FrontlineSMS aims to bring accessible communication to under-served regions where other tools may not be available. Using available technology – laptops and basic mobile phones – FrontlineSMS helps grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) overcome communication barriers.

FrontlineSMS is a text messaging solution targeted and tailored for the non-profit sector. It allows users to easily send, receive and manage text messages, which can be useful for a variety of activities in many different sectors.

Use cases

The platform is being used all around the world for activities such as election monitoring, humanitarian response, field data collection, community surveys, health information, market price information, educational programs, campaigning, weather updates, and so much more. To learn more about how our software is used please visit the FrontlineSMS in Action section of our website.

Functionality

FrontlineSMS has many valuable functions enabling users to send, receive, and manage SMS. We provide an overview of some of the main functions below. For full information about all features and functions available in FrontlineSMS, see our help files.

Messaging large numbers of people

• Create and send text messages to large numbers of people through your laptop or computer
• Manage and organize text messages based on different topics
• Send and receive messages in your own language, and translate the software itself using translation manager
• Organize your contacts into different groups within FrontlineSMS, and send tailored content to each group

Triggering activities

• Set up keywords to trigger actions when an SMS is received. The actions a keyword can trigger include:
  • Auto-reply with a specific message
  • Automatically add or remove a contact to / from a group
  • Forward SMS via email
  • Post to the Internet or third party database using HTTP trigger

Exchanging information and data

• Receive messages from the public as part of competitions or surveys
• Exchange information with field staff and community members
• Connect with other tools such as Ushahidi, Twitter and other third-party platforms
• Exporting the SMS data received, for sharing, review and/ or analysis

Monitoring and evaluation

• Collect SMS data, in simple SMS, or sorted by keyword
• Provide project participants with SMS feedback option, and collect and analyze this data
• Use FrontlineForms to collect SMS data from the field
• Training respondents to send structured SMS, with different fields separated by commas or other markers. Alternatively you can use a code protocol to help people structure replies that contain lots of information, such as this code wheel idea from InSTEDD.

For more information about all of features and functions available in FrontlineSMS, see our online help pages.