IVRHub is a mobile data collection system built by Aquaya. Surveys are created in a web interface and responses are completed via a phone call. Respondents may speak their answers or use their phone's keypad to reply. Respondents can use simple phones to fill out surveys - no special apps are required. This is a hosted service that requires no on-the-ground hardware installations. All data is private - only team members may view the questions and responses.

We built IVRHub to test phone-based data collection in several different countries. This is a useful tool for rapid prototyping and quickly gauging the feasibility of an IVR-based solution. For projects that can support hardware on the ground and require tens of thousands of respondents, we recommend looking at telephony platforms like FreedomFone.

Data collection for water plant operators

• A project manager sets up a survey and schedule
• The survey consists of several spoken questions regarding O&M activities
• Every Friday at 4pm, operators receive a short phone call playing back the manager's voice questions. The operator's repsonses are recorded.
• The manager may view the responses on the web interface or in Pipeline

Data collection for mobile staff

• Auditors check up on rural water supplies
• After testing a water source, the auditors call in to IVRHub and select a form
• The form asks the questions and the staff member's responses are recorded
• These responses are made visible on the site for further analysis

This is for running your own server. If you would like to use the service, please visit IVRHub.org.

Tested on Ubuntu 11.10.

You'll need a locally-running mongodb instance - see their docs for more info.

use virtualenv and pip to install other requirements:

$ virtualenv /path/to/venv
$ pip install -r requirements.txt -E /path/to/venv

after cloning this repo, pull in the dependencies:

$ git submodule init
$ git submodule update

If you are running this service you'll need accounts with Twilio and AWS.

setup a real config file outside of source control

$ cp conf/ivrhub_settings_sample.py /path/to/real/settings.py              

edit that new config..then point an env var at it

$ export IVRHUB_SETTINGS=/path/to/real/settings.py

activate your virtualenv and create the default admin

$ ./path/to/venv/bin/activate
(venv)$ python
>> import ivrhub 
>> ivrhub.views.seed()

start up the server

(venv)$ python run.py
* Running on http://127.0.0.1:8000/

we have some example config files for supervisord, gunicorn, nginx, and fabric -- check those out

Bootstrapping a new server:

• install virtualenv and pip
• copy over config files for supervisord, gunicorn, nginx and this app
• make a dir for the config files and the log files
• point the env var to the app config file and put this in your .zshrc
• use fabric to install the app
• reload/reread/restart supervisord until it picks up the config file (annoyingly imprecise, I know..)
• start the server and check with supervisorctl
• edit the nginx config file at nginx.conf and the sites-availble dir (symlink to sites-enabled); restart nginx
• seed the db from a shell
• update your DNS