Technology Part 1
Phones...
The GOOD,
The BAD
and The UGLY...

Once again, I’m late with the blog this month, but I just had to do the Leap Year thing...
Why not?
Sooo, HAPPY LEAP YEAR DAY!

What is leap year anyway?

Life is not just a journey... make it an adventure!


Much love to you all...
Peace N' Blessings,
Gail


The GOOD...

In Case of Emergency/ICE...

In Case of Emergency, or ICE, is a program that enables first responders, such as paramedics, firefighters, and police officers, to identify victims and contact their next of kin to obtain important medical information. The program was conceived in the mid-2000s and promoted by British paramedic Bob Brotchie in May 2005.[1] It encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their cell phone address book under the name "ICE". Alternately, a person can list multiple emergency contacts as "ICE1", "ICE2", etc. The popularity of the program has spread across Europe, and has started to grow into North America.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_case_of_emergency
http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp

Free 411

Google threw a new product called Goog-411 into Google Labs today - a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls. About 2.6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.

Goog-411 can be accessed by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411. The product is completely automated and there is no way to talk to a human for additional or clarifying information. You tell it your city and state, and then ask for a specific business or business category. In my tests the product was excellent. Although the voice recognition was only working at about 70% efficiency, I just said “back” and retried when it didn’t understand what I said. Results are spoken back or text messaged back to you, and you are automatically put through to the phone number requested.

GOOG-411 is using Google’s normal local business information available on Google Maps and elsewhere. Businesses that want to add or correct data can do so here.

The product competes head on with Jingle Networks, which has taken 6% market share in the U.S. 411 business over the last year. AT&T is also experimenting with free 411 calls. None of these products come anywhere close to as good as TellMe’s rich client business information tool for mobile phones, but few phones support TellMe at this time (TellMe was recently acquired by Microsoft).

The paid 411 market is so dead. I’m betting these free alternatives take at least 50% market share within a couple of years.

The BAD....

The Secret to Breaking Through On-Hold Hell...
by Tom Barlow Feb 25th 2008


When was the last time you called a company and talked to a real live person before first wandering through a labyrinth of voice-mail hell? All the while, being told that your call is important, then being pitched 15 minutes of ad copy while waiting for someone to pick up?

The web site www.gethuman.com was designed to help you with this problem. It lists hundreds of companies and the code to punch in that will take you to a real, live human being. For example, when calling Blue Cross and Blue Shield, saying the word "associate" at the prompt bypasses the computer menu. At Kitchenaid, 3420 does the job, as does #### for MetLife.

The site also has suggestions to try for bypassing phone tree hell when you don't know the code. Tricks to try:

1. Interrupt by pressing 0 repeatedly
2. Talk: Say "get human" or mumble
3. Pretend you have a rotary phone by not responding to the prompt to
press a key
4. Select "Spanish" even if you don't speak it -- the queue is often
shorter and the customer service rep will be bilingual.
5. Once connected, ask how you can access people directly next time,
then add it to the gethuman database.

and The UGLY...

CELL PHONE ETIQUETTE
By Tony Gaston


Man, we are all so guilty of these rule violations; I know I am;
So, I have the following proposal.....
What do you think? Care to add on?

Cellular phones are definitely 21st century. Unfortunately, our
technologies have outpaced our etiquette.
The cellular telephone requires a new set of telephone rules.

If you do not know it yet, it is rude to:

-Talk on the telephone in public place in a manner that all who are around you must listen to the mundane and dreary details of your life.

–You and a friend undertake a journey together. It need not be a long
journey, but it is rude to have your passenger (who is alive and
present) ignored as you either make or take a phone call while they
sit there and twiddle their thumbs. How do you think it makes a person
feel when it is apparent you would rather talk to a person who is not
present. It always make me think: "Am I that boring?"

–Cell phone to cell phone. A call is received; the person says: "Hold
on a minute." Then you hear in the distance breakfast or lunch being
ordered while you hold on. Or, you hear an uncompleted conversation
with another person. Or, after this person has disturbed me with a
cell call while I am driving or otherwise involved, places me on hold
to answer the first, and any call waiting call placed to the caller.
How rude and boring.

–For some reason cell phones seem different than hard line phones or
else why, in "the old days" when you visited a person in their home,
they would not think to pass the time talking on the phone to some
other person. But, with a cell phone, a lot of people think nothing of
answering a cell call and talking for extended periods, or relaying
parts of the conversation as though the unknown cell caller were
present in the room.

–There you are at the grocery or department store check out line and
the person at the register is on the phone trying to talk, and pay the
bill at the same time. This always results in a longer wait in the
line. Hang up before you get to the counter. Of course, a better ideal
is not to make the other people in line listen to the dreary details
of your life or love life while they wait, captive in line.

–By the way, why is it that People think it is "sooo cool" to walk
around with that wireless earplug/phone terminal in their ear? It
looks like you are an escapee from the Borg Collective, or waiting for
Scotty to beam you back up to the Starship Enterprise. At the very
least, it makes you look like you only have one foot in the "here and
now."

I am sure as we advance, that new etiquette outrages will present
themselves, but this is a good start. STAY CONNECTED TO THE
COLLECTIVE (If you really want too.)