Got to get in touch with the folks from the bowling league? PTA? The BDSM Orgy Planning Committee? Why not give them a Jyngle.
Jyngle is a mass SMS/event planning system that allows users to create and contact groups via cell phone. While most of the interface is web-based, there is some phone interaction. It also verifies all numbers before sending out mass-mailings to a group.
The system works like this: you create a group and mark it public or private. Whenever you need to contact all of them, you pop into the site and send a message. You can also send mass voice messages over the phone and you can even send reminders to groups and join public groups. It’s all fairly basic and, if I remember correctly, a sight better than the round-robin phone trees they used to have at my grade school where one mom would call another mom, on down the line, until everyone knew that we had to bring in 50 cupcakes on Monday. It rarely worked.
The beauty of Jyngle is that it’s totally free and you can create public groups. Clearly, it’s good for college kids, sports teams and schools but it could also be a great way to create a party list – hint hint. You unfortunately have to register to get things started, but it’s relatively painless.
The real value would be in the electronic invitations space where you plan an event, ask folks for the phone numbers, and then send reminders, cancellations, and the like. The functionality is fairly limited right now, but it’s definitely one to watch.
Site [Jyngle]