Questions about texting students

• Is texting students effective?

  Yes. Today’s college students prefer texting over just about any type of communication. Text is fast, it’s instant, and it’s easy to manage. From an educator’s standpoint, it’s a way to share critical information with students who are already pressed for time.

  Research shows that today’s college students prefer text messaging. In fact, they don’t often even respond to more traditional outreach, such as phone or email.

  Consider these statistics:

  • Three-quarters of all college-aged individuals would choose a text-only phone over a voice-only phone.
  • The text services most valued by this group are appointment reminders, surveys, notifications, and promotions.
  • Students think that text is less invasive than other types of messaging.
  • Students like text reminders because it’s one less thing to manage.

• Are there text message privacy laws for universities?

  There are. The two main regulations to keep in mind when it comes to privacy and texting are the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
  
  The FERPA act simply states that a student's information should be kept private. In other words, only those who have a legitimate need to see the student’s data should be able to. FERPA regulations do not apply to prospective students.
  
  TCPA laws are much broader. They are not specific to education and apply to everyone, whether they're current students, parents, alumni or even prospective students. It's also a best practice keep all regulations currently in place for phone call and email communications and apply them to all texting communications as well.
  
  You can read more about these laws here.

• What are the benefits of mass texting for universities?

  With something as critical as education, it’s crucial to stay on top of things. For colleges, using text messaging to reach students is a way to connect with them on their terms and help them keep up with the challenges of completing their studies.

  Some of the ways a text messaging service can help include:

  • Registration and tuition reminders
  • Scholarship and bursary deadlines
  • Class updates and cancellations
  • Extreme weather alerts
  • Orientation/ student welcome messages
  • On-campus residential alerts
  • Event invitations, such as parent/family week
  • Team tryouts
  • Examination make-up dates
  • Communicating with alumni
  • Coordinating meetings and appointments

   

  Whether your school welcomes hundreds or thousands of students each year, establishing an efficient way to communicate is essential. From the student’s standpoint, a text is preferred. From the college’s perspective, it’s a way to ensure the message is received.

   

• What types of reporting do you offer?

  We have several reports in your account. Some reports are related to the billing and credit usage and other reports provide detailed call results for individual numbers. For larger clients, we are happy to provide custom reports at no charge.