Text a Librarian – Text Messaging for Libraries

Archive for the ‘mobile libraries’ category

News: Mosio Announces Show360 Mobile for Complete Conference and Trade Show Information Experiences

December 14th, 2009

Web-Based Software and Managed Interactive Mobile Solutions for Event Management, Organizers and Exhibitors

San Francisco, CA December 14, 2009 — Mosio, an award winning mobile technologies company providing messaging and mobile web solutions for businesses and organizations, today announced the launch of Show360 Mobile, a suite of interactive mobile solutions for the conference and event industries.

Show360 combines hosted, on-demand mobile messaging software and managed services, enabling show organizers and exhibitors to maximize the interactive mobile experiences for attendees while they are on-the-go, regardless of phone type.

Conference attendance is down considerably in 2009. Corporate travel restrictions are forcing attendees and exhibitors to look for cost-effective, manageable ways to get the most out of their show budgets and informational experiences. Mobile technologies provide a proven method of increasing attendee engagement and satisfaction, as well as decreasing expenses for exhibitors and event producers.

“Building on over 3 decades of events experience, the Mosio team set out to create Show360 with two goals: Offer cost-effective mobile technologies that are easy for businesses and organizations to implement; and make mobile services available to as many attendees as possible,” says Noel Chandler, Co-Founder and CEO of Mosio.

“Most of the current mobile information services operate on rented hardware or require attendees to download an application to a smart phone. This alienates a massive amount of event-goers eager to access mobile information. Show360 utilizes text messaging and the mobile web to reach more attendees and exhibitors no matter where they are,” adds Chandler.

Show360 Mobile enables show management and organizers to:

Interact live with exhibitors and attendees via mobile text messaging. Mosio’s web-based technology can be used as a simple way for attendees to get general event information or for Q&A at breakout sessions and speaker panels.
Collect real-time feedback and comments from exhibitors and attendees.
Offer quick conference and event information, accessible to on-the-go attendees without mobile application development costs.
Take part in the social media conversation and trending by efficiently posting attendee comments and feedback to Twitter and Facebook during and after the event.

Mosio’s Show360 enables exhibitors to:

Generate sales leads and send marketing materials in real-time through Mocardsâ„¢, Mosio’s mobile alternative to printed documents, presentations and collateral.
Create mobile marketing and text messaging programs to drive customer interaction on their mobile devices during and after the conference.
Reduce expenses via a direct response technology on devices attendees always have with them: mobile phones.

More Show360 advantages:

Dynamic mobile marketing opportunities for sponsors provide an additional source of revenue and put brands, products and services in the pockets and purses of all attendees.
The technologies provide a green alternative for printed materials and reduce post-event waste caused by outdated marketing collateral

Mosio provides clients with a single technology vendor to manage all mobile event solutions. The on-demand mobile messaging platform is available via monthly subscription with a limited 14-day trial account. Managed services are built on Mosio’s web-based platform, tailored to meet specific client needs and goals.

For information about Show360′s mobile solutions for events and conferences, visit:
http://www.mosio.com/biz/show360

About Mosio
Mosio is a mobile software and solutions company providing messaging and mobile web solutions for businesses and organizations. Mosio helps clients connect with customers on-the-go, using their mobile presence as a competitive advantage to increase sales and brand loyalty, both on and offline.

More than 250 organizations have implemented Mosio’s mobile technologies, including event-specific solutions for: Novian Health, Information Today, American Library Association, Performance Pricing, Entertainment Technology Center, Movember Foundation, GoldMail.

Info: http://www.mosio.com

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Posted in mobile libraries, Mobile Messaging Tradeshow Booth, Mobile Software as a Service, Mobile Solutions for Conferences, Mobile Trade Show Solutions, Text 66746 (MOSIO), Text Message Marketing Trade Show, Text Messaging Questions and Answers

Tags: ALA conference companies Mobi Site Company Mobile Cloud Computing mobile marketing tradeshows Mobile Site Design Services mobile solutions for events Mobile Technologies mobile technology for conferences Mobile Web Apps Mobile Web Developers Mobile Website Solutions mosio show management Text Message Company Text Messaging Company text messaging trade shows trade show exhibitors trade show marketing

Text a Librarian Video – Text Messaging Reference Software for Libraries

September 16th, 2009

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Posted in Collaborative Text Messaging Reference, Digital Reference, Library Marketing Tools, mobile libraries, Mobile Technologies, SMS Ref, software as a service, Text Messaging Reference in Libraries

Tags: animoto Digital Reference library marketing mobile reference promotional reference librarians SMS Ref SMS Reference Text a Librarian Text Message Reference Text Messaging Reference videos

Beyond 160 Characters in the Library – Text Messaging Reference Doesn't Need to Be Limiting

July 20th, 2009

Many, many, many...

There seem to be varying stories about the history of SMS (Text Messaging) and why Friedhelm Hillebrand, the creator of SMS, decided on 160 as THE number. Some say it’s the amount of characters on a typical postcard, many other stories not that he just determined it while sitting at his type-writer in Germany, noting that most sentences do not require more than 160 letters. In many blog posts and mentions about using text messaging reference in the library, we see it noted that phones are limited to 160 characters. While this statement is mostly true, some phones and carriers let users extend their messages, this limitation only hinders your ability to respond to patron questions based on what method you are using to respond to them.

Without getting into the various ways you can respond to a patron inquiry to extend your response beyond 160 characters, suffice it to say each system has its own unique solution, most requiring more manual work on your part. Instead, let me explain how Text a Librarian solves that problem and makes it significantly easier for librarians: character counters and multi-message splitting.

Mosio's Text a Librarian enables you to send text message responses beyond 160 characters.

Character Counts and Multi-Message Splitting
Text a Librarian has a real-time character counter and message view so you can see exactly what the patron’s text message is going to look like as you type it out in the answer box. If you type beyond 160 characters, the system shows you what the second message will look like and will send it as such, extending the space you have to send a thoughtful and well-formed response. It seems relatively simple and it was built to be that way, but it is a necessary functionality to make it easier for librarians to respond while offering patrons the most helpful and content-rich answer they can get on their mobile device.

Which is More Important: The Patron Experience or Librarian Experience?
Our answer? Both. In speaking with anyone on the Mosio team, you’ll often hear the phrase “patron experience” or “librarian experience” when it comes to our system and interaction design. Simply stated, we don’t see a reason to offer a reference service if it’s going to be difficult for patrons or librarians to use, no one is going to get excited about it. In fact, a handful of people ask “why don’t you have the page auto-refresh when a new question comes in?” It’s a valid question and we initially integrated it. Then we tried answering a question when another question came in. The page becomes a moving target and the assumed convenience of having a new question magically appear on the page becomes frustration at the inability to answer the question you’re working on.

The product team is working on a few additional features that will take mobile reference even further, providing a richer experience to both patrons and librarians, enabling both to get excited about its simplicity and ease of use. For the time being, this functionality is being well received by our libraries using the system, expanding the character limitations within the core technology.

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Posted in Digital Reference, library tools, Mobile Industry, mobile libraries, mobile phones, mobile reference, SMS Ref, Text Messaging Reference in Libraries

Tags: 160 characters friedhelm hillebrand interaction design library 2.0 mobile messaging software mobile reference reference librarians SMS Ref SMS Reference smsref Text Message Reference text messaging limitations debunked Text Messaging Reference

Social Networks, Web 2.0 Services and Collaboration Tools in the Library

July 2nd, 2009

I’m fascinated by the new report from Robin Hastings, Collaboration 2.0 and I haven’t even read it yet. My fascination with it is the fact, and I’m not really too surprised given the library industry, that a report has been written to help library managers make a case for utilizing social networks to increase outreach and collaboration. I think it’s great! A company I founded and still a partner in banned instant messaging for employees while at work. Even though the company is spread over offices in 4 cities with collaboration being a necessary part of every day, the thinking was that people spend too much time chatting and not enough time working. As against the policy as I was, I don’t “work” there anymore, so I let it go. There was no uprising, there was no coming together to make a case for why things would be better, no reports written to arm employees with the info they needed to make a case, mostly posts on how to circumvent firewalls or philosophic questions about whether or not it should be allowed. Then again, these employees weren’t and are not blocked from those sites, they were just told it was against company policy.

Text a Libarian is about to launch a new service we call RefStart. It’s a web application combining virtual reference with social media and search, giving librarians one-click access to the web 2.0 tools they like best. I say “like best” because the fully flexible system lets them choose, so if they use Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr and Google, for example, the system let’s users quickly link to those pages while notifying them on the page when a new text message reference comes in through our system. The initial reaction we’ve received about the feature has been very positive, but I’m curious to see which librarians will see it and say “well this is great, but we can’t use Facebook or Twitter.” It won’t matter either way because they can simply choose elements of their page that don’t access those (or other) banned sites, but it’ll be interesting to see how many come forth with that info.

My favorite thing about working at Mosio / Text a Librarian is that the day-to-day energy of this place is in the creating solutions, solving pain points, making reference librarian’s day-to-day tasks easier. This isn’t lip service, everyone here loves what they do. We ask, we watch, we listen to librarians in trying to find out what will make not only the best text messaging reference software in the industry, but how we make it the best virtual reference software on the planet. This way of thinking fosters innovation, it’s what made the development team come up with an optional, pleasant audible noise when a new question came in because a library customer wasn’t allowed to use IM. The task was fun: “What does an incoming question sound like?” We found a great one, then got a request from the same library that the sound was SO pleasant that it blended in with the ambient noise of the library. Their request? “Just below the level of foghorn. How about some Led Zeppelin? LOL” Awesome.

I’ll loop back and re-post about how the experience goes, but whether or not those we talk to are able to access Facebook, Twitter and the like, RefStart will be there and work well. After reading Robin’s report, armed with the tools librarians need to gain access and open up outreach to the new web 2.0 technologies being used by thousands of other libraries, they’ll be able to update with no problems.