Really cool. What's the technology behind this?
Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
31–40 of 65 posts
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#32congrats guys!
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hi! Thanks for submitting this. I'm a big telecom geek and I am curious about your connection to the phone network (specifically, how are you enabling these SMS to actually go out?). Is this sitting on top of something like Twilio, or do you have an underlying switch? What's the magic here? Is this just an interface for laying out SMS strategies or is there more to this? It looks visually appealing, I think you did a…
Just to build on what Eric said, we either use a single Android phone to relay messages for you or integrate with Twilio or another aggregator. We work a lot in Africa and there are no Twilios here, and integrating with multiple carriers is both really expensive and really time consuming. So what we do instead is have the organization that is deploying a TextIt buy a cheap Android phone (they are less than $100) and…
just curious, how much does it cost to send/receive SMS on a cell phone in Rwanda or other parts of Africa?
I see there is a limit of 30 messages in 30 minutes, is this carrier induced?
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#34Hi HN, We've been working in Rwanda for the past three years building interactive SMS systems for NGOs. This is our take on how to build a platform instead of custom systems to handle a lot of the needs here. We think it probably has some uses in the west as well. Happy to answer any questions and respond to comments, curious to hear everybody's feedback. (please be gentle, not in the face!)
I taught a programming/entrepreneurship course a few years ago in Kigali through aiti.mit.edu at KIST and a few companies came out of it working on SMS apps. This app seems to make a lot of sense and seems well done. Good luck!
Hey, Park, I am Jean and I was in your Aiti class 2010 in KIST. Nice to seevyou here. I am a fan of Textit and the company that created it. They are coming up with great sms technologies that are appropriate for Africa. Big up to Nic and Eric, you are doing a wonderful work.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey Josh, One of the devs here.. There's several different ways your TextIt app can be deployed depending on where you are located. When you sign up, we present the geographically appropriate options for you. In some cases you will see Twilio, others you will get direct connections with a carrier. However, no matter where you are we also have a pretty robust Android app (free on Google Play) that can facilitate 2-way…
Awesome! Thank you so much :). Can you tell me a bit about what your experience setting up the direct connections was like? Frankly, I do this for a living and I'm curious what it's like for others. Dealing with global carriers is hit or miss for me. It's either BOOM DONE or years of waiting in vain. What was your experience like? I admit, most of my conversations are focused on Europe and Asia so I'd be quite curiou…
No you can get carrier agreements, and we have in Rwanda, but that's not a business model we particularly want to go after. We've had the same experience as your own, sometimes it is really quick, other times it takes forever or just isn't possible. But there are plenty of aggregators out there trying to expand and cover all the markets, and in time they will get to Rwanda and the rest of Africa I'm sure.
So we are focused more on providing a platform that lets you build the app, and using the (rather effective) stop gap of an Android phone to bridge until the day we can use Twilio right here in Kigali.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just to build on what Eric said, we either use a single Android phone to relay messages for you or integrate with Twilio or another aggregator. We work a lot in Africa and there are no Twilios here, and integrating with multiple carriers is both really expensive and really time consuming. So what we do instead is have the organization that is deploying a TextIt buy a cheap Android phone (they are less than $100) and…
just curious, how much does it cost to send/receive SMS on a cell phone in Rwanda or other parts of Africa? I see there is a limit of 30 messages in 30 minutes, is this carrier induced?
The 30/30 limit is actually an Android limit, and one we get around if you install the 'message packs'. We've had handsets send around 1000 messages an hour without problem.
SMS prices vary a lot by plan and country, but here in Rwanda it is 10 RWFs per SMS on carrier, which translates to about 1.5cs. There are various promotions you can get to lower that further, in Kenya you can buy a message pack that brings the price down to less than .5c each.
Oh note that it is always free to receive calls and SMS messages in Africa, as everything is pre-paid.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#37The nigger cannot be taught.
http://www.randomnumbers.info/
God says...
127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
128:1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
128:4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
128:5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
128:6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#38Ben Haggerty is macklemore's name...
Was wondering if someone would notice that.
Eric and I are from Seattle and are big Macklemore fans. :) There are a few other easter eggs in a similar vain on the site.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#39Really cool. What's the technology behind this?
Which part? We are a Django stack, though with our own framework over it: https://github.com/nyaruka/smartmin
The main Flow UI leans heavily on JSPlumb. We use Angular JS for our analytics side and use the mad combination of HAML, Coffescript and LESS to avoid writing closing tags in anything at all.
Re: Show HN: TextIt – Visually build SMS applications anywhere in the world
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Awesome! Thank you so much :). Can you tell me a bit about what your experience setting up the direct connections was like? Frankly, I do this for a living and I'm curious what it's like for others. Dealing with global carriers is hit or miss for me. It's either BOOM DONE or years of waiting in vain. What was your experience like? I admit, most of my conversations are focused on Europe and Asia so I'd be quite curiou…
No you can get carrier agreements, and we have in Rwanda, but that's not a business model we particularly want to go after. We've had the same experience as your own, sometimes it is really quick, other times it takes forever or just isn't possible. But there are plenty of aggregators out there trying to expand and cover all the markets, and in time they will get to Rwanda and the rest of Africa I'm sure. So we are f…
Thanks for the reply.
One word of caution: not all aggregators are equal. I've had experiences where aggregators had their master aggregator change their rate to a particular destination and that aggregator then had to 3x their rates to our client. Not fun.
Telecom is a pretty messy world :/. Again, thanks for sharing, I really appreciate your time!