Calls vs. Letters

The more I learn about automated call technology the more I wonder why people don’t use it as much as letters.  Obviously, there are telemarketing laws.  And, I think many people think of calls as only being done by humans and being expensive.

But, imagine the following differences and benefits:

1. Lower cost then letters
2. Able to customize the messaging (think e-mail personalization)
3. Able to change your campaign real-time (i.e., our response rate is lower than expected, let’s change the messaging to say this)
4. Able to track lots of data – who picks up, when they pick up, how much of the message they listen to
5. Able to collect data immediately
6. Able to interact with the participant (e.g., give me your BMI…that is 10% higher than last time…are you following your diet)

Obviously, e-mail is the cheapest medium, but our culture is rapidly becoming overwhelmed with e-mail.  You have some of the same benefits, but you can’t modify during the interaction.  And, in healthcare, there is limited information you can push to a patient.  In most cases, you are asking them to click through a link to go to a secure website to receive information.  With letters, you assume it is secure since it is addressed to them.  With automated calls, you have them verify who they are based on a few points of reference (name, DOB, member ID).