More New Zealand IP Communications Stories
October 14, 2008
SMS for Voter Registration Info in New Zealand from Datasquirt
TMCnet Contributing Editor
New Zealand's Electoral Enrollment Center is using Contact to make it easy for eligible voters to request an enrollment pack by simply sending their name and address to Freetext 3676.
Datasquirt (News - Alert), supplier of Contact, its multi-channel communication product, says the Electoral Enrollment Center has once again used Datasquirt's product to "facilitate enrollments for the upcoming general election."
"The younger generation's preferred method of communication is SMS," and the company is working with the Electoral Enrollment Center to "make it easy for young New Zealanders to register to vote," says Aaron Ridgway, CEO of Datasquirt.
A staggering 51 percent of all enrollment requests received by the Electoral Enrollment Center prior to the New Zealand 2005 general election were processed via Datasquirt's SMS product. This election, some 42 percent of all enrollment requests have been via SMS.
Since early May when the enrollment drive commenced, "we have received more than 100,000 requests for enrollment packs via Datasquirt's two-way SMS platform," says Rex Arrell, the Electoral Enrollment Centers Manager for Policy and Administration.
Datasquirt's Contact is supplied as software-as-a-service, with secure access available from most Internet browsers.
Datasquirt (News - Alert), supplier of Contact, its multi-channel communication product, says the Electoral Enrollment Center has once again used Datasquirt's product to "facilitate enrollments for the upcoming general election."
"The younger generation's preferred method of communication is SMS," and the company is working with the Electoral Enrollment Center to "make it easy for young New Zealanders to register to vote," says Aaron Ridgway, CEO of Datasquirt.
A staggering 51 percent of all enrollment requests received by the Electoral Enrollment Center prior to the New Zealand 2005 general election were processed via Datasquirt's SMS product. This election, some 42 percent of all enrollment requests have been via SMS.
Since early May when the enrollment drive commenced, "we have received more than 100,000 requests for enrollment packs via Datasquirt's two-way SMS platform," says Rex Arrell, the Electoral Enrollment Centers Manager for Policy and Administration.
Datasquirt's Contact is supplied as software-as-a-service, with secure access available from most Internet browsers.
In July Datasquirt and Consilium Software, a communications software company specializing in products for enterprises and contact centers, announced a partnership where Consilium will provide sales, implementation, support and training services for Contact throughout Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East.
Pramod Ratwani, founder & CEO of Consilium Software, said Datasquirt's multiple channel software Contact was a good fit with Consilium's solutions for contact centers.
"Datasquirt's offering complements existing voice-based solutions by integrating SMS text messages, email, web chat and faxes into contact centre workflows. This provides new ways for contact centers to provide new customer services or improve existing services," Ratwani said.
The ability to integrate text messaging was particularly important, he said. Recent surveys showed that more than 60 percent of Generation Y (born between 1980 - 1996) and more than 30 percent of Generation X (born between 1965 - 1979) used SMS text messaging.
Pramod Ratwani, founder & CEO of Consilium Software, said Datasquirt's multiple channel software Contact was a good fit with Consilium's solutions for contact centers.
"Datasquirt's offering complements existing voice-based solutions by integrating SMS text messages, email, web chat and faxes into contact centre workflows. This provides new ways for contact centers to provide new customer services or improve existing services," Ratwani said.
The ability to integrate text messaging was particularly important, he said. Recent surveys showed that more than 60 percent of Generation Y (born between 1980 - 1996) and more than 30 percent of Generation X (born between 1965 - 1979) used SMS text messaging.
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David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David's articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Mae Kowalke