Modernizing Government Communications One Text at a Time with Jireh Mobile
Government technology lags behind the private sector curve, but one startup, Jireh Mobile, has been working to address this.
Every day, governments struggle to keep citizens informed on what is happening in the community. With a persistent gap in digital equity and the fact that up to 27% of the U.S. population lacks internet access, reaching all residents is challenging. However, up to 97% of the U.S. population has mobile phones. Recognizing that only 20% of emails get read compared to text which has read rates as high as 98%, it is clear what may constitute a better approach for resident mass communication.
Cue Jireh Mobile, a startup founded by Curtis and Cassandra Brown, that works to provide communication technologies such as SMS marketing and chatbots, and guidance around the effective use of those technologies.
Jireh Mobile started in 2005 originally working to provide clients with interactive mobile marketing tools to engage audiences. Before working on SMS marketing, Jireh Mobile established itself in the unforgettable ringtone industry, where they provided ringtones around the world; everywhere from Yugoslavia to Australia. As the ringtone industry began to falter, Jireh Mobile transitioned to text message marketing, which is predicted to have continued growth.
Since its transition to text message marketing, Jireh Mobile has led thousands of SMS marketing campaigns, sending hundreds of thousands of messages to audiences spanning across sectors and industries alike. Using their knowledge and experience, Jireh Mobile has been eagerly working with the City of Pittsburgh’s (PA) PGH Lab to better understand the needs in City to resident communication, and to help improve organizations’ capacities to provide relevant communications to stakeholders. Of course, working with government entities is not without its challenges as government technology often lags behind the private sector, alongside administrative challenges to implementing new technology as well. However, Jireh Mobile has worked diligently and excitedly to improve government and non-profit communications in two ways thus far.
One of the projects that Jireh Mobile has been working on is a chatbot service for Kids Voice, an organization dedicated to protecting children’s rights. But what is a chatbot, and what would this mean for Kids Voice or those looking into the organization? Put simply, Jireh Mobile’s chatbot would open in Google searches that people conduct looking for the organization.
From the search results, users would be able to interact with a chatbot service by clicking “chat”, which would, in turn, help direct users to information before they have to click on a search result link. You can see what it looks like below, here:
This saves users a lot of time they would otherwise have to spend to find relevant content. Chatbots themselves are also becoming increasingly common in government to direct basic resident inquiries.
Another project that Jireh Mobile has been working on is with the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works. In order to optimize the distribution of new recycling bins, Jireh Mobile has created and is working to implement an SMS campaign and database to reach residents and inform them how they can retrieve new recycling bins.
Throughout their work during the COVID-19 pandemic with their PGH Lab projects and the PA municipalities of Verona and Oakmont, Jireh Mobile’s excitement to modernize communications has not wavered. Now, more than ever Jireh Mobile has emphasized that mobile communications technology has become more important and integrated in our daily lives to receive critical information. We at the City of Pittsburgh are proud to help foster the growth and development of all our PGH Lab startup partners like Jireh Mobile to address civic issues to make the city a better place for all.
Jireh Mobile is a startup that is a member of PGH Lab, a program run by the Civic Innovation team which is housed in the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Innovation and Performance. You can learn more about Jireh Mobile here.
