It’s no easy task launching a new radio station, there’s a lot to consider regarding equipment purchases, studio setup, licensing and much more. Denmark FM in Western Australia is an initiative of the Denmark Community Resource Centre who fully funded its construction and establishment. Located just over 400kms away from the state capital of Perth, Denmark FM provides a trusted local voice to the community.
The long road to gaining a license to broadcast was one hurdle to overcome, but Denmark FM had further hurdles including finding a solution to drive listener engagement. Matt Sivyer, the station manager, was tasked with finding an affordable and easy to install solution.
“Looking at a few different options we decided on Studiio for its user-friendliness, simplicity and price.”
Matt reached out to online communities for community broadcasters in Australia. Whilst there are many ways to get an SMS line and connect social media accounts to the studio, Matt found many other stations recommending Studiio.
The Challenge
Matt initially found an SMS number with a local carrier which was easy to remember. It’s important to maintain a simple, easy to memorise number for both listeners and presenters.
The trouble is that a phone number acquired by a local carrier is only able to be used with their infrastructure (a SIM card). This would lead to either a physical phone in-studio, or using a physical SMS hardware gateway which comes with additional cost and setup.
Matt needed a solution which could accommodate the number acquired through a local carrier whilst maintaining a low cost and easy to manage system.
Whilst Denmark FM has the capability of offering a phone line, Matt decided to keep this out of scope for the time being.
“We didn't want to have talkback/call-in segments (which are a minefield) thus didn't want a studio phone line to manage incoming calls. The SMS function would meet all our needs and would make it highly accessible for listeners to contact us.”
The Solution
Thankfully, Studiio supports porting-in numbers from carriers around the world. Matt reached out to Studiio to find more information and to start the port-in process.
“We only needed an SMS number and the porting and setup with Studiio was really easy and well supported by them.”
The average port-in time for a number is less than two weeks, this suited Denmark FM as they were in the early launch phase of the station’s opening. Studiio achieved the port-in in less than a week, which meant a quick turnaround time for Matt’s busy schedule.
Studiio maintained direct contact with Matt during the setup, ensuring that everything was working as expected. Since Studiio doesn’t require any physical hardware and a low-touch setup, all that Matt needed to do was launch a web browser in their studio and watch the SMS messages come through in the live feed.
“I don't think I adequately covered how well supported we were during setup and configuring - it was great!”
Results
Once the phone number was ported in, Matt was in a position to open up the SMS line to their audience. Their listeners quickly gravitated towards the SMS line and results were seen instantly.
“Having text messages from listeners arrive in real-time creates a fantastic feedback loop for listener engagement in general and for on-air giveaways and competitions.”
Since their launch in 2021, Denmark FM has received thousands of SMS messages from hundreds of loyal listeners in their community. Their presenters have engaged with listeners by responding to SMS messages through Studiio, enabling active engagement and notifying listeners of their song requests.
The customisable studio dashboard for us is configured to show a real time text message feed, Facebook feed and a notes section where presenters are reminded of the text line and how to consistently announce the number. It's a very simple, logical interface meaning our presenters (of various ages and abilities) have no trouble using it.
Starting a brand new radio station requires a lot of time, effort and constant iteration. With Studiio’s help, Denmark FM has led the voice of their local community, creating an all-inclusive two-way contact between their presenters and listeners.