Calls for help are answered

Oranuch Lerdsuwankij (@mimee) marvels at the modern mechanisms assisting people in Japan

"A thousand human calculations mean nothing compared to a single counting by Mother Nature," says an old Chinese proverb. It seems that many countries are lately facing natural disasters, particularly Japan, suffering from the severe earthquake and tsunami.

People worried about family and friends living in the stricken areas might have difficulty reaching them since parts of the telecom infrastructure are out of commission, and the countless attempts at contact cause network congestion beyond its service capabilities.

Mobile-phone services often come to the rescue during tough times. Softbank Mobile, Japan's third-largest cell-phone operator, has promised anyone orphaned in the disaster free calls until they turn 18, and Apple is replacing damaged iPhones free of charge.

Softbank Mobile chief executive Masayoshi Son (@masason) used Twitter efficiently to give customers access into online help and rescue agencies.

The firm also established a Disaster Message Board on Yahoo Keitai, specifically for large-scale catastrophes such as earthquakes topping magnitude 6. People can post messages to let others know their location and condition, and can then be tracked via their mobile number.

Their phones are connected to Yahoo Keitai via mobile applications on iPhones and iPads, or by computers or other mobile phones linked to the Internet.

Disaster message boards are also available through other mobile operators - Docomo, KDDI, eMobile and Willcom - while Google's search engine has its Person Finder Service, part of the Google Crisis Response Project.

This is based on the concept of "crowd sourcing", whereby names can be posted and the database thus updated by anyone. The information is spread to other websites through embedding code.

Meanwhile the popular VoIP service provider Skype is giving people ¥80 (Bt28) of credit for calls within Japan, offering an alternative to the normal phone network when it's congested.

Mobile-phone services in Thailand have been assisting people travelling in Japan, letting them accept incoming calls for free and ring the Thai Call Centre from Japan for free.

All of this represents impressive cooperation among many organisations. Natural disasters can't be avoided, but at least we can be clever in providing relief and easing other people's hardships.

Telecommunications and technology writer Oranuch also has a blog at Mimeeja.wordpress.com.