(This article is for state and local governments, and health organizations, interested in delivering notifications and alerts to the public regarding the vaccination rollout and distribution in the United States. If you are looking for immediate assistance in getting critical updates and information to citizens, please call us at 888-387-8636.)
Where can I get the vaccine? When can I get it? Do I have to make an appointment? How long do I have to wait in line? Why doesn’t anyone tell me what to do or where to go?
You’re probably being inundated with hundreds of similar questions every day.
If you are a state, local government, health organization or non-profit official responsible for vaccine distribution in your area, you can now get time-sensitive information out to citizens by using the latest online technology. This article will shed light on the tools at your disposal that you can start using today.
Here is a sample vaccine update phone script you could send to your citizens, via our phone broadcasting services:
“Good afternoon, this is County Executive Smith. I wanted to contact you directly to provide an update on the vaccination program. I know how hard it’s been to get an appointment. The delays are caused by a lack of vaccine supply. We are hoping the supply pipeline will reopen soon because we are ready and able to administer the vaccines as soon as we receive them. We’re doing everything we can on the local level to get our fair share of the vaccines. You can get regular updates by calling our local vaccine status report number at xxx-xxxx.”
As the nation and world come to grips with the expanding threats posed by COVID, state and local officials are facing several challenges — not the least of which involves getting critical information about the vaccine out to the general public. Time and efficiencies have never been more important as the United States crosses the horrific milestone of 400,000 fatalities.
Fortunately, advanced communication technology can help deliver the messages and information your constituents and citizens need. It’s vital that government leaders understand and appreciate that some of the most vulnerable populations, in particular senior citizens, are NOT attuned to social media. They are not on Facebook, or Twitter, and they generally do not subscribe to the newspaper. Only one-third get their news from the television.
The best way to communicate with these groups is by direct communication via phone
This can be done with voice or text communications. Including phone broadcasting (robocalls), mass texting, town hall teleconferencing, and using protocols like ringless voicemail. All of these options can get information to thousands of people almost instantaneously. Of all the crises this nation has confronted in the past, it has never been more important to get correct and transparent information out to constituents who are desperately seeking direction.
Setting up an account is easy. You can call us right now at 888-387-8636 to get started. You can be reaching your constituents in the next couple of hours.
Below is a listing of the three best ways you can deliver your messages quickly and how and why they may fit into achieving your objectives:
1. Sending Vaccine Updates to Citizens Via Phone Broadcasting
Phone broadcasting, aka robocalls, is the fastest way to direct-message your constituents while enabling people to hear the voice of their elected leaders. Better yet, you can target your message to specific audiences — say, everyone over 65 years old.
You can obtain phone numbers and other demographic information from the state or local board of elections that keeps the voter rolls. Then, you can categorize that data to select the target population for which your message is intended. Generally speaking, you can easily isolate and create a report for, say, all voters over age 65. Or, you can target specific cities, towns or geographic locations.
Below is a quick summary of what phone broadcasting is and how it works.
What is Phone Broadcasting and how would it work sending vaccination alerts and messages?
Phone broadcasting can quickly deliver thousands of messages in minutes and it is an ideal way to send alerts and notifications to the general public or specific groups.
While not everyone checks email, particularly seniors, it’s a safe bet that nearly everyone is within arm’s length of a cell phone or landline. Even if your contact does not answer the phone, phone broadcasting technology can be enabled to identify a recorded greeting and leave a message when it hears the beep.
User-Friendly and Quick Setup
The primary benefits of using phone broadcasting involve delivery time and cost efficiencies. You can ramp up an informational campaign in less than an hour and deliver each message for pennies. Outsourcing a project is almost always more cost effective than trying to do it inhouse because you can avoid hardware, software costs in addition to savings on costly telephone lines that you may or may not use in the future. The infrastructure is already there and everything can be done online.
All you need to do is organize your phone lists in Excel spreadsheets or other database programs and upload the list to us — we’ll give you complete instructions. Make sure the area code and phone number are in the same column, so each number will have 10 digits. Then you can record your message over the phone or inhouse and upload it. We can take care of the rest. Just let us know when you want your job to launch.
On the whole, the entire process is easy and quick, and without a doubt, is the fastest way to reach the most amount of people in the shortest time.
List Preparation is Important
Generally speaking, you can obtain your phone list from the Board of Elections. Once you access that list, it is important to have your technical team run reports that will segregate your list into demographic groups. For example, all voters over the age of 65. While it shouldn’t take long, list preparation is an important step to insure a successful informational campaign.
It is suggested that you should maintain your list and keep it up to date. Usually, the spreadsheet is the best, and Excel sheets work perfectly fine. You need to make sure that 10-digit numbers must be in one column – no area codes in one column and seven-digit numbers in the other column. When ready, upload the list and the last thing to do is make a voice recording. You can record the message with a phone broadcast provider or upload a .wav file. link the recording with the list you are using online and finally! You are done.
2. Sending Vaccine Alerts to Citizens Via Text Broadcasting
Most people send and receive information via texting. In fact, texting became more popular than phoning several years ago. It has become ubiquitous and widely accepted as a mainstream communications platform. While laws are very strict on texting without prior approval from the recipient, we encourage your to check with your attorney to get an opinion on sending texts during a health emergency. If you get the go-ahead, then here are some tips to help make your informational texting program successful.
How Mass Texting Works? No Software or Hardware Required
Send a bulk text with an online short message service (SMS) that eradicates the need for any software or hardware. You can use the mass texting service to start your program instantly. Plus, this gateway allows you to do more than sending text messages – in addition, you can receive text messages back.
The term ‘gateway’ includes a process through which the messages are sent. It is basically the Internet, which gives a channel for text messages to be sent through an online interface to particular mobile phones. It is in contrast to the text messages sent from mobile phone to mobile phone.
Why Monarch Broadcast?
You might think that sending a bunch of text messages is easy but, in reality, it’s the opposite. The primary reason behind using a text broadcasting service like ours is that we already have agreements in place with the cell carriers — in other words, we have been accepted as a broadcaster that has a reputation for following the law, fighting spam, and representing clients who are using the spectrum for legitimate purposes. The standards are high, the criteria is strict, and we do our best to make sure that we remain in the good graces of the carriers.
Why Your Local Government and/or Organization Should Prefer Mass Texting?
Mass texting is highly transforming communications, mainly with organizations that aim to improve profits by including text messages in their marketing tactics and strategies. Other organizations, like entertainment venues, sports, athletics, and universities use SMS to improve interaction with fans and patrons. It is easy, fast, and keeps their customers involved in a way that other types of communication cannot.
The mass texting of essential messages, notifications, and alerts is at the front of the communication frontier. Now, approximately 85% of U.S. adults have the text capable cell phones, and a lot of those mobile phones are smartphones. Remarkably, individuals now use their cell phones for texting than for calling. Numerous users, less than 30 years of age, do not answer the phone or check their email to talk any longer. Their only channel of communication is texting.
The bulk or mass texting service to send messages is increasing in popularity and usage. Let’s talk about some reasons why mass texting is preferred by different organizations to get info out to their customers, students, members, and contacts:
Preparing Your Outreach Program
Once you compile your list of cell phone numbers obtained from the Board of Elections, and modified to your target audience, just put your data in a standard spreadsheet and deliver it to us electronically — email can work, or you can use Dropbox of WeTransfer or any other delivery system.
For deliverability penetration, convenience, and speed, nothing is close to mass texting. Nowadays, email is considered a “too slow” method, and numerous people rarely check their emails. Various individuals do not like email due to the junk and spam emails they get and do not like to be troubled to invest their time finding out the right email. Nevertheless, almost every mobile phone user checks their text messages, and a lot do so instantly.
Texting is Cost Effective and Interactive
Notifications, text reminders, and other messages are sent for pennies, and other methods like mail include postage, envelopes, paper, and printing. Well! There is no comparison in the accuracy and speed of delivering messages.
Texting is a 2-way or 1-way means of communication. This mass texting is used to send messages to numerous individuals and get messages back. With the online account, responses to your texts get saved into your inbox. You can read the responses and review them at your ease. It is perfect for gathering feedback instantly.
3. Hosting Virtual Town Hall Meetings Over the Phone
While the wheels of commerce continue to turn with the help of online technology like Zoom, most people, especially senior citizens, do not have the wherewithal to participate on those kinds of platforms — they enjoy, and are accustomed to, their analog experience.
However, there is one thing everyone can do — and that’s pick up the phone! WIth Town Hall teleconferencing, aka TeleTown Hall, you can speak directly, and in real time, to thousands of people — even hundreds of thousands. Think of it as a radio show on the phone. Better yet, you can invite everyone to join you with a phone call. They just have to press #1 to join your teleconference. You also have an opportunity to invite people to ask questions that can be answered by your experts. When it comes to reaching out and interacting with constituents, nothing is more effective than a town hall teleconference.
Virtual Town Hall Meetings
With COVID-19 keeping a lot of people at home, it has become more demanding to address numerous people at a time. If you run a large organization or a municipal government, you need to inform every person at once about the existing situation. Previously, teleconferencing on that level would not have been possible.
Facebook and YouTube videos, and live streams have their own issues. Both these platforms make it demanding to answer questions and get feedback from numerous people at a time. While reaching various people at a time through these channels, they are unable to interact with you quickly. If you need to offer details about the existing state of the company or community, you want to do it in such a way that attendees are relaxed and can interact to some extent. Here is an excellent solution that meets these needs.
The Solution: Town Hall Teleconferencing
Town hall teleconferencing has become not only accepted, but a preferred way to interact with hundreds and thousands of people simultaneously — an ideal solution to spread information in large organizations and communities. The town hall format permits the mass distribution of information and includes features such as Q&A in an organized and orderly process.
With this service, you can address people in a virtual setting. These teleconferencing town hall services permit you to hold the same town halls you can usually hold, but in a separate and safe setting that keeps people at home or in their offices, providing a less risky environment than a face-to-face meeting.
What is Town Hall Teleconferencing Service and How Does it Work?
Town hall teleconferencing can best be described as a super-conference call. There is no video involved. Unlike other regular conference call services that usually accommodate less than 100 callers, town hall’s can enable you to host a million callers or more at the same time. In reality, very few town hall’s need that much capacity. However, for local governments and larger political districts (i.e. congressional districts) it isn’t unusual to see 20,000 people on a call. When you are discussing that many people, a regular conference call service won’t work.
But even more importantly, town hall teleconferences enable you to call everyone on your list to invite them into the event. The only thing your invitees have to do is answer the phone and press #1 to be included. They don’t have to remember when to call in, or expend any extra thought or energy to participate. That’s why town halls have become so popular with government outreach programs. It’s the fastest, easiest and most convenient way for your
When all the attendees are on the call, you can address them as the speaker. Moreover, you can ask programmed survey questions to the participants, who can press keys to give their answers. Plus, you can take questions from the attendees, and screen the questions before asking them to be live on the call.
After the call is over, you will get a recording as well. The recording can be spread through email or by other channels or placed on the website too. It permits you to approach more individuals with your messaging. Besides, you can set up this service to permit attendees who cannot ask their questions on the call to do so by keeping on the live to leave the voicemail, it can be addressed later.
Benefits and Advantages of Virtual Town Halls
The virtual town halls offer numerous benefits and advantages, in the best of times. The tele-town hall will permit you to:
— Work with numerous people to make the virtual events a success
— Spread essential information to organization or community leaders
— Hold different town hall meetings with people from different locations
Other advantages of tele-town halls include:
— People can attend from any location — they just need a phone,
— No requirements of special software or hardware
— Capacity to reach large numbers of people simultaneously.
The virtual town halls offer you a place to approach numerous individuals at a time in the town hall setting, but on a phone teleconference. You can enjoy all the advantages of a standard town hall, with more ease of not requiring a particular location.
Extra Advantages Because of Coronavirus
There are a few extra advantages town hall teleconferences provide during community outreach projects. The obvious one is that, like any conference call, the risk of having a lot of people congregate in one place is eliminated. It’s the safest way to communicate with thousands of people at once, along with the ability to take questions and answers. It’s the ideal solution for interacting with citizens in real time. Since there is no video, and the capacity is almost unlimited — you can get over a million people on one conference — the technology is the most
So, if you want to get critical life-saving information out to the public, and in particular, people more than 65 years of age and/or with health issues, you’ll want to contact us as soon as possible to get an account set-up. You’ll be up and running in no time.
SUMMARY
If your local government or organization is looking for a fast, inexpensive, and convenient way to get important messages out to the public you have several options including phone broadcasting, text broadcasting and town hall teleconferencing.
Just give us a call at 888-387-8636 or fill out the contact form here, and we’ll set you up so you can have your first outreach today!