GigaOM

Dan Schoeffler has come up with an idea to use voice mail to connect Hurricane victims and their families. This is taking the idea of People Finder one step further. He calls it Contact Loved Ones (CLO). It works by telephone and, because it’s indexed by telephone number, is much simpler to use and much more effective than internet message boards and lists. How it works:

> For example, Jane is looking for her missing father. She calls CLO’s toll-free number and enters his usual telephone number. She can then leave a voice message for him or listen to messages from him. When her father calls the toll-free number, he enters his own phone number. He can then leave a message for other callers to hear saying he is safe and how he can be contacted or he can listen to messages left for him.

The basic infrastructure is built and is ready to operate. The system has not yet been scaled up to meet the probable level of need of Katrina evacuees but with proper resources this can be done in a matter of hours. Dan has gotten 500 VoIP lines sponsored but is looking for more help. He is looking for Toll-free minutes, Inbound telephone connections (VOIP), Additional telephony servers, Payphone connections and Internet bandwidth. If you would like to offer some assistance, please get in touch with Dan via email.