zamano in conversations with local Government Bodies
July 4th, 2008I’m told that the original idea behind SMS was that it could be a useful tool for the deaf and hard of hearing. Obviously, it didn’t work out that way. However, many hundreds of billions of texts later, it just might be that the SMS is set to find a niche in the public service sector.
We at zamano are currently working with local government to provide wholesale SMS services so that members of the public can either text in with questions or sign up to receive alerts on a variety of governmental issues. These subjects vary widely. For example, we already provide a HelpText service for Childline in Ireland through children can text an operator free of charge. Operators then respond with advice using SMS too.
Elsewhere, we’re automating services such as the one targeted at schools where every parent provides a mobile number and in the event that the child does not turn up for school, they receive a SMS immediately.
It’s easy to see why the local authorities would be so excited by SMS as a comms tool. Virtually all of their ‘constituents’ use SMS regularly, and they always have their phones with them so they can respond spontaneously to issues that affect them, such as non-urgent complaints about low-level crime. And in these environmentally-aware days text alerts beat paper hand-outs every time.
What’s next? Well, just as the commercial world went from SMS to content and the mobile internet, so local government looks set to explore ‘rich media’. According to the Mobile Data Association, around 17 million UK users now regularly browse the mobile web. So embedding a WAP page link into a text is the obvious next step for local government. This could introduce its communities to mobile social networking, where they can air their views on blogs or even share photos and videos. If you’re elected to represent the community, it’s hard to think of a more appropriate means of communication.
