy required?

Last Updated: February 1st, 2024

If you are a sole proprietor , you can skip this requirement, as it does not apply to your business type.

Not having a compliant Privacy Policy when required for 10DLC means you will not be approved for 10DLC compliance , which ultimately prevents you from sending texts (A2P - application to text) to your audience. This is an industry-wide requirement , not specific to Alive5.

3 key requirements

Your web site or social media profile must have a Privacy Policy :
a dedicated, separate privacy policy page , such as https://www.alive5.com/privacy-policy .
OR, display privacy policy language at the footer of your web site's home page.
OR, If your brand does not utilize a web site, but a social media profile , your Privacy Policy can be referenced as shown here as an example: https://www.facebook.com/wearealive5/about_privacy_and_legal_info (Privacy Policy is hosted via a web page or public file such as Google Doc). NOTE: if you have a web site already, you cannot use social media profile for 10DLC registration.
You are not sharing customer's mobile phone numbers with third parties for the purpose of marketing .
If a business shares or sells information, the Privacy Policy must specify the reasons. A few examples might include:

If the business is sold or merged
compliance with legal requirements of the business
If the business has payment processing or other business operational responsibilities

How do I fix It?

A Privacy Policy could become compliant if a statement similar to the following is added:

“No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.”

additionally, if you are capturing phone numbers in an online contact form on your web site, include this paragraph:

"OPT IN CONSENT: By submitting your phone number, you are authorizing to send you text messages and notifications. Message/data rates apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe to a message sent from us."

NOTE: The suggestions in this article are based on past successful Privacy Policy approvals and does not guarantee success, as the review process is on a case-by-case basis. The suggestions are based off our own experience working with 10DLC compliance.

Alive5 is also not responsible or liable for any issues arising from the use of the above content. Please consult your legal counsel for the best recommendations.

Additional information and guidance

The CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices provide general guidance in Section 5.2.1 on what is necessary for a good Privacy Policy:

Back to: The 4 Steps Needed for 10DLC Compliance

The 4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 23:33:58 GMT

By collaborating with our SMS vendors and partners, we've created these guidelines to assist you in completing the 10DLC compliance process in the most efficient way possible.

To avoid delays, be prepared to take on the necessary tasks such as contacting your web developer or legal team.

1. Matching EIN and Legal Business Name

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity. This allows The Campaign Registry to verify the identity of your organization (Brand), which is a requirement for any Campaign to be registered on 10DLC.

It is crucial that the "EIN" matches the "Legal Business Name" (above) of the Brand you are registering for it to be correctly verified. TIP: Refer to IRS forms (W2, SS-4) for correct EIN and Legal Business Name.

2. Valid Web/Online Presence

Your organization must have a valid web presence in order to use A2P SMS services. If you do not have a business website, a social media profile (Facebook Page or LinkedIn profile) may be used instead. The social media profile should indicate an operational business (active followers and engagement).

Some examples of failed approvals:

Website is not functional or is not secure (no HTTPS).
Website contains malware.
Website does not represent the registered business.
Social media profile does not represent the registered business.

Website Alternative: Social Media Profile

If your Brand only has an established online presence, such as a Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn page, instead of a website, you can still get approved. Here are some tips for each Facebook and Instagram pages – these should be professional accounts (not personal) where the Brand is clearly identified. It’s best if the email address and phone number shown on the page also match what you used in the 10DLC registration details.

LinkedIn page – This also needs to be a company listing, not a personal profile (that will be rejected). The email address and phone number should match the 10DLC registration details, and the ‘About’ section should have Privacy Policy and Opt-in language disclaimers. Don’t use LinkedIn for Sole Proprietors.

We strongly advise you to use an established website, Facebook, or Instagram page over a LinkedIn company page.

In summary (if you use social profiles for web presence):

Use company listing type of profile pages, not personal.
Must have Privacy Policy and Opt-In Language disclaimers. These can be in About sections or pinned posts. See example: https://www.facebook.com/wearealive5/about_privacy_and_legal_info

3. Opt In Language

If you utilize a contact form where you are capturing any phone numbers, opt in language must visible to the user when completing the form.

Example verbiage which may be used:

"By providing a telephone number and submitting the form you are consenting to be contacted by SMS text message from {your Business Name (DBA) here}. Message frequency may vary. Message & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt-out of further messaging. Reply HELP for more information. See our Privacy Policy {your Privacy Policy URL here}"

Be sure to replace the contents {your Business Name (DBA) here} and {your Privacy Policy URL here} with your actual business details.

4. Privacy Policy Compliance

To b e approved for A2P (application to peer) SMS texting, 10DLC requires certain types of organizations and use cases to have a compliant Privacy Policy.

For more details, visit Privacy Policy Compliance for 10DLC .

Adhering to the recommendations above should give you the most efficient path towards 10DLC Compliance.

The 10DLC industry and requirements seem to change on a weekly basis, so we'll be making constant updates to this page with the most up to date information to ensure your success.

10DLC and What it Means for Business SMS/Texting

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 03:57:56 GMT

12/1/2024 Updates

On February 1st, 2025, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts. The previous deadline of 12/1/2024 was deferred until this new date.
Sole proprietors are now required to have a valid IRS EIN number to apply for 10DLC Brand and Campaigns.

11/8/2023 Update

Toll free numbers (TFNs) require full vetting and verification before texting capability can be enabled. Previously, texting capability was available right after port without full verification (with limits). Vetting process is done by Twilio/Zipwhip which takes on average 4 weeks (reduced from previous 6-8 weeks).

10/6/2023 Updates

Update 1: A compliant privacy policy is now required for any type of business, except SOLE PROPRIETORS.
Update 2: For "Provisional Compliance", throughput is no longer limited to 2k per day. Throughput limits are now 25 messages per minute (a message consisting of 160 characters or less). For example, if you want to send a Broadcast to 5000 contacts, it should take about 3.3 hours.
Update 3: 10DLC approval ETA has now increased from 2 weeks to 4-6 weeks for each review and approval. With Alive5, we have a solution which allows you to start texting within 24-72 hours (assuming your website, opt-in language, and privacy policy is compliant).

8/1/2023 Updates

On September 1st, 2023, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts.

What is 10DLC?

10DLC , or 10-digit long code, is a channel created by mobile carriers for business-to-consumer (A2P) messaging over local landline phone numbers. There’s a good chance you’ve already been using one of these numbers for business texting, but until recently, they were only intended for person-to-person (P2P) SMS traffic between family and friends.

Because texting over local landline phone numbers has grown increasingly popular over the past few years, along with recent upticks in fraud, phishing and spam texts, U.S. carriers want to make sure it stays that way - a channel customers can trust, that’s free of spam and unsolicited communications.

To accomplish that goal, carriers have together adopted a set of standards and registration processes for 10DLC numbers to better understand who is using 10DLC for A2P and what they’re sending across the network.

10DLC Compliance Process with Alive5

To ensure the best texting experience and deliverability for your business and your customers, 10DLC registration is included with your Alive5 service.

Here's the 5 basic phases:

Complete 10DLC Form & Verify Phone Numbers - this is a web form we send your organization which asks for your contact information, business address, EIN and legal business name, and website presence. Additionally, you will be able to verify your existing office phone lines for SMS enablement. Refer to this article which details the 4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance .

estimated time: 10 minutes
Alive5 Team Review - your application is reviewed within 24 hours and changes needed to your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy will be indicated. This "preliminary" review done by Alive5 is to prepare you for the final review with the DCA which may take 4 weeks or more for each round of revisions.

estimated time: 24-72 hours

2a. Corrections needed - Once the changes are made from your side, resubmit your application for another round of reviews.

estimations based on your time and resources
Provisional Compliance - You will be able to send and receive texts with restrictions (25 messages per minute, and possible MMS attachment/URL/link filtering). Provisional Compliance is unique to Alive5 most providers do not allow you to start texting until your 10DLC compliance is fully reviewed and approved. To start texting during Provisional Compliance is optional - some organizations prefer to start texting only after Full 10DLC Compliance.
DCA Review - after Alive5 staff reviewal process, we submit your application to the DCA. After about 4 weeks or more, your Brand and Campaign is reviewed by a DCA representative. If your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy needs changes, application will be rejected.

This will not affect your ability to use SMS (with Provisional Compliance restrictions noted above). Similar to step 3, after you make the changes required, you application is resubmitted to the DCA for another round of reviews which may take another 4 weeks or more.

estimated time: 4 weeks or more
Full 10DLC Compliance - Once your EIN, website, contact form, or privacy policy is fully compliant per the DCA, your 10DLC registration is complete. You won't encounter any restrictions on throughput or filtering of links. You can now start using mass texting/broadcasts as well at higher throughputs.

Glossary:

The Campaign Registry (TCR) - the 10DLC compliance platform which handles registrations from brands and A2P SMS use cases.
Direct Connect Aggregator (DCA) - the organization that reviews every 10DLC registration by hand and routes traffic between the mobile networks to our SMS provider.
Mobile Networks - AT&T™, T-Mobile™, Verizon™, etc. who delivers SMS traffic from the DCA to end user's cell phones.
SMS Provider - Alive5's upstream texting provider who works with the TCR and DCA to assist in getting your 10DLC compliance and SMS traffic delivered from the DCA to the mobile networks.

Once you've created your Alive5 account, refer to the article: The 4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance .

Optimizing Your Live Chat: Reporting and Configuration

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 22:35:17 GMT

Goals and Objectives

Now that you have live chat configured for your Alive5 account, it's time to optimize and measure everything in efforts to create the best Visitor experience based on your current team resources.

We'll cover:

How to measure the performance of your live chat agents through various reports (Performance, Conversations, Agent Activity)

Configure live chat settings for your organization's call center set up (Max Chat, Ring Mode, Chat Timeout).
Measure performance KPIs (key performance indicators) of your team to see where you can improve.
Predict future trends for staffing team members for optimum effectiveness.

Performance Report

This can be accessed by logging into your Alive5 account (as an Admin) and visiting: https://app.alive5.com/reporting/performance

By Channel

Channel - The Channel (aka Department) of where the chat connected to.
Total - Total chat requests with automated chatbots and human Agents.
Completed (Agent) - Total number of chats that successfully connected to an Agent.
Completed (Bot) - Total number of chats that occurred without connecting to an Agent. Also known as chatbot (only) sessions.
Missed by Agent - Chats that were assigned / routed to a specific agent that was available to chat, and the timeout period was exceeded and Visitor was routed to the Offline flow. In other words, Visitor tried to connect with the specific Agent, but no one was there. Within this metric, there are 2 types of "Missed by Agent' chats:
Missed by Agent - when setting a "Chat Timeout" value in the Agent Bot (example: 3 minutes), you allow a limited time for a Visitor to wait before they are forwarded to the 'Missed Chat' flow. If the Visitor waits the entire time and does not disconnect (manually ending the chat or closing the browser), the system marks this as "Missed by Agent". This assumes the Agent had ample time to accept the chat, and did not answer in time.
Abandoned Chat (by Visitor) - Similar to Missed by Agent, but the Visitor ends a chat manually by clicking ‘End Chat’ in the chat window before the Agent has the ability to accept the chat. Previously, both “Missed by Agent” and “Abandoned Chat” were considered just “Missed by Agent”, but based on feedback from customers, Agents were being penalized for missing chats before they could answer them. In most cases, the Visitor would start a chat and not wait very long (a few seconds) and end the chat, which then the Agent was penalized for missing it. By creating this new categorization of “Abandoned Chat” metric, this would provide a somewhat better analysis of how the chat was missed after being assigned to a specific Agent.
Missed by All - This occurs only using the routing mode of "Ring All". This means when a chat comes into a channel, it rings all Agents available to chat, and if no one picks up, the chat is missed, but not by a specific Agent since the chat was not assigned to anyone, and only to the channel.
Offline - This is when a live chat request comes in and no Agents were available to chat and the Visitor is sent directly to the Offline Flow without pinging any Agents.
Total Missed - This is a sum of all missed chats.
AVG Length - This is the average length of an entire chat session that a Visitor had which was connected successfully with an Agent. This is determined by the time of when an Agent accepted the chat until an Agent or Visitor ends the chat session (and and average of all chat session lengths within that time frame).
By Agent - This category will allow you to see the performance by individual Agent.
Agent Total - Total number of chat sessions assigned to an Agent.
Completed - Total number of chat sessions assigned to an Agent, accepted, and completed a conversation.
Missed by Agent - Total number of chat sessions assigned to an Agent, but missed.
Abandoned Chat - Total number of chat sessions assigned to an Agent, but Visitor ended the chat early.
Transferred In - Total number of chat sessions assigned to an Agent from a transfer from another Agent.
Transferred Out - Total number of chat sessions this Agent transferred to another Agent.
AVG Length - Average length of a chat session. This is measured from when an Agent accepts the chat request until the chat session is ended (by Agent or visitor).
AVG Response Time - Average length of how long it took for the Agent to accept a live chat. The timer starts when the 'Incoming Chat' pop up appears on the Agents' console to when an Agent presses the 'Accept' button.

By Tags

This category will allow you to see how many chats were tagged a specific Tag so you can see how many chats were about a certain topic. Also known as a 'Disposition' report.

Tag - Chat sessions which had a specific Tag applied to it.
Total - Total chat sessions (missed and agent completed) that were tagged this Tag.
Total Completed - Total chat sessions that were tagged this Tag and taken successfully by an Agent.
Total Missed - Total missed chat sessions that were tagged this Tag (automated tagging via the Action Bot in the bot flow).
AVG Length - Average length of a chat session. This is measured from when an Agent accepts the chat request until the chat session is ended (by Agent or visitor).
AVG Response Time - Average length of how long it took for the Agent to accept a live chat. The timer starts when the 'Incoming Chat' pop up appears on the Agents' console to when an Agent presses the 'Accept' button.

Live Chat Settings

Most settings can be accessed by logging into your Alive5 account (as an Admin) and visiting: https://app.alive5.com/settings/alivechat .

Max Chat

This setting allows Admins to configure how many chats at most an agent should handle at any given time. This setting can be a set number for all users, or Admins can let the user decide themselves how many chats they’d like to handle at once. If a user is “maxed out” with chats (for example, max chat is at 2, and they are handling 2 live chat sessions), then the next incoming chat will not notify them, and their turn will be skipped.

Chat Timeout

This is how long you'd like your visitor to wait for an Agent before they are sent to the Offline Flow.

By default, the setting is no Chat Timeout. It's advised to have this enabled so that visitors do not wait forever and never hit the Offline Flow if you have no Agents accepting the chat.
To start, you can use a value of 2 minutes for the Chat Timeout. Depending on your customer base and Agent availability, this can be adjusted to suit your needs.

To access this setting, you will need to access the Bot Flow. Once in the Bot Flow, this setting is found in each 'Agent Bot' (under the 'Messages' tab). Be sure to make the updates for every Agent Bot if you have multiple.

It's best to have this option enabled with a value so Visitors do not get stuck waiting forever, and it allows them to go through the offline flow if the timeout is reached.

Ring Modes

There are 3 different types of routing methods (Ring Modes). Each one is unique in how chats are distributed to your agents which also affects the client experience. In all cases, Agents who are logged into the mobile app and in ONLINE status will also receive a push notification and opportunity to accept the chat. Agents in AWAY or OFFLINE status will not receive any notification.

Ring All

When a chat request is initiated by a visitor, logged in and ONLINE agents will simultaneously receive a pop up notification to accept the chat.
The first agent to accept the chat will be assigned specifically to that visitor in a one-to-one chat session.
If the chat is missed and the visitor reaches the “Offline Flow”, the chat session will be marked as “Missed by All” in reporting.

Load Balanced

When a chat request is initiated by a visitor, logged in and ONLINE agents will take turns to receive a pop up notification to accept the chat.
The agent who is “next in line” to accept the chat will be assigned specifically to that visitor in a one-to-one chat session.
If the agent misses the chat, the Visitor will then be routed to the “Offline Flow” configured in the Bot Flow (in the Agent Bot).
If the chat is missed and the visitor reaches the “Offline Flow”, the chat session will be marked as “Missed by Agent” for that specific agent in reporting.

Load Balancer Hunt

When a chat request is initiated by a visitor, logged in and ONLINE agents will take turns to receive a pop up notification to accept the chat.
The agent who is “next in line” to accept the chat will be assigned specifically to that visitor in a one-to-one chat session.
If the agent misses the chat, the Visitor will then be routed to another agent who is “next in line” (“hunting” down the next agent). This assumes there are other agents available to chat.
If there are no more agents online and available to chat, the visitor will finally be routed to the “Offline Flow” configured in the Bot Flow (in the Agent Bot).

Ring Algorithms

For Load Balancer and Load Balancer Hunt, there are 2 algorithms which determine which agent is “Next in Line”.

Ring Algorithm 1: "Even Chats Per Agent"

When a chat comes in, we send it to an available agent based on the time they took their last chat . For example, say there are 3 agents, Agent A, B and C. Agent A took a chat 3 hours ago, Agent B took a chat 2 hours ago, and Agent C took a chat 1 hour ago. Agent A would then receive the chat since their last chat session was 3 hours ago (the longest time without a chat compared to Agent B and C). Then the next chat would go to Agent B, then Agent C.
This ensures that all Agents receive the equal number (volume) of chats regardless of how long a chat session takes to complete.
The “Max Chat” value and current number of chats an Agent is handling does not impact the distribution of Load Balanced chats. The system ignores this in determining which Agent to send a chat to. For example, if Agent A, B, and C, all have 1 chat session. Let’s also assume Agent A took that chat at 1PM, Agent B took it at 2PM, and Agent C took theirs at 3PM:

Then, Agent C ends their chat. So, Agent C will have no chats:

Since Agent A took their last chat at 1PM, the next incoming chat will be routed to Agent A, even if they already have a chat and Agent C does not have a chat:

This example illustrates that the routing system ignores how many chats an Agent has in their queue currently, and sends the next chat to the Agent with the oldest chat first.

Sales chat benefits : Agents would hurry and accept chats and end them quickly to gain more sales chat opportunities vs other Agents. With a routing system that distributes based on available Agent queues, the sales reps who chat quickly and end them will end up with more chats at the end of the day.

Support chat benefits : Agents who take their time in conversing in chats will handle less chats over time, as with a routing system would give more chats to Agents that quickly finish support chats. This scenario would have support reps who end up taking alot more chats, basically penalizing them to be more efficient.

In summary, routing chats based on “last chat taken” and ignoring number of current chats taken by an agent is the most fair because it evenly distributes the number of chats to Agents over a time period. We know that some chats take longer than others, but over time, this should average out for the entire agent pool.

Ring Algorithm 2: "Even Queue"

When a chat comes in, we send it to the least busy agent . For example, say there are 3 agents, Agent A, B and C. Agent A took a chat 3 hours ago, Agent B took a chat 2 hours ago, and Agent C took a chat 1 hour ago. Once Agent C completes their chat, they will be the next in line for the next chat.
This ensures that all Agents are busy chatting equally and the chat queue is distributed evenly based on number of chats taken at the specific time the chat comes in. No agent should be
The “Max Chat” value and current number of chats an Agent is handling does not impact the distribution of Load Balanced chats. The system ignores this in determining which Agent to send a chat to.

Let's assume Agents A, B, and C are all chatting. Then, Agent C ends their "Chat 3". So, Agent C will have no chats:

The next chat request will then go to Agent C:

This example illustrates that the routing system looks at how many chats an Agent has in the entire chat queue currently, and focuses more on evenly distributing the load of chats to even out the chat queue.

Ring Algorithms Summarized:

Even Chats Per Agent - tries to get Agents an equal number of chats.
Even Queue - Agents may not have equal number of chats, but load will be equally distributed amongst Agents, so there should not be an Agent with many chats while another sits idle.

Ring algorithm can be configured under 'Live Chat Settings'.

Why Universities Must Employ an SMS Strategy to Recruit Gen Z Students

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:00:02 GMT

This new generation of prospective scholars grew up in a very different way from how those running academic administration did. Alive5 SMS explains why SMS is a necessary component and how to keep classrooms full and campus enrollment high.

Gen Z, consisting of individuals born after 1995, recognizes the importance and benefits of being mobile-savvy in terms of communication. Nearly all members of Gen Z own a smartphone, with 25% of them starting to use it for connecting to the world by the age of 10. Although it may seem simple to reach out to a tech-savvy audience like Gen Z by simply hitting "send," the reality is that they are constantly bombarded by daily media inputs such as emails, texts, social media, app notifications, and more. As a result, educational institutions seeking to recruit students from this generation may find it challenging to engage with them effectively through outbound messaging unless they adopt communication channels such as texting to foster relationships.

With constant connectivity as a hallmark of Gen Z's daily lives, educational institutions can benefit from utilizing texting as a tool to reach students in a personalized and effective manner. This method of communication helps to overcome the overwhelming noise of other media channels and offer clear and individualized guidance during the admissions process and beyond.

Creating a genuine connection with Gen Z students is crucial for providing them with a memorable educational experience that equips them with the skills and knowledge necessary for success in their careers. The following strategies can be utilized to enhance communication with Gen Z students via texting.

Maximizing Communication with Gen Z Students through Texts: Best Practices

By using a flexible communication tool like texting, educational institutions can empower and engage with the next generation of leaders. Gen Z is making their mark on society with their advocacy for issues such as inequality, the environment, gun violence, and racial justice. They wield social influence, purchasing power, and a powerful united voice. By offering them choices, control, and a sense of ownership in their academic journey, we can celebrate and support their next step towards making a positive impact.
Maintaining a Consistent Message Flow. A strategic messaging schedule offers multiple opportunities to provide students with tailored admissions and university information in brief, easily digestible bursts. Here's how to develop your approach:
Identify your target students.
Choose the most effective communication channel (in this case, SMS)
Determine the number of communication attempts.
Set a time interval between each message.
Develop your messages.
Send, assess, and refine.
Revise with a focus on authenticity. Emphasize quality over quantity by crafting thoughtful and purposeful text messages that address admission-related queries, provide quick answers, and serve as reminders of crucial deadlines. Stand out among the overwhelming daily messages that Gen Z faces in their highly connected world.
Involve Parents in the Process. Including parents in the admissions process can enhance their understanding of your school and the benefits it offers their children. Students often rely on their parents and guardians for guidance during the decision-making process. While focusing on admissions steps and important deadlines for students is crucial, it's also beneficial to engage parents on other key aspects such as financial aid. Provide relevant information, establish trust, and increase your institution's credibility among families.

Enhance Student Engagement with Alive5 SMS

Maximize your student outreach efforts with Alive5 SMS's cutting-edge texting platform. Our solution is designed to help educational institutions, both private and public, stay connected with students, alumni, and new prospects, fostering engagement and driving action. Utilizing Alive5 SMS's person-to-person texting technology can lead to improved outcomes such as higher engagement and action rates, while also reducing opt-out rates, ensuring that students stay informed and involved in their academic journey.

Generations X and Z prefer efficient, direct communication over lengthy conversations. With Alive5 SMS, you can streamline your internal communication strategy and take advantage of the latest advancements in technology to reach and engage your students.

Get in touch with us today to schedule a demo or learn more about how Alive5 SMS can help your institution.

Maximizing Your SMS Texting: A Guide to the Top 12 Best Practices

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 20:52:02 GMT

SMS is faster becoming the preferred method for businesses and customers to communicate marketing promotions, conduct sales consultations and resolve customer complaints but for newcomers, the landscape can be daunting. Here’s a list of SMS best practices to ensure your SMS strategy is as effective as possible.

SMS, or Short Message Service, is a highly effective communication tool for businesses and organizations. From nonprofits to entertainment, education to SaaS, and beyond, companies across all industries are finding success with SMS texting. Even small businesses are leveraging this simple yet powerful method to reach customers directly on their mobile devices. With 90% of text messages being read within three minutes, it's no surprise that SMS is quickly becoming a go-to for businesses looking to connect with their audience.

SMS platforms make it easy to reach thousands of people in just a few minutes and engage in real-time conversations with clients and customers. However, the success of an SMS text messaging campaign depends on more than just the technology. To fully reap the benefits, it's important to follow best practices and avoid common pitfalls.

In this guide, we'll cover the dos and don'ts of mobile marketing, and provide tips and strategies to maximize the impact of your SMS text messaging efforts. By understanding the best practices of SMS text messaging, you can ensure that your business stays compliant and effectively reaches your target audience.

1. Obtain Proper Consent for SMS Text Messaging

Before launching any SMS text messaging campaigns, it's crucial to ensure that you have obtained proper consent from those who will receive your messages. This is known as permission-based marketing, and it's an essential aspect of successful text messaging. Additionally, it's important to abide by local laws and CTIA recommendations to protect consumers from unsolicited communication.

To encourage opt-ins, you can use a variety of channels such as email, social media, or online forms. You can even offer special promotions and deals by asking users to text a specific keyword to a short or long code number. By following best practices for obtaining consent, you can ensure the success of your SMS text messaging efforts while staying compliant.

2. Include Required Legal Disclaimers for Compliance

In order to remain compliant with the guidelines set by the CTIA, an international trade association for the wireless communications industry, it's important to include certain legal disclaimers in your SMS text messages. These may include statements like "Msg & Data rates may apply." To simplify the process, many SMS text messaging platforms, including ours, automatically add these required disclaimers to the appropriate places, so you don't have to worry about them.

Note that subscribers will only see these disclaimers once, when they first opt-in to your list, and not with every subsequent mass text message. By including the necessary legal disclaimers, you can ensure compliance with industry standards and protect your business from any potential legal issues.

3. Make Opt-out Easy & Accessible

It's important to ensure that your subscribers have the option to opt-out of your text messaging program at any time. To make this process as simple as possible, many SMS text messaging platforms, including ours, automatically include the option to opt-out in the auto-reply messages. The opt-out message, "text STOP to cancel," is included in the initial auto-reply and not in subsequent text messages.

Once a subscriber texts "STOP," the Alive5 SMS platform automatically blocks their number from receiving further messages. Making it easy for customers to opt-out is crucial as it can prevent complaints to their wireless carrier and potential filtering of your messages in the future. By providing an accessible opt-out option, you can keep your subscribers happy and maintain the integrity of your text messaging program.

4. Maintain Appropriate Messaging Frequency

It's important to keep the frequency of your text messages appropriate. Overloading subscribers' inboxes with too many messages from your business can lead to annoyance and an increase in opt-out rates. The best practice is to send 2-4 texts per month.

Consider clearly communicating the number of texts you plan to send per month, either in the auto-confirmation message or when advertising your text campaign. However, be cautious to strictly adhere to that number, and if necessary, set a higher threshold to ensure that you never exceed the number of messages you plan to send. By maintaining an appropriate frequency, you can keep your subscribers engaged and avoid overwhelming them with too many messages.

5. Target with Relevant Content

Make sure the texts you send to your subscribers are worth their attention. Be creative, concise, and engaging, and offer something of value, such as an unbeatable deal or useful information. Don't send messages just for the sake of it. Maintaining a balance between frequency and relevance is crucial, as excessive texting can lead to high opt-out rates and a shrinking contact list. Aim to create messages that are so relevant to your audience that they give your texts the same attention as messages from friends. Don't assume text messaging isn't appealing to your target audience - research shows that text-based purchases appeal to a diverse range of people, not just millennials.

6. Use a Conversational Tone

Minimize the use of SMS text messaging shorthand. While not legally required, it can increase your credibility and professionalism. Keep in mind the character count limit, but prioritize making your messages readable and written by a person rather than appearing like an automated system. Prioritize using numbers for dates and limit abbreviations as much as possible. Ensure that your messages can be easily understood by someone in 5th grade.

7. Don’t Send at Night

Limit text messaging to normal waking hours to show respect for your subscribers. Sending texts during the night is not only impolite, but also unproductive, and can quickly lead to loss of customers. To maximize success, be mindful of the best times to reach your subscribers. SMS text messaging is an effective tool for inspiring immediate action, but it is less effective in the middle of the night. Also, be aware of the TCPA restrictions which prohibit telephone solicitations from 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM in the recipient's local time.

8. Link Relevant Keywords

To maximize the impact of your SMS text messaging, use keywords that are closely related to your business. Keywords are words or phrases that your customers can text to opt-in to receive messages, special offers, or exclusive information. It's important to choose keywords that are memorable and clearly associated with your brand to avoid confusion among your customers. Be mindful of the context and choose keywords that align with your messaging. Avoid making the common mistake of using keywords that are not related to your business.

9. Don’t Hesitate to Reply Quickly

By sending a text message, you're establishing a personal connection with your customers. Giving them the opportunity to provide feedback on your products and services makes them feel valued. This valuable information is crucial to the growth of your business. Whether they are responding to tell you how much they love your brand, redeeming a coupon for an immediate purchase, or offering constructive criticism, you can make informed business decisions. To keep them engaged, you can also use an auto-responder to send instant, personalized follow-up messages. However, it's important to maintain the personal touch by incorporating real human interaction.

10. Expand Your Reach While Focusing on Locality

Opt for a text messaging platform that offers national coverage and a range of capabilities, including both short and long codes. Short codes are ideal for mass texting, while long codes enable peer-to-peer messaging. For localized campaigns, utilize long codes with the phone area code of the target area for a more personal touch and higher engagement rates. This approach allows you to grow your marketing efforts nationally while still delivering locally relevant campaigns.

11. Offer Value, Always

Ensure that each text message you send provides value to your subscribers. If someone has given you permission to text them, it's important to give them something worthwhile in return. If your text program is used for marketing purposes, keep your messages fresh and exciting to hold your customers' attention. Offer exclusive access they can't find anywhere else. Consider using limited-time deals to create a sense of scarcity and urgency. If you don't offer value with each message, your subscribers may not see the point of receiving them and may choose to unsubscribe.

12. Track Your Performance

Successful marketers have the ability to track their campaigns' performance and demonstrate their ROI. The right text messaging platform should provide you with the tools to measure your results. By integrating tools such as URL Shorteners and using these custom trackable short links in your SMS messages, you can gather even more data on your audience's behavior. This will allow you to see click-through rates and other key insights, helping you determine which messages and promotions are effective and which ones need improvement. Utilizing SMS text messaging will not only help you refine your campaigns, but also foster stronger relationships and meaningful conversations with your clients and customers.

SMS text messaging has become increasingly important for businesses looking to connect with their target audience, as more consumers spend a majority of their time on mobile devices. Connect with an Alive5 SMS specialist if you’d like to learn more about how SMS can boost your business’ bottom line.

Revolutionizing Communication: How Text Messaging is Overtaking Email as the Preferred B2C Channel

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:00:00 GMT

SMS text messaging is quickly becoming a major player in the marketing world, with the potential to surpass email as the go-to method for driving sales and creating revenue for businesses. While email has long been a champion in the marketing field, SMS text messaging offers unique advantages that make it a strong contender for the top spot.

One of the main distinctions between email and SMS text messaging is their purpose in overall marketing and advertising strategy. Email is great for longer-form communication and visually appealing graphics, while SMS text messaging excels in short-form, personal communication.

When email first emerged, it was widely adopted by both businesses and consumers, leading to an overwhelming amount of marketing emails being sent daily. However, as consumers began to receive a large number of irrelevant emails, regulators had to crack down on email to protect privacy and email service providers implemented spam filters and junk folders. As a result, open and response rates for email have decreased year-over-year.

In contrast, SMS text messaging is currently in its early adoption phase for businesses, but with mobile devices becoming the preferred method of communication for consumers of all ages, it is poised to become the most important shift in business-to-consumer communication. As mobile usage continues to increase, businesses have the opportunity to reach their customers where they are spending the majority of their time - on their mobile phones. With SMS text messaging, businesses can guarantee reach as consumers carry their phones with them at all times and notifications for text messages are often always on.

Alive5 can provide consultation on how you can implement and ramp SMS strategies to engage new sales prospects, as well as provide more comprehensive and personalized customer service, over SMS Broadcasts.

Maximizing Customer Interaction: How Conversational Marketing Drives Successful Engagement

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 14:00:11 GMT

Conversational marketing is an emerging framework that focuses on creating personalized, one-to-one interactions with customers through mobile-first chats. This approach prioritizes the wants and needs of the consumer, meeting them where they are in a convenient and desirable way. With the rise of digital outreach strategies, conversational marketing is becoming increasingly important in creating effective customer engagement.

Effective customer engagement is crucial for businesses as it drives conversions, strengthens customer relationships, enhances brand awareness, and creates a host of other benefits. Conversational marketing embraces tools and solutions that allow enterprises to prioritize one-to-one, back and forth customer conversations through brief, snappy messages on lightweight platforms like SMS and in-app chat.

This approach to marketing is on the rise as it is proven to produce effective customer engagement. Customers who are fully engaged represent a 23% higher share in profitability, revenue, and relationship growth. Businesses that use conversational marketing can meet the needs of customers by connecting with them at a direct level, providing immediate responses and showing empathy and concern.

Conversational marketing also unlocks advanced personalization as it requires a personalized approach to engagement where businesses develop rich customer personas and maintain a comprehensive record of all communications. By treating customers as individuals, businesses can meet their needs and expectations, leading to increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Allow Alive5 to show you how its unparalleled mix of SMS broadcasts, one to one replies and automation can give your business a potent tool for conversational marketing strategies.

Fan Engagement and Outreach in 2023: How SMS is the Proven Method for Selling Sports Tickets

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 19:46:22 GMT

The rise of the mobile first world has fundamentally changed the way fans approach watching games, checking scores, following their favorite play and now, buying tickets to the big game.

Sports brands and marketers should approach the new landscape of ticket sales by utilizing SMS messaging to maximize engagement with fans and increase outreach without adding cost. SMS-based sales have been a leading trend before the pandemic and have now become a staple. The power of SMS lies in its ability to create active engagement, with 98% of text messages being opened, 90% of SMS messages read within the first 3 minutes, and 75% of consumers enjoying receiving promotions and brand messages through text. Brands are increasingly using SMS to communicate with their customers, with global mobile business messaging traffic growing 10% in 2020.

To effectively sell sports tickets, sports teams and marketers should use a tool that enables 1:1 back-and-forths at scale and allows for personalized SMS marketing. Consumers expect brands to know their needs and expectations, with 73% of consumers expecting brands to already know what they want, and 64% expecting tailored engagement based on past interactions. Fans have an emotional and charged relationship to the team and brand, which is why personalization is key.

Sports teams and venues can leverage technology to engage fans in a direct, personalized fashion by using a scalable SMS and messaging solution that integrates with their CRM. This allows for the logging and syncing of fan's history and profile across the enterprise, and personalization details can be used to optimize sports ticket sales strategies. With the right tool, these insights can feed into personalization tokens that offer a 1:1 feel at scale, streamlining the right reach-outs and promotions to be deployed at the right moment.

Talk to an Alive5 specialist who can consult you on how Alive5’s 1-to-1, SMS broadcast, Automation and secure payments over SMS can supercharge your ticket sales operations.

Texting for Health and Wellness

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 17:16:10 GMT

Increase Bookings with SMS

An informational guide for doctors, chiropractor, dentists, med spas, and massage therapist offices.

Enhance communication throughout the entire patient care process

Using texting as a communication tool can greatly improve both patient engagement and office productivity. By allowing patients to text photos of their insurance cards, the onboarding process can be streamlined. Scheduled text reminders can help reduce missed appointments. Texting can also be used to check in with patients after treatment, answer questions, and even request reviews. Overall, a patient texting service makes it much more convenient to connect with patients.

Efficiently connect with potential candidates for medical staffing

Utilize SMS messaging to efficiently schedule interviews and send job postings to multiple candidates simultaneously. Integration with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) allows for easy storage and quick reference of text conversations.

Efficiently communicate with employees and fellow physicians

Texting is a convenient and rapid way to reach out to physicians who have referred patients and to communicate with staff members who are frequently in motion or working at different locations.

Minimize charge-offs

By using texting for collections, healthcare practices can quickly connect with patients who are behind on payments, collect overdue payments more promptly, and minimize charge-offs. Texting is a discreet and non-intrusive way to remind patients of outstanding payments. By using dynamic fields within group messages, personalized reminders can be sent to multiple patients at the same time.

The Best Practices for SMS Opt-Ins

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 02:13:14 GMT

SMS opt-in permission can be tricky to navigate, with all the rules and regulations surrounding texting. At Alive5, we're here to help you understand the best ways to build a compliant SMS opt-in list, so you can communicate with your audiences confidently.

Here's a quick "Crash Course" on some the most common ways to obtain SMS permissions.

1. Verbal Confirmation

Our first example is the most natural and least technical way to obtain opt in permission from a contact. When you’re talking to someone over a phone call or Zoom meeting, you can simply ask them verbally, “Do I have your permission to text?”, or "Can I text you back at your cell number?".

2. Customer Texts In

When a customer sends a text to your phone number displayed on your company website, or opts to send a text message back instead of calling back from their call log is another "natural" form of opt in. The customer wants to connect with you, and having an auto-responder to provide a double opt-in, which is a double confirmation (first one is customer texting in, the second confirmation is the automated reply asking them again) is the best form of opt in.

3. Text Call to Action

You can prompt users to text in and start an opt in process. This would require an automated bot flow set up with a keyword to receive the inbound request and responding with a double opt-in confirmation (or reply STOP to opt out).

This is essentially the same thing as "#2 Customer Texts In" but with a marketing message element attached to it.

This can be delivered over:

Print
Website
Social Media Posts
Broadcast (radio, television, etc)

4. Website Form

During your user registration process, including an acknowledgement section with a checkbox to allow the contact to agree to receiving texts from your organization. This form should have an input for the user’s mobile phone number as well.

This can be delivered over:

Registration Form
Landing Page
Chatbot Flow: This can be embedded in a chat window as an option next to others ways to engage and connect.

Live Example: Alive5 Opt-in Form

5. QR Codes

A special type of QR Code can be generated which starts a text message instead of visiting a website address. When creating this QR code, your SMS number and a message is embedded which opens your mobile phone’s SMS app when scanned.

A new SMS conversation is then pre-populated with an opt-in message which includes a keyword that triggers the opt-in process. The opt-in process is the same as example “3. Text Call to Action” above except with a QR code that initiates everything.

6. Email Campaign

If you are currently running an email newsletter or mailing list, incorporating content in your next campaign to opt in users is an easy way to build your SMS list quickly.

You can use several types of call to actions, such as:

Text Call to Action
QR Code
Combination of Text and QR Code
Link to Website Form

7. Written Permission

Adding verbiage on any written or digital document to ask for permission to text a user can be a great opt-in method. Be sure to have a section for use to fill in their mobile number, and outline your terms of service.

This can be delivered over:

Paper Document
PDF/E-Sign

Best Practices for SMS Opt Ins

For any opt-In method outlined above, here’s some best practices to follow:

Be concise and to the point, and use proper grammar.
Never text out first to obtain permission.
Offer a clear opt-out.
Let customers know that data rates may apply.
Tell customers what they’re consenting to (i.e., marketing messages, updates, message frequency, etc).
Link to full terms of service outlining details of the above.

*This is a guide for recommendations on the various methods to properly opt-in your users and receive consent to start sending SMS/MMS text messages. This is not a replacement for legal advice - please consult your own legal counsel for specifics based on your industry, use case, and geographic area.

Alive5 can help implement any of the use cases above, please contact us at contact@alive5.com or text us at 855-551-8858 for help!

7 Concepts That Will Make You An Expert in Chatbot Marketing

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:14:29 GMT

Master these 7 concepts to become an expert in chatbot marketing

Implementing chatbots into your business has the potential to transform your customer experience. From identifying where and how to implement chatbots, to nailing the tone and images to use, follow simple steps before you develop your first chatbot.

1. Identify the context for where chatbots into your existing business environment.

To start, think through and organize the use case for each potential function of chatbots. Translate each use case into your business by mapping out a strategy.

Lead Generation
Appointment Setting
Surveys
Customer Support

2. Determine what information your customers are looking for.

Next, write down your top 5 business FAQs asked by customers and prospects. Think about each step of your sales process during this process. Begin to anticipate future questions based on relevant updates and information in your operations. Are you launching a product? Is there a big event coming up? Provide key information and details you want to share within the chatbot experience.

Identify and document questions that qualify your prospects

Gather customer information that is vital to your business

3. Identify the best tone of voice that resonates with your audience

The tone of your chatbots should be helpful, informative, and easy to understand. You'll want to dummy-proof the language as much as possible and be clear and direct with your language.

Keep responses concise and minimal

4. Make it easy for customers to connect with a live person when necessary

It's important to offer your customers multiple channels of communication. Embed options to escalate chatbots to more direct modes of communication when needed, including:

Live chat
Texting
Voice options

5. Use GIFs, high-quality images, and videos

Chatbots are the perfect way to make your customers say 'Wow'. Introduce engaging multimedia within your chatbots to help tell the best story about your brand, products, and services. Unique creative resonates with audiences more than text. When coupled together, customers experience the best of both worlds resulting in satisfying brand communications and experiences that leave them craving more.

6. Create sequences and funnels that route to specific departments within your organization

Consider creating unique chatbot flows for different webpages to deliver the most comprehensive self-service interface on your website. Within the chatbot itself, ask customers questions that help you connect them with the right agent or department.

7. Make ongoing improvements to your chatbots

Keep your information up to date and gather feedback to make ongoing improvements to your chatbots. Ask customers questions about the chatbot experience and learn from that feedback to make the chatbot experience even better.

Questions?

Contact our chatbot specialists for a free demo of Alive5, and learn how you can easily implement chatbots in your business today.

Alive5 Public API Overview

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 21:49:08 GMT

Attention Developers!

Alive5 offers a public API which allows you to read/write and update conversational data within Alive5.

Organized using the POSTMAN API model, the API can be accessed: www.alive5.com/api .

Some examples of usage include:

Pulling SMS and live chat conversions and pushing it to your internal databases.

Pulling chat statistics (reporting data) and analyzing it within your own systems.

Sending SMS/MMS texts outbound from your 3rd party systems (scheduling).

Getting a list of channels and users within Alive5.

If you don't find an API endpoint in our library, feel free to contact us at support@alive5.com.

Understanding TCPA Compliance and SMS Texting

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 04:10:17 GMT

What is the TCPA?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) was passed by the United States Congress in 1991 and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush as Public Law 102-243. It amended the Communications Act of 1934. The TCPA is codified as 47 U.S.C. 227. The TCPA restricts telephone solicitations (i.e.,telemarketing) and the use of automated telephone equipment. The TCPA limits the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages, and fax machines. It also specifies several technical requirements for fax machines, autodialers, and voice messaging systems—principally with provisions requiring identification and contact information of the entity using the device to be contained in the message.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_Consumer_Protection_Act_of_1991

This guide may be useful for anyone who uses business SMS within the United States. When sending text messages or phone calls that aren't bidirectional or contact-initiated, you're engaging in "automated telephone dialing, the primary mechanism governed by the TCPA.

TCPA Requirements Prior Consent

Organizations are required to obtain prior written express consent from their contacts before sending messages. The E-SIGN Act requires prior written consent and may include electronic or digital forms of signature (i.e., agreements obtained via email, website form, text message, dial pad or voice recording).website form submissions or text message opt-ins.

When soliciting consent, consider the following:

1) The consumer’s consent to receive such solicitations must be unambiguous, meaning that the consum- er must receive a “clear and conspicuous disclosure” that he/she will receive future calls/text messages that deliver autodialed and/or pre-recorded telemarketing messages; that his/her consent is not a condition of purchase; and he/she must designate a phone number at which to be reached. Consent may not be a condition of sale.

2) When asking your contacts to participate in your service (either through a web form, point of sale, mobile opt-in, or paper document), you must disclose the following: "By participating, you consent to receive text messages sent through an automatic telephone dialing system."

3) This disclosure must be made clear and conspicuous to your contacts before they have opted into your SMS service. This means that you should disclose the use of an “automatic telephone dialing system” (equipment which has the capacity to dial without human intervention) in close proximity to the mobile phone number input.

Condition of Purchase

The TCPA requires that contacts be made aware that their consent is not a condition of making a purchase. This means that your contacts or constituents can’t be forced to consent to receive text messages from your organization when they make a purchase from your organization. When asking your customers to participate in your message service, you must disclose the following: "Consent to these terms is not a condition of purchase."

Related Considerations

All advertising and promotional material must clearly indicate if the service is a subscription.
Subscription terms and billing intervals must be disclosed to your contacts.
You must clearly communicate all material terms and conditions of the program.
All advertising, promotional material, and your "Help" message must clearly display the opt-out information.
The service should not be promoted as "free" when premium fees are associated with the service that the subscriber will pay with a reasonable level of participation in the program.

CTIA Requirements

While this guide is focused on helping you understand and implement TCPA requirements, you might also want to consider Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) requirements. The CTIA is an international industry trade group representing the interests of wireless telecommunications companies. Below are the CTIA requirements for advertising a recurring SMS service to your contacts:

Recurring program description (e.g., 'subscribe to receive recurring SMS offers')
Stop instructions (e.g., 'Text STOP to opt out')
Disclosure that message and data rates may apply (e.g., 'msg&data rates may apply')
T&C/privacy policy link (e.g., 'T&C/Privacy Policy: www.acme.co/privacypolicy')

Opting-Out

According to the TCPA, your contacts should have the ability to opt-out at any time. When a contact sends STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END or QUIT to one of your Alive5 numbers, Alive5 will prevent them from receiving any additional messages until that contact responds START. Specifically, they'll receive the following message:

"You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe."

When that contact resubscribes, they'll receive the following message:

"You have successfully been resubscribed to messages from this number. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg&Data Rates May Apply."

Sending Timeframe

The TCPA stipulates that text messages may only be sent between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the time zone your recipient is in. If your service sends messages to contacts in different timezones, be mindful of when to send out your texts to accommodate all parties.

Record Keeping

To protect your organization from future disputes, it's advisable to maintain each contact's consent for at least four years from that date in which it was given, which is the federal statute of limitations for bringing an action under the TCPA.

How Does the TCPA affect SMS/Text Messaging?

In 2015, the FCC confirmed text messages are “calls” under the TCPA and also clarified that virtually all texting services fall under the broad definition of an “autodialer”. Why It Matters To You: Violation of the TCPA is a serious matter, with statutory damages between $500-$1,500 per violation (per call or text message).

The 2 SMS/Text Message Formats

Short Code - a 5-6 digit phone number (i.e. 53214)
Long Code - In US, a 10 digit phone number (i.e. 512-333-4444)

Use Cases and Compliance/Opt-In Requirements

When it comes to SMS and business, there are 3 main types of use cases:

Conversations - a one to one messages sent between a customer and customer service agent (CSR). This can be initiated by the customer or CSR and sent manually by person.
Reminders - a one-way message sent by an automated system like a scheduler to remind customers of an upcoming appointment or event.
Mass Texting - a one-way mass marketing message with a call to action. The message can contain a promotion, survey, or other call to action.

Why Use Alive5?

Trusted Network - Alive5’s underlying infrastructure is powered by Bandwidth (www.bandwidth.com) and Amazon Web Services (aws.amazon.com) both major cloud computing platforms. Each one holds and represents the industry standard for security, reliability, and compliance. Additionally, Alive5 is SOC2 and GDPR compliant,

Specifically related to SMS and TCPA, Alive5 handles standard English-language reply messages such as STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE or CANCEL which allow end users to prevent unwanted messages.

Messages can traverse carriers around the world, each with varying levels of dependability. Bandwidth rigorously evaluates carriers to rule out SIM farms and carrier filtering. A unique feedback API is then used to actively monitor quality and adjust routes for extreme reliability and message deliverability.

SMS Best Practices

Using common sense is the first step to ensure you’re doing things in a compliant manner. Within Alive5 interfaces we’ve designed built-in safeguards to help with getting new users acquainted.

Legal Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Materials on this website are published by Alive5 to provide users with free information regarding the laws and policies described. While Alive5 provides a SMS platform designed with compliance in mind, you should seek legal advice from an attorney in your own state.

Shifts in College Enrollment Post-Covid

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 21:30:18 GMT

College Enrollment Post-Covid is Down Dramatically from Pre-Covid Levels

In 2022, in all educational sectors, college enrollment was down 4.1%, and community colleges were hit even harder with a drop of 7.8% (Center, 2022). In spring of 2022, enrollment in public institutions were down 5%, and freshman enrollment was down 7.9% (Center, 2022).

4.1% ��
college enrollment (all edu sectors)

7.8% ��
in community colleges

What is driving this change? Even after the chaos that Covid caused in colleges and universities across the world, the perceived value of a college degree seems to be declining (Saul, 2022).

Is a College Degree Really Worth It?

Students are questioning whether a college degree is really the ticket to a good-paying job and entry into the middle class. Doug Shapiro, the National Clearinghouse Research Center’s executive director, who conducted the study, said, “That suggests it’s more than just the pandemic to me; it’s more than just low-income communities that are primarily served by community colleges,” Dr. Shapiro said during a conference call with reporters.

“It suggests that there’s a broader question about the value of college and particularly concerns about student debt and paying for college and potential labor market returns” (Saul, 2022).

He said that students may be looking at jobs that require a college degree as equally, or even less attractive than, career paths do not require the degree (Saul, 2022).

Even before the pandemic, however, college admissions were dropping, partially due to age demographic changes and the American population growing older and out of traditional college-age, to concerns about mounting student debt, to an intense immigration debate that kept international students out of US universities (Saul, 2022).

Attitudes about higher education’s value, and concern with college costs continue to plague students and cause them to not attend college, however, this concern seems inconsistent with the drop in community college attendance and state college attendance, which is cheaper than elite private schools, which have not seen the same drop in attendance that public schools have.

�� in the Room: Student Debt

Student debt is a big reason students are choosing to stay out of college (Marcue, 2021). Students identify high interest rates and difficulty in achieving loan forgiveness as two barriers to applying for student loans, and therefore, may choose career paths that don’t require a college degree (Marcue, 2021), and some students report that money spent on education is not a good financial decision and the monetary benefits of attending school is not worth it, even while acknowledging that a college education gave them more career opportunities (Marcue, 2021).

Student loan amounts can reach over 46% of take-home income after beginning the first job after college (Marcue, 2021). A strong market for skilled labor, with an unprecedented lack of workers, increasing pay and training opportunities (2022 Trends for Skilled Labor, 2022.) is also compounding the attendance problem. Students now have opportunities to learn high-paying trades that don’t require a college degree, or college debt.

The Wide Availability of Career Choices Due to Labor Shortages

In addition to the lack of confidence that college is “worth it,” and enormous student debt accumulated upon graduation, the wide availability of career choices that don’t require a college degree is the most visible significant factor to the decrease in college attendance.

Labor shortages from the past years have accelerated even more due to the pandemic. The labor shortage will continue to be a significant challenge for businesses - a major benefit to skilled trade workers, whose skills are in high demand.

Another component that has added to labor shortages is vaccine mandates and OSHA regulations, which motivate some workers to remain at home or be more selective about their jobs.

Reversing the Trend

With new options for attending school, such a wider availability of programs geared towards adult students and online classes, as Covid becomes normalized and campuses re-open, the downward trend may lose a bit of steam and even begin to reverse, the fundamental problems of student debt, a strong market for skilled labor, and doubt about college’s worth, will persist, and will continue to keep admissions lower than they were a decade ago.

Why Student Engagement �� Should Be a Top Priority

Whether it’s during the admissions process, orientation, or enhancing on-campus student experience, our core belief is that the more conversations and touch points you have, the more opportunities are generated for students and the university. For the Post-Covid era this is a critical piece to capture as many new enrollments and prevent as many drop outs as possible.

To cast a wider net, Alive5 establishes online and offline “engagement points” where students can interact with the university via their preferred communication channel - whether it’s web chat, SMS, social media, or even a QR code. With a multichannel approach to messaging, Alive5 meets students where it’s most convenient for them to connect.

As a final step, providing 24/7 automation and human assistance will further attract students to things that offer "instant gratification" and satisfying feedback loops. As a result, you'll capture a broader pool of students and increase your chances of finding qualified applicants and keeping students engaged throughout their attendance.

The Alive5 Student Engagement Formula:

Multi-Channel x Automation →
More Conversations & Engagement →
More Successful Student Experience

Alive5 empowers admissions, financial aid, and internal departments with a “Marketing Mindset” and an easy-to-use conversational engagement toolkit to apply anywhere on or off campus to better connect with students.

See how Alive5 helped American University deploy a student chatbot assistant during the Pandemic: https://vimeo.com/686041138

To learn more about Alive5, book a demo today .

References:

2022 Trends for Skilled Labor. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://resources.skillwork.com/8-trends-for-skilled-labor-in-2022.
Center, N. R. (2022, May 26). Current Term Enrollment Estimates. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates/.
Marcue, B. (2021). They borrowed money to pay for college. Here’s what they would change about student loans.
Saul, Stephanie. (2022). College Enrollment Drops, Even as the Pandemic’s Effects Ebb. New York Times.

Customer Success Spotlight: Clemson Athletics

support@alive5.com — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 21:12:21 GMT

Our team recently interviewed Logan Welch, Manager of Sales & Service team at Clemson Athletics about the Alive5 platform. In the interview, he shares how his team leverages the chat platform for text messaging at scale, managing customer communications, and customer chat via its website.

A5: Please tell us about your organization, customers, and communications.

LW: Clemson Athletics has been using alive5 since this summer for both chat and sms features. We typically have 80,000 people attend each football game (6-7 per year) and have thousands of attendees at our other sports. We also have roughly 18,400 donors to our booster club, IPTAY, who donate anywhere from $60-$25,000 annually. We have primarily used the website chat functions to help drive ticket sales via our website, clemsontigers.com .

We have also built out a very robust chat bot that can handle customer service issues 24/7 and is staffed by our team during business hours. We switched to mobile ticketing this year for football so each home game week we would send a text to every account holder who had yet to download their tickets reminding them to download their tickets.

A5: How do you use texting in your organization? What problems does Alive5 help you solve?

LW: We primarily use the texting functions for outbound texts to ticket holders. Alive5 helps by giving us the ability to remind ticket holders to download their mobile tickets before they arrive at the game which helps to reduce wait times and entry times. We also send texts to season ticket holders to remind them of renewal deadlines using alive5 which gives us another layer of communication with our fans.

Alive5 has made us much more efficient in our communication ability with our fans and allowed us to increase our level of customer service.

A5: What are your thoughts about the application, interface, and usability of Alive5 for texting? How does it compare to products you’ve used in the past?

LW: The usability of alive5 is great. Both the chat and texting functions were easy to train our staff on and they were able to start using it quickly. It’s been a very intuitive platform for us and we use it every day. Previously, we used replybuy for sms and the design and interface of Alive5 is much, much better.

A5: How does it help you serve your fans and customers better?

LW: We use the live chat and bot functions to allow us to provide 24/7 customer service to our fan base, even if we are not in the office. This allows us to add another layer of customer service to our fans and continue to improve our fan experience.

A5: What is your experience working with our support team?

LW: We’ve only had one issue that required the support team and they were very prompt and transparent in their communications with us and resolved the issue quickly.

Special thanks to Logan Welch and the Clemson Athletics program. Alive5 serves sports teams and education clients to help manage student communications amongst teams. For more information about our platform for education, please reach out to our team or email us at contact@alive5.com .

Note: This interview was edited to fit publication.

Twilio's Acquisition of Zipwhip Confirms Sunset of SMS Services

Wed, 17 Nov 2021 23:46:09 GMT

If You Use Zipwhip, You Should Read This...

As a result of Twilio's recent acquisition of Zipwhip in July, it was not known how Zipwhip customers would be affected until recently. Many Zipwhip customers are still not aware of the change and deadlines, and Twilio does not seem to have much concern of what impact this transition is having on their customers.

Twilio announced on October 31st, 2021, upon the conclusion of the sunset period, the Zipwhip SMS service will be shut down permanently - all access, text conversations, and contacts will no longer be available. Zipwhip’s cancellation policy has not changed, which makes it difficult to opt out early to find a different provider.

Approximately 30,000 businesses currently using Zipwhip will be forced to change. According to reports, Twilio has indicated the official sunset date will be December 2022, which in today's world is a blink of an eye.

Migrating from one provider to another is never ideal, but it's a great opportunity to rethink your communications strategy and work with vendors who can offer more value than those who are currently in place.

Questions to Ask When Finding a Zipwhip Replacement

SMS is quickly becoming THE main channel of communications between a businesses and their customers, and when picking a SMS/text messaging replacement you want to ask these questions:

Can all my past text conversations, photos, and customer contacts be transferred to the new system?
Will all my existing phone numbers be easily transferrable?
Which backend SMS provider does this provider utilize?
Is this provider reputable? Will it be acquired just like Zipwhip was?
What kind of support does the provider have? Will I be able to actually talk to someone vs just email?
Does the new provider perform the same features my team had with Zipwhip?
What other features does the new provider have that makes it different? What's the vision for the future?

Why Alive5 is the Perfect Replacement

Can all my past text conversations, photos, and customer contacts be transferred to the new system?
Changing providers can result in the loss of historical customer data - such as conversations, photos, and SMS phone numbers. It's always a good idea to keep this invaluable information, which is often spanning a number of years of history, for the sake of record keeping since you never know when you'll need access to it. As an added bonus (at no extra charge), Alive5 now offers a unique migration tool that automatically transfers Zipwhip data to your Alive5 account, so when you log in, you don't have to start from scratch and can carry on with text conversations where you left off in Zipwhip.
Will all my existing phone numbers be easily transferrable?
Yes, all existing phone numbers used for SMS on Zipwhip should be transferrable - usually completed within minutes, which should be little or no downtime and no lost messages.
Which backend SMS provider does this vendor utilize?
Alive5 utilizes Bandwidth.com, an enterprise-grade communications provider which powers organizations like Google, Zoom, and Microsoft.
Is the provider reputable? Do they have a track record?
Since its start in 2007, Alive5 (Alive Technologies Inc) has been providing phenomenal value to SMBs and large brands in professional sports, travel and hospitality, and education. Some clients include the New York Yankees, Golden State Warriors, Royal Caribbean, and University of Texas at Austin. Our Houston team is a part of a few entrepreneurial ecosystems like TheCannon, Techstars, and Capital Factory in Austin.
What kind of support does the provider have? Will I be able to actually talk to someone vs just email?
Alive5 provides phone, email, live chat, SMS and Zoom support. You can book a one-on-one meeting with us at any time!
Does the new provider perform the same features my team had with Zipwhip?
Yes! Core features such as text enabling land lines, shared inboxes, sending personalized messages to multiple contacts, CRM integration, keywords, auto away messages, and more are available for you out of the box.
What other features does the new provider have that makes it different? What's the vision for the future?
With Alive5, we aim to make messaging easier than ever before. While Alive5 offers similar features as Zipwhip, SMS is only one of the available channels. As well as texting your customers, you can also chat with them on your website using live chat and send and receive messages through Facebook Messenger! To stay in touch wherever your customers are, you'll have access to new chat channels as we further develop future integrations.

Chatbot automation and AI are two key features of Alive5. When your staff is limited or not online, a chatbot can take over to capture and qualify new leads, offer support, or just take a message for your team to reply back later. Playbooks from Alive5 provide you ways to do much more than just chat, and could possibly replace other vendors who are charging you for other sales, marketing, and billing functions.

Next Steps - Schedule a Demo

Request a Strategy Session with us by clicking here and we'll get you texting in no time!

Client Success Story: Doherty & Dahl Consulting

support@alive5.com — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:41:43 GMT

An Interview With Alive5 Client Doherty

When our founder Dustin created his first live chat application in his dorm room back in 2004, he had the slightest idea of how far his tinkering would take him. That application eventually turned into WebsiteAlive, which was used by thousands of businesses. Fast forward over fifteen years later: WebsiteAlive is being sunsetted, and he’s building Alive5 -- a modern business communications platform that meets the needs of various businesses and industries that are competing in today’s digital world.

We sat down with Sarah Johnson, the Director of Operations at Doherty -- a successful staffing firm located in the midwest that migrated from our legacy live chat platform, WebsiteAlive, to our new multi channel solution, Alive5.

In this interview, we discussed how Alive5 solves their business challenges and what it’s like to work with the Alive5 team.

A5: Thanks for taking some time to chat with us, Sarah. Please tell us about your company and industry.

SJ: Doherty has been in business since 1980 and we offer customized workforce solutions to companies throughout the Midwest. We are one of the largest Minnesota based staffing firms and are primarily focused on the light industrial and clerical market. We also have another company, Dahl Consulting who also uses the new Alive5 platform. They actually went live today! They focus on the mid to higher skill placements in the IT, Accounting/Finance and Business Professional sector throughout the US.

A5: How do you use the Alive5 technology inside your business?

SJ: We mainly use the system to communicate directly with our candidates, current employees, and future prospects who are looking to partner with Doherty and Dahl. We currently are using the Alive5 chatbot inside of both companies.

A5: What problem does the chatbot solve for Doherty and Dahl? In what ways does it help you?

SJ: The chatbot allows us to answer incoming questions prior to the candidates or employees reaching out to our live agents. This saves us a lot of time, so our team can work on sourcing candidates rather than answering questions.

A5: What aspect of the Alive5 chatbot do you think is most noteworthy?

SJ: The overall feel of the chatbot is amazing, but I don’t know if there is just one feature that I can choose!

A5: Well, thank you for sharing how Alive5 is used in your businesses. What’s it been like working with our technical support team?

SJ: The support team, especially Michele have been absolutely amazing. Anytime we have a question, or something is not working as expected, she’s on it right away. When I’ve reached out to Alive5 support, I’ve had the same experience.

A5: Sarah, thank you so much for chatting with us today. We appreciate your feedback and we look forward to continuing to serve you and the team at Doherty and Dahl.

SJ: Thank you, we appreciate and look forward to working with the Alive5 team.

To learn more about the Alive5 platform, get in touch with our team today.

Capturing UTM Parameters from Web Chat Sessions

support@alive5.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 20:15:22 GMT

This document will highlight the steps you need to obtain UTM Parameters from your web chat sessions. This only applies to live (web) chat , not SMS or Facebook Messenger interactions.

If you need further assistance, help or support, please contact support@alive5.com .

Why Would You Need This?

If you are focused on marketing attribution (trying to find out who or what ad campaigns are bringing you traffic) analyzing UTM Parameters ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTM_parameters ) are a must.

If you are embedding the Widget Code on a web page, Alive5 will automatically capture UTM parameter variables and save them with the specific chat session.

Example: If a Facebook Ad sends a visitor to your website, it will append UTM parameters to your website URL:

https://www.example.com/page?& utm_campaign =campaign1& utm_medium =social& utm_source =facebook.com& utm_content =banner1

Then, you can go to reporting within Alive5, and download the Conversations report, and see all the captured UTM variables:

If you have any questions, please contact us at: support@alive5.com .

Passing Custom Variables Into Web Chat Sessions

support@alive5.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 18:23:31 GMT

This document will highlight the steps you need to pass custom variables into your web chat sessions. This only applies to live (web) chat , not SMS or Facebook Messenger interactions.

If you need further assistance, help or support, please contact support@alive5.com .

Why Would You Need This?

This creates a customize web chat experience by automatically including Visitor data (first name, last name, email, phone number) into every chat session. For example, if your web site has a member portal and if you have access to their session information (usually stored in your database), you can pass that information into Alive5 to creating a personalized experience without prompting the Visitor to manually enter their name and other details. When a chat starts, the Agents will be able to easily identify who is chatting in.

Before you can pass in a Visitor’s name, email, phone, etc, you will need to be able to pull that information from YOUR system. For example, if you store that information in a cookie, you will need to expose it and embed it into our chat code.

This may require help from your web developer, or just let us know and we can help.

How Is It Done?

If you’d like to pass in your own custom variables into chat, such as first name, last name, emails, and other account specific information, this can be done with some minor code additions to the existing web widget or short link.

There are 2 ways to pass variables into Alive5 web chats - through the Widget and through a Short Link.

Passing Variables into a Short Link (integration with web link)

An example of a short link:

https://alive5.com/UiwIgpU

There are 5 variables currently available that can be passed into each request:

An embed your custom variables, include additional parameters to the URL with your variables:

https://alive5.com/UiwIgpU? firstname =joe& lastname =smith& email =joe@gmail.com& notes =this%20is%20a%20paying%20client& phone =+18329995555

Passing Variables into a Widget (integration with web pages)

There are 19 variables currently available that can be passed into each request:

To embed your custom variables, modify your existing Widget code which looks something like this:

Insert the variables in red as needed:

Where Do the Custom Variables Go?

For both Widget and Short link integration, when the Visitor visits your web chat, you will be able to see the custom variables pre-populated in the Contacts pane in the console:

After the live chat session is complete, you can then go to Reporting section, and download the Conversations report .CSV file, and see all the captured Visitor variables:

If you have any questions, please contact us at: support@alive5.com .

Introducing Alive5!

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 16:54:10 GMT

The All-In-One Chat Platform

If you are a WebsiteAlive user, read this first: https://www.alive5.com/websitealive-vs-alive5-comparison-and-migration-plan

Over the last decade, under the " WebsiteAlive " brand, we've learned ALOT from the live chat business. Working with startups to large enterprises, professional and college sports teams, higher-ed universities, we’ve put together a list of what would make our next platform successful.

Instead of making incremental updates to the existing platform (AliveChat), we knew we needed to start fresh with the latest technology stack - and rebuild from the ground up.

We’ve been busy over the last 2 years working on our new messaging platform. In a nutshell, Alive5 combines all messaging & chat channels (Live Chat, SMS, Facebook Messenger) and adds a layer of AI automation on top.

We'd like to refer to 2020 as the "Year of the Chatbot".

Jacksonville Jaguars Guest Services Bot

Why? 141 Billion Messages.

Yesterday, the world’s leading messaging apps (WeChat, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, SMS) generated over 141 billion messages! This number is growing by the day, as consumers make less phone calls and text more. This behavior is now influencing businesses - texting and chat is the preferred medium over phone and email. Business communications is the lifeblood of any business. We're here to make messaging "just work".

Summary: Why Live Messaging?

Consumers Prefer Chat Over Phone Calls and Email
Consumers Want Answers Instantly

The “FrankenChat” Problem

Our customers were using WebsiteAlive for live chat, but also had other vendors and logins - one for SMS/Texting, Facebook Messenger, and yet another platform to build AI Chatbots. In this example, that’s 4x the vendors, 4x the cost, 4x the training, and 4x the integration! Just imagine your sales team having to open 4 browser tabs and switch between different apps and handling phone calls at the same time. Similarly for the mobile side of things - 4x the mobile apps to manage all the communication channels. Just like "Frankenstein", "FrankenChat" is the need to work with multiple chat vendors to stitch everything together to make it all work together. As a result, productivity is reduced, costs go up, and customers drop through the cracks.

What Does Omni-Channel Success Look Like?

What makes a successful multi-channel platform (also referred to “Omni-Channel”) is ease of use, especially when it comes to handling conversations from different communication channels. With Alive5, agents can easily adopt the system with minimal training. Workflows are very similar for any messaging channel, so it’s easy to start with one channel such as live chat, and offer SMS/Text messaging right away. The different behaviors for each channel (as we know real-time live chat requires a faster reply to customers vs SMS or Facebook) are handled in a way that's easy to toggle back and forth easy without missing a beat.

Live Chat (Human) Challenges

Working with our base of WebsiteAlive live chat customers over the years, we’ve noticed there was one common theme - human staffing limitations. There are 2 types of teams - one that's dedicated to live chat, and the other - agents that “do alot of things” while chatting with customers. For chat agents who are dedicated to live chat and that’s all they do, we won’t cover that - they have the best results since they are always logged in. On the other hand, the majority of our customers “do alot of things” outside of live chat. They’re logged into live chat while answering phone calls, talking to coworkers, working on internal tasks, and using a million other apps at the same time. This divided attention translates to not always being online to accept chats - and we’ve seen some clients not even log in for a few days! This means website visitors usually get the “Offline Form”.

Chatbots - The Answer to Dreaded Offline Forms and Lost Leads

“Sorry our Agents are not online, please fill out this form and we’ll get back to you.” works to capture leads, but with Alive5, we’ve introduced Automated Chatbots - a better experience and something that generates higher conversions (10-25%) due to better engagement.

Now, with Alive5, our simple automated chatbot replaces forms with a natural, conversational flow which in the end has better conversions.

While we started with lead generation Chatbot as a main focus, we discovered that Chatbots opened up many new use cases. Before, a WebsiteAlive chat window could really perform 3 functions - a form for Visitors when your team was offline, a pre-chat survey form and Agent routing by Department when online. Due to the dynamic nature of chatbots, you could build a bot to function for like a "mobile app" and extend functionality to really infinite possibilities.

Facebook Messenger Challenges

Chat agents that were using the native interface provided out of the box from Facebook resulted in three main challenges. The first one was that Marketing teams were logged into Facebook and siloed away from the sales and support team who were on live chat. More support issues were being handled in Facebook and the two teams were disconnected since they were on different platforms.

Problem #1: Sharing of Logins

The issue of sharing logins is a problem our platform solves. Giving employees login to your Facebook page can create issues like tracking who is actually handling a messenger conversation and allowing access to change the content on your Facebook page.

Problem #2: No Reporting or Analytics

Connecting your Facebook Page to Alive5 removes these risks and gives you additional intelligence on these conversations with our reporting tools such as agent response time and further sales/disposition tracking.

Problem #3: Facebook Messenger Not Built for Advanced Support

The final issue was just simple support workflow. Facebook Messenger was designed initially for consumer use, and finally built an interface for businesses, suitable only for basic support tasks, but not specialized enough for the advanced functionality such as labeling of chats, email delivery, CRM integration, and performance reporting.

The Business SMS Texting Revolution

When Twilio released a text messaging API in 2010, it created a new communication channel for businesses. Now, SMS is not only possible from mobile devices, they can be done through a standalone mobile or desktop app. A2P (Application to Peer) messaging allowed businesses to easily reserve a new dedicated local or toll-free phone number to use as their text line, or even "text-enable" their existing phone number to send and receive texts. "Text enabling" a phone line allows a 3rd party such as Alive5 to connect to the SMS/MMS capabilities of a phone number without affecting the existing voice line calls.

When we launched our first version of SMS texting with Alive5 in 2017, one of our first customers, Alcatraz Tickets, was able to sell out tours to Alcatraz Island via SMS by adding a "Click to Text" widget on their website. Once the customer connected via SMS, they were able to reach a ticket rep instantly from their mobile phone - for pre-sales questions, during checkout, and finally on the day of the tour.

Cutting Through The Noise

Now many of our sports teams have adopted texting for their ticket representatives to be able to connect to season ticket holders for renewals. Previous attempts to reach out to customers via email and voicemails would go unanswered, but the SMS outreach resulted with instant replies due to the convenience of communication for the busy customer.

Integrating AI Into The Mix

Finally, artificial intelligence and automation has made its way into lead generation and support - and integrating an external AI Chatbot can be challenging. For example, when the AI Chatbot can’t help, how does it seamlessly get transferred to an Agent using another messaging app without disrupted flow? What happens after the AI chat conversation was completed by the chatbot, how does that transcript get sent to the other system (like live chat or CRM)? There’s another integration task there. Lastly, how does an Agent take over a Chatbot session and get in a live session with the customer? Alive5 has solved all those problems, thus saving hours of integration costs - so now artificial intelligence works seamlessly with your chat agents.

Takeaway

We built our new platform to be the last messaging solution you'll ever need. With our new, modern software backend coupled with artificial intelligence, we've got your business communications covered. Create more conversations and open up new opportunities with Alive5.

Troubleshooting: Notifications, Pop-ups & Emails

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 21:30:52 GMT

This guide was created to make sure your team is set up to receive every type of notification in Alive5 so you don't miss a customer request.

I'm not receiving Desktop (browser) Pop Up Notifications

Agents not getting browser notifications (pop-ups & sound) for new Live Chat, SMS, or Facebook Messenger requests is a common issue that can be resolved quickly by following the steps below.

Step 1: Check your Alive5 Settings

Admin: For SMS

Make sure you have Live Chat & SMS notifications enabled under 'Settings & Visual Notifications'. Log into your alive5 account, and visit https://app.alive5.com/settings/notifications . You should see the options below - toggle the options ON for the sounds and popups you wish to see and hear:

Step 2: Install Chrome Desktop Shortcut

If you are using the Google Chrome browser, the Chrome Desktop App Shortcut allows you to run Alive5 without visiting our website to log in.

LEGACY USERS: Uninstall Windows EXE

If you are using Windows, and have installed the Desktop .EXE App, please remove and delete this from your computer. This is an application we no longer support. As a faster and more streamlined approach, we've introduced the Chrome Desktop App Shortcut (above).

Step 3: Check your Desktop Computer Settings

There's 2 main areas where you can configure pop up notifications. In your Windows Notification Tray and Chrome Settings.

For Microsoft Windows Users

Click on the Windows icon and search for "Notifications" and the below panel will show up. Make sure " Get notifications from apps and other senders " is enabled.

For Mac OS/X Users

Be sure to disable "Do Not Disturb" settings.

In your 'Systems Settings' (click on the Apple icon at the top left), search 'notifications'. Go to Google Chrome (or whichever browser you are using), and make sure "Allow notifications" is enabled.

Step 4: Check your Google Chrome Browser Settings

While you can use any modern browser, we recommend Google Chrome. These type of settings should be similar to other browsers. In your Chrome browser, type 'chrome://settings/content/notifications?search=notifications' in your address bar.

Look for the App ' https://app.alive5.com '. Make sure for Notifications the setting is set to 'Allow'.

Clearing Your Browser Cache - Google Chrome

Clearing the browser cache may help resolve some issues with alive5. Watch this Video:

https://www.loom.com/share/50facf3780c4441ebe71390b8728b44a

Configure Memory Saver Settings

In your Chrome browser, type: 'chrome://settings/?search=memory+saver'. Be sure to add 'https://app.alive5.com' under the section 'Always keep these sites active':

That's It! You should be able to receive pop up notifications after completing the above steps.

Insights and Resources From Alive5

How Pricing Works

Subscription + Usage Fees

Users

Lines

Text Credits

Try our SMS Length Calculator

An Easy Way to Estimate Credits

Broadcasts and Text Credits

Rollover and Overages

Privacy Policy Compliance for 10DLC

Why is a compliant Privacy Policy required?

3 key requirements

How do I fix It?

Additional information and guidance

The 4 Key Requirements for 10DLC Compliance

1. Matching EIN and Legal Business Name

2. Valid Web/Online Presence

3. Opt In Language

4. Privacy Policy Compliance

10DLC and What it Means for Business SMS/Texting

What is 10DLC?

10DLC Compliance Process with Alive5

Optimizing Your Live Chat: Reporting and Configuration

Goals and Objectives

Performance Report

By Channel

By Tags

Live Chat Settings

Max Chat

Chat Timeout

This is how long you'd like your visitor to wait for an Agent before they are sent to the Offline Flow.

Ring Modes

Ring All

Load Balanced

Load Balancer Hunt

Ring Algorithms

Ring Algorithms Summarized:

Why Universities Must Employ an SMS Strategy to Recruit Gen Z Students

Maximizing Communication with Gen Z Students through Texts: Best Practices

Enhance Student Engagement with Alive5 SMS

Maximizing Your SMS Texting: A Guide to the Top 12 Best Practices

1. Obtain Proper Consent for SMS Text Messaging

2. Include Required Legal Disclaimers for Compliance

3. Make Opt-out Easy & Accessible

4. Maintain Appropriate Messaging Frequency

5. Target with Relevant Content

6. Use a Conversational Tone

7. Don’t Send at Night

8. Link Relevant Keywords

9. Don’t Hesitate to Reply Quickly

10. Expand Your Reach While Focusing on Locality

11. Offer Value, Always

12. Track Your Performance

Revolutionizing Communication: How Text Messaging is Overtaking Email as the Preferred B2C Channel

Maximizing Customer Interaction: How Conversational Marketing Drives Successful Engagement

Fan Engagement and Outreach in 2023: How SMS is the Proven Method for Selling Sports Tickets

Texting for Health and Wellness

Increase Bookings with SMS

Enhance communication throughout the entire patient care process

Efficiently connect with potential candidates for medical staffing

Efficiently communicate with employees and fellow physicians

Minimize charge-offs

The Best Practices for SMS Opt-Ins

1. Verbal Confirmation

2. Customer Texts In

3. Text Call to Action

4. Website Form

5. QR Codes

6. Email Campaign

7. Written Permission

Best Practices for SMS Opt Ins

7 Concepts That Will Make You An Expert in Chatbot Marketing

Master these 7 concepts to become an expert in chatbot marketing

1. Identify the context for where chatbots into your existing business environment.

2. Determine what information your customers are looking for.

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3. Identify the best tone of voice that resonates with your audience

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4. Make it easy for customers to connect with a live person when necessary

Next Steps - Schedule a Demo

Request a Strategy Session with us by clicking here and we'll get you texting in no time!

Why Would You Need This?