The US State Department's initiative to connect people abroad during president Obama's speech from Cairo via Clickatell SMS was a huge success. With the help of Clickatell, the US Department of State built a Web site on http://www.america.gov/ to register people wanting to receive SMS message highlights from president Obama's speech, from Cairo, on 4 June 2009.
Thousands of people representing more than 150 countries opted-in to the first-of-its-kind SMS campaign, meeting the goals of the US State Department to create open, two-way mobile communications from global audiences - in essence, creating a "Mobile Town Hall Without Borders".
Specifically for this event, Clickatell set up unique mobile routing and tapped into its own existing complex network infrastructure capable of reaching more than 775 mobile operators in over 220 countries around the world.
Clickatell worked closely with the US State Department to build the online Web site and registration process to offer opt-in services for global citizens wanting to participate during the live speech. The service received registrations from thousands of people representing more than 150 countries in four languages, including English, Persian, Urdu, and Arabic. Comments directly from those having signed up to receive SMS speech highlights have been posted to the Web site at http://www.america.gov/sms-comments.html.
“We applaud Clickatell for its 'Herculean effort' to make this unique event happen; the Clickatell team was efficient, experienced, knowledgeable and professional," said officials at the US Department of State responsible for the programme.
Sampling of direct SMS comments from people around the world:
The success of the Obama Cairo speech campaign was made instantly apparent during the successful 'live' speech excerpt delivery via SMS to enrolled participants. In addition, participants from around the world replied back with their speech comments immediately. SMS-reply messages from enrolled participants with comments were received by Clickatell and immediately posted on the Web site of the US State Department.
Below are samples of various comments made available on http://www.america.gov/sms-comments.html:
"Thank you so much Mr President, this is the greatest speech I have ever heard, it is very inspiring, he was reaching out and we should not fail him, the speech make my tears fall, thank you." - Saudi Arabia
"Many thanks for your excellent service. Can I get the sound of this speech?" - Iraq
"Thanks for the fantastic quotes from Obama, mesmerising speech..." - Egypt
"Good evening! Thanks for an SMS of Obama speech. In my opinion, it's a good speech. If he will take it into action, especially to solve the problems of the Middle East..." - Tanzania
"Thanks for your nice services." - Bahrain
"I appreciate Mr President's support to the dialogue among communities. It is an effective way to solve the problems, including Palestine and Kashmir, and bring peace in the world." - Pakistan
"The great thing about SMS is that everyone carries a cellphone in their pocket, purse or backpack at all times and everyone knows how to text - which is now being used more than voice calling on the mobile. Think back to only one year ago - people thought that text was just for kids. Now, this type of text service and many others proves that SMS can open new doors and possibilities to increase effective communications around the world," said Chuck Drake, Clickatell EVP of Marketing. "In addition to blogging, tweeting, and other forms of social media, people in all corners of the world can take out their cellphone and be 'heard' while these events are taking place. This is just the beginning of how we'll see SMS being used for game-changing events such as these."
For more information, please visit http://www.clickatell.com/central/campaigns/redir.php?cid=96354.
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Clickatell
Clickatell enables businesses, governments and communities to leverage the ubiquity of mobile messaging to inform, alert, notify, transact, interact and share information. Delivering mobile messaging solutions since 2000, Clickatell is a global leader in mobile communications specializing in SaaS messaging services and Bulk SMS gateway connectivity to small, medium and large enterprises in a variety of vertical markets. Clickatell's mobile messaging capabilities and worldwide coverage gives organizations the power to deliver any message to any device anywhere in the world. Reaching 775 networks in more than 200 countries, Clickatell serves 8,300 customers including BBC, Continental Airlines, CNN, First National Bank, Metropolitan Life, Oracle, Shell, and other industry leaders. Clickatell products and services increase customer acquisition, improve loyalty and build trusted brands through direct, personal, easy, and immediate communications. A Sequoia-backed company, Clickatell is headquartered in Redwood City, CA with operations in Cape Town, South Africa and can be reached at www.clickatell.com
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