July 2019

Page B4 JULY 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on PITTSBURGH,PA— Mat- thews Aurora™ Funeral Solutions has announced the launch of a new statio- nery personalization feature and other enhancements to its online customer solu- tion center, available exclu- Your Authorized Dealer Intelligent by design (800) 776-9444 tracy@fleetprocars.com 751 N. Lincoln Ave. Fremont, NE 68025 Have a Safe and Happy Summer! Give us a call 1-800-776-9444 or check out our wide selection of Vehicles @ www.fleetprocars.com Since 1985 2007 Federal Cadillac Hearse 2007 Federal Cadillac Limousine 2013 Federal Lincoln Hearse 2007 S&S Cadillac Hearse Stock #0407 Stock #0234 Stock #0408 Stock #0418 Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions Launches Solution Center Enhancements Matthews Granite Launches Legacy Estates Capabilities ASD Releases ASD Mobile 4 with Powerful New MobileFH™ Texting Solution MEDIA,PA— ASD– An- swering Service for Direc- tors has announced the re- lease of the company’s ASD Mobile 4 app to the Apple App Store and the official launch of an exclusive tex- ting solution for on-call fu- neral directors. MobileFH™ Texting allows ASD cli- ents to send and receive text messages using the funeral home’s main business num- ber as the sending number. This innovative technology empowers funeral profes- sionals to be responsive to families without sacrificing their privacy. ASD’s technical team cre- ated MobileFH™ Texting specifically to support on- call funeral directors by helping to facilitate mo- bile communications. The feature works by connect- ing the funeral home’s of- fice number to ASD. Mo- bileFH™ Texting ensures families and contacts are us- ing the right phone num- ber when sending sensitive information to the funer- al home via text message. It also provides on-call funer- al directors more freedom to conduct business on the go without giving out their personal cell phone num- bers. Funeral home owners and managers can easily re- view their staff message ex- changes with families as all text messages, photos and important documents are stored safely within the ASD mobile app. “I have been one of the lucky funeral homes to sign up for the beta testing for MobileFH™ Texting. The day I downloaded the new app on my smartphone, I used it and loved it!” says Funeral Director, Robert Acevez of Acevez Funer- al Home in East Chica- go, IL. “A first call, at need family was price shopping and I was able to send her prices with the secure name of my funeral home. Not only did it legitimize my re- sponse, but it put this family at ease by professionalizing our business. I am a small volume funeral home and new owner in a very tradi- tional community, therefore I often forward my funeral home calls to my cell phone. The ability to text families while away from the office is priceless. Thank you ASD for this progressive thinking and convenient feature.” By allowing funeral pro- fessionals to use their funer- al home’s number to com- municate via text message, ASD is resolving a whole host of on-call issues that have caused funeral direc- tors countless headaches in the past. MobileFH™ Texting of- fers on-call directors add- ed privacy and better pro- tection for their cell phone number; allows every direc- tor to easily retrieve photos and attachments from fami- lies and other contacts; pre- vents directors from having to respond to text messages on their day off, which helps alleviate staff burn out; pro- vides a record of the conver- sation and a general location for all texts - keeping every- one on the same page; en- hances office organization and streamlines tasks by making important commu- nications easier to find and retrieve; gives owners and managers added oversight to monitor staff’s text messages with funeral home contacts; and ensures a family does not text a funeral director who is no longer working at the funeral home. MobileFH™ Tex- ting is an exten- sion of ASD’s Mo- bileFH™ feature, which enables ASD clients to call any phone num- ber from their cell phone and display the funeral home business phone as their outgoing caller ID. By introducing this patented, unrivaled technology to text messag- ing, ASD is making it even easier for on-call funeral directors to be responsive to families without sacri- ficing their privacy. “When cellular technol- ogy was first introduced, it provided directors with more freedom than they had ever enjoyed in the past, but it also introduced a new host of on-call di- lemmas. It’s no wonder so many funeral profession- als struggle with compas- sion fatigue and burn out; it’s pretty difficult to sepa- rate your personal life from your professional life when you’re receiving text mes- sages from families on your night off,” says ASD’s vice president and family-mem- ber owner,  Kevin Czach- or.  “We analyzed this problem and developed a solution specifically to help on-call funeral directors while improving the funeral home’s overall communica- tion. MobileFH™ Texting is truly a win-win-win for ev- eryone!” In December, ASD sent out a prerelease invitation to the company’s beta testing program. More than 100 fu- neral homes worked closely with ASD’s in-house tech- nical team to provide feed- back and their firsthand ac- counts of using the feature. This process helped ASD to ensure MobileFH™ Texting meets the needs of funer- al directors and is compat- ible with all devices. ASD clients can access the fea- ture by updating their ASD mobile app through the Ap- ple App Store. An Android- compatible version is cur- rently being developed and will be released in the com- ing months. ASD – Answering Ser- vice for Directors has creat- ed a new class of answering service for the funeral pro- fession. Family owned and operated since 1972, ASD blends state-of-the-art tech- nology with an extensive, 6-month training program focusing on compassionate care. The company’s cus- tom-built communication systems and sophisticated mobile tools were designed solely to meet the needs of funeral professionals. By of- fering funeral directors un- matched protection for their calls, ASD has redefined the role of an answering service for funeral homes. For more information, visit www.myASD.com  or call 1-800-868-9950. PITTSBURGH,PA— Matthews Granite recently launched a campaign to promote Legacy Estates™, its turnkey suite of capabilities to design, build and install family estates. The full-service program is also designed to help cemeter- ies close more family estate sales. Offered via Matthews Granite companies Star Granite and Everlasting Granite of Elberton, GA, and United Memorial Products of Whittier, CA, Matthews’ Legacy Estates™ program offers cemeteries and the families they serve the highest quality family estates, customized to exact specifications. Matthews Granite is a full-service domes- tic manufacturer, developing superior family estates using state-of-the-art equipment and industry-leading technol- ogy that allows Matthews to produce larger single-piece building components than many other industry providers. Matthews’ turnkey family estates solution, led by longtime granite industry experts, begins with initial planning and de- tailed design drawings, followed by delivery and installation, all managed by the Matthews Granite team. Unlike many other providers, Matthews manages the process from begin- ning to end in order to ensure we exceed customer and family expectations for higher quality and delivery. Matthews Gran- ite offers a wide variety of stone colors and finishes includ- ing domestic and imported granite, and our dedicated design team ensures a client’s vision is accurately captured in stone. Marketing tools and expert training are available for in- terested cemeteries, including a new Legacy Estates™ cof- fee table book designed to provide families with inspira- tion for designing their own unique estate. A Matthews Legacy Estates™ expert will visit a customer’s cemetery to help close a sale with a qualified family. To learn about how your cemetery can begin selling Mat- thews Legacy Estates™, contact a Matthews cemetery products field sales manager or Matthews Granite sales representative. sively to Matthews Aurora funeral home customers. The new stationery personalization feature is compatible with all stationery templates available in Matthews Aurora’s Cherished Memories™ stationery catalog, including its exclu- sive, best-selling Honoring our Heroes line of memorial sta- tionery crafted from authentic military uniform fabric, de- signed by Jonathan Field. The personalization feature is easy to use and requires only basic Adobe® Acrobat® and a stan- dard printer. Service information is entered into the system once and then can be auto populated to print register book pages, service folders, bulletins, prayer cards and bookmarks. The system also includes a search feature, making finding the right stationery product quick and easy. Matthews Aurora also recently announced enhancements to its Solution Center App, including enhanced visual de- sign, improved selection guides that help arrangers and fami- lies find the perfect casket, the ability to select and compare favorites, a new “Kiosk Mode,” and consumer information videos on “Selecting a Casket,” “I’ll Remember You® Crema- tion Choices,” and Personal Expressions™ 3D Printed Urns. The Solution Center App is now available for Android® and Apple® smartphones and tablets from the Google Play Store™ and the Apple App Store®. The Solution Center also now includes electronic order forms for Personal Expressions™ 3D Printed Urns and 3D Crystal Tributes, and an urn engraving preview in the ordering cart. Customers who are already solution center users may begin using the new stationery personalization feature and other en- hancements immediately. Customers not yet registered for the solution center may contact their Matthews Aurora™ funeral service consultant or customer service rep at 1-800-457-1111.