This phase focused on automating data entry through WhatsApp integration, making it effortless for volunteers to update feeding statistics directly from their phones.
Why WhatsApp?
Let's be real—getting people to log into a database to update numbers was never going to happen. Since the volunteers are already organizing on WhatsApp, why not make it as easy as sending a message? One message with the number of people fed, and boom, it's in the database.
Vonage Integration
After extensive research, I discovered that Vonage offers a Python-friendly API perfect for WhatsApp integration. This allows us to programmatically send and receive messages, making the data collection process seamless.
Database Connection
The app translates incoming WhatsApp messages into SQL commands, automatically inserting new records into our Supabase database. When a volunteer texts "120," the system knows to record 120 people fed for that day.
24/7 Availability with Render
To ensure the app responds to messages around the clock, I deployed it on Render's web hosting platform. This keeps the application constantly running and ready to process incoming messages, making the data collection process truly automated.
Key Implementation Features
- Instant message processing
- Automatic database updates
- Error handling and validation
- Confirmation messages
- 24/7 availability
- Simple volunteer interface