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Eastleigh Borough Council – an SMS solution Case Study

January 15, 2011

Eastleigh Borough Council use a ProcessFlows SMS Messaging solution

Eastleigh Borough Council is committed to being as ‘open’ and approachable as possible to local residents and businesses and provides 24 hour access to council services.

Adding text to the communication choice

The Council was keen to utilise improving technology in their ongoing commitment to offer more choice. Recognising the increasing role that mobile phones play in everyday life, they decided to add text to the communication methods available to residents.

It is very quick and easy to send a text message. Texts cost very little and they are direct.

SMS Messaging

Integration was a primary requirement for us, but this was not an issue with ProcessFlows’ solution.” said Peter Nailer, Information Systems Developer at Eastleigh Borough Council.

ProcessFlows supplied the council with a ProcessFlows Text Message Solution.

The council’s servers run in a windows environment and Process Flows Text Message Solution is run through Exchange/Outlook. One of the servers runs the Text Message Solution with a GSM modem connected.

When an SMS message is received, ProcessFlows Solution routes the message into the designated inbox on MS Exchange. There it can be processed just like any other email message. SMS messages sent from email are routed to the ProcessFlows Text Message Solution which then sends the message out via the Internet.

Text benefits

ProcessFlows Text Message Solution allows any person with a mobile phone to send a text message to the Council. These messages are received in the email inbox of Eastleigh Direct. They are then forwarded onto the correct Service Unit to be processed.

It is possible for anyone within the organisation, connected to the network, to reply via email to one of these messages. “The staff find it very easy to use because they are utilising Outlook just like they would for dealing with any email.

ProcessFlows Text Message Solution provides the option to route messages direct to a Service Unit by including the appropriate code within the message. This functionality will be particularly useful for remote staff as well as Borough residents.

Maximising the text investment

Text marketing would be particularly beneficial to the Tourism Unit who promotes various events that happen throughout the Borough. We think offering technology that aids communication is important and with text messaging growing as a standard form of contact we think it is key to include this in our communication strategy.”

Some of the products we found were predominantly to send messages rather than receive; this did not fit our requirement. We also wanted a solution that could integrate with email rather than have separate client software for email and SMS. Although some products claimed they could receive messages and forward them into email, in practice this was not the case. After evaluation we found that ProcessFlows Text Message Solution best fitted the Councils needs, could demonstrate SMS messaging into email and was the most cost effective option.”

Peter Nailer, Information Systems Developer

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