What is the proper name of these telephone voice-based BBS-like systems and does anyone else remember them?

October 15, 2007 8:11 PM

While growing up in Houston in the mid-late 90s, I somehow became aware of several local phone-based voice computer entertainment systems (for lack of a better term). They offered games (in which you punched numbers on the phone keypad to play) like Telefun Trivia, Operation Desert Wolf and something called Pika Farmer, voice dating services (in which you listened to or recorded personal voice ads), random informational services (a life expectancy calculator), horoscopes, news and weather, etc. - all via a menu system at one phone number. What were/are these services called and what other information is available about them? Does anyone else actually remember them?

I've long thought of these services as the lesser-known cousins of the BBS. But at some point in the late 90s they seemed fairly popular and prevalent, at least in Houston. But like the BBS, their popularity seems to have faded into obscurity. Some Google research turns up absolutely nothing, although part of the problem is I'm not sure what to search for. A stripped-down free version of one of these lines exists at 713-CONCERT (266-2378).

Programs are launched by entering access codes (e.g., GAME for trivia). In their heyday, the lines actually had premium services for which you'd buy access credits via credit card. I remember one of these premium games called "Operation Desert Wolf" which was a sort of war simulator, in which you propelled out of a helicopter, went behind enemy lines, and carried out a military mission - all by entering commands on your phone keypad. There were numerous recorded sound effects and a Sgt. Slaughter-like guy who voiced you through the story and presented your command options. I remember it being quite fun at the time.

More info: I remember the name of company behind at least one of these services as Celebration or Celebration Entertainment. I have the feeling they were a national company with similar services in other cities.

In summation, any info on these services would be appreciated. They seem an ignored and largely forgotten little piece of 90s tech culture. The games, in particular, seem of at least some historical interest.

posted by dustinAFN to Technology (20 answers total)

The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA) provided a very similar service, around the same time, called "Hear Here." I don't remember many games, but it *did* offer weather, news, lotto numbers, classified ads, and things along those lines. I vaguely recall there being some sort of trivia game.

Also, entering "9999" would play a cheesy recording of a guy saying "Good evening, ladies!" followed by those ladies' screams. The 9999 code was not listed on the list of extensions given in the newspaper -- I don't think they knew about it.
posted by cac at 8:23 PM on October 15, 2007

I remember having a lot of fun calling 1-800-I-Feel-OK as a teenager. You could leave messages that they might use in ads, but there were also a lot of weird things to listen to if you navigated the phone menus. That's the closest I've come to anything like what you're describing.
posted by vytae at 8:28 PM on October 15, 2007

School weather cancellations, too. Extension 6000. THAT'S why I was so concerned with Hear Here!
posted by cac at 8:28 PM on October 15, 2007

Many newspapers sponsored a local service like this (I guess there was probably one or more businesses that sold this to them)
posted by winston at 8:54 PM on October 15, 2007

Best answer: Yes! I was just telling my girlfriend about this the other day and she didn't believe me. I grew up in Houston and was probably calling these lines around 1992-1995. I think you're right on the Celebration part, too.

There were also recorded information lines, horoscopes, stories, health topics, and other stuff you could reach from the numbers printed in the front section of the phone book.

I guess I was a lonely, insomniac kid in middle school. I'm sorry the only part of your question I can answer is "Does anyone else actually remember them?"
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:55 PM on October 15, 2007

The 9999 thing is a common telephony joke. My old office's VoIP one said, "The person you are trying to reach has been abducted by monkeys!" ... followed by the sound of monkeys screeching.
posted by SpecialK at 8:55 PM on October 15, 2007

Response by poster: cac, this sounds fairly similar to some of the lines I used to call. The Houston Chronicle also had one at 713-HOUSTON (I believe it's still there in some form). It was a little more sanitized, where as the aforementioned CONCERT line was a bit more seedy. Related to the unlisted 9999 code, I remember punching in dirty words on that line (I was a teenager, after all) and getting a recording of a woman's orgasmic screams after entering access code F-U-C-K. Afterwards, a guy would shout out "I just cannot believe what you just did!"

fiercecupcake, we had much in common. :) I'm amazed to find a Houstonian who actually knows what I'm talking about in the span of half an hour.
posted by dustinAFN at 8:59 PM on October 15, 2007

Cac, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette had their own phone service called PG Link. The local phone directory (The Donnelley Directory) also had a phone service like this. Both are defunct, I remember calling PG Link shortly after it closed and felt kinda sad. Yeah, I had AOL, but it didn't talk. Other than that damn You've Got Mail guy.

TellMe at 1-800-555-TELL is still doing this. Yes, it's a real number. Say "Blackjack" and play Blackjack with a Sean Connery impersonator. TellMe used to allow Extensions, which was a pre-podcast way to access audio content but also allowed for creation of Voice programs. It was shut down in 2003. I remember calling in every night to hear Distorted View.
posted by ALongDecember at 9:02 PM on October 15, 2007

The Washington Post used to have phone lines where you could listen to music that was reviewed, plays that were reviewed, information about upcoming events, and I think sometimes audio clips that were relevant to articles. They also did time and weather, and had an option to listen to newspaper articles for blind and illiterate people.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 9:05 PM on October 15, 2007

Our phone pastime here in Los Angeles was calling "Sniffles the dog type person". We would talk to a guy who's main thing was extracting water from moon rocks. A little different from what you are asking about but entertaining just the same.
posted by snowjoe at 9:36 PM on October 15, 2007

I remember this, or a service like this--vaguely. It was either in Anchorage, Alaska or Victoria, BC Canada, in the 90s. I'm thinking Anchorage.

I didn't use the services/entertainment.
posted by Savannah at 9:50 PM on October 15, 2007

I've heard of several underground telephone message systems sort of like this (one of which may be the Baltimore Underground Telephone Network), in which you call, hear a message, and are able to record an outgoing message, which becomes part of an ongoing 'conversation.'

I've never participated in anything like either of these, though as a kid I used to call the dial-a-story line run by the Moshiach Times, a hilariously weird Lubavitcher children's magazine. Lots of stories about Chelm, and the line never worked on shabbat.
posted by soviet sleepover at 10:29 PM on October 15, 2007

There used to be one in Washington, DC; I think it was affiliated with a local radio station, and the number was something along the lines of 321-CITY. They had hip-hop news and song samples and all kinds of things. We used to call it all the time when we were bored as kids.
posted by streetdreams at 11:03 PM on October 15, 2007

Best answer: I lived in Houston from 1991-93, and again from 1995-96. I had forgotten all about it, but I used to call and play trivia on the telephone. The one I liked the most played song clips and you had to choose the correct singer. But there were a lot of other categories too. I can't remember how I found out about it, but I called fairly often when I was bored.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:10 PM on October 15, 2007

Best answer: These kinds of services were called audiotex.
posted by grouse at 1:28 AM on October 16, 2007

Call the PLA bridge some time and you'll find a bunch of people who remember and/or collect these sorts of numbers.

I haven't been on PLA's line in eons, but there used to be a guy there called Decoder who apparently had a lot of time, and unlimited long-distance, on his hands. That guy knew his shit, seriously.
posted by Myself at 5:31 AM on October 16, 2007

Wow, this discussion reminded me of Zygot, a telephone bulletin board service in Berkeley I used to call about 25 years back. After a quick googling, I've discovered that it is still up, and at the same number [phone].
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 5:52 AM on October 16, 2007

they had one in sacramento that I'm pretty sure was associated with the Bee (the local newspaper). I believe I occasionally called to play the 'trivia' game they had, but it didn't really hook me like BBSes a few years later (also, I think I was nervous about calling phone services because my sister and I had previously gotten in trouble by calling the Joke-A-Day hotline to the tune of $50 or something).
posted by fishfucker at 9:01 AM on October 16, 2007

They had them in So Fla as well (Hollywood/Ft Lauderdale).
The ones I used to call were used mostly by the Phreaking "culture" - we were able to conference call, and leave messages (usually PBX numbers and such).

They were also (as far as it could be with a 90% male userbase) the forbearer to the dating lines that now cost $3.99 a min that you see advertised on late nights...
posted by niteHawk at 1:31 PM on October 16, 2007

I was excited today when I remembered my university library has a shelf of out-of-date phone directories! I can look in the front of them and explore all the telephone-automated-information-services I want! Sadly, they just did a major reorganization and they seemed to have all been tossed.. I guess a NYNEX Phone Book from 1994 just doesn't have much use today. Sorry.
posted by ALongDecember at 12:34 PM on October 18, 2007