Mekashron Call Center Software is a powerful sales tool for your business and nowhere is this more apparent than in its facilities for automated campaigns.
In this chapter we will look specifically at using Bulk Broadcasting campaigns. The topics we will cover are:
At this stage, we assume that you have completed the following tasks:
- Successfully Installed Mekashron
- Set up or imported your Entities
- Reviewed the chapter on the Mekashron Editor, which is used to create the SMS messages you will send in your campaigns.
You will need to be logged into your Mekashron Call Center Software system as an administrator in order to set up SMS Campaigns.
1 - SMS Settings
To set up Mekashron for Bulk SMS Broadcasting:
From the main Mekashron menu, select Main -> Settings.
Figure 1.1 Accessing Settings from the Main Menu
In the resulting dialog box choose the SMS tab:
Figure 1.2 The SMS Settings Tab
When you first wish to set up Mekashron to send SMS messages, you will need to set up an account and purchase some SMS text credits from the Mekashron website. To do this, click on the Buy More Credits button:
Figure 1.3 The Buy More Credits Button
This takes you to the Mekashron site where you will be guided through setting up an SMS account and buying credits. During this process you will create a username and password.
Once you have done this, please return to the SMS settings form and fill in the username and password you have just created, then click on Verify Account:
Figure 1.4 The SMS Account Settings
Once your SMS account has been verified online, the screen will update to show how many credits you have:
Figure 1.5 The Account Balance Display
The final setting on the SMS Settings screen is the From Number. This is where you enter the number that you would like to display as the sender, when your client or prospect receives an SMS message from your Mekashron system:
Figure 1.6 The From Number Setting
It is important that you set up the correct From Number so that your clients or prospects can recognize you as the sender, and indeed contact you if desired. When you send SMS messages via Mekashron, the messages are sent out over your internet connection and then are transmitted from our own central SMS server here at Mekashron to your recipients.
When you have finished setting up your system for SMS, click OK to save your changes and exit the settings screen.
2 - Create SMS Campaign
There are three main steps for creating SMS campaigns:
- Select your entities
- Create your SMS message
- Send your SMS messages
In the main Mekashron Entity List screen, select the entities to whom you wish to send this SMS campaign:
Figure 2.1 Selecting Entities for an SMS Campaign
For tips on how to filter, find and select the list of entities that you wish to use, please refer to Search Entities.
Once you are happy with your prospect list, select Campaign -> Send SMS from the Main Menu:
Figure 2.2 Creating an SMS Campaign from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can simply click on the SMS button:
Figure 2.3 The SMS Button
Either of these actions will bring up the Mekashron Editor for you to compose your SMS message in:
Figure 2.4 Mekashron Editor in SMS Mode
The functionality of the Mekashron Editor is fully documented here: Editor.
Please note the button labeled Send SMS, that is available in the Mekashron Editor when you are using it in SMS Mode:
Figure 2.5 The Send SMS Button
You can now open an existing SMS message that you have composed previously in a separate file. To do this, select File -> Open:
Figure 2.6 Opening a Pre-Composed Message in the Mekashron Editor
This gives you the opportunity to browse to a location on your PC or your network and select an existing file in which you have already written the text for your SMS message.
Figure 2.7 The Windows Open File Dialog Box
As you can see, Mekashron will allow you to open a variety of file types in the Mekashron Editor. However, as SMS messages must be plain, unformatted text files, it is recommended to only open Text files for creating your SMS messages.
If you do not have a pre-written message, you can compose your message directly in the Editor. Note that formatting does not function when the Editor is in SMS mode, simply because SMS messages are always sent as plain text and cannot be formatted.
Figure 2.8 Composing an SMS Message in the Editor
To customize the message for your own clients and prospects, you can use the Macro function to insert personalized fields. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please refer to the Editor section in this chapter.
In our example we wish to personalize the message with the clients name:
Figure 2.9 A Personalized SMS Message
Once you are happy with your message, you can send it by clicking on the Send SMS button:
Figure 2.10 The Send SMS Button
You will be presented with the Options for sending an SMS message:
Figure 2.11 The SMS Sending Options Screen
The Campaign options in this screen are:
- Campaign Name - If you wish to save this message as a campaign, enter a new campaign name here and select the box below, Save as Campaign
- Save as Campaign - If this option is selected then the Campaign Name field above is a required field. However, if you simply want to send this SMS message as a one-off event rather than a campaign, then you can de-select this option and leave the text box above empty.
- Apply only to new entities - When you later reuse the same SMS campaign, if this option is NOT checked then you will be able to send the message to ALL the entities you have selected in the Entity List. However, if you wish to ensure that you dont send a duplicate SMS message to prospects who have already received a copy, please check this box in order to send the SMS message to additional entities with no risk of annoying your clients by sending duplicates.
The other options, on the right of the screen, are:
- Schedule To: - Here you enter the date and time when you would like your SMS messages to commence transmission.
- Spooler Priority - In this drop down you can select a priority of Low, Normal or High. In this way you can create multiple campaigns to be sent during the same time frame, and control which are spooled with a higher priority to get sent out first.
Once you have set the options for sending your SMS message, click OK to send the SMS campaign, and the messages will be sent out over your internet connection, via the Mekashron SMS servers.
Once you have sent a campaign, you can view its progress and status in your outbox. For more information, please see the Campaigns Manage chapter.
3 - Add Entities to an SMS Campaign
Once you have set up one or more SMS campaigns, you can easily add more clients or prospects (Entities) to the campaign in order to send the same SMS message out to another batch of clients.
First, select the set of entities that you would like to add to the campaign in the Entities screen:
Figure 3.1 Selecting Additional Entities to Add to an SMS Campaign
Note that if you filter the entities to show all those you wish to add, you can simply right click and choose Select All to quickly select all of the entities currently shown in the list:
Figure 3.2 Selecting All Entities in the Filtered List
As you did when creating an SMS campaign, now select Campaign -> Send SMS, or click on the SMS button.
When the Mekashron Editor opens in SMS mode, by default it opens with a new document (in other words a fresh, new campaign). To open an existing Campaign, click on Campaign and then select the existing campaign you would like to use.
Figure 3.3 Selecting an Existing SMS Campaign
To add the entities that we selected to this campaign, we can now click the Send SMS button:
Figure 3.4 The Send SMS Button
In the Options screen, this time Mekashron has pre-filled the Campaign Name field for us as you can see below:
Figure 3.5 The Options Screen for an Existing SMS Campaign
The key option at this point is the Apply only to new entities checkbox. Ensure that this is checked if you simply want to send the campaign out to the new entities that you have added and ensure that no duplicates are sent out to entities that have already received this SMS message. However, if you wish to send out the message to ALL of the entities that you have selected, even if some of them were in the original distribution list, then de-select this option.
4 - SMS Campaign Statistics
In this section we will look at the statistical information that Mekashron gives you with regard to your SMS campaigns.
To access the statistics, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Statistics:
Figure 4.1 - Accessing Statistics from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Statistics button:
Figure 4.2 - The Statistics Button
In the Statistics Type box on the left expand the &Campaign group and then select SMS:
Figure 4.3 - The Statistics Type Box
Here is an example of some SMS statistics:
Figure 4.4 - SMS Campaign Statistics
As you can see, the statistics are shown in graphical form on the right of the screen. The graph and data change dynamically depending on your selections:
- Date - The From and To date and time for the period you wish to view:
Figure 4.5 - The Date Control
- Campaigns - In this selection list you simply select the campaigns you wish to view information for:
Figure 4.6 - The Campaigns Selection List
Once you are happy with the statistics view, you can print or save your output:
Figure 4.7 - Printing or Saving Your Statistics
If you select the BMP option, then when you click the Print Statistics button you will be able to save the statistical view as an image on your PC or network.
If you select the Printer option, then Mekashron will send the output to your printer.
5 - SMS Campaign Reports
In this section we will look at the reporting facilities that Mekashron gives you with regard to your SMS campaigns.
To access the reports, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Reports:
Figure 5.1 - Accessing Reports from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Reports button:
Figure 5.2 - The Reports Button
In the Report Type pane, expand the &Campaign option and then select SMS:
Figure 5.3 - The Report Type Pane
You are now presented with all of the options in the right hand pane for filtering your SMS campaign report:
Figure 5.4 - The SMS Campaign Reporting Options
At the top right, select the business whose data you wish to report on:
Figure 5.5 - The Business Dropdown
Next, you can specify the date and time range of data you wish to include:
Figure 5.6 - The Date Control
In the Campaigns list, you can check all the campaigns you wish to include in this report:
Figure 5.7 - The Campaigns List
You can also filter your report by the status of the sent messages, in the Status checklist:
Figure 5.8 - The Statuses List
Once you have chosen your filtering options, you can customize the fields that will be shown on your report:
Figure 5.9 - The Visible Fields Control
Select those fields that you wish to include, and if desired use the arrow buttons:
Figure 5.10 - The Control for Moving the Visible Fields
to move those fields into the order that you wish to have them displayed on the report.
When you are ready to create your report, select the output type you desire:
Figure 5.11 - Selecting the Output Type
and then choose the page setup you want your report to have:
Figure 5.12 - Choosing the Orientation of the Report
before clicking the Generate Report button:
Figure 5.13 - The Generate Report Button
Here is an example of an SMS campaign report in Preview mode:
Figure 5.14 - An SMS Campaign Report in Preview Mode
6 - Summary
In this section we have covered all the SMS messaging and campaigns options that Mekashron Call Center Software gives you. In particular, you also have the simple yet powerful Macro functionality that enables you to personalize your SMS messages for each client or prospect.