Welcome to the SHOUT FAQ! Please look below to find answers to the most common questions about the system - if you can't find an answer here then please contact us at
support@shoutlive.net
What is Shout?
What is a shoutcode?
What services can I setup?
What price points can I use?
What shortcodes should I use?
How can I promote these services?
How do I use the flash screens?
How do I start / stop a service?
How do I send messages?
How much does it cost to use shout?
Where do I see my stats?
How do I get paid?
What is Message Forwarding?
Do I want to Moderate incoming messages?
What about Adult Language filtering?
What is a "Night Time Offset"?
My service requires a "dataset", what is this?
Where can I get more help?
What is Shout? [
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SHOUT lets you setup and run premium SMS services quickly and easily. Just select from the services available, decide on a few options, then you are all done. Shout offers a range of options - Txt2Screen systems, quizzes, voting, info reply... and more options are being added all the time! SHOUT is totally internet based so you setup the service online and display on any PC / laptop / screen connected to the internet (many services you can also advertise via print or flyers or just on your own website.
Your clients talk to your Shout services via SMS messaging, using easy to remember shortcodes - which can be set to different price points so you can make money with every message you receive. Not only that, but Shout gathers the phone numbers of your clients into lists that you can use to keep in touch with them and let them know you care via our simple text messaging system.
To use the system, you must first claim Shoutcodes, which are keywords to identify you in the system, and then setup services on those codes. Your customer can text in to those services, which are then handled automatically.
What is a shoutcode? [
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A Shoutcode is keyword that you can claim to identify one of your services in the system. Simply enter the code you want in the box on the Services page and click "Claim Code" - if that word is currently available... it's yours! For example, if you claim the shoutcode "CASH", then your customers would text "SHOUT CASH" and then their message to the appropriate shortcode, and that message would be sent directly to your Shout Inbox, to be handled by whichever service you've selected for that code. For example, if you have a voting service on the Shoutcode "DOGS", then your customers would send "SHOUT DOGS LABRADOR" to vote for that dog. Simple tools would allow you to check the number of votes for each option.
What services can I setup? [
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There are new services being developed for Shout all the time. We currently offer Txt2Screen (incoming messages can be displayed on a big screen for everyone to see), Battle (a two way vote), Quiz (customers answer a multiple choice quiz question), Vote (a multiway vote), and Inforeply (A customer texts in a keyword for further information). All of these services can be run at all our available price points.
Some services can be setup to respond to your customers via SMS - these responses cost one Shout credit per message, these credits can purchased on the Account page for very reasonable rates.
What price points can I use? [
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Your customers texts can be set a number of price points - we allow incoming texts at the following options:
Free, 25p, 50p, £1, £1.50
Please note that ALL these prices are in addition to a customer's normal SMS messaging rate.
What shortcodes should I use?
You should use a different shortcode depending on the price point you have set the service to run at. Some services (like Txt2Screen) will display the correct shortcode in the Flash display. However, for services you advertise yourself, you will need to use the following shortcodes:
| Free | 88101 |
| 25p | 84555 |
| 50p | 63333 |
| £1 | 64343 |
| £1.50 | 87070 |
How can I promote these services? [
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Services can be promoted in a variety of ways. We provide flash based display options for most of our services, so you can transmit them to a publically viewable screen in your premises using a computer and a web browser with Adobe Flash Player installed. However, that's not the only option - providing you provide clear information, you can lead your customers to your Shout services using newspaper adverts, posters, flyers, email, your website... anywhere!
How do I use the flash screens? [
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To use the flash screens, you will need a PC connected to the internet. Go to the Services page, and click the third icon (a play button) for the service you wish to display. This will then load the flash display for that service (if one is available). Enter the shoutcode of the service you want to display into the box provided and click start. It will take the service a moment to connect and show the correct information. Once the display is running, put your browser into full screen mode (on Firefox, hit F11) and the flash display can then be left to do its own thing.
How do I start / stop a service? [
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A service in Shout isn't ever stopped or started - once set up it's always on. You can clear your message inbox using the tools menu (available in the Services page), to take a service back to a "clean" starting state.
How do I send messages? [
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Sending messages from Shout couldn't be easier. Select "Send Messages" from the main menu, and then use the selection tools to choose which customers you want to send to. You can select customers by shoutcode, and by date or day of week. Now you can enter your message (up to 160 characters) and click Send to send the message. Your customers can opt out of recieving messages at any time by replying "STOP" to any message you send them.
Sending messages costs one Shout credit per message, these credits can purchased on the Account page for very reasonable rates.
How much does it cost to use shout? [
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Shout's services are FREE to use, however any SMS sending you do from your account costs Shout credits, which can be purchased in the account page. Some services (like Inforeply) reply to customer messages in order to function. In other services, it is possible to set the service to send an automated reply to customers, or to forward incoming messages to a mobile phone. These message sends all require credits to function - but the basic Shout services remain absolutely free.
Where do I see my stats? [
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In the Services page, click the graph icon next to the shoutcode you want to see the stats for. Select a date range at the bottom of the page and a graph will show your incoming shouts over that period. The total revenue (for all shoutcodes) over the period and the revenue for the selected shoutcode is shown at the top of the page. You can also show graphs for messages forwarded, replies sent, swear warnings sent, and revenue.
How do I get paid? [
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To get paid just run your stats for the month and send an invoice for the monthly amount to accounts@shoutlive.net - we will confirm receipt of the invoice and payment date. We will pay directly to your bank or paypal account so please include all the details we may need. If you have any questions, please call the support team.
What is Message Forwarding? [
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Some services will ask if you want to forward incoming messages when you set them up. This means that any messages coming into that shoutcode will be send to the mobile phone number you specify, at the cost of one credit each. Please enter your number in international format (e.g. 447999111222).
Do I want to Moderate incoming messages? [
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If you are running a service that can be viewed by the public (for example a Txt2Screen service), then you may well want to make sure messages are acceptable before they are broadcast. To do this, enable moderation when you are presented with this option. All messages received will be placed in your "Pending Messages" box, accessible in your Messages Inbox screen. Messages shown here can be accepted (at which point they go to your Inbox to be used by the service), rejected, or edited so you can remove any unsavoury language yourself.
What about Adult Language filtering? [
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It is possible to filter adult language automatically using Shout, which will do its best to remove any bad language. However, customers will always find a way to circumvent this kind of automatic filtering, so we recommend that you use it in conjunction with moderation to ensure that all your bases are covered - but this will reduce the amount of message editing you will need to do. It is also possible to set the system to inform users when their message has been rejected, at the cost of one credit.
What is a "Night Time Offset"? [
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As messages are received, the numbers are stored in lists based on day and date, so you can (for example) messages all your customers from a Thursday. However, in the case of a nightclub or other late night business, this would lead to numbers from what would generally considered to be "a thursday crowd" being placed in the Friday list after midnight. The 12 hour offset modifies the time on incoming messages by 12 hours to counteract this issue.
My service requires a "dataset", what is this? [
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Some services need extra information to determine what to do with possible responses from customers. For example an Inforeply sends a response text to a user based on the keyword they provide. Each shoutcode has a dataset to hold this information. You can add and edit this data in the dataset screen. Any dataset item consists of a keyword, a longer description, a reply (if required), and a forwarding address (either a phone number or an email, messages for that keyword will be sent to the associated forwarding address).
For example, on an Inforeply service for the Shoutcode "DOGS", you might have the following keywords:
| Keyword | Desc | Reply | Forward |
| JACKRUSSELL | Jack Russell Terrier | A small yappy-type dog | 447999111222 |
| COLLIE | Long Haired Collie | A dog like Lassie | 447999111222 |
| ELSE | Else Condition | I'm sorry, I don't know that kind of dog | dogerrors@hotmail.com |
In the above example, if a customer texts "SHOUT DOGS COLLIE" to the system, they will recieve a reply as shown in the table, and the original text will be forwarded to 447999111222.
Note the "ELSE" option - you can place an ELSE keyword in any dataset, and this defines how the system will respond on receiving a message that doesn't match any of its other known keywords. For example, if a user sends "SHOUT DOGS LABRADOR", the "ELSE" option will be applied. This means that you can find out what users are sending in that you don't yet have keywords to handle.
Where can I get more help? [
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If you have any questions that aren't covered by the FAQ, contact the Shout support team via email at support@shoutlive.net