The Royal Academy of Music – an SMS Solution Case Study

ProcessFlows’ Text Messaging Solution improves communications at the Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music is using SMS technology to enable text messaging communications between students and staff. Unlike email or phone, text is instant, non-intrusive and reliable – it is the perfect way of getting in touch with busy students always ‘on the run’.

A firm academic and musical foundation which fits in with today’s university culture

700 students from over 50 countries, in more than 20 musical disciplines attend the Royal Academy of Music – following the footsteps of former students such as Elton John and Annie Lennox.

There is always a lot going on at the Academy; lectures, rehearsals and concerts. Events, organised and managed by the concerts team, regularly take place at the Academy’s concert halls and locations across London. Student musicians are also in demand for external events.

Good communications are essential

It is the responsibility of the Concerts Team to make sure that people receive the correct information in a timely way, the right people are in the right place and last minute sickness or absences are covered in time for a performance.

Email and voicemail was not reliable

Emailing and calling people to let them know about any changes was not ideal. Often the messages were not picked up until it was too late.

A text messaging solution solved the problem

The Academy’s IT department had some experience of SMS. ProcessFlows’ text messaging solution, Text Message Server came in within budget and instantly improved communications; allowing staff to quickly get a message to students at anytime, and obtain an immediate response if necessary.

Duncan Malthouse-Hobbs, IT Manager at the Royal Academy of Music said:

From an IT perspective, TMS is simple – it really is ‘plug and play’. User feedback is also positive; the concerts team say that without text, it would be almost impossible to get hold of students at short notice and their job would be much harder. Other departments have seen the benefits, so we will be expanding TMS not only into these, but also into the library, where it will be used for reminders, a process currently done via email.