Printable Guide

What's the big deal about EpiSurveyor?
EpiSurveyor is the first web 2.0 application for global health and international development. It's software that allows anyone to set up a worldwide, mobile-phone-based data collection system in minutes, for free. Our philosophy is that anyone who needs to collect critical data for public health or development should be able to do so quickly and efficiently, without consultants or meetings or grants or contracts. EpiSurveyor lets you do that. And that's one of the reasons our team has won so many awards: we're really building worldwide  capacity to collect, analyze, and use data worldwide -- for public health, for development, for anything!

How much does EpiSurveyor cost? And who pays?
For most users, EpiSurveyor doesn't cost anything at all. Yes, you read that right: for most users, EpiSurveyor is completely free. We do charge those users who want additional levels of service or support or training, and use that funding to pay for free access for everyone else.

EpiSurveyor has so far been funded by grants from the United Nations Foundation, the Vodafone Foundation, and the World Bank, and by DataDyne.org with funds we receive from providing extra services to a subset of users. The majority of EpiSurveyor users don't pay a single dollar, and never will, but we do charge those users who want additional levels of service or support or training. This is a very new way of funding and scaling technology, and we think it's the only way that will result in building capacity for everyone, not just the richest organizations.

You would need to pay if you wanted any of these things:

• a Pro account at episurveyor.org -- for $5000 per year, this removes the 500 record-per-form limit, the 20 form limit per userid, and the 100 question limit per form. A Pro account will also be needed to use our API, which will be released in 2010, and which will allow you to access your EpiSurveyor.org data from another piece of software. If you're planning to use the API, or to collect thousands and thousands of records from many, many users, then at least one of those users needs to have a Pro account. The Pro account also allows for priority 24-hour email tech support.

• custom reports -- please contact us if you would like any custom reports created. These custom reports will work with the data you collect in your forms, letting you run them at the press of a button on whatever data you've collected.

• custom support or training -- if your work with EpiSurveyor requires phone support, training, or other extra work on our part, we'll have to charge you for it (but don't worry: we'll plow the money right back into improvements for EpiSurveyor that will benefit you and everyone else).

What phones can I use?
Find the list of supported phones at www.episurveyor.org/m

How do I configure a Blackberry to use EpiSurveyor?
    Here are the steps on the Blackberry, after installing the EpiSurveyor app:

1. Click on Menu - > Options
2. Select and click Advanced Options
3. Scroll down to TCP and click enter
4. Change APN to the local GSM provider you are using (you can obtain the APN from the GSM provider support team)
5. Enter username and password
6. Press Menu and select and click on Save.
7. Go back and open EpiSurveyor and log in. It should work with the correct settings.

How do I create forms?
First, create a free account at www.episurveyor.org and follow onscreen directions. You can see a demonstration video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aS6R1fUCBU

Where do I download the application for my phone?
Go to www.episurveyor.org/m and click on the model of your phone to start downloading. System messages may pop up depending on your mobile phone and service.  Press "Yes" and "Accept" for prompts requesting access and/or downloading rights.

What's the best way to learn how to use the software?
Read the user guide, and watch the video tutorials! See the links at right for more info.

I don't have a phone, can I still try the software?
Yes, use the Online Phone Emulator, which is software in your browser that acts just like a phone (you can even enter real data). Go to www.episurveyor.org/emulator

I want to replace my paper data collection process with EpiSurveyor. Can somebody help me get started?
Absolutely! First, we recommend that you read the user guide, and watch the video tutorials. That will give you a good idea about the software. Then, email  support at datadyne dot org with a description of what you'd like to do.

I have some ideas for new features for EpiSurveyor. Who do I talk to?
Email your thoughts/questions/ideas to support at datadyne dot org

I am having problems connecting to the internet. What should I do?
Contact your cellular service provider to configure the internet settings on your mobile phone.

How reliable and secure is EpiSurveyor.org?
We have taken key precautions to make sure your data is secure, backed up, and always available online. Episurveyor.org is hosted by Rackspace.com, a leading provider of hosted online applications.

Where is my data stored?
Right now, your data is stored on DataDyne's servers.  In 2010 we'll release an API (Application Programming Interface) that will allow you to access your stored data via your own software (such as MS Access, MySQL, etc).

Who owns the data once it's stored on the EpiSurveyor website?
YOU do, of course! Your data belongs to you, and can be seen ONLY by you, unless you explicitly give someone else permission to look at it. DataDyne does not want to own your data, control your data, look at your data or EVER restrict your access to your data.  You are always free, at any time, to download your data to your own computer and delete your data from our site (or delete your whole account).

I don't want to store my data on your servers. What can I do?
No problem: we don't force you to upload the data via our servers. Once you've created a form and downloaded it to your mobile phone (or phones), and then collected data on the phone, you can always download the data from your phone to a memory card, and then transfer it to your laptop or desktop.

Can I host EpiSurveyor myself?
At this time, there is no way for you to host a copy of EpiSurveyor on your own servers. However, with our API, due out in 2010, you will be able to access your EpiSurveyor data from your own software systems.  We are also considering allowing paying customers to host their own version of EpiSurveyor completely on their own servers.  Ask at info at datadyne.org.

Is the source code for EpiSurveyor.org available?
Yes and no:

• episurveyor.org -- In 2010 we have released an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows other developers to connect their software with EpiSurveyor.org, but we have no plans to release the full source code. The API description is at http://datadyne.org/episurveyor/api

• the EpiSurveyor J2ME client -- yes, the full code for our J2ME mobile phone client, which is built on the framework of the JavaROSA open-source project, is available.

• the EpiSurveyor Android client -- yes, the code for our Android client (beta version released July 2010) is available, and is based on the excellent work done in the ODK project at the University of Washington

• the EpiSurveyor Windows program -- yes, the software for the older, Windows-based EpiSurveyor is available at sourceforge.net/projects/episurveyor/

• the EpiSurveyor Palm OS client -- yes, you can also find the source code for the Palm client at sourceforge.net/projects/episurveyor/ (note: the Palm OS client does not work on the Palm Pre or the Palm Pixi, both of which runs WebOS, not Palm OS).

But why won't you let me see the source code for the website?

Our target audience for EpiSurveyor are regular people, not programmers or technologists, and regular people don't read source code.  We are following the model of the web applications that we all know and love: Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook, Flickr, etc, etc, etc. All of those programs are "closed" and provide great free functionality. We want to be the Gmail of data collection. :-)   If you happen to be a programmer, and like to read source code, please have a look at our API in the menu at right -- so you'll be able to connect your software with ours.

Who's using EpiSurveyor?
Wow: where do we start?  The PDA version of EpiSurveyor has been a standard of the WHO for years, and is in use in more than 10 sub-Saharan countries under WHO auspices. Since releasing a web- and mobile-phone-based version in July 2009, however, EpiSurveyor use has exploded: as of this writing we have more than 2200 users registered at the website (www.episurveyor.org), and those users have collected more than 50,000 forms on mobile phones (tip: the current numbers are always displayed on the login page at www.episurveyor.org). Hundreds of organizations and government agencies are now using EpiSurveyor for their mobile data collection including:

• Abt Associates
• American Red Cross
• CDC
• Government of Ontario (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) and the University of Guelph
• International Federation of the Red Cross
• John Snow, Inc.
• TulaSalud (watch their great EpiSurveyor video)
• The World Bank

How much memory do I need on my phone?
The EpiSurveyor Mobile client software is about 500k in size, so your phone must allow the installation of applications of that size. Beyond that, the answer really depends on how long your forms are. We've had no problem with forms of 50-75 questions using a Nokia 6300 and its internal memory, and with forms of 150 questions or more using a Nokia E71 GPS phone. Longer forms need more built-in phone memory (not external memory card memory, which doesn't help with this particular issue). When using the application, you might run into one of these memory-related errors (you can avoid these errors by creating shorter forms or getting a phone with more memory):

• OutOfMemory
• OutOfBound Error
• NullPointer Exception

We'll also be releasing an "EpiSurveyor Lite" version in late 2010 that will have only the core data collection functionality but will run on phones with less memory.


My phone has internet, but I am getting the error message “Could not connect to server. Please try again later.”

The may be two reason why this might happen:

1. You don’t have enough credit on your phone, thus you would need to top up the phone credit.
2. The APN setting (which EpiSurveyor uses) is not correctly set.  If so, you can contact your GSM provider to provide you with the settings or you can set up manually.

 
Steps to set APN setting for some common phones

For Nokia Series 40 phones (e.g. 6300)

1. Go into Settings.
2. Go into Configuration.
3. Go into Personal Configuration Settings.
4. Now, press Add New (visible if you don’t have a previous Personal Setting created) or press the Options button. When you have pressed the Options button, choose Add new.
5. When you have pressed Add New, you will get a new menu, which will give several options to choose from.
6. Now, scroll down and choose the Access Point and press Select. (Please note that this option is not available on the Nokia 3220 model and maybe on some more models, you can instead use the Services option instead of the Access Point option on the Nokia 3220.) Do not choose the Web option, since this will not work with EpiSurveyor.
7. Now go into Access Point Settings.
8. Go into Bearer Settings.
9. Go into Packet Data Access Point.
10. Now, enter you APN address corresponding to your provider. Click here to check settings
11. Then press OK.
12. Go back to the Personal Configurations Settings menu, where you now should be able to see an Access Point selected.
13. Now press the Options button, and then choose to activate this Access Point.

 For Series 60 phones  (e.g. n70, 6600, etc)

1. Go to Menu > Tools > Settings > Connection
2. Select Access Points > Options > New access point > Use default settings
3. Name the connection
4. Set Data bearer to Packet data
5. Fill in access point name (APN); click here to check your settings
6. Set Username – check on link above
7. Set Prompt password to No
8. Set Password – check on link above
9. Set Authentication to Normal
10. Set Homepage to whatever site you like
11. Back * 2
12. Select Packet data
13. Set Packet data conn. to When available
14. Leave Access point blank
15. Finished

For E Series phones (e.g. e63, e71 etc)

1. Go to Menu > Tools > Settings > Connection
2. Select Access Points > Options > New Access Point
3. Set Connection Name = GSM Network name
4. Data Bearer = Packet Data
5. Access Point = click here to check settings
6. User name = check on the link above
7. Password = check on the link above
8. Homepage = none
9. The rest of the fields are left to default
10. Click Back to Save
11. When you open EpiSurveyor to connect, Select the new APN you have just set up above

For Sony Ericsson Devices
Follow the steps on setting APN here
For access point, click here to check for your GSM provider settings

 
For Samsung devices

1. Go to Menu > Settings > Browser Settings > Profile Settings
2. Select unused profile
3. Set Profile Name = GSM Network Name
4. Home URL = blank
5. Bearer = GPRS
6. Proxy = Enable
7. Click on GPRS Settings
8. Proxy = leave as default
9. Proxy port = leave as default
10. APN = click here to check your GSM provider settings
11. Login ID = check on the link above
12. Password = check on the link above
13. Click Save