With all the wedding pressure and having to organise people for the wedding meetings and send reminder messages to each one of them, communicating to a data base of clients has been so hectic. Even when it is possible, one has to go and find a company that does it.

Intouch Communications Ltd a youth run company has managed to build and deploy Rwanda’s first home built Short Messaging Gateway (SMS gateway) called intouchSMS.

The intouchSMS gateway was built to bring the bulkSMS service and SMS gateway integration closer to consumer/client which would increase efficiency and reduce on the client’s costs to send SMS.

Edwin Bajje, Managing Director of Intouch Communications says the intouchSMS gateway service is the first of its kind locally developed in Rwanda.

"The intouchSMS gateway is a fully self-service solution, from customer account creation to management and payment. Our clients manage it all on their own through a simple and intuitive user interface. In brief, with the intouchSMS gateway, we bring the SMS service closer to the consumer/customer,” he added.

The gateway is based purely on self-service, it enables the client to create an account, manage it and send SMSs on the fly. The gateway has an inbuilt E-payment module that enables a client to buy SMS credits via Mobile money

The intouchSMS gateway supports sending of SMS to all the networks in Rwanda i.e MTN, Airtel and Tigo and the best part about it is that a client will be able to know the delivery status of each SMS sent out through the gateway through his/her account.

With the intouchSMS gateway scheduler, a user can schedule an SMS in their calendar to be sent at a time to their choice

"This service is helping to improve the way the business community keeps in touch with customers. It can also help them to control and market products and services cheaply,” Bajje concludes.

IntouchSMS hopes to continue building smart systems that are technology leaders, and drive towards a Smart Rwanda and vision 2020