Question Box is Open Mind's initiative that helps people find answers to everyday questions like health, agriculture, business, education and entertainment. It provides easy access to information in hard-to-reach areas and breaks through technology, language and literacy barriers. We do this through:

• Live telephone hotlines connected to live operators
• SMS (Text Messaging)
• Mobile and solar technologies that operate off the grid
• Open Question - a simple software to start your own Question Box project

We also partner with different organizations and provide training on how they can use Question Box for their projects.

Where

Question Box is currently live near Pune, India with new projects coming up in Uganda and India. Recent pilot studies were conducted successfully in Bushneyi and Mbale districts of Uganda and Noida, India. We are also helping several organizations start their own Question Box-inspired services. We would love to help your group also. Become a partner

Hardware

Question Boxes is a simple telephone intercom. It’s a durable metal box, hung on the wall in streets that makes it easily accessible. With the push of one green button, a person can connect to a live question and answer hotline service.

Question Box Operators find answers to a person’s questions from the internet and internal database and translates the information back in their local language. One computer-literate Operator can serve thousands of people.

It is simpler than a phone, cheaper and requires nothing more than pushing a button. Next generation Question Boxes can be portable; run on solar power; and programmable.

Software

Open Question is software that lets you set up and run a very simple hotline from your office. It is Open Source, meaning your own software programmers can download and install it in your office. Or, we can assist you. Open Question works with or without Question Boxes.

All you need is a:

• Computer
• Telephone (Mobile or Landline)
• Staffer to take calls
• Internet (Optional)

Open Question lets you:

• Track all calls coming in and out
• Track caller demographics
• Search your computer and the Internet to find answers,  displaying best results all in one place
• Track quality by linking the source of information to the caller record
• Output reports to track what people are calling about, who they are, and what answers you gave them
• Pinpoint questions you can't answer
• Work either with or without access to the Internet - optimized for slow to no Internet service!

Open Source Programmers Learn More