Tech Forum

I haven't found a working solution yet and I've tried almost everything mentioned here. The Twitter features suggested has been shut down. Remind says it's stricking for Schools.

My ward was just affected by hurricane Florence and we want another way (other than mass emails) to get something out to the ward. We don't mind if we have to ask the ward to send a text to opt-in. We just need an app that will send the mass texting.

Are there any solutions out there?

gbernal wrote:Are there any solutions out there?

Our family uses GroupMe. Someone needs to manage the group to approve sign ups, which may be a bit cumbersome at a ward level, but once established it works well.

A disadvantage might be that anyone can send a text to the group and everyone in the group will receive it. I have not explored whether or not there are broadcast with no response allowed options because our family does not need that.

quandmeme talked about it a few posts back.

i have created a list in LDS tools and sent a text. It was 48 texts. My problem was I used an Iphone and everyone who had an Iphone received the text and anyone that had an android did not receive the text. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks

My best guess, and it is only an educated guess, is that the message was sent using the proprietary iMessage protocol (Apple Push Notification) as many of the mobile providers in the US limit the number of SMS (standard format across all platforms). I know that Verizon limits my recipients to 10.

i was going to post this as a separate thread but it’s similar enough to this one that I’ll post it here.

Considering the recent direction for wards to communicate announcements to the ward without taking Sacrament Meeting time there is a need for an additional LCR function. It would be very helpful if entries in the LCR member list had space for a text/SMS number. Additionally it would be helpful if there were a blast text feature in the send a message application.

I just submitted this feedback to LDS.org. If these features would be helpful to you I encourage you to add your voice to mine by requesting using the feedback option on LDS.org

wrigjef wrote:Considering the recent direction for wards to communicate announcements to the ward without taking Sacrament Meeting time there is a need for an additional LCR function.

That would be nice, but considering the shutdown of bulletins in the past, I'm not optimistic. I'd imagine that the thinking here is more along the lines of making sure all the announcements are in the program. Also, I'd question if SMS is an appropriate method of distributing bulk announcements.

There was an official communication that referred to electronic communication of announcements.

wrigjef wrote:There was an official communication that referred to electronic communication of announcements.

Which can happen in multiple ways and is encouraged but not required...

It falls to the local leadership to determine the best method based on their specific situation. If texts are subject to provider limitations, I would consider them less than ideal for mass communication that needs to reach the entire population of a large ward. But I almost never text and have very limited text capability on my dumb-phone so perhaps I'm missing the whole point of the discussion.

I can only speak for my ward, but if leaders relied on texts or SMS messages only, they would completely miss about 30% of the active adult population.

"Considering the recent direction for wards to communicate announcements to the ward without taking Sacrament Meeting time there is a need for an additional LCR function. It would be very helpful if entries in the LCR member list had space for a text/SMS number. Additionally it would be helpful if there were a blast text feature in the send a message application.

I just submitted this feedback to LDS.org. If these features would be helpful to you I encourage you to add your voice to mine by requesting using the feedback option on LDS.org"

If these features would not be helpful to you, don’t feel obligated to leave feedback

wrigjef wrote:There was an official communication that referred to electronic communication of announcements.

Can you give me a reference? All I can find is about making "minimal" announcements in the meetings.