Case Study: Fort Worth Public Library Transforms Patron Communication with MessageBee SMS
How Unique more than doubled their SMS deliverability rate.
This Library Didn't Know They Were Failing
In mid-2024, Fort Worth Public Library faced a significant communication challenge: Their patrons were not receiving SMS notifications. Their patrons were reporting that they weren’t receiving SMS messages, but the library had no way to track their messages. Text messages updating patrons on things like books coming due, holds now available, and service bulletins were all failing to reach their intended audience. The breakdown in notifications was causing problems for the library and patrons alike, and something needed to be done.
About Fort Worth Public Library
Fort Worth Public Library (FWPL) is a 20-location public library in Fort Worth, Texas. Founded in 1901, it serves half of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex a population of nearly one million residents.
FWPL has been a customer of Unique since 2008, benefiting from their services to enhance library operations and patron engagement.
Why SMS is Important
Text messaging has become a dominant communication channel for businesses and organizations, including libraries. In the context of libraries, integrating SMS notifications can enhance patron engagement by providing timely updates on holds, overdue items, and library events.
Approximately 270 million Americans own a smartphone as of 2023. As a channel of communication, SMS messages boast an impressive open rate of 98%, with 90% of people opening a text within three minutes of receipt.
This immediacy and high engagement make SMS an effective channel for timely and important communications, and the 2-way feature of MessageBee SMS makes it a natural fit for patron communication.
Understanding the Root Cause
The problem wasn’t unique to Fort Worth Public Library. Libraries across the U.S. are experiencing similar struggles due to changes in SMS technology and carrier policies. Historically, libraries relied on the “email-to-SMS gateway” system, a free but unreliable method of sending SMS via plain text emails to phone numbers. After some investigating, Unique found that only 41% of FWPL’s SMS notifications were being delivered.
There are two major drawbacks to using the email-to-SMS gateway
- No Delivery Confirmation: Libraries couldn’t confirm if messages were successfully delivered due to system limitations.
- New Carrier Policies: The introduction of the 10-Digit Long Code (10-DLC) standard in the U.S. required organizations to verify their identity as legitimate senders. While this change aimed to reduce spam, it imposed new costs and complexities that were difficult for public libraries to manage.
The Solution: MessageBee SMS
Fort Worth Public Library implemented MessageBee SMS, a platform designed for 10-DLC compliance and built to optimize SMS deliverability. The results were immediate and transformative. Before the switch, deliverability was just 41%. By July 2024, after adopting MessageBee, that rate soared to 91.1%.
Why MessageBee Worked
MessageBee addressed the library’s challenges by:
- Ensuring 10-DLC compliance for higher deliverability rates.
- Offering real-time reporting tools that provide visibility into message performance.
- Providing a library-specific phone number with a local area code, allowing patrons to save the library as a contact.
- Enabling two-way SMS communication, so patrons could respond directly to messages.
- Monitoring deliverability rates and staying ahead of spam filters with advanced tools.
A Lesson For All Libraries
For libraries still relying on outdated email-to-SMS gateways, the message is clear: your patrons aren’t receiving your updates. The email to SMS gateway is being shut down, so if libraries do nothing, they are ignoring an entire communication channel. Fort Worth Public Library’s success with MessageBee is not unique either, dozens of libraries have already recognized their limitations and made the switch to MessageBee SMS, restoring a communication channel that had gone dormant.
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