Blog

Today, massive excitement is building around universal, open Internet connectivity. With the establishment of high-profile global projects like Facebook’s Internet.org, incalculable social and economic gains seem just at the horizon. For developers, too, that means the rapid multiplication of new opportunities for the deployment of the best tools for driving innovation and connectivity all over the planet. But the Internet isn’t the only technology driving innovation and connectivity, especially when it comes to mobile.

One of Telerivet’s most popular features is the ability to easily conduct polls and surveys via SMS or missed calls, anywhere in the world. For example, Farm Radio International, in partnership with dozens of radio broadcasters, has already used Telerivet to gather over 150,000 votes from radio listeners across Africa.

With thanks to feedback and input from our great community of users, we’re happy to announce two new tools that make Telerivet’s polling feature even easier and more powerful.

At the request of several organizations conducting mHealth projects—including the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action—we’re excited to unveil new tools that will make Telerivet even more useful for organizations conducting maternal or infant health campaigns, and for many other businesses and NGOs too.

Beginning today, customers around the world will have access to the most powerful, intuitive, and visually stunning version of Telerivet we’ve ever built. And it’s not just a facelift—it’s an entire engine overhaul.

Farm Radio International, a nonprofit that uses Telerivet, was recently featured in a New York Times article about Tanzanian farmers gaining important farming information and techniques through local radio. Farm Radio has partner radio stations in 38 radio stations throughout Africa to “deliver effective programs to serve smallholder farmers through radio.”

Africa’s massive growth in tech and mobile is gaining attention, and Silicon Valley is taking note of this opportunity. Our CEO Joshua recently spoke on two panels that focused on mobile payments and innovation within Africa.

Nuru International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in remote, rural areas by equipping people with the tools and knowledge they need.

A year ago, we first added SMS polls and surveys on Telerivet. Since then, hundreds of organizations have used Telerivet to conduct mobile polls and surveys in dozens of countries around the world — including small businesses collecting customer feedback, radio programs polling their listeners, and NGOs conducting surveys.

To kick off our new blog, let's introduce how Telerivet fits into the huge ecosystem of SMS tools and services, as we tell the story of why we created Telerivet in the first place.