The "text to vote" functionality is called a shortcode, or a bunch of numbers that is less than a full phone number that is used in conjunction with a keyword.. Most text marketing services offer shortcode options to their customers: typically it's a shared shortcode, which means the number is the same for a bunch of customers but the keywords are unique to individual customers' campaigns. When users text the keyword to the shortcode, the system tracks the incoming phone number and the number of times each keyword is texted. You can typically see the keyword counts in real time on your account. Most customers set the system to return a "thank you" message, which lets the user know their vote was counted but can also direct the user to a website for more information. The message can be all text or it can be a picture. It is this return/outgoing message that determines the billing rate for the service--incoming messages are typically unlimited and free, but the number of messages sent out and the type of message, which are called "credits". (typically a text-only outgoing message to 1 number = 1 credit; a picture message to 1 number = 3 credits) When you buy the service you buy a certain number of credits in a package. There is also a bunch of legal stuff: usually shortcodes are employed to get users to "opt in" to receive text-based marketing messages, and you are not allowed to send marketing to people who haven't opted in. Hence the return message is typically a legal requirement to inform people that they have opted in and will receive messages until they text another keyword to opt out. Shortcodes are often used to gather addresses for prize drawings in addition to opting in (and sorting people by their chosen keyword to receive different messages!), but the text-to-vote option is increasingly popular.
I was unable to find a free service. The cheapest I could find (TXT180: https://www.txt180.com/) was $19.95/month for 500 credits, and if more than 500 outgoing messages are sent, the system automatically bills you for an additional $19.95 for a 2nd 500-credit package. That gives me a max of $40 spent to receive 1000 votes in a one-month campaign, which for my purposes is enough and I think it's a good price. But shop around to compare based on your needs. When I talked to this service I was told that it doesn't matter if I don't want to send an outgoing message, the opt-in laws require a return message. But they can set the service to "text for info" mode, which means I can't send out messages except automated ones in response to an incoming text.
I hope this provides information to those who are looking for an inexpensive, no-contact way to get community feedback. What I love is that it is not smartphone-dependent as the user never needs to access the web or have a data plan--they just need to have active phone service. For the community I am working with, that's key--they have phones but not always smartphones, and most don't have data plans. There is no free wifi in the neighborhood. It's a low-tech solution that could return big results!
https://indyarts.org/about/restart-with-art
Julia Muney Moore (she/her/hers)
Director of Public Art
924 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 631-3301 x 240
(317) 332-8382 mobile
