SMS Text Messages Boost Government Engagement 

As a communications channel for government agencies, email has become saturated. With the average person receiving 117 emails a day, it has only a 6% response rate. Add that this: 20% of Canadian households making below $30,000 per year don’t have access to broadband services or computers, making it difficult for the government to serve them with systems that are designed for desktops. Government agencies understand this and have since moved to provide SMS text notification for everything from emergencies alerts to paying property taxes.

Text messages are becoming a welcome method of communication for citizens who are accustomed to using self-serve, mobile-friendly, digital tools for transactions of all kinds – both in their business and personal lives. There is plenty of room for expanding its usage in the government arena for managing forms, agreements, applications, correspondence and approvals. 

Now is the time to add SMS text messages – allowing for multi-channel communications for government agreements.

Complete agreements faster with text messages

To improve efficiency, government offices can take advantage of SMS Delivery for eSignature. SMS text messages make it easy to reach signers wherever they are, through real-time notifications sent directly to their mobile device – enabling them to quickly open and electronically sign documents. The average time it takes someone to respond to a text message is 90 seconds, so agencies will be able to obtain signatures and complete paperwork faster.   

Here are a few use cases where SMS can help provincial and local government agencies:

• K-12 school districts: Simplifies the processing of all parental consent forms, including Individualized Education Programs (IEP), where delivery of these documents is critical. Using multiple, varied attempts at parental communications, school districts mitigate the risk of lawsuits for non-delivery.

• Public utilities: Enhances the ability to communicate critical service issues and avoid shutoffs for nonpayment by getting customers into customer assistance plans faster. It also makes it easier to correspond with populations that don’t have access to computers, and primarily communicate via mobile.

• State child support agencies: Facilitates correspondence with younger parents, who often prefer to use text, for child support case management. It also ensures that parents don't forget to bring the correct documents to their child support hearings without the need to upload documents remotely.

• Internal HR documents: Streamlines a wide-range of internal HR paperwork, such as timesheets, invoices, HR forms, onboarding documents and contracts. Many government executives and leaders now prefer SMS as the most efficient channel for obtaining consent for these types of documents.

Across Canada, digital transformation projects are underway at all levels of government, notably at municipal levels where scores of individual use cases now eliminate paper forms and share data among linked functions. SMS Delivery will help drive new efficiencies by opening up new channels of communication, improving citizen engagement.

Ready to add SMS Delivery to your communications?