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Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:48 pm
by scgallafent
I removed your attachment because it has personal information for members of your ward. Could you please upload a new copy that doesn't have actual member names in it?

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:05 pm
by kmilleca
kmilleca wrote:This is definitely a work in progress but I thought it might be helpful to see what our ward is doing to reach out to our members via the best possible medium for each.

I've attached a guide we recently compiled for our Ward Council.

Kevin

[-- added sanitized attachment --]

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:22 pm
by mantoan
I am not sure if this is the right space for this, but I hope someone out there can relay my message.
I have just been called the Compassionate Service Leader in our Ward's Relief Society, and I am having the hardest time sending messages to all the Relief Society Sisters. First, the Directory on the website does not work well with any of my E-mail contact lists to save the e-mails from the directory. I've been working on creating a list with the active sisters to see if I can send multiple messages that way, but it is a painful one by one job, and it has to be done on the phone, so I don't even know if it will work with the computer...
We have a RS Facebook page, but not all sisters are on Facebook - some think Facebook is an evil media tool that only serves for people to be envious of each other and publish inappropriate news...
I wish the Member Tools app could have a multimedia chat room, just for the members, in which we could publish posts of needs in the ward and all sisters could see those who have been signed up for already, and in which the RS could communicate faster and more effectively to fulfill the compassionate service needs. I have used the Facebook page to post those announcements, but not all sisters are on in, and some are afraid of privacy issues with Facebook. If I send it on e-mail, we cannot see what has been signed for already, and it becomes an impossible job for me to keep responding to all. I am also running into a problem with e-mails that block messages that are sent with multiple receivers, so some sisters do not even get the announcement and I get flooded with "undeliverable" messages. I have used the Doodle Poll app to create events and have people sign up electronically, which worked quite well for single dinner assignments, but it doesn't work for bigger events. A sister suggested using Google docs to share an online document that can be edited by everyone who is sent the link, which would also work well, but, again, how about privacy? What would Google do with all the names, addresses, phone numbers and sensitive information put in there.
Can someone PLEASE create a chat room for ward groups in which we can correlate with the ward members on specific assignments with a good privacy?
If anyone has any ideas on how to better do this job, I am all ears!
gdmantoan@hotmail.com

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:47 pm
by kmilleca
Our ward has started using remind.com to manage text messages to members.
Remind is designed for schools but if you overlook the fact that lists are called "classes" you'll be fine.

What I like about remind:
- You can create as many distinct lists as you need. We have a) Ward members, b) Elders Quorum members, and c) Relief Society members.
- You are not limited to sending 10 messages at a time (which is imposed by most phone carriers).
- Members who reply to the texts are not replying to everyone on the list. Replies only go to the sender of the text.
- Text messages can be sent from any mobile device or your desktop computer.
- Finally, each list can have shared owners so the responsibility of communicating with the ward can be shared or delegated.

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:12 pm
by russellhltn
kmilleca wrote:Our ward has started using remind.com to manage text messages to members.
Always read the terms of service for any such thing.

The one that catches my eye on remind.com is (yes, it's in all caps)
IF YOU INVITE OR ADD ANYONE TO USE REMIND AND/OR USE ANY FEATURE OF THE SERVICES WHICH REQUIRES SHARING PERSONAL INFORMATION OF ANYONE (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IF YOU IMPORT CONTACTS FROM YOUR ADDRESS BOOK TO THE SERVICES), YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE OBTAINED FREELY GIVEN, INFORMED CONSENT FROM EACH PERSON TO:

RECEIVE SUCH INVITATION AND BE ADDED TO THE SERVICES;
RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM REMIND,
OTHER PARTICIPANTS OF THE CLASS OR GROUP, AND
OTHERS WHO HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR CLASS OR GROUP (SUCH AS, ORGANIZERS AND VERIFIED ADMINISTRATORS); AND
PROVIDE THAT PERSON'S PERSONAL INFORMATION TO REMIND.
Getting consent from all involved could be rather time consuming. Unfortunately, I suspect this will also apply to any other service you try and use.

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:28 pm
by kmilleca
Agreed russellhltn,

It is a bit of a hassle to get permission from ward members before adding them to the remind system.

But that reminded me of another feature I forgot to mention in my previous post:
- If a user wants to stop receiving text messages they simply reply with a text that says "LEAVE"

The only way to get off the Tools texting list is to remove your personal phone number from your church records : /

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:25 am
by sbradshaw
I would recommend sending feedback using the Contact Us option in Member Tools to request a feature. I haven't used Remind, but everything I've read about it seems like it's a great system. Maybe Member Tools could borrow some ideas from it.

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:00 pm
by davesudweeks
I was added to a Remind list without my permission by a Stake leader organizing a choir for a special function. I don't recall any information provided as to how I could remove myself from the reminders or manage how often I received them (though that was a couple of years ago). I did not want to be on the list and I did not contact them about it because I did not want to cause hurt feelings. However, I was very grateful when the event passed and the uninvited reminders stopped.

"The problem with the man who is good with a hammer is he tends to see everything as a nail..."

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2019 5:12 pm
by kpraeger
I agree with the concerns expressed here. It would be great to have a platform for everyone in our church to communicate with. I was thinking of introducing something like Slack for our Ward, however I would much prefer seeing a comprehensive communication tool built into the Church apps and website instead. Maybe they could integrate with a third party for this (like Slack)?

Re: LCR - Send message function - texting

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:49 am
by mikefr
This is a hot topic. As cool as LDSTools is, I agree with the need to add Texting & Chat with individuals and groups (by Auxiliaries and custom made groups). We'd like a way to easily & quickly send messages to our Ward members. This would be helpful to contact members in a short period of time during severe weather events and other situations when immediate communications with a couple hundred members in seconds/minutes is needed. Would be a great communications tool for disaster preparedness.

While I like Slack (use it at work), it's too feature rich for our needs. And while, Remind is much better suited as far as usability for our members goes, I'm very concerned privacy of members. As we're all aware, some apps like Facebook, Google, even Remind leave the door wide open to accessing and collecting far more personal information than needed to complete a simple task like texting. I would feel MUCH more comfortable with this functionality built into LDSTools. IE, I trust the Church more than profit driven corporations :)

Are there any plans in the works for texting/chatting tool coming from the Church? Thanks for all your efforts!