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Sending Recorded Phone Messages: Phone Blasting (Broadcasting to VoiceMail)

By
Lee Simonson
on January 7, 2012 9:22 AM | | TrackBacks (0)
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Sending recorded phone messages to a list of contacts is fast and easy, and doesn't require any special equipment or software.  Our services here at Monarch Broadcast, enable you to log online, upload your phone list, and record your message over the phone.  When you launch your job (or we do it for you) your recorded message will be delivered to your list of phone numbers immediately.

Your recorded phone message will be played when your recipient picks up the phone live, or the system can sense if it's voicemail or answering machine and will leave the entire message to be heard later at your contact's convenience.  Either way you message gets through and is disseminated quickly, usually within minutes.  Better yet, there is no charge if our phone blast system detects a busy, no answer, or a line that is out of order.  In general, if you have a good list of current numbers, about 80-85% of the calls get through.

Here are few helpful hints to insure the success of your phone blast:

1)  You can use an Excel spreadsheet for your phone numbers.  Just make sure that the area codes are in the same column as the phone numbers.  So, you should have 10 digits in ONE column.

2)  Prepare your script and practice and read it out loud several times.  Most scripts are rewritten a few times to insure a smooth and understandable delivery.  You can record your own message on our system, or we can call you and have you just read your script over the phone.  Using a regular landline phone to record your message is recommended because it is usually more clear than a cell phone that may have a bad connection.

3)  Informational messages are completely legal.  It's when you start selling something or telemarketing where you could cross the line.  We require our clients to comply with strict regulations.  Don't get yourself in trouble.

Overall, sending recorded messages is probably the most effective, fastest and least expensive way to get important information out to your contacts.  Email is less expensive, but not everyone checks their email.  However, everyone gets their voicemail -- phones are everywhere and people are well connected.

If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you with your phone blast (broadcast) project, just give us a call at the number at the top of this webpage and we can walk you through step by step.  You'll be surprised at just how easy sending recorded messages as mass notifications can be.  We're here to help.

Community Colleges: Student Notification and Alert Messaging, Reminders for Students for Registration, Payment Deadlines, Event and Emergency Notices

By
Lee Simonson
on January 5, 2012 12:51 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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Community colleges across the nation are turning to phone (voice) broadcasting to get reminder notifications and alerts to students for a number of applications including registration, payment deadlines, application processes, event announcements, and emergency notices.

We serve a number of community colleges and also offer text and email broadcast services as well.  However, in almost all cases, administrators and managers have chosen phone broadcasting recorded messages as the preferred method to reach students.

Since not all students have access to email or have smartphones, they all are reachable by phone, either at their home or cell phone.  Recorded messages can be answered live, or left on voicemail or answering machines -- our system can automatically detect if a live person answers the phone versus voicemail.

Phone broadcasting messages is a powerful, extrememly effective, and easy way to get information out quickly since there is virtually no ramp up time.  Within minutes, you can upload your phone list, record your message and have your notice sent to hundreds, even thousands, simultaneously.  Moreover, the process can be accomplished at a fraction of the cost of postage.

This technology isn't ideal for all communications -- however, for quick reminders and important notifications, it is ideal and is being adopted more and more by community colleges across the country as the go-to technology that can save time and money, while keeping students in the loop.  In fact, community colleges make up about 25% of our entire phone broadcasting customer base, so it's an important segment for us and enables us to have the experience and focus required to serve our clients well.

If you an administrator or manager at a community college registration, finance, admissions, athletics, or security office, we can assist you in designing a communications strategy that will fit your budget and deliver the kinds of results you're looking for.  They say "information is king" and at Monarch we'll prove it!  Call us today at 888-387-8636.

Monarch Broadcast Messaging: Formerly OrangePoint

By
Lee Simonson
on December 29, 2011 3:18 PM |
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The new year will usher in a new name and domain for us here at OrangePoint.  Our new name is Monarch Broadcast Messaging and our new domain is:  MonarchBroadcast.com

The OrangePoint.net domain will be redirected to the new website automatically so you don't have to be concerned about accidentally losing us.  We'll still be offering you the same excellent phone, text, email and fax broadcasting services, along with our unparalleled commitment to personal customer service.

We chose Monarch Broadcast Messaging because it accurately depicts our mission as we continue to grow.  For the past 16 years we've evolved from a fax broadcasting service bureau to a vibrant and robust multi-media delivery provider that focuses on electronic data and voice messages.  If you want to get information out to hundreds, even thousads, quickly, then we're the company you're looking for.  Whether you are sending alerts, notices, or updates, consider us as your one-stop shop to process your phone, text, email or fax broadcasts. 

The word "monarch" may denote some sense of royalty, but we're far from royalty here.  Rather, look at us as busy and hard working monarch butterflies as we prepare and broadcast your informational messages, notifications, alerts and other important information you need distributed.  If there are any royal thoughts here, it is simply that "the customer is King!"

Blast Phone Services Available for Alerts & Notifications

By
Lee Simonson
on December 2, 2011 12:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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We provide blast phone services for businesses and organizations that are interested in distributing alerts and notifications to thousands of contacts at once.  Setting up an account is fast and easy, and if you have your phone list ready and you know what you want to say, your message can be delivered in minutes.

Blast phone technology has improved considerably over the years and costs have come down as well.  You can launch your own job, or at no additional cost, you can have us manage your information campaign from start to finish.  If your script has been prepared and is ready to go, you can simply record your message over the phone.  Once we have your recorded phone message, we can start delivering it to hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously.  It is literally the fast and least expensive way to disseminate information to the masses -- costly only pennies a call and a fraction of what direct mail costs.

Is blast phoning notifications better than emailing?  Email is also inexpensive, but unfortunately, well intentioned and important email is getting inadvertently caught in restrictive spam filters and a large amount is not being delivered.  Moreover, many people don't read or get to their email for days, even weeks.  However, everyone answers their phone or listens to their voicemail.

And that brings up another big advantage of blast phoning -- the ability to leave your message on voicemail or an answering machine.  So whether your contact and recipient answers their phone live and listens to your message immediately, or lets your message ring to voicemail, your message is received and delivered.  Surveys indicate that nearly everyone checks their voicemail.

Even better, is that you are only charged for successfully delivered messages.  There are no charges or fees for bad phone numbers, disconnections, busy signals, or no answers.

Federal regulations prohibit using blast phone techniques (mass dialing for sending pre-recorded messages) for telemarketing or sales purposes unless you have an opt-in list of contacts.  However, "informational" messages are fine and can be used for any number of purposes including alerts, announcements, notifications, updates, schedule changes, cancellations, reminders, etc.  As long as you aren't selling anything, your message is fine.  Also, in the vast majority of states, political messages are also allowed.

Blast phone companies and providers are readily available.  We take pride in offering you the best blast phone service on the market with superior customer service with integrated online management controls.  Our service and features put us at the front of the pack in giving you a professional and cost effective method to get your messages delivered on time, every time.

Click here to learn more about our blast phone services:

GOTV (Get Out the Vote) Robocalls Can Help and Motivate Voters

By
Lee Simonson
on October 11, 2011 2:51 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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If you are interested in getting information about GOTV robocalls, just click on this link to go to our: Political Robo Call page

A properly managed and planned robocall campaign can help a candidacy, but on the other hand, if it thrown together at the last minute, it can actually backfire.

Robocalls, also known as voice or phone broadcasting, or call blast, is a very powerful, and in many respects an intrusive, technology that has to be handled professionally.  Like fire, it can be a wonderful and useful tool, or it can lead to destruction.  So make sure you are prepared to execute a well thought out plan.

Your GOTV robocall plan should incorporate three important elements:

1)  Your script.  Practice, practice, practice!  Keep reading it aloud and make sure it sound natural and flows.

2)  Your list.  Make sure your list(s) are in the proper format with 10 digits, including area code, in the same phone number column.  Try to eliminate the duplicates.  (If you can't eliminate the duplicate numbers, we can do that for you at no cost.)

3)  Your timing.  Be sure to call during the day with the objective of leaving as many messages on voicemail or answering machines as possible, so as to not interrupt the recipients routine.

It is the law that you have to identify yourself and include a Caller ID number.  (This prevents unethical candidates from sending out messages that look like they are coming from YOU or someone else, and are designed to infuriate the voters.)  Beware.  Robocalls can be used for unethical purposes and best to deal with a provider, like us, that will not accept business from clients who want to use the service in an underhanded way.

Try keeping your message to less than 30 seconds and speak clearly, using your script.  Best practices for GOTV robocalls may sound like common sense, but unfortunately, most candidates and campaigns do not give these issues any thought except at the last minute.  Think and plan ahead and let the technology for you, instead of against you.

Fax Not Working with Time Warner, Comcast, Cox & Charter Digital Cable Services?

By
Lee Simonson
on September 21, 2011 12:06 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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If your fax is not working with your new cable service, there may be a problem with your fax machine which operates in an analog environment.  It's a common issue.

One simple way to overcome this incompatibility is to convert to computer faxing (also called digital, or "in the cloud" faxing) which will enable you to send and receive faxes from your email account.  Folks sending you a fax do it the normal way, and that fax image is automatically morphed into a PDF file that is sent to your email address (or addresses.)  There are over 10 millions computer faxing accounts in the United States alone, so the technolgy is tried-and-true.

You can keep the same fax number, or you can get a new toll-free fax number at no cost.

There are a number of advantages to cloud faxing, not the least of which is an estimated 70% savings over using your traditional fax machine and phone line.  Once you receive your fax via email, you can print it out, or save it to your harddrive or storage, and forward it via email to others in your organization.

Sending faxes from your email is easy as well.  For example, you can send a Word file from your email to a fax number and it will arrive as a regular fax to its destination.  

With computer faxing you can have a virtual fax machine with you anywhere, including your smartphone.  Fortunately, you aren't restricted to any physical location and the service is scalable, from one to thousands of accounts.  Add to that the enhanced security that comes with the service because loose paper faxes aren't floating around the office, going through several hands, before arriving to the intended recipient.  Now you get the faxes directly to the responsible person via a password secured email account.

Moreover, rather than spending a small fortune on ink cartridges for your fax machine, you have the option of going green and paperless by storing and distributing your faxes as digital files.

So if your fax machine has become victim of your new cable service and you are looking for a quick, easy, and inexpensive faxing solution, computer faxing is the way to go.  You'll save time and money.  And you will also clear off some desk space when that fax machine finds its way to your electronic museum you have been assembling in the backroom closet.

Click on the computer faxing link at the top of the page to get more details.  We can have you set up in no time and your office will humming along better than ever...

Phone Surveys: Automated Telephone Polling and Surveys with IVR

By
Lee Simonson
on August 4, 2011 8:43 AM |
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Phone surveys powered by automated IVR polling and survey technology are becoming increasingly popular with organizations that are intent on quickly and easily gauging public and voter opinions on a wide variety of topics.  Experts believe it is the best way to "keep a finger on the pulse" of the people and latest trends in the marketplace. 

We offer automated phone surveying, which is a slight variation of traditional phone broadcasting, and is commonly used to determine consumer or voter feelings on product and/or political issues.  Not only are automated phone surveys easily assembled and executed, but they are a fraction of the cost of using live agents to conduct personal interviews.  Telephone surveys with IVR can also generate more results in much less time.  Actually, there is no comparison on a cost basis since automated "push" or "reach out" technology is dramatically more efficient than utilizing humans to do the same thing.

Better yet, companies, non-profits and political organizations, don't have to purchase any expensive software or equipment, or set up expensive phone banks to implement an effective phone survey program.  Phone surveying can be done in the cloud and can be purchased as a service on an as-needed basis.  Set-up costs are very small and campaigns can be implemented within hours with results immediately available in real-time.

The most popular application for phone surveying is for compiling instant polling data for political organizations and candidates.  Campaign surveying can provide valuable data that can used immediately to formulate long or short term strategies.  For example, you can determine quickly what the hot button issues are in a campaign, and what the strengths and weaknesses are in the opponent and in your own campaign.  It's important that your campaign can turn on a dime when circumstances and issues change.  Automated phone surveying is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to accurately judge your campaign's progress.

Our professional staff can help you design and implement an effective survey and polling program that will enable you to act on the latest "pulse" from your customers or constituents.  

You can call us today at Monarch Broadcast 1-888-387-8636 to discuss all your automated surveying options.

Mass Phone Notifications: Sending Recorded Messages to the Masses

By
Lee Simonson
on July 8, 2011 9:02 AM | | TrackBacks (0)
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Sending mass phone notifications to a list of contacts can be a simple and easy process.  Using a phone broadcasting (voice broadcasting) service bureau like us can not only save you a considerable amount of money because our notification system is already in place, but we also have the capacity to reach thousands of your contacts simultaneously.

Commercial or sales calls are illegal, unless you have a permission based opt-in list.  Otherwise, sending out "informational" messages is perfectly fine.  An example of an informational message would be to inform passengers that an airline flight as been delayed.  Or a school is closed because of bad weather.  Or, reminding people about appointments.

While there are other mass notification services available such as texting (we do that too!) it is widely accepted that verbal announcements sent over the phone is a cost effective way to deliver mass communication notifications to a large number of people at once.

How are we able to offer you the best mass notification service with the lowest costs?  There are several reasons:

1)  We can provide you full service and work with you on your recordings and launching your jobs, at no additional cose.  We're happy to help you every step of the way, or, if you want to handle those tasks yourself, you can log on to the website with your passcodes and  manage everything yourself.

2)  Unless you are political operation, you don't have to pay in advance.  We'll conveniently charge your credit card after your job goes out -- you'll get a full report on the number of message delivered -- and email you a receipt.  Fast and easy.

3)  The quality of your mass notifications by phone is critically important.  We can provide you the most advanced, the highest quality system including intuitive features such as differentiating between live answers and voicemail.  (You can leave messages on voicemail if the recipient doesn't answer which will give you the highest delivery rate for your recorded messages.)

4)  We can also enable you to send automated voice surveys, where your recipients can choose multiple choice answers by pressing their keypads.  For example, "Did you like what you had for breakfast today?  If yes, press #1.  If no, press #2.)  Those survey results can be accessed in real time.

All in all, mass calling with phone notifications can be the best way for you to get important information out quickly to hundreds, even thousands, of people who rely upon getting up to the minute news.  Give us call at 888-387-8636 and let us know what you are looking to do.  We have the experience and the knowhow to provide you with the best advice on how to achieve the results you want.  We look forward to serving you.

Automated Campaign Phone Surveys: Get Political Polling Results in Minutes by Robocall

By
Lee Simonson
on June 21, 2011 5:55 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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For more information about automated campaign phone surveys, call 888-387-8636.

Automated campaign surveys by phone can be set up quickly and easily to give you immediate polling results.  The big advantage to having an automated survey is that there is no need to go to the expense of hiring an outside firm that employs live callers to compile results.  Now everything can be automated at a fraction of the cost just by using robocall technology.  Look at it as an "interactive robocall" where your contacts can participate and have an active voice with their invited feedback.

Automated surveys can be extremely effective because rather than you telling your constituents something, they are telling you!  There is nothing more powerful than voters knowing that you are soliciting and acting on their opinions.  Office holders or candidates who are in tune with what their voters are thinking will invariably be the most successful at the polls and accomplishing their objectives.

There are a number of features and advantages of using automated phone surveys for polling purposes.  Here are just some of the reasons why think we excel at offering the best surveys in the business:

1)  You can use your own local number for the Caller ID, thus boosting response rates because people can more easily identify with the local number than a long distance or toll free number.

2)  Your survey can be custom-made to give you the data you are looking for.  For example, you can have any number of multiple choise questions (we recommend 4 at the most) with any number of different responses people can choose from (again, we recommend 4 at the most.)  Here is an example, "Good morning, welcome to our brief survey to help determine what voters are thinking.  It will only take a minute.  What do you think is the biggest issue facing our community at the present time?  Press 1 for taxes.  Press 2 for jobs.  Press 3 for potholes."  Once your contact presses a number on their keypad, they are automatically given the next question.

3)  Your survey can also include "branching" that would give contacts the next question depending on how they answered the previous question.  For example, if they chose taxes as their primary concern, you could have the next set of questions focusing on that topic.  Every contact can get a different survey based ontheir preferences and responses.

4)  Your surveys can be delivered in a recorded human voice, or as text to speech.  We highly recommend a human voice.  You can record your survey right over the phone and we can help you every step of the way.

5)  You can target your specific audience -- it doesn't matter how you break up or separate your list.  You can do it by geography, political affiliation, age, sex -- you name it.  You can get direct answers from specific targeted groups and easily compare how different constituencies react and respond.

Want to learn more?  Call us today at 888-387-8636.

Broadcast Notification Service: Phone and Text

By
Lee Simonson
on June 9, 2011 1:44 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
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Broadcast notification service, otherwise known as mass notification, enables you to immediately send a large number of messages via phone and/or text to selected recipients.  There are a number of popular reasons and applications that people use a notification service for, but you should know the following:

1)  Everything is moving to "the cloud," especially notifications.  So the idea of getting special notification software to send messages is quickly becoming obsolete.  Now you can send messages, right from your online-connected computer, without the need for any hardware or software and from any location.  In fact, our system is already set up and is ready to use.  You can send out your first broadcast today.

2)  There are legal restrictions.  Sending broadcasts for the purposes of telemarketing is, for all intents and purposes, against the law.  However, sending broadcasts for "informational purposes" is legal -- for example, school or organization closings, weather emergencies, airline delays, doctor appointments -- anything that involves a notification that alerts the recipient about a topic they want or need to know something about.  (We advise you to seek an attorney's opinion if you are in a gray area.)  For sales promotions, you need to have your recipients opt-in to your list.  While most states allow political calls, there are some restrictions so it's best to check your state's particular laws.

3)  Setting up is quick and easy.  Just upload your phone list or text list online (we can help you if you want) and you'll be good to go.  Make sure your list is in the proper format.  And yes, you can store any number of lists online to use for any number of different messages.

4)  Lastly, you need to record your phone message, or input your text message.  You can record your phone message right over the phone (our system will call you) so be sure to have your script ready.  Practice, practice, practice and rewrite your message as many times as you must to insure that you are clear, concise and informative.

Broadcasting notifications is much easier, simple, and probably less expensive than you ever imagined.  A properly executed broadcast campaign can achieve a very high response because is the most "direct" way to your targeted audience.  Today, the vast majority of people are using cell and smartphones to send and receive notifications instantly.
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