Frequently Asked Questions

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Do I need permission to send text messages to survey participants?

According to FCC regulations outlined in the 2015 TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order, you need permission to send text messages to your survey audience and you need to record their consent.

For Instant Census customers who have survey participants text in to join, Instant Census will automatically record the participant's text message consent for you. But if you're uploading a list of phone numbers into Instant Census, FCC regulations indicate that you must retain documentation of consent for each participant, whether on paper, via email, via text message, over the phone, or on a web form - you just need to document how and when you received it.

What types of questions is Instant Census capable of sending?

Instant Census can send multiple choice, numeric, yes or no, and open response questions. We can also send non-question text messages to survey participants that do not expect responses.

What survey scheduling types does Instant Census offer?

Instant Census can send one-time surveys, surveys on a recurring schedule, or surveys immediately following when a participant texts into the survey.

How do I export my data from Instant Census?

Instant Census customers can download their data in CSV format from the online portal at any point in time, whether while a survey is running or after a survey has completed. Instant Census also offers real-time data reports that allow customers to visualize aggregated and summary data on the fly.

Is Instant Census a self-service platform?

For many of our customers, Instant Census is a self-service platform. Our technology was designed to allow customers to be in full control of creating and deploying their own surveys. We also offer additional support and concierge services for customers who would prefer or benefit from survey experts.

Is there a discount for billing monthly plans annually?

Yes! We offer 1 month free when you choose bill any plan, including the enterprise plan, on an annual basis. Annual billing must be paid up-front.

What training options do you offer?

All Instant Census customers receive an hour training session with one of our product development specialists upon purchasing any of our plans. We also offer on-site training sessions for customers on request.

What kinds of support packages do you offer?

All Instant Census customers have access to email support and the support documentation that comes standard with our software. We also offer additional support and concierge services upon customer request, such as survey planning, survey evaluations, participant fatigue assessments, and question flow optimizations.

How does Instant Census handle typos in survey participant responses?

Instant Census has robust natural language processing that makes each survey feel like a live conversation. For questions requiring a "yes" or "no" response or a numeric answer, Instant Census will correctly handle a wide range of inputs, even if respondents submit typos or colloquial responses. For multiple choice questions, however, respondents are required to submit exact responses to maintain the integrity of the data collected. If a survey respondent submits a typo that is not accepted by the system, Instant Census will automatically prompt them to respond again.

Why is the "Welcome Message" necessary? Can it be customized?

According FCC regulations, a welcome message, including opt-out instructions and information about applicable standard message and data rates, is required. You can add a personalized message to the beginning of the welcome message, but the following content is not editable and required by law: "Text 'STOP' to end messages at any time. Standard msg&data rates may apply."

What if a survey participant doesn't answer a question?

Surveys can be customized to automatically re-send questions at preset times if a survey recipient does not respond to the question. This feature is intended to help you increase the quality and response rates of surveys you deploy using Instant Census.

How do you ensure a survey participant only participates in a surveys once?

Instant Census software features a verification system that prevents respondents from submitting multiple responses to a given survey. This means you don't have to worry about fraudulent survey respondent behavior skewing your data and results.

Have your surveys ever been used to complement other survey tools?

Yes! Instant Census is a great complement to traditional survey methods. For more information on this topic, click here.

Where can I find pricing information?

Instant Census has pricing information and plans available here. We also offer custom pricing plans to fit specific needs. Contact us for more information.

Is there any cost to the survey participant?

We estimate almost 90% of American mobile phone owners have unlimited text plans. And even among plans that don't come with unlimited texting, a large portion still include a fixed number of text messages allowed with the plans. Given that, there's only a small chance that survey participants will incur additional charges.
Some Instant Census customers do choose to compensate survey participants to make up for costs if any participants do not have unlimited plans. For more information on this topic, click here .

Do survey questions need to be modified for the SMS medium?

We do suggest several ways users should adapt survey questions for SMS in regards to question types and length. To learn more about this topic, click here .

Are there any character length limitations for survey questions?

We suggest, whenever possible, to try to keep individual SMS survey questions under 160 characters, which is the specified maximum length of a single text message supported by SMS technology. Messages longer than 160 characters will necessarily be split into multiple messages, and limitations in SMS technology make it impossible to guarantee that recipients will receive these messages in the correct order.

However, we understand that there are cases where longer messages are desireable or required, and Instant Census has built-in technology to ensure your messages have the highest chance of being received in the correct order by your survey participants.

Contact us if you would like more technical details on how this aspect of SMS messaging works.

Do all plans come with multiple administrator accounts?

Our Solo Researcher and Small Business plans come standard with 1 administrator account and login, but we are happy to customize these plans for customers as needed. All Enterprise plans come standard with multiple administrator accounts.

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