Introducing ShoutOUT; a low-cost* way for members and allies of the LGBTQI+ community to access information and knowledge on being LGBTQI+, or request free legal, health & psychological support, all within 2 minutes. No data needed!

* Cost is 60 cents of airtime per minute.

You can continue reading below to find out more.

How to Use

Requesting a service:

  1. Dial *120*72524# into your phone.
  2. The platform will load and then you will see the main menu. Enter 1 into the dialogue box and this will take you to the services menu.
  3. At the services menu, you can enter 1 for counselling services, 2 for legal advice or 3 for health advice.
  4. After choosing your service, you will see a confirmation page. Enter 1 to continue to lodge a request.
  5. You can then choose to either tell us a bit about yourself and what you need help with by dialling 1, or simply request a service by entering 2.
  6. You’ll get a call as soon as we are able, connecting you to a LGBTQI+ friendly service provider.

It’s that simple!

Accessing information & education:

  1. Dial *120*72524# into your phone.
  2. The platform will load, and after seeing the main menu, dial 2. This will take you to the information centre.
  3. From here, you can decide what you want to learn more about:
    1. South Africa’s rights, laws & how to use them (enter 2).
    2. What sexuality is, and the myths that exist about being lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer (enter 3).
    3. Sex and the physical bits and parts that make us (enter 4).
    4. Genders, where they come from, what they mean & using the correct pronouns! (Enter 5).

What is ShoutOUT?

ShoutOUT was made possible by a grant from Grand Challenges Canada in 2022. The platform has been designed and refined with feedback and input from the South African LGBTQI+ community to get to the heart of the issues the community cares about.

ShoutOUT is built on USSD phone technology, meaning it’s:

  • Low-cost, at 60 cents airtime per minute.
  • No smartphone, data or internet needed! Any cell phone can access ShoutOUT using only airtime and a mobile connection.
  • USSD & ShoutOUT are 100% confidential. No record of your interaction with the platform is stored anywhere on your phone.
  • Sessions are limited to 2 minutes at a time, redial afterwards to continue where you left off.

How does it work?

After you make a request, we will process your request and connect a LGBTQI+ friendly service provider to you. They, or us, will phone you for a follow-up and consultation. Our partners will try to help you over the phone as far as possible, and if they are unable to, will refer you to a nearby location for further engagement.

Your information remains completely confidential and won’t be shared with outside parties who are uninvolved in helping you further.

Already tried ShoutOUT?

Leave a review by emailing us at athenkosim@out.org.za, whatsapping +27697807975, or posting on our Facebook page.

Troubleshooting?

Something gone wrong using ShoutOUT? While cheap and accessible, USSD technology does not always run smoothly, and you might encounter a few hiccups. But don’t stress, these are easily overcome. Have a look below where we dive into some of the more frequent problems you may encounter.

Error Codes

What is it?

The 0008-error message happens sometimes when you dial the platform. This just means that a lot of LGBTQI+ people in South Africa are trying to access ShoutOUT, and our servers are struggling to process the requests.

Solution?

Try dialling the code again after waiting for 10 minutes.

What is it?

An 0007-error message can also occur when dialling ShoutOUT. This is an error with your cell phone and can prevent you from accessing ShoutOUT.

Solution?

Restarting your cell phone often fixes this error, allowing you normal access to ShoutOUT.

What is it?

An 00010-error message means that the servers hosting our service are currently down. This would be an issue on our side, and we’d be working quickly to resolve it.

Solution?

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do, except check back in a day to see if the servers are back online. 

What is it?

While cheap, ShoutOUT & USSD does cost some airtime (R0.01 for every second you are navigating the platform). If you use up all your airtime, when trying to enter a new command or dial the platform, you will be told you have run out of airtime.

Solution?

The only way to access ShoutOUT again is unfortunately to buy more airtime. Remember that ShoutOUT uses R0.60 of airtime per minute. However, with a maximum of two minutes on the platform per session, you’ll never be charged more than R1.20 for each time you dial.

 

What is it?

USSD technology limits sessions – every time you dial into the platform – to two minutes. You won’t get a message telling you when you reach two minutes. What will happen is that when you try to enter a command on the platform after two minutes, you will get a message saying ‘unknown application’. This same message can also occur when someone spends too much time on one screen.

Solution?

Simply click okay and redial the ShoutOUT number. A screen will tell you that your input is not recognised. By entering 98, you can return to the last screen you saw before getting the unknown application message. Or you can enter 00 to go back to the main menu, and explore other parts of the platform.

What is it?

This error message can sometimes occur when there is a sudden drop in connectivity, and will kick you off of the ShoutOUT platform.

Solution?

Tap on okay, or the red hangup button, to close the message. Then redial the platform, by entering 98 you will be returned to where you left off. You can also enter 00 to return to the main menu, and explore other parts of ShoutOUT.