Measuring satellite broadcasts

John Costello, managing director Global Access Telecommunications, a Johannesburg-based company specialising in corporate communication and training by means of satellite based technology, said 18 months ago his company developed this application to measure the efficacy of broadcast messages and called it Global Access Remote Response Enabling Technology (GARRET).

"We had to ask ourselves what the most practical device was in helping us develop a system which could measure the effectiveness of communication and training interventions via satellite - and the most obvious answer was the cell phone.

"Applying cell phone technology for our purposes was an extremely exciting step, particularly since cell phones are available to most people, with approximately 14 million users in South Africa alone." Although GARRET could also be used online, Costello said the fact that not everyone has access to the internet, was one of the deciding factors in choosing the cell phone.

"After all, the cell phone can be used anywhere in the country, at any time, provided there is a signal". Costello believes what GARRET offers is invaluable to the sender of the message, as they can now ascertain the audience's response through SMS messages sent during and after a distance training session.

"Speaking as a management team to employees is one thing, but the potential of interacting with the workforce in this way provides an extraordinary opportunity to companies in terms of ensuring that messages have been received and understood."

According to Costello, GARRET is not yet being used to its full capacity in a corporate environment for the obvious reason that employees are reluctant to spend money on sending an SMS to management, even if they can claim back the costs. "This will change drastically once the networks implement new systems that allow for reverse billing," Costello believes.

However, GARRET is extremely successful among independent professionals viewing special educational programmes, and during distance learning sessions to employees. "A good example is the Matters Medical Television, which is viewed by thousands of doctors countrywide. In this case, the audience has no qualms in interacting with the studio using their cell phones and the special GARRET menu." GARRET has also been extremely successful in the distance learning set-up where people are undergoing training via satellite.

"Instead of using cell phones, one of our clients has installed special GSM stations which are used by the employees to interact and respond to the training sessions, as GARRET lends itself perfectly to the multiple question system." These stations serve as a way to overcome the current billing limitation.

Costello went on to explain that GARRET could be used for interaction with the audience during live broadcasts, or for answering the questions posed in most learning content formats, at his or her own convenience.

"Viewers receive instructions on how to download a menu on their phones, before a distance learning session or broadcast and their SMS messages are sent to the GARRET SMS Service. This is a one-off exercise enabling the users to participate in future sessions

"As cell phone technology continues to evolve, the application of GARRET will continue expanding, and ultimately it will be available at any time, anywhere and anyhow," Costello concluded.