FrontlineCloud

FrontlineCloud lets you easily send, receive, and manage SMS messages and data from anywhere in the world. FrontlineCloud makes life simpler with a quick set-up process, more ways to connect to mobile networks, and all of the sophisticated data management available through the cloud. It brings the convenience of the web to your text message communications, all for a low monthly rate.

FrontlineCloud is a networked service that is hosted by FrontlineSMS for $10 per month. Users can log into their account on the Frontline website from any computer and send messages online wherever there is internet access. The benefits of FrontlineCloud are speed and accessibility, as users can log in to their accounts from anywhere without bringing a modem and SIM card.

Mobile is everywhere. More than 3.5 billion people have mobile phones worldwide, and they send more than 22 billion SMS every day. Coordinating messages with the people you care about- staff, customers, fans or friends- can be challenging without the right set of tools. Mobile communications are increasingly fragmenting across different platforms, network operators, devices, and geography, making it more difficult to navigate using the world’s most accessible communication tool: SMS. FrontlineCloud allows a project in London to message farmers in Lusaka, or nurses in Kansas to text health workers in Karachi. Users can log in to send and receive SMS anywhere in the world at local prices, wherever they connect to the Internet. By combining the efficiencies, popularity and reach of SMS with the sophistication and billing structures of the web, FrontlineSMS and FrontlineCloud are tools for integrating mobile communication into multi-channel information management systems.

The Social Impact Lab Foundation worked to make Cloud as accessible as possible - the cost is as low as low as possible and only covers server hosting expenses. FrontlineSMS tries to make it as accessible as humanly possible and accept payments in virtually any way - they are cognizant that many people don't have credit cards.

People in last mile communities shouldn't necessarily be limited to last mile tools. As internet access becomes more and more widespread, the Social Impact Lab Foundation thinks its benefits should be democratized as much as possible. FrontlineCloud was built to straddle the worlds of Internet and SMS - you need an internet connection to administer the software, but you are still reaching your beneficiaries via SMS - delivering better, faster, cheaper information to people on whatever device they happen to have. The communication platform - SMS - is still the same, FrontlineCloud is just a better and more economical way to deliver it. Insofar as accessibility is a goal to strive for, FrontlineCloud overcomes common obstacles to connect people via SMS. Often times it is the case that those implementing the projects have a relatively stable internet connection, which they can leverage to send out more SMS and reach even more beneficiaries than would be possible with just the desktop version of FrontlineSMS.

Publicly available: yes
Countries where available: Worldwide
Price range (USD): 1 to 20 USD
Available online: yes