NBEEP6
A conversation I had a week ago about call-boxes, mobile phone registration, monitoring of communication by the government and the upcoming elections got interrupted a couple of times by a ‘beep’ (as the Cameroonians call their invention) which is a ‘missed call’, not to be answered but just to communicate a message. What that message is, depends on the person calling, the context and the pre-defined communication ‘protocol’. In our case, the beeping friend indicated to be at a certain spot already. Beeping back would mean: I’m on my way too! Not beeping back would mean: I’m not there yet. Or it could mean: I’ve forgotten about the appointment completely. Or it could mean: I’m not carrying my phone. Or: I simply don’t hear it.
In short, besides being free, which is a key attractive feature here, the 1-beep communication protocol lacks some crucial features available with two-way communication systems. I realized this could be solved by introducing a second phone to be used as a confirmation reply-channel. Actually, by carrying even more than two phones, a full digital code can be received and transmitted: one beep for 1 and no beep meaning 0. Six phones beeping (or not beeping) simultaneously could send one out of a set of 63 predefined messages, identified by digital numbers such as 011001 (N phones give 2 to the power of N minus 1 possibilities). I started to defined a code-set including the full alphabet, numbers, a couple of common phrases and space for DIY context related messages, to be defined amongst friends, or to be defined to communication from one family in one city to a family in another city. In difficult times, it could be used as a non-decodable anonymous method of communication, because there’s no way to intercept what messages are being sent by a group of 6 people at one location just ringing 6 people at another location. As long as the mobile phone network is not fully shut down, communication by beeping remains possible. All that is required is the ‘digital’ system printed on a A4 paper: one side of instructions, one side with an explanation. Free, open source and easy to copy and replicate throughout the country.
The next day, while sitting in the local church and giving up on listening to an incomprehensible flow of French (which appeared to be the local language in which French words appear) I thought of a name for the concept: NBEEP. The NBEEP6 being the protocol-version based on 6 phones on each location. I also thought of a marketing strategy: launching the concept through the call-boxes, of course. Mimicking the typical graphical style (wooden table, parasol, Comic Sans Font) to communicate: communication!
Sander
