One of the challenges for non-profit organizations in developing countries, specially those working for conservation and rural development, is being able to disseminate information to those that need it in a timely fashion. In many areas the relatively low cost of SMS makes it one of the preferred ways of communication. This is specially true in places where wired communications is hampered by geographical isolation, cost, or political upheaval.

kiwanja.net, an organization devoted to using mobile messaging and other information and communications technologies in helping non-profit organizations, has been helping non-profit organizations effectively use the available technology. One of their main software tools for non-profits is FrontlineSMS.

FrontlineSMS is an open source SMS gateway. An SMS gateway allows users to send and receive SMS messages from a computer. This is typically done either by connecting a mobile phone or GMS modem to the computer, or by communicating directly with a telco’s SMS center, using standard protocols.

Since the latter is generally available only to companies partnering directly with the telcos, and in the spirit of using generally available technology, FrontlineSMS is compatible with most current low-end mobile phones and GSM modems. A table listing compatibility is available on their website.

Basic features

Once the hardware and software requirements are taken care of, FrontlineSMS provides the following basic features:

• Contact list management – allows the user to define groups of recipients by providing their name, mobile number, and other details such as email.
• Bulk SMS sending – once a contact list is set up, FrontlineSMS can send SMS messages to all members in the list
• Keywords for Surveys and Autoreplies – allows the user to define keywords which, when received in an incoming SMS can mark the message to be saved as a response to a survey or trigger an automatic reply.
• Keywords can also be defined to add the sender to a contact list, or to forward the message to a different number.

The software is continually being developed, and other useful features such as scheduled message broadcasts are already in the pipeline.

Application

In the Philippines, Cavite Farmers Feedmilling and Marketing Cooperative (Caffmaco), a farmer’s cooperative with close to 2000 members, is setting up FrontlineSMS to update their members with the latest livestock and feed prices.

A provicial hospital is investigating using FrontlineSMS for maternal healthcare, by sending pregnant mothers periodic reminders about pre-natal checkups, and advising them on health and nutrition.

Availability and support

The application itself is open source, you just have to fill out an online request form. The software is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

There is an active FrontlineSMS user community.

Links of interest:

• Inquirer.net article: Cavite farmers’ cooperative produces wealthy members

Tagged: cooperatives, healthcare, messaging, mobile, non-profit, open source, sms