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Mobile Radio: An Emerging Alternative
5.3 Setting up Mobile Radio: Options and Resources
Contrary to Web Radio, setting up mobile radio currently remains a non-trivial task and the subject matter
for yet another manual. In this section, we quickly outline the components involved and relevant pointers
if you wish to explore mobile radio in greater detail.
There are three key components in setting up mobile radio: (a) Telephony hardware, (b) Telephony software,
and (c) Web software. The telephony hardware is the hardware on which the call lands when a community
member calls into the mobile radio station. The hardware connects the call to a computer; the telephony
software takes over and decides what to do with the calls. In the case of mobile radio, the telephony
software runs the IVR structure as shown in Figure 5.2. Finally, the task of moderation and publishing is
done via a website, which is run by web software.
If you do not wish to setup mobile radio on your own, Gram Vaani (http://www.gramvaani.org/?page_
id=15) provides the platform called Goonj as a service. This way you can have access to mobile radio
technology without making heavy up front investments. The Goonj platform has already been used to
operate Jharkhand Mobile Radio (JMR) in the state of Jharkhand in India. Screen shots of the content
moderation website used for JMR and the public website, www.goonj.net, where published content is
accessible to all are shown in Figures 5.3(a) and 5.3(b) respectively. If, on the other hand, you are interested
in setting up mobile radio at your station, then Gram Vaani can help you do the same.
Figure 5.3(a): Screen shot of web based moderation in Goonj
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