Quickly React to Guests with Text Communication

Are you experiencing an acute communication deficiency between you and your guests?

We’re sure with all the work coming your way, quickly responding to guest needs is a challenge you’re often faced with – especially if you’re not using a text communication solution.

At any given moment, on any given day, your guests need to reach you about their concerns or incidents they see throughout your venue.

If this is the case for your operation, you need to get a solution in place…yesterday. You need to turn on text communication software before it’s too late.

When you do this, you empower your guests to contribute to everyone’s experience. Your staff will also have the ability to handle issues and mitigate hazardous incidents while they’re occurring.

Efficiently respond to the needs of your guests and you’ve solved a large piece of the safety and security puzzle. While simultaneously keeping those dreaded customer complaint calls down to an all-time low.

Text Communication Has Efficiency in Its Genetic Makeup

Text Communication is simple. These systems are quite easy to learn and even easier to operate during a crisis, when it matters most.

Communication starts with a text message being sent into the system by way of a designated number together with your venue’s keyword.

Remember, your text notification system is a time of need system. So it’s important to display visible signage throughout your venue for guests to see.

If you don’t put signage in place or send a clear message to your guests about its availability, it won’t get used. If your guests don’t use the system, well then, it’s useless, right?

Putting signage in place throughout your venue is vital, because guests will know the system exists and how to properly use it. Make the needed information available to your guests and they’ll contribute when they need you.

One important factor to beware of: Your keyword is only associated with your venue. Regardless of whether other properties use the same solution provider, they won’t be able to create the same keyword. Keywords are created specifically for a single venue.

Curious to see the system in action? Let’s take a moment to put it into perspective:

A guest sends in a text message while witnessing a fight taking place near their family. They’ll send a text message using your number and keyword (“ISS” for example). The message about the fight will follow the keyword.

Here’s what the text message might look like from your guest: “ISS fight in section 106 row 14 please hurry!”

Simple enough, right? Now you can quickly respond to your guest and mitigate the incident while it’s occurring.

Fast Response Leads to an Enhanced Experience

Managing your venue can be an arduous task but is undeniably a demanding one.  

A texting solution ensures a swift fix to your communication and operation drawbacks, like the fight in section 106. Act quickly and you’ll reap the benefits faster than it took you to implement the system. (Trust us, that’s fast!)

From the moment the fighting message is sent from your guest’s phone, to the closing of the incident, your system provides a repository of information and a valuable solution that handles your communication challenges.

When using a solution that includes all of the following five characteristics you’ll have the ability to quickly react to guests and make everything work out. You’re one step closer to peace of mind.

1. Messages in the queue are color coded by status. This will give you the ability to visualize your resource allocation and response efficiency.
2. Viewing related text messages through a conversation thread allows you to review all messages associated with a specific incident.
3. Customized response templates can be used when a message is received by the system to respond immediately to guests for notification or to request additional information about a situation.
4. When creating internal user groups, you can text important alerts or messages to your staff – that way, their timing will be impeccable.
5. Generate numerous reports with ease to determine business needs and whether all your role-playing paid off. If not, your guests will definitely let you know it’s time to increase efficiency.

Messages color coded by status give you the ability to visualize your resource allocation and response efficiency.

A solution starts with color coded messages giving staff a full picture of all messages by status so that nothing coming into the system gets overlooked. All messages can be prioritized and examined in real time to know which stage in the communication process they’re in.

For example, when the new fighting message comes into the system it will be labeled in ‘red’ as opposed to your on scene messages that will appear in ‘green.’  Simple but very important.

Viewing related text messages through your conversation thread allows you to review all messages associated with a specific incident.

Your system will generate a conversation thread based on your guest’s telephone number linked with their message. A thread will display the time and date of the conversation for historical reference and useful analysis. Your team doesn’t have time to pick through a queue of text messages to try and rapidly link dialogue together.

Your conversation thread will also provide a visualization of the two-way conversation in an organized format so all message flow can be reviewed for vital information. The thread simply replaces unclear information with the hard facts you need to better react to guests. 

Customized response templates can be used when a message is received by the system to respond immediately to guests for notification or to request additional information about a situation.

Response templates give you the ability to respond to the message with a single click of the button directly from the text messaging panel. It allows staff to quickly request additional information about suspects in a fight with complete efficiency (for your peace of mind).

Let’s say the details of the fighting message do not give your team enough information, they can respond to the guest with a template requesting more information. This allows your team to approach the issue or incident most effectively.

When creating internal user groups, you can text important alerts or messages to your staff – that way, their timing will be impeccable.

Create messages in advance to be scheduled or send on-the-fly to the team. Create a group so that you can easily communicate information in one step.

Send out a staff alert when there’s a location known for fights (we call it a “Hot Spot”) starting to give signs something might occur. Have the peace of mind in knowing your whole team will be ready to respond if needed and able to immediately initiate protocol.

Generate numerous reports with ease to determine business needs and whether all your role-playing paid off. If not, your guests will definitely let you know it’s time to increase efficiency.

Reporting and analytics gives you an added advantage: You’re able to study details of daily operations for your venue to better respond to guests for their safety and security. All messages and incidents are digitally stored in most web-based systems making analytics an easy and powerful process nowadays.

Reports can be produced for you to rethink, rework and reposition your operation. They’ll let you measure the data in an organized, comprehensive manner. Using your analytics with purpose will help you achieve peace of mind.

Over to You

As a professional, you have access to all the tools necessary to connect with your guests. Strengthened communication lines will allow you to quickly respond to their needs.

When you rely on a text communication solution – and use it – you enhance the overall safety and security of guests coming to your venue for a comfortable and memorable experience.