Stratum News/Random Thoughts

Noted October 11, 2016

The Death of the Busy Signal...

 

In the mid-1980s, telephone was king. With the innovations of Caller-ID, answering machines and voicemail – it was only a matter of time until the king was unseated. Apple introduced the IPhone in the summer of 2007 and by fall Nielsen reported the average number of text-messages in the U.S. exceeded the average number of phone calls -- for the first time. This timeline coincides with the residential ‘landline’ being placed on the endangered species list (pagers never made the list, simply wiped from the face of the earth), soon followed by the death of the ‘busy signal’.

It Is Amazing How Quickly We Shift ... Consider:

- On average, Americans exchange twice as many texts as they do calls. (Nielsen)

- The average adult spends a total of 23 hours a week texting. (USA Today)

- Over 80% of American adults text, making it the most common cell phone activity. (Pew Internet)

- Over 6 billion text messages are sent in the U.S. each day. (Forrester)

- 96% of smartphone users 'text'. (Acision)

- Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate. (Mobile Marketing Watch)

- Text messaging has a 45% response rate, while email only has a 6% response rate. (Velocify)

- 90% of all text messages are read in under 3 minutes. (Connect Mogul)

- It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to email, but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message. (CTIA)

- The average Millennial exchanges an average of 67 text messages per day. (Business Insider)

- American women text 14% more than men. (Nielsen)

- 70% of U.S. consumers appreciate getting texts or emails from healthcare providers. (Loyalty 360)

What Does This Mean For Me?

Statistics show that we Americans love texting; voice calls – not so much. The ‘open’ and ‘response’ rates for texting vs. email are four times higher, ease of use – far superior. According to Kentico’s ‘Patient Attitudes Toward Healthcare on the Web’ survey, 70% of patients reported finding value from receiving emails or text messages from their healthcare provider. Obviously, the appeal of texting appointment-reminders has led the charge.

Kentico’s CEO and founder Petr Palas states “Patients are reacting positively to what they have seen so far, but clearly they want much more. The survey suggests that healthcare providers need to continue to adapt to the mobile, real-time habits of future generations.” The next logical step-forward is Tracker’s integrated ‘Two Way Texting’, coming in your Tracker update v11.27……

Contact Your Implementation Team For More Information About 'Two-Way Texting' and Other Tracker Innovations