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BT and Cisco Support OneWorld to Serve Farmers|
- By CXOtoday Staff, Dec 05, 2007 2006 hrs IST
- Tags : BT and Cisco Support OneWorld Serve Farmers
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OneWorld is an international charitable group that works to promote human rights and sustainable development across the globe. Its network is spread across 5 continents and offers poor people a chance to speak.
Challenge:
The plight of Indian farmers had grabbed the attention OneWorld. Following the study by OneWorld, it was revealed that the farmers lacked an effective communication system with the community. This hampered speedy solutions of the various issues faced by them.
So to solve this problem they had the idea to add a telephone dimension to its established Open Knowledge Network -- an initiative that uses knowledge workers to share learning in the local language -- but it needed help to turn its vision into a fully operational and sustainable service. Informed answers to the various queries of the farmers are available on the Internet but this is far beyond the reach of the common farmer.
Naimur Rahman, director of OneWorld, South Asia, says, "Voice is the most powerful medium to leverage information service delivery. We wanted to help the rural farming community by linking voice to web technology, giving ordinary people the chance to get answers by phone to the questions that are key to improving their lives."
Solution:
Hence, Lifelines India, a project to meet the needs of farming community was launched in November 2006. Presently, more than 591 villages and over 200 calls to the service are being received each day under the project. A database of over 30,000 'frequently asked questions' has also been prepared to benefit the farmers.
Cisco and BT also jointly sponsored OneWorld that manages and operates the service. Calls to Lifelines India are directed and answered by a Cisco Unified Messaging Platform incorporating Interactive Voice Response functionality. This is integrated with a Customer Relationship Management application and information database provided by BT.
The Cisco messaging platform was implemented in collaboration with its partner Wipro, while TechMahindra delievered the bespoke database development and systems integration.
How the system works:
The farmers need to do dial LifeLines India number from a community telephone, which could be a village phone shop (kiosk), or a mobile phone provided by local OneWorld sponsored associates, who travel around the villages to promote OneWorld services.
Then the callers are prompted to record their query on an automated voicemail system and the farmer is given a reference number (query-id) by the system. Also it informs the farmer when to call back for an answer.
The query is processed by a OneWorld's knowledge worker in a central office who first searches the voice database of frequently asked questions. If a solution is on the database the knowledge worker attaches the voice response for the farmer to access as early as the next day.
If the issue is new, before recording the reply the knowledge worker seeks advice from a specialist from the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), also a partner of LifeLines.
TARAhaat, another non-governmental organization focused on sustainable rural development, partners OneWorld in the programme rollout. The two calls - one to record the query and the second to retrieve the answer - cost the farmer just 5 rupees.
Benefits:
Until recently, the only source of agricultural and veterinary information available to farmers in rural India was through community meetings and agriculture extension workers. Now, LifeLines India provides small scale rural Indian farmers with a means of bridging the information gap that prevents them from farming in a sustainable manner, integrating with global markets, and ultimately, supporting their families.
Farmers too have embraced the service as a valuable tool for information exchange that has directly benefited in crop efficiency and earning potential. A sample study of farmers across three villages, Masobra, Jhansi and Nalagarh has revealed a consistent rise in product quality and productivity leading to an increase in profit for the farmer ranging from 25 % to 150 %.
SNAPSHOT:
OneWorld, a charitable organization, works to promote human rights and sustainable development across the globe. Having network spanning 5 continents, it works to give the world's poorest and neglected sections of people a chance to have their say.
Challenges:
* Lack of an effective communication system between farmers was hampering solving of the various problems.
* A means was required to provide farmers with quick answers to their various questions.
Solution:
* Cisco Unified Messaging Platform incorporating Interactive Voice Response functionality.
* BT's Customer Relationship Management application and information database.
Benefits:
* Farmers were able to get prompt replies to their queries.
* A sample study of farmers across three villages - Masobra, Jhansi and Nalagarh- revealed a consistent increase in product quality and productivity leading to an increase in profit for the farmer ranging from 25 to 150 %.
Related Links:
British Telecom Eyes Indian Market
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