Fishbowl

 

Can I upload my own list?

How often should I send messages?

How do I validate offers?

Can I change the “From” to be my restaurant’s name as opposed to 21333?

Why are some of my customers not receiving the text response at all?

Why do some customers receive a message immediately and others it takes longer to get through?

If my phone is turned off, I am on a call, or out of network will I still receive the text message?

Can I block a number from joining?

How can I learn more about sending text messages via Fishbowl’s platform?

What is the “Text Translator”?

Can I add as many numbers as I want, without having them reply to it to confirm?

 

Can I upload my own list?
There are strict Mobile Marketing Association guidelines regarding how you received those numbers and when you last communicated to them.

• The customer must know that when they provided their number they would be receiving text marketing messages from your restaurant. You may be asked to provide a sample of all the print materials, signage and/or website where the numbers were captured. Contact your Account Manager to get the numbers uploaded to your database.
• If you have not sent a text marketing message or confirmation of optin message to those numbers in the last 3 months you may NOT request Fishbowl to upload those numbers into your database.

Please contact your Account Representative to complete the questionnaire or upload request form.

How often should I send messages?
Fishbowl does not recommend sending text messages more than once a week. It is important to remember that all messages should provide some type of value to your customer. This doesn’t necessarily mean an offer, but could be announcement of a new product offering or event at your location.

How do I validate offers?
When a customer comes in to redeem an offer your staff should look for 2 things:

• The from line/number is 21333 (Fishbowl shortcode)
• The send date if the offer is only valid for a specified period of time

Can I change the “From” to be my restaurant’s name as opposed to 21333?
21333 is the number associated with Fishbowl’s mobile platform and will always appear as the “From” number. The only way that number can appear as your restaurant name would be if the customer saved the number in their address book and labeled it with your restaurant name.

Why are some of my customers not receiving the text response at all?
Fishbowl’s mobile platform is setup to work with all the major carriers and can reach over 95% of mobile users. However, there are some smaller carriers that are not part of our aggregators* program. This is due to the smaller carriers not having the infrastructure to handle the volume of messages or the funds to implement connectivity with an aggregator. In addition to the carrier’s limitations our services may not work with some models or carriers of pre-paid phones.
Other reasons could include: not having the text messaging capability on your phone, your inbox being full, you spelled the keyword in correctly or your carrier’s service is momentarily down.

Fishbowl supports the following US carriers:

• Alltel
• Cellular One and its entities
• Cingular Blue (AT&T)
• Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW)
• Cingular Orange
• Cricket Wireless (Leap) – not including Jump Mobile Prepaid
• Dobson (Cellular One)
• Edge Wireless
• Midwest Wireless
• Nextel
• Ntelos
• Southwestern Bell
• Suncom (Triton PCS)
• Sprint
• T-Mobile US
• US Cellular
• Verizon
• Western Wireless

Fishbowl supports the following Canadian carriers:

• Bell Mobility Canada
• Microcell – Fido
• Mts
• Rogers Cantel AT&T
• Saskatel
• Telu
  

* An aggregator is a mobile telecoms company that acts as an intermediary between companies (i.e. Fishbowl) that want to interact with end users (through their mobile phones) and the mobile operators (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, etc…).

Why do some customers receive a message immediately and others it takes longer to get through?
The timing of when the customer receives the mobile message is contingent on the carrier. Fishbowl’s mobile platform will send the messages to the aggregator who in turn distributes it out to all the carriers. Though we know that the carrier has accepted the message we must rely on the carrier themselves to push the message to the customer’s phone.
The reason for delay could be due to the carrier’s server bandwidth or the service area of the customer.

If my phone is turned off, I am on a call, or out of network will I still receive the text message?
Yes, text messages are stored by your mobile provider for a period of time from a few days to a number of weeks (depending on your carrier). As soon as your phone is turned on or returns to the network area your wireless provider will begin to attempt to complete sending those messages directly to your phone.

Can I block a number from joining?
Fishbowl is not able to block one specific number/customer from joining your mobile program. We can put measures in place to ensure that a customer can only receive one Welcome text response even if they text your keyword to the shortcode multiple times.
If you suspect fraud, please contact your Fishbowl Account Executive or Client Services Representative to make sure your Welcome Text Response is setup to be one per member. Beyond that Fishbowl recommends communicating to the customer that the Welcome Text Offer will not be redeemed due to their fraudulent usage.

How can I learn more about sending text messages via Fishbowl’s platform?
Fishbowl provides weekly training to all existing clients every Monday at 4 pm EST. For more info please visit the following URL: http://www.fishbowl.com/fishbowl/mobiletraining.html

What is the “Text Translator”?
The text translator is an online tool that can help you shorten your mobile message to the 160 characters provided by taking common words and turning them into text lingo. For example, instead of Welcome you can type Wlcm or instead of Thank you just type Thx.

Can I add as many numbers as I want, without having them reply to it to confirm?
All new members should be added via a text to join. This is to confirm that people are taking action in order to optin. If you have an initial list when starting the mobile program with Fishbowl then you must complete the questionnaire and Fishbowl, if we approve, will upload the list for you.