Texting Patrons Through Sportsman

 

Sportsman has built-in texting functionality to allow you to text your patrons directly from the application.  Being able to send a text to a team roster, a group of members or facility reservation patrons is a convenient method for Recreation facilities to communicate critical information like pool closings, weather cancelations and schedule changes.  Our “Timeslot Registration” feature and Day Pass purchases sold on ActivityReg websites can be configured to send QR entry codes to patrons via email and/or text. Only the Sportsman Core module is required for Texting. Texting is provided under an account through Peak Software however you may also use Clickatell (3^rd party) account.   

Beginning September 1, 2020 all Sportsman customers are automatically enrolled in the basic Sportsman Text Services plan which allows up to 1,000 standard text messages or 500 QR texts (which count as 2 texts) a month for free (or an equivalent combination). A portion of your Sportsman Core renewal price covers the expense of this free service. 

It is important to note that standard texts over 160 characters are divided up and charged as multiple messages to the same number by most texting carriers. Please read thru the detail under the Free Service and Pay As You Text Plan to understand how total messages are counted.

To help you keep your texting under the Free Service limits we offer administrative tools including a text counter and a site configuration tool to limit all texts to no more than 160 characters so that multiple texts are not sent as part of the same message. You cannot exceed the 1,000 total count per month unless you are on our Pay As You Text Plan.  You may also elect to email reservations and day passes with QR Codes rather than included a text message.

For the small percentage of our customers that need additional texting volumes each month or on occasion, we will offer a Pay As You Text Plan that will invoice you for any overages. This plan requires acceptance of our Texting Agreement before you can exceed the monthly threshold. If you are on this plan and continue to use less than 1,000 total messages per month you will not have any charges.

 

Free Service and Pay As You Text Plan

 

Free Service Limits and Calculations

Using our free service you will receive 1,000 text messages per month.  Based on the length of your standard texts sent along with the number QR Codes sent via text your total number of patron communications may be much less than the total 1,000 count.    

Standard (character only) texts of 160 characters are considered a single text.   Texts of 161 to 306 characters to a single cell number are counted as 2 text messages because of the way most service providers divide up longer texts. Further divisions are based on each additional 153 character limits.

QR Codes sent as texts always count as 2 text messages to a single cell number because both a short message and a QR code image is sent.   

In the example below while only 815 texts were sent to patrons, the total text messages counted toward the 1,000 free limit is 905.    

 

 

 

Pay As You Text Plan

If you do not want to be restricted to 1,000 total messages per month you can sign up for our Pay As You Text Plan by executing this agreement. This removes the Sportsman limitation of 1,000 per month and allows you to send as many messages as you want, the first 1,000 are still free.  For each month that you exceed the 1,000 count, you will receive an invoice for the text message count over 1,000 at $0.01 for each.  (Pricing is subject to change). We reserve the right to hold small overages each month and combine with subsequent month charges to reduce invoicing for small amounts.   This allows you to use the power of this important tool as you need it and allows us to keep our Sportsman license prices fair and reasonable for all customers.

 

Important Parameters:

ü Texting service is included for basic patron program and event notifications such as last-minute cancellations and not intended to be used for marketing purposes. 

ü Text may be sent to a maximum of up to 300 patrons at a time.

ü Inappropriate use of texting by any customer could jeopardize this shared texting service.  In rare cases SMS text accounts can be blacklisted for gross misuse.  Here are some behaviors that can contribute to blacklisting:

ü Be sure you are only sending texts to current patrons and patrons that want to receive them. Use the Sportsman patron account Opt In/Out flag to keep track of patron preferences.

ü Keep your texts short and direct, avoid texts over 160 characters all you can.

ü Do not sent marketing type texts as these require compliance with FCC rules about message cost notifications and the ability opt Stop accepting messages which is not a service included with Sportsman at this time.

 

Additional Resources: 

Text and Email Log Report

Pay As You Text Plan Agreement  

Using QR Codes for Activities or Facility Reservations

 

This Document will cover:

ü Configuration and Settings

o  Set or Remove Texting Service

o  Configuration Options

ü Sending Texts

ü Log Report and Counter

 

Configuration and Settings

 

Setup or Remove Texting Service

 

1.   Select File>Administration>Site Configuration

2.   Click on the “Tech” tab

 

 

3.   On the Texting Service Setup panel find the Service Provider drop down list.  From here you can select the following options:

 

 

None: if you want to disable texting completely

 

Click-A-Tell (Platform) New or Click-A-Tell (Communicator/Central) Old: if you have a Click-A-Tell account and would like to use that.  If you are unsure of your account type please check your account information and/or call our Technical Team.

 

Sportsman Default Account: to use the Sportsman service.

 

Click the [OK] button to save your selection.

 

 

Configuration Options 

 

In the Texting Service Setup panel (see above for navigation) you can configure several additional items:

 

 

Limiting texts to 160 characters: To help you limit the number of texts actually used, the default setting is activated for the 160 character limitation (the box for that setting is checked). 

You can uncheck the box to send texts over 160 characters, but this will result in multiple text counts against your maximum monthly quota for free texting.  

Keep in mind that the maximum length of text message that you can send is 918 characters. However, if you send more than 160 characters then your message will be broken down in to chunks of 153 characters before being sent to the recipient’s handset.  Due to this break down the max count for a 2 text message is 306 and a 3 text message is 456.

 

Sending QR Codes via Text:  Here you can leave the box checked if you wish to send QR entry codes (for timeslot and daypass reservations) as text messages in addition to sending them with emails.  Unchecking the box will prohibit these from being sent as texts.  Please remember that QR codes include both a short message and an image of the code so they count as 2 text messages.

 

Email Address for Notifications:  You can add an email address if you want to be notified when you hit texting message count increments of 1,000.

 

Sending Texts

 

1.   Click on an option from the “Reports” menu at the top of the Sportsman application to select an available report with patron lists that would contain cell phone numbers. (The examples below illustrate an Activity Roster Report).

 

2.   Run the report and from the Report Preview screen, click on the “Email/Text Participants” icon.  (If no texting or emailing information is available, Sportsman will tell you.)

 

 

3.   Select your delivery method (email, text or both) and other checkbox settings (such as Include Coaches) in top frame. Where a cell phone does not exist in the record an Email can be sent. Notice additional settings.  Select the individuals you want to send to, then click [Continue] button.

 

 

4.   Draft your text and send it. We recommend including a statement letting patrons know not to reply.

 

It is also good practice to include a facility or name of sender and include contact for additional information.  See example in the screen shot below. 

 

Note the character counter, segment counter and message at the bottom of the screen about multiple messages. Click [OK Sent It] button to send. 

 

 

 

Log Report and Counter

 

To help you monitor the texts and emails that were sent we have created a new utility that allows you to review counts, message content and more. To see reporting navigate to File>Utilities>Email & Text Log.

 

Click here for a full description of this Log

 

The Totals Panel will show the counts given the filters set in the Settings Panel. The Billable Segments data will show the exact number of Regular and QR texts sent (if any) the total number of message segments and whether you are under the free 1,000 segment limit or over. (You can only exceed 1,000 message segments per month if you are on the Pay As You Text plan.)  

 

 

 

SM:PA:B:Aug20