Organise Lift Clubs with SMPP to Avoid Strikes

SMPP provides a messaging platform that can be used for high-volume SMS endeavours to make life easier, which includes large-scale lift clubs when public transport fails to provide.

There are 600 000 people reliant on public transport within South Africa every day. We’ve got a big country with a lot people living quite a distance away from where they work – distances not easily covered by bicycle or any other form of manual transportation. And while owning a car or any other motorised form of transport still isn’t an option for many, their lives will continue to be affected by service outages and strikes. Using SMPP as a central carrier could connect individuals across South Africa and help them get to work on time.

Why Use SMS?

As you may well know, South Africa is a country with various levels of poverty, and riches. As such you can be sure that not everyone has internet. In fact, according to stats website internetworldstats.com, roughly 4.6 million people in South Africa have internet access… out of a population of about 48.7 million. That’s about 10% of the population. When it comes to mobile penetration in good ‘ol SA, we’re talking about a figure of roughly 98%. And that’s why SMS is better suited than the internet, although both work together brilliantly.

What is SMPP?

Now, if we can agree that SMS is the ideal medium – either used on its own or in conjunction with the internet – then we need to find a ‘vehicle’ to transmit and receive SMS messages. While it may in some way be possible to use a cellular device to achieve this purpose (or a couple of them, at least), we’ll do much better with something like SMPP, which is not so much a computer program as it is a protocol that allows messaging from a native computer environment to mobile phones, and back.

How can you Implement SMPP?

SMPP is known for its ability to send and receive high-volume SMS messages. In a country where 600 000 people depend, in one way or another, on public transport and where more individuals have mobile phones than internet access, this protocol is the ideal messaging solution.

But keep in mind that it is a protocol and implementation will therefore require some level of technical expertise and a bit of programming know-how, except, of course, if you use one of the available 3^rd party applications available. Keep in mind that, should the latter prove to be the better option, you’ll need to integrate SMPP with a software platform that allows individuals to communicate, probably with each other, via SMS.

Think of it as SMS social networking through SMPP; individuals in a certain area can be assigned a keyword. Inbound or outbound messages containing that keyword are forwarded to all members registered specifically for that keyword. Here’s a practical example:

If I live in Cape Town and want to catch a daily lift to Bellville, I can register (online or through SMS) by sending the following messages to a specific short code: “CT Bllvle“. A possible reply could be “Reply using keyword CB“. After the reply is sent, my number is stored in that group in a database, and my message is forwarded to all members who still have lift opportunities available in that area.

It’s an elementary solution and requires a bit more planning, but illustrates how SMPP could be employed to help combat public transport outages. If you’re a developer or someone with technical know-how, then the above should be pretty straight forward. Now the only remaining question is, who’s going to be the first to put the above into practice?

Know more about this handy protocol today! Read more about SMPP…

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