ASD Offers 'Smart Text' Feature for Web-Savvy Funeral Professionals

Funeral Industry News October 12, 2011
CDFuneralNews

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ASD Offers 'Smart Text' Feature for Web-Savvy Funeral Professionals

Media, PA-When funeral professionals leave the office, their job duties and customers follow them out to lunch, on the road and at home. ASD – Answering Service for Directors, realizes that their clients must remain connected to the families they serve 24/7. Mobile solutions such as a Smart Text option for directors who regularly use Smart Phones were created to provide more freedom to directors who regularly conduct their business on the go.

Answering calls for a quarter of funeral providers in the country, ASD – Answering Service for Directors harnesses the latest advancements in technology to offer clients more convenient and less disruptive methods for keeping track of their messages. ASD understands the crucial importance of “First Calls” and wanted to offer their clients more options in how they access, prioritize and respond to these urgent, time-sensitive calls. With the Smart Text feature, every time an ASD call specialist handles a “First Call” for the funeral home, the information will be text-messaged to the client with a useful hyperlink. From their smart phones, directors can click the hyperlink to open a webpage and read the message or listen to an audio recording of the call.

According to Vice President Kevin Czachor, “Traditional text messaging allows for almost instantaneous communication, however with limitations. Here is were the limitations end. Each ASD Smart Text directs our clients to a mobile phone optimized webpage dedicated to each message. Directors can see and hear all aspects of their call, no matter how lengthy the message. They can easily let our staff know they received the message, saving our clients time and eliminating billable phone calls.”

While ASD’s system automatically generates detailed text messages for their clients, some cellular providers impose a character limit that can omit critical information. Smart Text eliminates the possibility of excluded or incorrect information on a text due to a client’s local phone company. It ensures complete accuracy, so directors never have to doubt if part of a text is missing or out of sequence. The Smart Text system was created by ASD’s Technology Team, known for developing the most powerful and user friendly mobile phone and desktop computer accessed website in our marketplace.

“All of us use smart phones and it is wonderful to be able to listen to our messages online without ever having to call in. All of us receive the same text so the staff stays better connected,” says Funeral Director Patrick Mahoney of Bodnar Mahoney Funeral Home in Cleveland, OH. “It’s convenient during meetings and when we’re on the go because we can access messages easily on our cell phones.”

Smart Text was designed exclusively for funeral professionals that utilize web-capable phones and hand held devices. ASD understands that every funeral home has unique needs and allows all clients to specifically tailor his or her ASD account by selecting the features and settings that fit the funeral home’s particular business model. With features like Smart Text, ASD hopes to respond to the individual needs of their clients. Aimed at directors that require mobile office capability, the SmartText feature ensures funeral professionals will never miss a single detail of a First Call when they step away from their phones.

About ASD

ASD is the leader in answering services and call support for funeral professionals. As a full service provider, ASD give directors and staff of funeral homes the tools they need to offer the highest caliber of service, both at and away from the office. ASD’s innovative technology and call support expertise have made it a national leader in the death care space. Headquartered in Media, Pennsylvania the firm offers comprehensive answering services for funeral homes and funeral related businesses of all sizes. For more information about ASD’s Smart Text feature, visit www.myasd.com or call the 24-hour customer service hotline at 1-800-868-9950.