The ubiquitous mobile phone has become a major tool used by civil society organisations (CSO) for advocacy and campaigning across Africa. Mobile Active, a global network of people with an interest in the use of mobile phones in CSOs was founded in 2002. They have now produced a Guide to "SMS Desktop Campaign Tools".

"Many organizations want to use text messaging in their campaigns. However, the barriers to setting up a texting campaign are steep. Theprocess seems expensive, technical, and complex overall.

Many organizations cannot afford to hire a provider or there are noneavailable in the region where they operate. The MobileActive guidedescribes the second way – bootstrapping your way to a textingcampaign by using Desktop SMS Campaign Tools on a tiny budget and with a minimum of technical expertise"

The guide includes a comparison of the different SMS / PC tools available including the following:

• Frontline SMS
• SMSCaster
• ActiveXperts

Links: Mobile Active on

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