Home > Services > SMS Case Studies > Scarleteen
Scarleteen is an online resource for teens and young adults, as well as parents and educators, to discuss topics related to sex education. Serving 20,000 - 30,000 visitors every day, Scarleteen and its services have been lauded by such organizations as SIECUS, UNICEF, The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Family Health International and the International Association for Adolescent Health.
Scarleteen aims to help teens and young adults by supplementing in-home and school-based sex education in an environment that is private and anonymous.
Challenge:
Scarleteen's website offers a place for young adults seeking information to get answers and advice while they are online
through published resources and forums. Scarleteen volunteers also offer assistance and answer questions via email.
Scarleteen wanted to augment these online resources with a cost-effective mobile solution to be able to communicate in real-time with individuals seeking help while they are on-the-go. The solution needed to be anonymous, confidential and available to as many young adults as possible no matter where they are.
Additionally, Scarleteen's volunteers are based throughout the U.S. The mobile solution required accessibility by all volunteers, no matter they live, to maximize the service's availability.
The Solution:
Recognizing the increased use of text messaging amongst young adults, Scarleteen implemented Mosio's mobile text messaging
conversation software to be able to communicate with their members and visitors in real-time, via text messaging. Utilizing
a web-based interface, volunteers are able to receive and respond to text messages from any internet-connected computer or
mobile device.
New text message questions alert staff via email, instant message and/or text message so that Scarleteen's staff are notified even when they are away from their computers. Mosio's collaboration features ensure that individual volunteers can help multiple people at the same time without duplicating communications.
Results:
Scarleteen has successfully made their volunteer support services available to every young adult with a cell phone no matter
where they are. The text messaging service "Text Scarleteen" serves as the perfect medium to extend the reach of Scarleteen's
services to young adults on the mobile technology they use the most.
Best Practices:
The use of text messaging auto-responders enables Scarleteen to inform patrons that their messages have been received and
that someone will get back to them as soon as possible. This enables their service to stay connected 24x7x365 even if live
help is not immediately available.
