We have a handful of new features coming up over the next month, but wanted to quickly let you know about our Bit.ly generator, suggested by our customers as a “great to have” feature.

Bit.ly is a handy URL shortening technology that makes it easier to crunch long urls into less characters. Now with Text a Librarian, you can paste a long URL, check the Bit.ly box and it will shorten it for you.

After librarians send the message, if they mouse over the bitly link, it’ll show them what the real URL looks like, see below for an illustration.

More features and exciting updates coming soon!

Thanks,

The Text a Librarian Team

In preparation for the upcoming holidays, the Mosio development team has been hard at work improving the Text a Librarian experience. Today we’d like to introduce a simple but helpful new feature: Holiday/One-time Auto Responders.

Everything is explained below as well as in your Text a Librarian microboard (click on New Features in your Quick Links module on the right side).

Text a Librarian Holiday/One-time Auto Responders

Description:

Holiday/One-time Auto Responders enable you to set up auto responders for any days that differ from your normal weekly hours (holidays, special events, etc).

There is a screen shot below showing you the auto responder creator screen; setting them up is incredibly simple. Note: You must be an Admin to add/edit Auto Responders.

Here’s how you set them:

1. Log in to Text a Librarian
2. Click on Auto Responder in the Microboard Administration Module on the right
3. Next click on the New Holiday Auto Responder link
4. From here, you can enter your message, along with the starting date/time, and ending date/time

You’re done! There’s no need to disable any of your regular auto responders since the holiday responder will take priority.

Screen shot…

Let us know if you have any questions.

Best regards and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Text a Librarian Team

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Text a Librarian
Text Messaging Reference Simplified
www.textalibrarian.com

Today Mosio’s Text a Librarian goes live with OCLC’s QuestionPoint.  Libraries who are customers of both can choose to have text message questions show up and be answered in QuestionPoint.

Librarians who are staffing QuestionPoint will be able to immediately answer text questions, noticeable by a “TXT MSG” prefix and a new answering interface.

Text message questions and answers will be included in QuestionPoint’s reporting.

Of course, all of your Text a Librarian functionality still works too.  Patrons can still text for instructions, autoresponders will be sent when the library is closed, and message footers will be added to promote library events.  Messages will be threaded inside of QuestionPoint as they are in Text a Librarian, so you can easily carry out a full conversation.

TAL marketing materials are still available from your login, so be sure to promote your service!

As lead developer at Mosio, I want to send a big thank you to OCLC’s team for helping us make this happen. They were all a pleasure to work with.

If you’re interested in learning more, sign up for our weekly webinars.

We hear a lot of feedback regarding text messaging from both ends of the spectrum. Some understand and are part of the mobile messaging explosion in the U.S. and others need a little more convincing.

While we don’t send 470 text messages per day (we have plenty of work to do around here), we love text messaging, understand that it might be better to provide some industry facts regarding text messaging usage and show why we’re seeing more and more libraries embrace the mobile channel as an effective addition to reference services. We’ve compiled a quick list for you with links to the reports where possible, will add more as we find them and if you have any, please let us know or post them in the comments section.

• Americans sent 1 trillion SMS text messages in 2008 (CTIA’s Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey)
• SMS text messaging advertising generates response rates 2-10x higher than Internet display ads. (Local Mobile Search Study pdf)

• On average, Americans send and receive twice as many text messages as phone calls per month. (Nielsen Mobile)

• U.S. Teens (ages 13-17) sent and received an average of 1,742 text messages per month in Q2 2008 (Nielsen Mobile)

• In 2008, teens and twenty-somethings were by far the largest users of texting, coming in at 85%. In 2009, this continued to be true with teens at 94% and 20-somethings at 87%, but usage also increased for older age groups. Among those in their 40s, usage jumped from 56% to 64%, and for those in their 50s it jumped from 38% to 46%. (The Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report, May 20, 2009)

• 60% of U.S. mobile phone users now use SMS, compared to 54% in a survey conducted last year. (The Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report, May 20, 2009)

• A new online survey of mobile users (sample size not disclosed) conducted in January, 2008 by Amplitude Research has found the following features and considerations to be most important among cell phone buyers:
  * Text messaging: 73%
  * Camera: 67%
  * Ability to access the mobile Internet: 61%
  * Music features: 34%
  * Video: 33%

• Medical and Policy Experts Agree Wireless Technology Makes Healthcare More Efficient, Effective, and Patient-focused (CTIA Wireless Association)