Large Scale Telephonic Polls
for Real Time Data Collection
by
Thejesh GN
Heads Up
This is an experience-sharing session. It's a many-to-many kind of discussion oriented presentation. So ask questions or add to the conversation at any point.
Be Nice
- Keep it short
- Allow others to participate
- Collaborative note takers at datameet.hackpad.com
Who am I?
I am Thejesh GN, Technologist from Bangalore.
Co-founder of DataMeet and Architect at Mavrix.
At some point I have worked for NextDrop, A Political Campaign, IWP, Infosys etc
Why Real Time Polls?
Let's see some examples
Media house
Budget session is on and you want to know the reaction of people.
Political Entity
You want to talk to your supporters for an exit poll.
Not for Profit
You want to talk to every school in Karnataka to find out if the midday meal was hot or not.
Activism
To gather support and data for your campaign during a major bill presentation in Parliament.
Methods
Let's see some examples
Door to door
Not Real Time.
Call them
Call center have scaling up/down issue.
Social Media
Limited. Targetting is difficult. Also cleaning the data.
Internet Polls
Limited. Targetting is difficult.
But our method needs to be?
- Scalable - Reach thousands in matter of minutes
- Realtime - Should be able to use as it comes in
- Accurate - Clean Data
- Targetted - Reach our audience
So we need
We need a computer to call all our contacts in short time and conduct poll. Database needs to be updated in Real-Time, which allows us to control and play with it.
It's possible
But before jumping into implementation details. Let's explore what this ideal system can do for us and also what we need to consider before building one.
It can
Just like human beings
Call and ask questions
Send and receive SMSes
Respond to missed calls
Considerations
What we need to be careful of
Demography
Gender, Age, Education, Social/Economic, Single/Family, Resident/Migrant, Landline/Mobile
Location
Urban or Rural, Locality, Ward, Pincode, Even Road
Language
ভাৰত, ভারত, India, ભારત, भारत, ಭಾರತ, "بًارت, ഭാരതം, ଭାରତ ਭਾਰਤ, भारतम्, भारत, ڀارت، இந்தியா, భారత దేశము, بھارت
Talking/listening is easier than reading/writing.
Voice Type
Stars are a special category.
Questions
Binary or multiple choice questions work well. Though you can record much bigger messages as an answer.
Length of call
Shorter the better. 15 to 25 seconds works well. Cost/call matters.
No. of Questions
One or two questions work well.
Legality
TRAI, DND and Just common sense.
Implementation
Try something small before going big.
Demo
Send a message to my spare number :-
- Android phone with sim and internet
- Install SMSSync SMS Gateway App
- Google doc with script
- Setup
SMS
- Use SMSSync App
- Use SMSGupShup API or KooKoo API for bulk usage
Missed Call
- Use ZipDial, easy to setup and use
- Use SMSGupShup API or KooKoo API for flexibility. Need a developer.
- KooKoo gives free developer account to try
Call/IVR
- Use KooKoo API. Needs a developer.
- Adventurous? Try Asterisk. Needs an experienced developer.
- KooKoo gives free developer account to try
Attributions
- Reveal.js
- Wifi by Wilson Joseph, Door by Anas Ramadan, Telephone by Edward Boatman, Computer by iconoci, Data Analysis by Brennan Novak, Control by DEADTYPE, Texting by San Salido Martínez and Phones Prohibited by Simple Icons, Diversity by Luis Prado, Map by Pieter J. Smits ,India by Monika Ciapala, Couple designed by Shankar Narayan, Tape Measure designed by Gemma Garner, Question designed by Icons8, Dice designed by Ryan Reid from the Noun Project
Thank You
BY Thejesh GN / thejeshgn.com
Watch this movie when you find time. Thank you.