How do I get Students to link their mobile phone with their account?

In today's world, students by far prefer to send text messages over emails. Luckily, it takes just a minute for a student to link their phone with their CustomCollegePlan account. We recommend that during your initial meeting with each student, you make it a priority to have them link their phone while meeting with you. That way, once they depart from the first meeting, you can use the Conversation feature to send them important messages, which they'll receive via text.

This also works to solve a common question you may come across, "How do I get my Students to login and use their account?" Rather than sound like a broken record demanding they log in, you now can employ the power of the Conversation to alert them when you need them to interact with their account. It's a win-win. They communicate in a way they prefer, you keep them engaged and on track. All of the information (texts and emails) are kept nice and neatly in each Student's profile. 

Linking a student's phone with their CustomCollegePlan account

1. Direct student to log in to their account.
2. Direct them to click the Settings tab within the student account. This appears in the list of tabs on the left-hand side of their screen (when viewing on a desktop device like a laptop).
   
   
   
3. On the Settings tab, the student will see the "Notification Settings" panel as shown below. From the student's phone, text the activation code (in orange) to the phone number listed. The activation code is a six-character code containing numbers and letters. Note that this activation code is unique to each student! 
   
4. Within a few seconds, a message will be sent from CustomCollegePlan confirming that the phone has been linked to the student's account. Students are encouraged to fully log out of their account, and then back in again for changes to be registered within the "Notification Settings" panel.
5. Once the phone has been linked, students will be able to select the options for receiving Conversation and Calendar alerts in the form of a text message. 

Important notes:

• Calendar notifications and Conversation post alerts will be delivered to students from two different phone numbers: 
  • Calendar notifications (appointment reminders, scheduled meeting notifications) will come from (833) 618-9555. Students cannot reply to these messages. 
  • Conversation post alerts will come from (213) 214-3307. Students can reply directly to messages from their counselor from this number within the SMS thread, and the response will be delivered to the counselor.
• Students may want to save the Conversation post alert phone number as a contact in their phones in order to quickly identify you (the Counselor) as the sender. This is also the number they will be texting directly to get a hold of you via the Conversation feature.
• The phone numbers used to send alerts may change from time to time. In the past, Conversation post alert numbers have included (213) 444-5453 and (213) 466-0665. Student replies to any of these numbers will be delivered to the consultant.
• Standard text messaging rates apply when receiving messages from CollegePlannerPro and CustomCollegePlan. These fees are completely subject to the student's plan with their mobile provider and are not determined or imposed by CollegePlannerPro or CustomCollegePlan.
• For students with international phone numbers, phone linking given that they have international texting available through their service provider. Please keep in mind: All inbound messages are sent to a US-based number, and all outbound messages come from a US-based number. Sending and receiving international texts may incur some additional fees, so your student will want to check with their service provider before making the decision on enabling this.