Exploring iTiva alternatives

General
1

My library has been using the iTiva telephone notification system for years. Despite its age, it’s been a reliable method for self-serve renewals and automated notifications for members who don’t have Internet access.

However, in recent years, our userbase for telephone notifications has been waning significantly. Meanwhile the yearly cost for iTiva remains high. This is leading us to reassess whether it’s worthwhile to retain it and to consider potential alternatives.

I’m curious: how many of your organizations are like ours and are still using iTiva for this service? Have any libraries changed to another telephone notification system or given up doing automated telephone notifications/renewals altogether?

Any experiences you’d be able to share on this would be so valuable and greatly appreciated.

2

We’ve used Twilio with the Polaris APIs for around a decade: Integrating Cloud Services with Polaris PUG 2014 – Central Library Consortium

It isn’t a plug and play solution, but it works well for us and has features like “remember me” that only requires a patron to enter their PIN if they’re calling back from the same phone number.

I believe MessageBee also has a solution they offer: MessageBee - Unique Library

3

Thank you so much, Wes. Those sound like great options to investigate. I really appreciate getting your feedback on this.