Client: Broken Arrow Assembly of God
Industry: Not-for-Profit
Goal: Event organization and communication

Vontoo Provides New Approach to Faith-based Communications

In a world where immediacy seems to reign, religious organizations are seeking innovative ways to keep members connected. Through a partnership with phone messaging company Vontoo, one church is leading a nationwide trend in turning the latest voice broadcasting technology to its advantage.

Jason Berry serves as Communications Director for Broken Arrow Assembly of God (“The Assembly”) in Oklahoma. The large congregation was in the midst of relocating to an expanded facility. Berry was seeking an efficient method of keeping 500-plus households updated on the project, when he found Vontoo voice messaging.

Vontoo broadcasts recorded voice messages to any landline, mobile or Internet-based phone in the United States. Berry or a pastor records the latest update in a phone call and then accesses Vontoo’s call broadcasting technology via a simple Internet interface. Next, Berry uploads his list of numbers and schedules the voice recording for distribution to members who have given permission to receive communications.

“In the past, churches used a manual phone tree which requires significant time and many volunteers,” says Berry. “With Vontoo, I can easily reach 500 households in a single call, in less than an hour.”

Using Vontoo’s opt-in/opt-out technology, recipients can choose after every call to be automatically removed from the list. A mere three families out of more than 500 have exercised this option in the past six months. “When we do the Vontoo calls we see great results,” Berry shares. “People make a point of thanking me for the reminder.”

Faith-based organizations like The Assembly are not only using phone messaging to conserve time and enhance involvement, the calling technology is also useful in stretching budgets and measuring results. Once a message distributes, automatic tracking reports show who listened to the call and for how long, as well as what calls reached an answering machine or voicemail. “Not only do I like to watch the voice messages go out and read the reports, I’ve found Vontoo to be much cheaper than traditional methods of mass communication such as a postcard,” explains Berry.

As religious groups compete for the attention of their members, they see Vontoo as a new way to fulfill their calling. In the future, The Assembly is considering using Vontoo to spread the word quickly about weather closings or special event announcements.

“I’ve told a lot of churches that they need to look at Vontoo and I would highly recommend it for helping to keep people informed,” emphasizes Berry. “We feel like the Vontoo messages are making a difference.

Client: Masons
Industry: Fraternal Organization
Goal: Event organization and communication

Fraternal Organization Uses Vontoo Voice Messaging to Increase Membership
Masons Connect Personally with Members with Monthly Calling Service

At a time when many fraternal organizations are facing sagging memberships, a creative group of Masons are using the latest innovation in voice broadcasting to counter this trend. Through a partnership with phone messaging company Vontoo ( www.vontoo.com), lodge leaders are seeing resurgences in meeting attendance by combining instant communications with the emotional connection of the human voice.

Known for a long history of community involvement and service, the Freemasons is the oldest fraternal organization for men in the world. Basic organizational units are called lodges, which are then grouped into Grand Lodges that operate autonomously. In the Scottsville, Va. area, leaders in seven of these lodges were looking for a way to better encourage long-standing and new members to attend monthly functions. After exploring several ideas and doing research via the Internet, District Deputy Grand Master of District 17 Brian LaFontaine explains they found the answer in Vontoo’ s unique on-demand automated voice messaging technology.

“My primary goal was to enhance communication and it has been fabulous in that respect,” says LaFontaine. “There are members we have seen little of in the past that are coming to events much more often. People have just loved it.”

Not only has the concept’s personal approach enhanced involvement, but LaFontaine explains the voice broadcasts and tracking capabilities provided by Vontoo have dramatically reduced communication expenses and enhanced reliability while also providing an opportunity to update membership registries. “The personal calls made by Vontoo have cut our costs by 50 percent over more traditional methods such as direct mail,” he says. ”

Better yet, the reports Vontoo sends after each round of mass calls make it possible for us to tell who is actually listening to the phone messages and is therefore staying involved with the lodge. Postcard reminders aren’t returned if the addresses are inaccurate, but with Vontoo, I can be certain we’re reaching the right people.”

Taking advantage of Vontoo’s ability to rapidly distribute voice messages in mass is also allowing the Masons to better respond to emergency situations involving members. “Vontoo was a great help to us recently as a brother lost his home and belongings to fire,” explains LaFontaine.

“Fortunately the family was not home, but Vontoo permitted us to get the word out very quickly and the lodges and Masons in our district immediately responded with assistance. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how quickly the Vontoo messages go out -within 15 seconds in most cases.”

According to Vontoo President and Co-Founder Dustin Sapp, the Masons are just one of many non-profits that have found Vontoo uniquely suited to their purpose. “Organizations like the Masons are founded on deeply held ideals and principles that translate best through personal connections,” says Sapp. “Whether their goal is emergency response, fund-raising, increasing grassroots political support or improving long-term involvement, they want their members to truly hear how much they are valued and needed. Nothing does this more effectively than Vontoo’s automated calling service because it allows for timely voice messages targeted to each particular group or individual.”

LaFontaine seems to agree with Sapp. After using Vontoo for six months with the Masons, he has now introduced the phone broadcast service at his church for communications with members of the congregation. “I would definitely recommend Vontoo,” emphasizes La Fontaine. “It’s a wonderful way to keep everyone connected and get the word out.”

Client: Rush Limbaugh Club of Orange County, CA
Industry: Not-for-Profit
Goal: Increase communication and event promotion

Rush Limbaugh Club of Orange County, California Uses Vontoo Voice Messaging

When organizers of the Rush Limbaugh Club of Orange County, Calif. want to gather their fellow members, they turn to Vontoo voice marketing (http://www.vontoo.com). Through a partnership with Vontoo, the club’s monthly meeting reminders have gone beyond overused communication channels such as e-mail and mail to one of the most personal methods of conveying a message- the telephone. As a result, the positive participation by club members matched with a decrease in expenses is bringing a balance to the group’s efforts of which any fiscal conservative could be proud.

The club’s leadership found Vontoo’s calling service while researching various methods of voice broadcasting. “I had looked into technologies like automatic dialers,” explains current club president Nancy Padberg. However, the automatic dialers, or “autodialers” Padberg found didn’t seem to provide the whole solution. Most of the devices that are available on the market call a list of phone numbers and then route the live answers to a bank of waiting volunteers or call center agents. This solution proves highly difficult for small to mid-sized groups like Padberg’s that need to decrease volunteers’ time investment.

Vontoo’s approach is completely different from outdated phone dialer techniques. As the world’s first permission-based, on-demand voice messaging system, the company uses patent-pending technology along with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to deliver a pre-recorded phone message to a list of both land-line and Internet-based numbers. The list is provided by the organization using Vontoo’s services. Each Vontoo client manages its own list and is only permitted to contact those individuals that have previously agreed to receive regular communications. In the case of the Rush Limbaugh Club of Orange County, this unique stipulation fit well with the organization’s own protocols.

After accessing Vontoo’s user-friendly Internet interface, the club leadership entered its membership roster into the system. Each month, Padberg now updates the membership list and records a simple message over the phone that details the club’s meeting topic, location and any other critical details. Once Padberg schedules the recorded message for delivery, it is sent automatically in mass to the home, business or mobile phones of the members.

“We’ve been using Vontoo’s automated message service for about 11 months and I think it’s been a very positive experience,” shares Padberg. “It’s also extremely economical.” Prior to using Vontoo, the club had sent out multiple reminders via mail at a postage rate far higher than Vontoo’s per-call expense. Equally important to cost savings, Padberg believes that the personal connection the messages create result in a membership that is more engaged in each event. “Unlike other reminders, people actually hear a voice they recognize and are likely to respond to,” she explains. “I can also draw better attention to specific details for the meeting.

We usually receive several new registrations after sending out each message.”Occasionally, people sign up for a single event while they are in the state for a short visit. Padberg says this makes the ability for recipients to opt out of future messages a major advantage. “It allows us to save money on upcoming calls by not distributing to people we know won’t be able to attend,” she says. After each voice broadcast, Vontoo generates a report that tells Padberg which individuals not only opt out, but also which calls were listened to by a live person versus received by a voicemail system or answering machine.

“While our club continues to grow and we’ve had very few opt-outs, it’s important to know who is most engaged in our activities,” emphasizes Padberg. “The reports I receive make this much easier to determine.” Vontoo President and Co-Founder Dustin Sapp agrees that the tracking features Vontoo provides are an ideal method for non-profits, political and service organizations to cost-effectively track member involvement.

“Associations often spend a great deal of time and money distributing surveys which may not prompt timely and accurate responses,” says Sapp. “Yet nothing tells you more clearly how your group is being received than knowing if people are listening to a message or hanging up. It’s one of the most economic, immediate forms of feedback an organization can obtain.”

As for the Rush Limbaugh Club of Orange County, Padberg says they plan to continue using Vontoo to promote future events. “I would be happy to recommend Vontoo to anyone,” she offers. “I would tell them it’s a great service.”

Client: School on Wheels and Cathedral High School
Industry: Not-for-Profit
Goal: Thank donors, collect pledges and build relationships.
Results: School on Wheels
Sent 567 calls.
Positive tracking results.

Cathedral High School
Sent 1990 calls.
Encouraging feedback from school community.

Marion County non-profits benefit from Vontoo’s Gift of Voice initiative
Area non-profits, including School on Wheels and Cathedral High School, get vocal using free voice marketing service

As the recession hits businesses and organizations hard, many of these struggle to maintain revenues or achieve their desired bottom lines. However, arguably the hardest hit sector of all is that of non-profit organizations. While people largely still feel inclined to pledge donations to charities and non-profits whose missions they support, their economic situations often prevent them from following through on their pledges. For the non-profit organizations, this results in a year-end struggle to collect from donors.

Understanding this predicament for non-profits during a recession, and knowing how important it is to maintain positive relationships with a donor base, Vontoo began an initiative in December of 2008 to help these organizations contact donors who had pledged throughout the year. Through its first annual Gift of Voice program, Vontoo donated its services at no cost to all Marion County not-for-profit organizations. The Gift of Voice included up to 1,000 free voice-marketing minutes and all the support each organization needed to make its campaign a success. This equated to 1,000 free calls each non-profit could send to contact its donor base to thank donors and/or secure pledges and contributions for 2008 before the end of the year.

Two non-profit organizations which took advantage of Vontoo’s Gift of Voice initiative were School on Wheels and Cathedral High School. School on Wheels is a local non-profit that provides free tutoring services and educational advocacy to homeless children in Indianapolis. Donations and volunteers are vital to the success of the program. Through the Gift of Voice program, School on Wheels used Vontoo’s service to thank its 2008 donors for their contributions and to remind those who had unfulfilled pledges that there was still time to donate before the year’s end.

Janet Hiatt, the Vice President of Development for School on Wheels, was grateful for the opportunity to take advantage of Vontoo’s service free of charge. “The voice marketing service offered was a neat way to reach out to and thank our donors, who are so important to our organization. The tracking reports provided were also helpful in that they enabled us to monitor how many people had received the information we wanted to communicate.”

Cathedral High School was another organization that took advantage of Vontoo’s Gift of Voice program during the 2008 holiday season. This Indianapolis-based Catholic high school used the service to send thank-you messages at the end of the year to its donors, recorded by Father William Munshower, the school’s Chaplain. The simple message of thanks and appreciation was received very well by donors.

Client: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Industry: Not-for-Profit
Goal: Influence legislation

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Spurs Congressional Action Using Vontoo Phone Messaging Technology

Getting quick Congressional action takes a compelling message, exceptional communication and a constituent base uniquely motivated to call Capitol Hill. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) delivered all three by rallying their national network of grassroots advocates with Vontoo Voice Messaging (www.vontoo.com).

Recently, the House and Senate Diabetes Caucuses circulated a sign-on letter in support of increased funding for Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research. Wanting to demonstrate strong bipartisan support for this funding, JDRF leadership set a challenging goal of persuading 50 senators and 218 representatives to sign the letter.

“This letter represented a significant opportunity, but we could only make good on it if our grassroots supporters were aware of and actively participated in the effort,” commented Mike Kondratick, Director, JDRF Grassroots Advocacy. “We needed these voting constituents to immediately contact their senator and representative and ask them to sign the letter.”

Seeking a way to make a stand-out impression and convey the truly urgent need for immediate support, the JDRF then turned to permission-based voice messaging company Vontoo. By accessing Vontoo’s automated calling technology via the Internet, the JDRF scheduled and then voice broadcasted a compelling voice message to thousands of its JDRF Advocates nationwide. The voice message was distributed to the mobile, business or home phone number each advocate had previously provided to the organization. Since Vontoo’s self-managed process requires no hardware, software or third-party call center, the JDRF could create and send its message very quickly.

“One of Vontoo’s most powerful features was the ability to immediately transfer listeners to their Congressional representatives’ offices,” stated Kondratick. “Rather than us hoping they would take the extra step after hanging up, the listeners could simply press ‘1′ on their phone to be connected. That simple transfer feature dramatically increased the number of calls reaching Capitol Hill.”

The JDRF exceeded its expectations with the Vontoo automated calling campaign: 65 Senators and 262 Representatives added their names to the funding letter and an unprecedented 17 percent of the JDRF advocates transferred to their representative.

“The call-in rate was far higher than past achievements with e-mail or other efforts,” shared Kondratick. “Those calls had a direct and meaningful impact on our results.”

According to Vontoo Founder and CEO Bob Compton, the JDRF’s approach demonstrates a rising trend in government advocacy and not-for-profit groups. He explains these organizations view Vontoo’s voice technology as a primary tool in maintaining enthusiasm and streamlining calls-to-action for busy members who have less and less time to support a cause.

“Vontoo’s personal connection and detailed tracking capabilities helps not-for-profits stay visible to their members,” explains Compton. “And by reviewing reports detailing who listened and responded to each call, organizations are constantly updating their communications in real time to ensure their message remains fresh.”

Client: Oregon Department of Corrections
Industry: Government
Goal: Public and Facility Safety

Oregon Department of Corrections Goes Above the “Call” of Duty
Inmate breakout and recovery communicated to community within minutes

As a nationally recognized leading correctional agency, the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) ensures the safety of the public by holding offenders accountable for their actions and reducing the risk of future criminal behavior. As such, the ODOC prides itself on maintaining the highest possible standards for safety and integrity both within the facilities and as part of the surrounding communities.

Efficient and effective communication is important to every government agency, especially a corrections facility like the ODOC charged with managing 14 state prisons throughout 36 counties. That’s no small task given that hundreds of thousands of people live and work in the cities where the state prisons are located. But not until September 2007 did the ODOC realize that their communication practices could use a 21st century boost.

The urgency became evident when an inmate escaped from one of their facilities, and the local community wanted to be alerted. Unfortunately, without a sophisticated system in place, many folks only heard about the event ‘after the fact.’ While no harm came to anyone, many in the community expressed frustration because they would have liked to have been warned of the potential danger. As a rural community accustomed to leaving doors unlocked and keys in cars, a timely warning would have been appreciated.

“In an emergency situation, especially those involving escaped criminals, time is of the essence,” said Vicki Reynolds, ODOC’s supervising executive assistant. “We knew we had to step up our communication efforts because calling every local resident just wasn’t time effective.”

Reynolds set out on a search for a communications tool that was not only affordable but that provided a fast, efficient and measurable method for reaching out in emergency situations. That’s when she found Vontoo, in July 2008.

Vontoo, the first-ever permission based voice messaging provider, was the answer Reynolds was looking for. Vontoo is accessed online, so the ODOC can upload the names and numbers of staff and local residents to receive messages in minutes. Once the voice messages are sent out, Vontoo delivers tracking reports that detail which calls are listened to by a live recipient, how long that person listened to the call and which calls reached a voicemail system or answering service. Best of all, the message can end with a ‘call to action,’ enabling recipients to be connected to someone at the ODOC live, if desired.

“Since using Vontoo, the community support and feedback on our communications process has been tremendous,” said Reynolds. It’s nice to know we’re upholding our ‘call of duty,’ which is keeping our communities safe and informed. We’re thrilled that Vontoo has been able to help us do that so quickly and cost effectively.”

Vontoo proved especially beneficial when crisis hit the ODOC a second time. When another inmate escaped in September 2008, the ODOC was prepared to alert the surrounding community through Vontoo messages. In a matter of minutes, calls were sent out to households, churches, schools, hospitals and fire departments to alert everyone of the crisis situation. Thankfully, the criminal was apprehended after a brief search, and no one was injured or had property stolen or damaged during this time. A second call was issued alerting the community of the recapture.

Vontoo’s technology allowed Reynolds to reach recipients much faster than she had previously been able to by personally making phone calls, and each message sent cost ODOC a mere 15 cents. Recipients of the call during this inmate escape expressed their gratefulness to ODOC at their concern, conscientiousness and swift action in alerting members of the community.

Community member Joyce Mobley, whose house is near where the criminal was apprehended, was particularly appreciative of receiving the call. “I felt much more secure, being aware of the situation,” said Mobley. “I frequently tell other people in the community to sign up to receive these calls from ODOC. At least this way we’re aware of what’s going on in the event of crisis situations.”

In addition to using Vontoo’s technology to send emergency alerts to community members, ODOC uses the service for a number of functions internally. Reynolds has also utilized this technology to send out meeting reminders to ODOC employees as well as send alerts to recall staff to the facility during emergency situations. In addition, Vontoo’s tracking reports have allowed Reynolds to quickly analyze how many recipients listened to a message’s contents, which is of critical importance in a crisis situation.

Parrish Van Wert, Public Information Officer and Supervising Executive at ODOC, said their use of Vontoo has been widely received as a very positive measure for sending alerts and reminders. “Community members and staff alike appreciate receiving important messages in an efficient and timely manner, particularly in the event of a security breach,” said Van Wert. “We feel it is our responsibility and duty to maintain the highest possible standards of safety, and Vontoo helps make this possible. We are just so happy we found them.”