Android SMS Gateway Scenario 202: NGOs USSD requests in practice

Summary

Scenario 202 is cook-oil intake: a household dials *690#, then a receipt SMS returns the claim id. Donor CSV waits until trees complete. Service pricing is based on device count and total SMS sent through the gateway. You need a working Android phone with a SIM and SMS credit from your mobile operator. Operator message costs are yours—we do not sell carrier SMS balance.

If the drum is open and the receipt never landed, you did not issue a litre. You burned prepaid on a hung menu.

Not a CodeCanyon “NGO USSD” pack. Device meters apply — Twilio vs Android SMS gateway.

Key takeaways

• Scenario 202 is cook-oil ration on *690# then a receipt SMS — not seed *360#, livestock-vax *610#, grain-silo *670#, cash *550#, or MUAC *510#.
• A hung *690# tree is not an API 502. Retrying it like HTTP will empty the prepaid SIM before the first litre is poured.
• Priced by devices and SMS send volume. You use your own phone and operator SMS credit. Free is 300 SMS lifetime, 1 device. Developer is 25,000 SMS per year.
• Starter is 2 devices; the depot spare still counts.
• Hold donor-appeal CSV until oil receipts drain.
• Canary *690# at 05:35, not at last night’s HQ health check.

Related reading

USSD balance and menu automation, how an Android SMS gateway works, device setup, WFP food assistance.

Context

First pour is 06:00. Enumerators open the cage at 05:50. Fundraising still wants a donor CSV.

Free (300 SMS lifetime) is a rehearsal depot. Developer is 25,000 SMS per year.

Core scenario guidance

06:00 is *690# cook-oil, not grain *670# or seed *360#. Timezone is the depot, not HQ.

Cook-oil USSD roles

Cost and ownership

Priced by devices and SMS send volume. You use your own phone and operator SMS credit. The depot spare is a billed device. Hung trees still burn prepaid.

Name a 05:00–09:00 on-call for oil windows, not only weekday HQ.

Operations

05:35 canary. Abort: hold donor CSV, keep staff OTP, skip a second “all households” blast. Do not loop *690# like HTTP.

Security and compliance

Claim ids only. No names in SMS. Authenticate MIS hooks. Donor lists are promotional.

Decision guide

Ship when 05:35 canary completes a tree and receipts DLR. Delay if the phone sleeps in the drum cage. If handsets are forbidden, CPaaS for staff OTP.

Checklist

• Depot SIM paired before 05:00.
• 05:35 *690# canary.
• Receipt DLR watched.
• Staff OTP isolated.
• Donor CSV held.
• Prepaid before 05:00.
• Battery exemptions.
• Depot locale.
• Oil-window on-call named.
• Device cap includes spare.

Next steps

Review device and SMS volume pricing, device setup, SMS API documentation.

Deep dive: production hardening

Night charging that never happens is an outage at 06:00. Treat USSD timeouts as expected.

Deep dive: scaling and failure modes

Multi-depot mornings add devices before inventing a hidden unlimited-handset SKU. Raise OEM ceilings; fair-use remains.

Deep dive: integration discipline

Idempotency on claim_id + kind (ussd|receipt). Incomplete tree does not write a litre. Live fields in Developer Center.

Priced by devices and SMS send volume. You use your own phone and operator SMS credit.

05:35 *690# drill

Canary. Complete one tree. Confirm receipt DLR. Hold donor CSV during the wave.