Microsoft Word - REDCap Tutorial_SMS Invitations

  REDCapSupport:[email protected]

VersionDate:4/2019

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HowtouseSMSTextMessagingforREDCapSurveyInvitations

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“REDCaphasthecapabilitytomakevoicecallsandsendSMStextmessagestosurveyrespondentsbyusinga

third‐partywebservicenamedTwilio(www.twilio.com).Inthisway,youcouldinviteaparticipanttotakea

surveybysendingthemanSMSmessageorbycallingthemontheirphone,inwhichthedatawouldbecollected

inREDCapdirectlyfromtheirphonewithouthavingtouseawebpage.Therearemanydifferentoptions

availableforhowyoucaninviteparticipantsandhowtheycantakeyoursurveys,eitherasavoicecallsurveyor

asanSMSconversation.”

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EachusershouldsetuptheTwilioaccountinTwilio.comincluding requiredpayment.WhentheTwilioaccount

iscreated,sendtheCCTSREDCapadminat[email protected]theREDCapprojectname/ID,SID,AuthToken

andTwiliophonenumber(seetheadminset‐upscreenbelow)sothattheadminusercanenabletheSMS

option.Pleasemakesuretodisable‘RequestInspector’inyour Twilio account.

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DetailedinfoofTwilioSMSinREDCapcopiedfromREDCapisasfollows:

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TwilioSMSandVoiceCallservicesforsurveys

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SETUP&CONFIGURA TION:

Tousethisfeature,youmusthaveaTwilio.comuseraccountthatisfundedwithsomemoney(sincethereisa

costforeachphonecallmadeandforeachSMSmessagesent).IfyoudonothaveaTwilioaccount,itisvery

easytogotoTwilio.comandcreateone.

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OnceyourREDCapprojectisconne ctedtoyourTwilioaccountbyenteringyourTwilioaccou ntcredentialson

yourREDCapproject'sProjectSetuppag e,youcanthenconfigurehowyouwanttouseTwilioinyourproject.

Ingeneral,notmuchisdifferentbetweenadministeringasurveynormallyinREDCap thanwhenusingTwilio

SMS/voicecallsexceptthatyouadditionallychoosehowyoursurveyinvitationsaredelivered.

Thefollowingchoicesareavailable:

1)Initiatesurveyasvoicecall

2)InitiatesurveyasSMSconversation

  REDCapSupport:[email protected]

VersionDate:4/2019

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3)SendsurveyinvitationwithsurveylinkviaSMS

4)SendsurveyinvitationviaSMStotakesurveyasvoicecall(respo ndentmakescall)

5)SendsurveyinvitationviaSMStotakesurveyasvoicecall(respo ndentreceivescallwhenreplyingviaSMS)

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Anyoralloftheseinvitationdeliverymethodscanbeutilizedwithinasingleproject.Thechoiceofdelivery

methodcompletelydepen dsuponyourspecificusecaseforhowyouwanttocollectdatafr omyour

participants.

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VOICECALLSURVEYS:

Whenparticipantstakeasurveyasavoicecall,questionsareaskedoneatatime,inwhichtheTwilioservicewill

usetext‐to‐speechtechnologytoreadthequestionstotheparticipantaudiblyontheirphone.Youmaychoose

thelanguageand/ordialectinwhichthetextshouldberead.

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Participantswillrespondby enteringnumbersontheirphone'skeypad,thusonlynumericresponsescanbe

usedbecauseofthislimitation(thisincludestheuseofinteger/numberfieldsandalsomultiplechoicequ estions

withnumericcodings,inwhichtheparticipantwillenterthenumericcod edvalueontheirkeypad,notthelabel

thatisreadtothemoverthephone).

Forexample:

“Doyoulikeicecream?Yes,press1.No,press0.”

Oranumberquestionlike“Whatisyourage?”

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SMSSURVEYS:

WhenparticipantstakeanSMSsurvey,questionsareaskedoneatatimeasanSMStextmessageconversation/ 

thread.SMSsurveysprovidemoreresponsepossibilitiesthanvoicecalls.Whileparticipantsinvoicecallscan

onlyrespondwithnumbers,theymayrespondwithanykindofalpha‐numerictextforanSMSsurvey.

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NOTE:OnlyREDCapadministratorsareallowedtoenabletheTwiliooptiontoinitiateasurveyasanSMS

conversation.Muchlikeemail,SMSisnotconsideredasecureformofcommunication, soyoumaynotwantto

administersurveysasSMSconversationsiftheparticipantwillbesubmittingidentifying information(PHIorPII)

unlessyouhavebeengrantedspecialpermissionfromtheparticipanttodoso.Givensuch sensitiveprivacy

issues,onlyyourlocalREDCapadministratorcanenabletheoptionalsettingtouseSMSsurveys.Pleasenotify

youradministratoraboutthisifyouwishtohavethisoptionenabled.

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COMPATIBILITY:

MostofREDCap'ssurveyfeaturesstillfunctionmuchthesamewhentakingasurveyviaSMSorasavoicecall.

Thisincludestheenforcementofrequiredfields,fieldvalidation,branchinglogic,usingtheSurveyQueuefor

multiplesurveys(onlyworkswithAuto‐Startenabled),surveyemailnotificationsandconfirmations,the

ParticipantList,AutomatedSurveyInvitations,surveyStopActions,andcomputeradaptivetests(CATs)

downloadedfromtheREDCapSharedLibrary.Oneofthefewsurveyfeaturesthatisnotcompatibleisthe

SurveyLoginfeature.

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COST:

InordertousetheTwilioSMSandVoiceCallservicesinaREDCapproject,youwillhavetoconnectyourproject

toyourTwilioaccountbyenteringyourTwiliocredentialsintoREDCapduringthesetupprocess.AndasREDCap

makescallsand/orsendsSMSmessagesusingthisservice,allchargestoyourTwilioaccountwill bemadebased

uponitsusage.ThisisnotdonebyREDCapbutisdoneinternallybyTwilioasyouuseitsservices.Inthisway,no

monetarytransactionsaremadebyREDCap, andthusitisyourresponsibilitytomaintainthefundsinyour

TwilioaccountinordertoensurethattheservicecontinuestoworkforyourREDCapproject.IfyourTwilio

  REDCapSupport:[email protected]

VersionDate:4/2019

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accountrunsoutoffunds,theTwilioservicesinREDCapwillceasetofunction.Forinformationonthecostof

eachcalloreachSMSmessage,visityourTwilioaccounttoviewtherates.

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PRIVACY&SECURITYINFO:

Itisimportanttounderstandthatthisfeatureutilizesthe third‐partyserviceTwilio.com,whichmeansthatall

voicecallsandSMSmessageswillberoutedthroughTwilio'sservers.However,REDCapgoe stogreatlengthto

ensurethatvoicecallrecordsandSMStranscriptionsdonotstayinTwilio'slogsbutareremovedshortlyafter

beingcompleted.Thisisdoneforsecurityandprivacyconcerns(e.g.,HIPAA),inwhichyoursurveyparticipants'

phonenumbersandtheirsurveyresponsesdonotgetpermanentlyloggedonTwilio'sserversbutinstead

remainsecurelyinREDCap.

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NOTE:OnlyaREDCapadministratorcanenabletheTwilioservicesinyour project,sopleasecontactthemtotalk

tothemabouthowtodothis.

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