One of the biggest problems faced by Rescue and Aid organizations in natural disaster areas is limited communication. The few remaining telecommunications services available after these disasters are immediately congested.

TERA is a fast, secure and cost effective SMS based communication platform between NGOs and the Community. TERA was developed in cooperation with the world’s largest humanitarian organization, the Red Cross, since then TERA has proven to be the most effective technological initiative that came out of Haiti 2010 earthquake.

It allows both Mobile Operators and NGOs to coordinate the appropriate delivery of vital messages (Early warning, Alerts, Logistics, General Information) to the community, by assisting NGOs to reach as many geographic zones as possible and to coordinate their aid-related activities in those areas. SSI and the Red Cross have worked together since 2010 on developing and rolling out the system on mobile operators around the world and made TERA available free of cost to affected people.

VERSION

• VERSION: 3.3

OPERATING SYSTEMS

• RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 5.5

DATABASE ENGINE

• PostgreSQL 9.2.1

APPLICATION SERVER

• APACHE TOMCAT 7.0.67

JAVA SE RUNTIME

• JAVA 7

• EARLY WARNING NOTIFICATION

  When disasters are predictable, TERA includes a feature to deliver SMS notifications on the fly. This allows NGOs to include TERA on their prevention activities agenda.

• STOP SERVICE ON REQUEST – BLACK LIST

  In order to avoid the delivery of unwanted messages to certain subscribers, TERA includes a feature to stop sending them via a Black List, which can be activated by the subscriber by using a predefined keyword.

• SMS NOTIFICATION TO NGO GROUPS

  Capability to deliver SMS messages to groups of NGO personnel.

• GIS BASED USER INTERFACE

  The TERA system includes an integrated portal with GIS capabilities. Most functionalities used can be directly accessed from this GIS interface, allowing the user to perform important tasks related to a specific geographic location.

• KEYWORD-ANSWER INTERPRETER

  TERA is capable of interpreting SMS messages sent by the subscribers and reacting to them by automatically replying with customized SMS messages.

• REPORTING WITH PDF, EXCEL AND CSV EXPORT CAPABILITIES

  Dynamically displayed information is valuable, but having the same information in a document is equally important. TERA has built-in support for exporting reports to leading formats, such as PDF, EXCEL and CSV.

• TERA NGO Module:

  Integrated portal which hosts main user interface (Interactive Map) to centralize configurations regarding TELCOs, NGO’s Sub Divisions, Users, Personnel Groups, Aid Centers and Keyword-Answers. It can Control on or more TERA Telco modules.

• TERA TELCO Module:

  This module is subject to be installed in a TELCO. It includes an embedded SMS Gateway to communicate with Telecom’s SMSC or third party services.

In contrast to other systems, TERA has been built with Humanitarian input, which is why TERA was among five nominated solutions to the Global Mobile Awards 2013, in the Best Use of Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations category (Please follow: GSMA 2013 Nominees)

TERA technology and contribution to society was acknowledged by the Red Cross itself and other worldwide prestigious organizations like TED and TechRadar.

• Paul Conneally (Head of Media and Public Communication - IFRC) – TEDx Geneva. Talking about how new technologies are transforming humanitarian aid for the better:

• Two years on: Haiti's tech legacy
• Paul Conneally: Humanitarismo digital
• Tedxgeneva Paul Conneally Digital Disasters