Can the Ubiquitous Mobile Phone go beyond SMS to reach millions of illiterate Voters in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections ? Simmortel lends a Voice!

Problem

Election candidates were faced with the challenging task of reaching out yet again to the millions of electorate in their Lok Sabha constituencies for the 2009 polls. Other then the traditional print media and outdoor rallies, they wanted to appear savvy and reach out amidst all the election noise which threatened to drown their message. SMS is only part of the solution. Most handsets do not support vernacular language and english is not popular in the remote areas of Andhra Pradesh (AP)and Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Solution

Simmortel Voice worked with several candidate in AP and UP to help them reach out to more than a million registered voters each in less than 5 days of continuous outbound calling. A personal message recorded in the voice of the candidate himself in the local dialect was broadcast to all mobile phone users. Especial attention was paid to etiquette and legal matters in case of outbound calling. The list of numbers was filtered against the DNC registery. People who did not take the call and, instead, chose to call back could hear the same message back!

Results

Our Outbound Voice + SMS Dual solution won the day for our customers in establishing a personal bond with the voters. The campaigns had more than 70% of calls answered and another 18% called back to hear the message. In all Simmortel Voice broadcast outbound calls to more than 3 million mobile phone users in UP and AP. Most of our customers continue to use this new broadcast medium to communicate with their constituencies.