Phone calls trump chatbots: Australian and New Zealand students reveal new communication preferences

Emerging trends show growing demand for video, in-person, and instant messaging channels  

Students in Australia and New Zealand are ditching email and embracing video, live chat, and in-person meetings to engage with prospective universities, according to Keystone Enrolment Services data.  

Survey data from international prospective students reveals a sharp shift in how they want to engage with Australian and New Zealand universities.  

While email remains the most popular communication method (70% said it was their top channel), it is down 8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, preferences for video conferencing (+33%) and in-person meetings have increased. 

Instant messaging (WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, SMS) has remained steady as the second most popular communication channel in 2025 and 2024.  

Further data from Keystone Enrolment Services shows when WhatsApp has been adopted by universities, students are engaging far more frequently – returning to conversations on average five times and responding positively to carefully managed proactive communications. 

The findings come as Keystone Enrolment Services expands into Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, partnering with the University of Waikato, amid growing demand for more personalised student engagement. 

This preference for personal contact has direct measurable impact on enrolment outcomes - when an additional phone call (human-to-human communication) is included in the recruitment funnel, the likelihood of a student firmly accepting their offer increases by 9%.  

Jenni Parsons, Chief Market & Partnerships Officer at Keystone Enrolment services, said: “We talk about WhatsApp a lot as a communication method with our partner universities. The real key is being available on the tools students want and we have seen a noticeable shift from live chat onto WhatsApp.  

“When we look back at 2023, 9% of all inbound communications were on WhatsApp. This has increased to a fifth in 2025.  

“It is important however, for institutions not to focus solely on the one channel and to maintain an omnichannel approach with student communications. Through our partner universities, we see conversion more than doubles when multiple channels are used to engage with students.”  

The value of personalisation and the use of WhatsApp was highlighted in the 2025 results of Edified’s Enquiry Experience Tracker (EET), which praised Australian and New Zealand universities for setting the global benchmark for student engagement, with institutions across the region outpacing their peers in the UK and North America.  

The EET is a syndicated global mystery shopping program designed to help colleges and universities understand how well they respond to enquiries from prospective students. The research involves student mystery shoppers who pose as prospects and test how well universities respond to enquiries. Institutional experiences are analysed and assessed against 51 criteria, including responsiveness, clarity, personalisation, and sentiment, and benchmarked against other higher education provides worldwide. 

In 2025, 29 institutions across Australia and New Zealand were included in the research, with international student personas mystery shopping universities via key channels such as email, WhatsApp, live chat and phone.