It’s been three long years since the idea of supporting multimedia messaging (MMS) within FrontlineSMS was first raised by a handful of users. About a year later, the Hewlett Foundation stepped in and funded its development, excited by its potential in health, agriculture and governance, among others. Today, we’re excited to finally announce MMS support … Continue reading FrontlineSMS goes MMS!
Category: FrontlineSMS Guest Posts
Guest posts from the FrontlineSMS community: users, NGOs and developers share how they use text messaging for social good around the world.
FrontlineSMS gets reminders
For some time now users have been asking how they can schedule SMS reminders in FrontlineSMS. Well, now they can thanks to some great work by Dale Zak on a ReminderManager plugin. Not only is this great news for the community, but it’s great news for us, and is testament to the growing interest external … Continue reading FrontlineSMS gets reminders
Ushering in our Project Manager
The FrontlineSMS team is growing. In this Guest Blog post, Laura Hudson – the new FrontlineSMS Project Manager – tells us why she came on board, what she intends to do in her new role, and outlines some of her early thinking. “It’s exciting and a bit nerve-wracking to represent something as revolutionary as FrontlineSMS … Continue reading Ushering in our Project Manager
Mountain meets mobile
In the twenty-first in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Laura Hartstone – one of the organisers behind the “3 Peaks 3 Weeks” Challenge – updates us on their recent use of FrontlineSMS to provide daily climbing SMS updates to supporters around the world “Keeping in touch with family and friends while in Africa can … Continue reading Mountain meets mobile
Mobile meets citizen reporter in Mozambique
In this, the twentieth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Marcelo Mosse – Executive Director of the Centre for Public Integrity in Mozambique – talks about their use of the software in promoting citizen engagement in monitoring their national elections, and in their efforts to promote transparency in government “The Centre for Public Integrity of Mozambique … Continue reading Mobile meets citizen reporter in Mozambique
SMS joins battle against human trafficking
January 2010 is National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month. In this, the nineteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Aashika Damodar – Founder of Survivors Connect – gives some background and context on the challenges of fighting human trafficking, and talks about the impact FrontlineSMS has had on their anti-trafficking efforts “The telephone is … Continue reading SMS joins battle against human trafficking
Fishing meets texting in Banda Aceh
We continue our recent agriculture theme in this, the eighteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Teddy Syahputra – a System Consultant at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Banda Aceh – talks about their use of the software, and how it is set to underpin a new nationwide SMS service in the … Continue reading Fishing meets texting in Banda Aceh
Mountain-top texting for charity
In the seventeenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Laura Hartstone – one of the organisers behind the “3 Peaks 3 Weeks” Challenge – talks about their plans to use FrontlineSMS to provide daily climbing updates to supporters around the world via SMS The 3 Peaks 3 Weeks Challenge is an annual all-female climbing … Continue reading Mountain-top texting for charity
SMS tackles farmer literacy in Niger
In this, the sixteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Joshua Haynes – a Masters student at The Fletcher School at Tufts University – describes their application of the software to help improve the lives of farmers in Niger, West Africa Projet Alphabétisation de Base par Cellulaire (ABC), conceived of and spearheaded by FrontlineSMS’s … Continue reading SMS tackles farmer literacy in Niger
An SMS “kickstart” for Kenyan farmers
In this, the fifteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Rita Kiloo – Customer Care Executive at KickStart in Kenya – describes how their use of the software enables them to extend and improve their outreach efforts among rural farmers in the country “KickStart’s mission is to help millions of people out of poverty. … Continue reading An SMS “kickstart” for Kenyan farmers
Scale, FrontlineSMS and the local
What follows is the fourteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Kelly Sponberg – a Project Manager at RANET – discusses the challenges of ‘local’ and ‘scale’, and the potential his organisation sees for FrontlineSMS in their work “For about a decade now I have been fortunate enough to work on a small … Continue reading Scale, FrontlineSMS and the local
Outreach, health and SMS in Ukraine
Earlier this year, IATP Ukraine launched three pilot projects using FrontlineSMS. In this, the thirteenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Yuriy Selyverstov – the Dnipropetrovsk Representative from the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) – describes two of the projects Tamarisk, a Ukrainian NGO, plays the key role of resource center for local … Continue reading Outreach, health and SMS in Ukraine
Update: Domestic violence – An SMS SOS
This update is the twelfth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Anthony Papillion – Founder of OpenEMR HQ – shares the latest news on its use in his Oklahoma home town, where the software is helping provide relief to women suffering domestic violence “In late May of this year, I assisted a local … Continue reading Update: Domestic violence – An SMS SOS
On a mission to aid farmers in Latin America
This is the eleventh in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Jorge Alonso – a veterinarian turned ICT4D practitioner – discusses his thoughts on the application of the software in agriculture in Latin America “I am a veterinarian by qualification but, as often happens in life, ended up working with information and communication technologies… … Continue reading On a mission to aid farmers in Latin America
Mobile meets plough in Cambodia
In this, the tenth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts, Dr. Robert Fitzgerald – Associate Dean of Research at the University of Canberra in Australia – explains their use of the software to provide agricultural data to farmers in Cambodia, and their plans to expand the service over the coming months Background “For the … Continue reading Mobile meets plough in Cambodia