Phone Savvy for the Information Age
By Stephanie Dray
In the beginning, there
was the telephone. It was a simple box
on the wall that rang.
And it was good.
Then came the
telemarketer, and it was bad. So we
said, “Let there be answering machines.”
And it was good
again.
Next came call waiting,
cordless phones, fax machines, beepers, call forwarding, calling cards, and
mobile phones.
And it seemed good, but
then we realized that we can’t get any privacy and our bosses feel free to call
us at home at any hour. Moreover, the
entire industry of telephony has us so confused about new gadgets and services
that we can’t even remember the name of the Phone Company anymore. It is the dawning of the Information Age.
And it’s bad. It’s very bad!
So how can we keep on
top of everything that’s available in our telephone-driven world? The best way is to determine your needs and
match them to what’s available.
Hopefully we can help you with the latter!
The kids in your household
or neighborhood might be a large factor in determining your telephony
needs. After all, when you’re a kid,
it’s great fun to call up those “Dial-A-Psychic” numbers a hundred times in a
row. Or, even better, calling up your
most hated teacher and hanging up on her a hundred times is a real thrill. Although even that might pale in comparison
to calling up the boy you like, giggling, and hanging up. A hundred times.
Luckily, there are a
host of new and improved services to fight the lesser instincts of our
youngsters. If you want to make sure
that there are no more surprises on your phone bill such as those
“Dial-A-Psychic charges, there’s a new service called “Call Gate” that might
help. “Call Gate” allows you to block,
at your discretion, all calls (except emergency calls), specific local and long
distance numbers, entire area codes, international calls, operator-assisted
calls, directory-assistance calls, or a customized list of numbers that you’d
like to prevent from being dialed from your home.
What about those repeat
calls with giggling girls on the other end, you ask? Well, did you know that when you get these
sorts of childish calls you can just dial *69 and get information about the
time and origin of the call, or even be connected to the caller’s number
immediately? *69 only costs about a buck
per use, but it’s sure worth it to hear the gasp of surprise on the other end
when your prank caller realizes you’ve tracked them down.
But sometimes the
harassing phone calls we receive aren’t just childish pranks. There's bad news for stalkers and pests of
all varieties now that “Call Blocking” is available for a monthly charge. “Call Blocking” lets you pick up to six
numbers in your calling area that you will not receive phone calls from. The convenient set up is automated and you
can change the telephone numbers that you want to block at will.
If a caller is really
making a nuisance of him or herself, a service called "Call Trace" is
a good way to put a stop to it. It used
to take a lot of specialized intervention to trace a phone call, but now for
only about a dollar, you can enable a trace by dialing *57 immediately after
receiving an unwanted phone call. “Call
Trace” will record your number and the number of the unwanted caller then
forward it to Verizon’s unlawful call center.
Some of the phone calls we get aren’t so much harassment as just plain bothersome. Are you tired of having to drop a fork in the middle of dinner to answer a phone call, just to find out that it’s a salesperson? Answering machines are a common solution to this problem, and can be picked up on the cheap somewhere like Best Buy. The Phone Company also offers a voice mail service for a modest monthly fee. But “Caller ID” is one of the most popular options exercised by today’s telephone consumer to combat the trend of dwindling home privacy. When paired with a caller-id equipped telephone, this service displays the names and numbers of the people calling you so that you can decide whether or not you really want to answer it, return it at a more convenient time, or ignore it. It’s also useful for storing names and numbers and dates and times of your calls so that even if callers hang up or don’t leave a message, you can get back to them if and when you want to. At about eight dollars a month, Caller ID can be a real benefit to a harried household, and allow you to eat your dinner in peace.
But maybe you’re not suffering from an overload. Maybe you’re one of those information-addicted types who can’t stand to be out of touch with the office. And maybe it drives you crazy every time you pick up the phone and you hear that shrill static that means someone else is online. Getting an additional phone line is often the solution. While one person surfs the net, another can chat. If you have a home office, it’s great to put your fax machine and computer on one line so that you can receive incoming calls on another. A second line functions exactly as your primary telephone line does. The various services available for one are also available for the other. You can even have them billed separately if you want. A second line can be obtained for less than twenty dollars a month and special discounts can be had if you’re only going to use your second line for electronic transmissions. That can be quite an economical choice for the home business. The price of a second phone line does vary upon the time it takes to install, but for most homes it’s fairly easy. You can have a trained technician install your additional line or do it yourself using Verizon’s easy Connect-a-Kit.
A second phone line isn’t always enough though, especially if you’re the kind of household that gets phone calls all day long. The old standby, “Call Waiting” will help. If “Call Waiting” is enabled, a special beep alerts you that someone else is calling you while you’re on the phone. By pressing the switchook on your phone, you can answer the second caller, and switch between each caller as often as you like. You can disable it temporarily by pressing *70 before a phone call and it gets reset when you hang up. If you’re a computer user, *70 is very convenient for keeping you from getting kicked off-line when you get another call.
And if you can’t afford a second line, but are tired of answering phone calls for your roommate or for your teenager, you can enable the “Distinctive Ring” service. This lets you give out two different phone numbers for the same phone line and each number will cause the phone to ring differently.
If you’re always on the move, and don’t want to miss important calls, “Call Forwarding” will make calls to your home phone number follow you wherever you go. You can also forward phone calls from your home to your cell phone. Mobile phones are great for calling up your family on your way home to see if they need milk, or to call emergency services when you break down. But be careful about driving while talking on the phone; it can be dangerous. If you have to talk while driving, pick up one of those headphone gadgets that allow you to keep both hands on the wheel.
Remember too, you don’t have to purchase your wireless phone from the same company that you get your local telephone service from. The mobile phone market is quite competitive, so you might get a great deal if you look around. Radio Shack and BJ’s Wholesale Club are good places to look. Keep your eye on the paper for advertisements too.
Even if you can’t afford a mobile phone, the days of standing at a pay phone looking for spare change under the seat of your car so that you can call home are, thankfully, gone. Calling cards make sure that you can call anyone anywhere and have it billed to you later. You can get calling cards from the Phone Company or various outside providers. Keep your eye open for advertisements and flyers so you don’t miss a great deal.
There are lots of fancy telephone features these days, and the foregoing has only been a sampling! Customers can order custom phone numbers, speed dialing, rapid redial and even three way calling. And even though the process of choosing a long-distance provider is fraught with confusion and unease, switching long distance providers is now as easy as calling up one of the long distance providers and telling them that you want to switch. They make it so.
Ultimately, there are more choices for consumers now than ever before. There are also more companies competing for your business than ever before. So, if you can define your needs and match them up with the available services, you can fix everything with just . . . a phone call!