Adding phone, text messaging and other communication to software applications

Mark Headd, Developer Evangelist for Tropo.com (http://www.tropo.com/)and Voxeo (http://www.voxeo.com/) Labs, will discuss Tropo's cloud communication platform APIs -- how they can add phone, text messaging and other communication features to software applications. Telephones are ubiquitous and a critical part of how governments and nonprofits communicate with those they serve. Tropo supports efforts to improve service delivery by these entities, has a passion for helping organizations achieve their goals, is a strong supporter of groups like Geeks without Bounds (http://gwob.org/), Code for America (http://codeforamerica.org/), OpenData Philly (http://opendataphilly.org/) and others, is active in events like OpenGov West (http://www.opengovwest.org/) and OpenGov NYC (http://opengovnyc.org/) and Random Hacks of Kindness (http://www.rhok.org/), and is a sponsor of CityCamp Raleigh (http://citycampral.org/) -- recent N&O article (http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/22/1215117/raleigh-asks-how-technology-can.html).

Examples of uses of Tropo include:

Heritage Tree Quest (http://geoloqi.com/blog/2010/10/apps-built-at-the-tropo-geoloqi-open-gov-hackathon/): When you’re near a tree, you can call Tropo and it will quiz you to identify it, using of the voice recognition capabilities of Tropo. Events through voice recognition (http://pogodan.com/blog/2011/5/9/ruby-ivr-with-tropo-and-padrino): A web app to let users get information on events through voice recognition and touch-tone selection. Speech-driven weather forecast application (http://blog.tropo.com/2009/05/11/new-sample-tropo-app-speech-driven-weather-forecasts-in-ruby/) uses your Caller ID to guess what city you are calling about and offers that to you immediately. You can also say any city/state combination or ZIP Code to get the forecast for that region. When you are listening to the forecast you can also say the name of one of the other days to jump to the forecast for that particular day. Cross-platform Group Messaging and Location Beaconing for Disaster Relief. (http://caseorganic.com/blog/2010/11/loqi-me-wins-best-in-show-at-civicapps-for-greater-portland-competition/)This application (Loqi.me) is a resource for citizens, medical teams and governments before, during and after disasters. Crises responders can view all of the help requests on the webpage, along with hospitals and fire stations, real-time 911 calls related to natural disasters. No application installation is required. Location beacons can be sent simply by going to http://loqi.me (http://loqi.me/) on a mobile phone. The address for Raleigh Business and Technology Center is 900 S Wilmington Street, but use 800 S Salisbury St in GPS devices.