One of the advantages of working with a variety of clients is that our product development is driven by actual usage in real-world scenarios. All of the major features we’ve built into Awaaz.De since it was a research project, moderating, message routing, tagging, broadcasting, voice surveys, etc., came after our clients demanded them. And now, with partners working in a variety of domains, we get to observe usage patterns and aggregate feedback to guide us in building functionality that serves a range of use-cases. Put another way, when enough of our partners start asking for the same features, we know it’s time to do something :).
In that spirit we are pleased to announce SMS integration into Awaaz.De’s platform. WIth this feature, moderators can send, receive, and reply to text messages from people similar to how they currently do with voice messages.
While our clients are using Awaaz.De because of the voice-based capabilities, many are finding that certain types of information to certain groups can be readily sent via text messaging. Simple alerts, reminders, or basic informational messages can be sent via SMS. For peri-urban and urban populations, text is very familiar and comfortable for most people. It is also cost-effective: an SMS can cost 8 paise or less, and a minute of voice airtime can be 10 that cost.
Choosing to use voice vs. text is a tradeoff of cost with expressivity, flexibility, and accessibility. Depending on the context, one or the other medium could be appropriate. As is video, email, or direct human-to-human communication. While we believe that voice has a lot to offer, all communication mediums have their value. Beyond offering voice-based services, we want to connect all people to the right information in the right way. We welcome SMS to the Awaaz.De family, in moving a step closer to that goal.
