Just about everyone on campus today is carrying a mobile phone – so what better way to get important messages out to students, faculty, and staff than by SMS text messaging! CONTACT™ On Campus empowers schools to get important information out to the members of their community instantly and simultaneously - nothing is faster and more effective at reaching everyone than an SMS alert to their cell phone!
CONTACT™ On Campus is a communication solution that allows you to send out mass notification messages by SMS, as well as by email and fax. It can be used for ‘notification only’ or as an interactive two way service where replies can either be managed automatically based on key words, or directed to the appropriate staff to respond in a more personalised manner.
CONTACT™ On Campus is web based, easy to implement and can be easily managed by your administrative staff. All you need is an internet connection and browser at the operator’s workstation.
It is ideal to communicate a wide range of information quickly and effectively with all or the relevant parts of your campus community. You will of course want to have an ‘all community’ Group but you can also set up any number of sub groups, and of any size – for example faculty, a specific department, dorm, or even class. The system allows you to have pre-prepared message templates set up and ready to go, you can schedule messages to be sent at a particular time and date, and there is a full range of reporting available. The system records all outbound and inbound messages enabling you to keep accurate records of the communication history.
You can also integrate CONTACT™ into your campus voice communications systems.
There are a huge range of uses for CONTACT™ On Campus from delivering highly time sensitive important safety notices to more routine information – here are just a few for you to think about!
- Emergency Broadcasts
- Events
- School Closings
- Scheduled Maintenance activities
- Payments reminders
- Sport Scores
- Class and exam information
- Social Calendar information
- Special offers and promotions
How CONTACT™ works:
CONTACT™ On Campus is a web based system that allows your nominated operators to communicate with your campus community via SMS, as well as email and fax. You can use the system solely to broadcast information or it can operate as an interactive two-way system.
The system is easy to set up – all that is needed is a web link and a standard browser. The contact details for the community can be loaded into the systems database by downloading it from other systems within the school in a standard format, or you may choose to have them self register by sending a message to the system. Registering for different Groups or deactivating the service can also be managed automatically.
CONTACT™ can hold multiple contact information such as mobile number, email address, fax number as well as address details and other phone numbers.
The operator is able to set up different ‘groups’ within the system so that you have full flexibility to choose to either broadcast messages to all or to whichever part/s of the campus community required.
The system operator can set up a number of ‘template’ messages in advance or choose to type one as required. The message can be sent immediately or scheduled to go at a later time and date.
You can choose to use the system as ‘broadcast only’ or as an interactive two-way system. Inbound messages (by SMS text message, email or fax) can be seen and actioned by the operator with the system storing records of the communication. Extensive reporting of all outbound and inbound activity is available.
CONTACT™ can be used standalone by a user/s within, for example, the security function of a campus. Alternately many CONTACT™ customers find it works well to operate the system as part of their call centre / reception operation where it can be more widely used as a regular as well as emergency communication system on the campus.
Features & Benefits
- Empowers you to communicate immediately with your campus community keeping them safe and informed - in an emergency or for time sensitive information there is no quicker way to reach your campus community than straight to their cell phone.
- Supports Multiple Groups and multiple communication channels – you can use the system for campus wide communications or to specific groups by SMS text messaging, email and fax.
- ‘Broadcast’ and two way communication are supported - CONTACT™ can be used to broadcast important messages instantly and can also be used in an interactive manner, allowing the message receiver to reply by SMS or through email or fax. CONTACT™ can then be setup to reply automatically to the message based on key words or the message can be directed to an operator to continue the dialogue. Where CONTACT™ is implemented as a more general campus communication tool there are cost savings to be made against more traditional interaction – for example the cost of handling incoming phone calls for routine requests.
- Database can be built through download of existing community CONTACT™ details and/or by self registration. If you already have your campus community information it can be downloaded into the CONTACT™ system using standard data formats, ensuring there is no time lag to having an effective system in place. It is also possible to have the database built by self registration. In either case the system supports users in their communication channel preference (i.e. SMS text messaging, email or fax) and allows ‘opt out’ and not receive alerts.
- Web based hosted solution is easy to setup and use – CONTACT™ does not require you to buy and implement hardware and software. It is an on demand system fully hosted and supported by Datasquirt so all you need is a web link and browser. This means the implementation is straightforward and you can have a working system in a very short timescale.