Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with telephone

Movies with telephone or phone booth scenes

mugitusqueboom — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:02:19 -0800

Help me find movies with telephone or phone booth scenes! (even if said scene is only 10 seconds long). Bonus point if we can hear the conversation or if the character is doing something other than making a call (think Clark Kent in the phone booth…). I'm interested in every genre and every era, and the more diverse the better.
Thank you in advance, I'm looking forward to reading and watching all your suggestions!

Have you used a good temporary answering service?

gemmy — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:19:58 -0800

Asking for recommendations for an answering service, with a live person that can answer our office phones for a week. By a fluke of last-minute scheduling, my boss and I will both be out of the office during the same week. He will be overseas, and I'll be on vacation (yay!). While we could leave the answering machine on, we would prefer to have an answering service with a live person answering the ~10 calls/day that we get. Preferably one that could take messages and email them to us. I know I could easily forward calls to my cell, but I'd rather not.

I have found a few such services through some googling, but it's hard to say if they are any good. Looking for recommendations of services you have used, if possible. I found a similar question from 2007, but it didn't have much in the way of answers. Thanks!

I'm the idiot on the phone help line that can't help you

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:50:10 -0800

I'm being forced to answer phones at work. I have NO clue and NO ability how to do this and I have to start NOW. How do I make this situation less horrible? I switched jobs a few months ago. This is a public service job, which I haven't done except on a volunteer level well, ever. I don't mind working at the front counter, but I haaaaaaaaaaaate answering phones for anything. They told me I supposedly wouldn't have to be on phones much (yeah, right), but HAHAHAHAHAH no, looks like I will now have to be on phones for 6 hours a day, every or almost every day, the second they set up my phone account. The only reason I am not Happy Phone Lady right now is because they forgot that last one.

The worst way for me to comprehend anything is when it's told to me over the phone. I get horrible weird questions at the front desk that I can't answer either, but it's easier to find someone else to answer the question when I am not the only person in the vicinity stuck answering it. I do a lot better if I can see the conversation--i.e. talk to someone in person, or answer it over e-mail--and every time I have to call anyone for tech support help, the phone conversation goes terribly. I just don't get what the hell they are talking about ("you know, that little arrow at the bottom of the screen?" I don't SEE it, it's not there on my end....), and it's pretty useless. I usually end up kind of in tears after a phone conversation with tech support, or just plain hanging up on them, because I don't get what they are saying and they never seem to get what I am saying either. I hate those people. Now I am going to BE that asshole on the phone who can't help you and is obviously totally incompetent.

Adding to the fun, I have had very little training on phones. I'm talking about maybe 3 hours, total, done about a month ago and I don't ever know how to OPERATE a multi-line phone. And I know darned well that I don't know the answers to the hard technical questions, which I am told I will know after several years of doing this job. My supervisors know this about me and they absolutely do not care or think my lack of knowledge is a problem. "Just ask someone!" they say. "You'll do FINE!" No, I won't. I seriously don't know what other people are even talking about as they answer phones. And how can I just ask someone else what the answer is when literally everyone else is on the phone? No, I won't do FINE, plus this is the sort of job where an unhappy customer will start calling up the chain of command to complain about my dumb ass.

How do I make this situation less nightmarish? I seriously can't think of any way to make this better, what with the lack of knowledge, training, etc. And it's being sprung on me ASAP to boot.

(anonymized because it's a work question, of course)

Inbound-only telephone service?

davcoo — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:39:42 -0800

Our church needs a telephone service which lets us (1) receive calls (outbound calls would be made on personal cell phones), (2) record inbound messages, (3) use our existing number, and (4) have our number published in the white pages. Does such a service exist that would meet all or most of these requirements?

How to manage the logistics of a cellphone provider switch? Added Difficulty: Christmas Gift

Rock Steady — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:54:21 -0800

We are switching from AT&T cell phone to service to Verizon, and I'd like to perform the switch smoothly while also using one of the new phones as a Christmas gift. Your advice on the proper procedure would be welcome. We are going to be adding my family's three lines of service onto my parents' two lines of service (so we can split the data cost more efficiently) and porting our existing numbers in the process. As part of that switchover, we will be upgrading my daughter to an iPhone, and we'd like that phone to be one of the gifts she unwraps on Christmas morning.

How can we allow her to continue using her AT&T dumbphone right up until Christmas (or at least within a day or two of the holiday) and the switch over seamlessly to the new iPhone once it is unwrapped?

I'm willing to lose a few bucks on the transfer, so if it means temporarily porting her number to a "burner" cellphone that could work, if that is feasible when going to Verizon.

Any ideas?

What's the best land-line telephone that will only function as an apartment buzzer?

whittaker — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:19:00 -0800

What's a good tiny-form-factor POTS telephone I can purchase solely to buzz people into my apartment building? My building's buzzer system piggybacks onto the regular phone service for each apartment. When somebody in the lobby punches in my buzzer code the telephone plugged into the wall jack rings and then connects my via intercom to the lobby. If I want to let them in, I unlock the inner door by pressing 6.

My fiancée and I don't have any land-line service, Luckily, the buzzer will still work if you plug a telephone into the wall--it just doesn't allow you to dial out or receive regular calls.

Currently we have a very cheap phone plugged into the wall and it sits on the floor next to the TV stand (the socket is located in the living room). However, we're redecorating the apartment with an eye to eliminating all unsightly clutter and I'm wondering if there's a very small and/or sleek looking landline phone available for sale that would look nice and/or unobtrusive when mounted on the wall. Since it doesn't have to be designed to act as a land-line phone I'm thinking in a perfect world of a very tiny speaker phone with one button that could be programmed with the DTMF tones for the '6' key.

Failing that, anybody have any suggestions for a very small land-line phone that looks stylish when wall-mounted?

International Toll-Free Telephone

rabbitfufu — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:54:53 -0800

What is the best (least expensive) way to setup a toll-free international business line in Canada? I'm interested in having a 1-800 toll-free telephone line for my small business in Canada.

It's possible to get one through the local telephone company, however it is quite expensive. A quick search online pulls up a lot of companies that offer this service (eg www.callture.com) for very reasonable rates.

I'm wondering for those who have experience with this, what their recommendations are. Is it worthwhile to go with a 3rd party toll-free service, or are there problems with this? What is the best (least expensive) way to setup a toll-free international line in Canada?

Thanks (in advance) for your help.

Headsets save necks! (need a headset for cisco phone)

de void — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:28:40 -0800

I need a recommendation for a headset to buy to use with my Cisco IP Phone 7960 series, ideally over-the-ear (not over-the-head) and around $50 or less. I'm starting to spend a lot of time on the phone at work while needing two hands free to work a keyboard and mouse. Speakerphone isn't a good option as I have co-workers on the other side of a cube-wall who don't want to hear every conference call I'm on.

My employer is on acute expense lock-down mode, so I'll have to buy this myself.

My work phone is a Cisco IP phone 7960 series.

According to the Cisco web site:

The Cisco IP Phone 7940/7960 supports a four- or six-wire headset jack (Plantronics H series compatible is required).

but when I look at the headset jack on the back of the phone I only see 4 contacts in the jack.

Bonus - if there's a headset that meets the above criteria and would also allow me to hook up an iPod to listen to music when not on the phone, that would great.

Phone Equipment

shipbreaker — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:20:00 -0800

Where can I get cheap PBX phone-exchange switching equipment? If I want to set up my house like a small business, and have land-line phones that could call each other using a three-digit extension, what kind of PBX equipment can I get that would provice a dialtone and power to POTS phones? I have lots of copper wires and lots of phones, I just need the central core.

Dial the area code or no? Why should it still matter?

attercoppe — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:33:40 -0800

Why is it that the phone company can't figure out whether or not an area code is needed when dialing - even when I can't - and just dial the number accordingly? When I'm dialing a number from a land line (or trying to send a fax), I don't always know whether a number in my area code is "local", i.e. doesn't need the area code dialed, or whether it is far enough away to need the area code. If I dial the area code and it isn't needed, I get an error message; if I don't dial the area code and it is needed, I get an error message.

Given that so many people use cell phones, where generally all 10 digits of a number are always used, and given that telco equipment is pretty advanced/computerized (right?), why not just accept 10 digits and complete the call, even if it's a number that doesn't "need" the area code to be dialed?

prepaid SIM card for use in Germany, but shipped to USA?

intermod — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:29:46 -0800

I will be traveling in Germany for a week soon, and will need a cell phone while there. I won't be able to use my personal cell phone (incompatible with Europe) but I have an unlocked GSM phone that I've used in Europe before. Please help me find a SIM card (with German phone number) that I can order now and get delivered to the US before I leave for my trip. Key here is that I want the SIM card, and German telephone number, in hand here in the US BEFORE I leave the US, so I can A) give my temporary German phone number to everyone and B) hit the ground running once I get to Germany.

I've done this before, using the excellent Call In Europe service. However they don't sell German SIM cards any more, and actually are shutting down their US office :(

Doing some Googling, I've found Cellular Abroad (selling Ortel SIM cards) and Planet Omni (selling e-plus cards I think), but I'm hoping some of you all here have some direct experience with one of these or another provider. Also it's not clear to me that those sellers will ship to the US.

For reference, here's a old thread on Lonely Planet's forum about prepaid SIM cards in Germany.

I'm not very price sensitive, as I don't expect to be using the phone much; it'll just be for emergencies. But I do need the SIM card to be shipped to me in the US ...

Any tips?

How do I direct my customers' phone calls to the correct location?

Night_owl — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:11:43 -0800

My store has three locations. People often call the wrong location. Is there a low-cost way to transfer or forward a call to the correct location without forcing the customer to hang up and dial a new number? Factors:
-doesn't require us to change our phone number
-doesn't require a recurring charge (or requires a very low one)

Please leave your answer after the beep.

Obscure Reference — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:12:59 -0800

Help me understand my landline phone problems and possibly buy a new one. I currently have a 10 year old vtech phone which I got because it handled multiple lines and associated "mailboxes" to store messages. It consists of a main base controlling messages and such (with an associated wireless handset to make calls) and a secondary base to hold a second handset. Until recently, both these bases had been wired as extensions of each other, but then, I accidentally disconnected the wire to the secondary base and discovered it wasn't needed because the second handset could get its signal wirelessly from the original base, despite being on another floor of the house.

I use this phone as my main number and use the 2 handsets, in addition to being extensions of this number, as an intercom to signal between floors. Either one can ring the other with a unique ringtone to initiate an intercom call.

If everything continued to work just like this, I'd leave it alone, but at some point, messages started arriving that were impossible to understand (sound too distorted as if out of range, maybe). This doesn't happen all the time so I originally thought the caller was at fault but it has become too common. Also, the lines are sometimes static-y/noisy when receiving actual calls.

So, here's my question: Are these problems because of the age of my equipment, and thus could I solve them by buying a new and different phone system? Is, say, the ROM that holds messages no longer "fresh?" (How does such a thing age? It's digital, so it's not like old recording tape . . .)

Or, is there, perhaps another problem? Such as competition for the wireless frequencies being used (e.g. wireless internet access points in the vicinity or even some other kind of interference.) or even just too much electronic equipment of various kinds which, for all I know, exudes electrical interfering signals just by existing. Or even some problem because DSL is sharing the line?

If the first, what brand phone should I get that will have the same functions (i.e. intercom function and no need for extension wiring though I no longer need the multiple lines)?

If the second, what can I do to troubleshoot it or to just get rid of the noise/static/indecipherable voice mail?

Escaping Ma Bell’s Vile Offspring

audi alteram partem — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:03:54 -0800

Please share your experience purchasing local landline service from a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. I’d like to keep my landline. I don’t want to continue paying AT&T a base rate of $17.85 for their supposedly “bare bones” measured rate service which with taxes and fees comes to $30.11 per month.

According to the Texas PUC, there are a number of Competitive Local Exchange Carriers operating in my state. Before spending time calling them for rates, I’m curious whether I’m likely to find truly competitive prices that would undercut AT&T.

If you have experience purchasing from a CLEC, please describe their rates and service compared to the major telcos. If you have experience with a CLEC in the Austin, Texas area, that’d be great, but I’d be interested in hearing any experiences in the US.

Thanks.

Calling from an iPhone on wireless in china

Rinku — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:51:02 -0800

How can I call an american telephone number (landline or cell) from an iPhone that 1. Has only wireless, and 2. Is behind the Chinese firewall? I'm teaching english in China, and my office would be the perfect place to call home - I'm there at the right time - except I don't have my computer to use a VPN, and the internet is filtered. I have my iPhone 4, with the wireless on but the cell service / 3G off. I've tried the Skype app - I have money but the calls get killed - and the google voice app, which wants me to use my computer to create a voice account, and I've tried, but getting a new telephone number didn't seem like what I needed. The google "call" function, in the sidebar of the gmail window, is what I use on my computer, and it does work behind the firewall, but the iPhone app seems to be using some kind of different system.

Are there any other apps that would work in such a situation? I'm willing to pay a little bit per minute in order to call. Ideally I'd be able to call real phones, not just someone using the same app.

Hey CLEC, who called me?

xetere — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:00:59 -0800

Did telephone companies routinely keep records of *incoming* calls in the pre cellphone days? Asking for my wife who is writing a story and an issue is whether or not in 1990 (when story takes place) a phone company in the US (specifically New York, so figure Nynex in those days) would routinely keep records of a subscriber's incoming calls, like from say, a pay phone, if there was no court order or no call tracing involved.

In pre-cell days when you routinely got charged for making calls but not recieving them, your bill wouldn't show calls you got. But what if you had to prove so-and-so called you, and say so-and-so called from a pay phone. I know they had caller ID in those days, but would that info be available, say if a lawyer asked for it? Or since they didn't need it for billing, did they bother to record it?

Tried Google &c, but I haven't come up with anything specifically relating to my question. Answers range from tracing calls, to caller ID, etc. but not if Nynex could tell me who called me at 6:27PM on June 24th, 1989 if a lawyer sued them to get that info.

Anyone who perhaps worked for a phone company in those days?

Long Distance Rates For the Late Seventies and Early Eighties?

jason's_planet — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:58:41 -0800

How much did long distance telephone calls cost in the late 1970s and early 1980s? I'm mainly interested in hearing about rates for the USA but data from other countries would be welcome as well. I grew up in the seventies and eighties and I have this vague memory of long-distance telephone calls -- even to a number in a neighboring state less than ten miles away -- being ridiculously expensive and a VERY BIG DEAL.

I don't remember the exact details, both because it was so damned long ago and because I wasn't very money-conscious at the time.

So how much did long distance telephone calls actually cost back then?

Many thanks in advance.

It's so nice to meet...where was I again?

brackish.line — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:46:22 -0800

How can I learn to stay focused while talking (and listening) on the phone, particularly in professional contexts? I've searched many threads on AskMe, and have found some useful hints, but I haven't found an answer yet. So Hivemind: How do you stay focused and organized during telephone conversations?

Tips and tricks would be welcome! I'm especially interested in tips for participating in conference calls and interviews where I'd be speaking with multiple people at once.

Snowflake:
I suspect that my attention span is on the shorter end of the spectrum. This tendency towards mind-wandering and frequent task/topic-switching kicks into high gear whenever I'm on the phone. I guess this is because I can't seen the person, so all I have to anchor to is a voice. I frequently forget what I was going to say in person, but do so far more often while talking on the phone.

I don't mind if I switch topics every sentence or so while chatting with friends (although they sometimes mind), but it has become a problem in professional contexts like phone interviews. Confused facial expressions act as a cue when I've wandered off-topic in face-to-face conversations. Obviously this hint is lacking during a phone call.

I realize that to an extent, many people are less polished on the phone than they are in other contexts. Yet I've been told more than once (e.g. during practice phone interviews) that I come across as disorganized and spacey on the phone. I focus so hard on staying on track that I forget to mention important details (like half of my qualifications for the position).

All usual disclaimers apply: YANAD, YANAPdoc, etc. And because it will likely be asked about: I haven't been formally diagnosed with AD(H)D although my primary care physician suggested getting assessed.

Harshad telephone numbers?

taltalim — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:32:58 -0800

What do harshad numbers have to do with telephone numbers? Just got a very obvious spammy-looking text message. When I google the phone number, there were a lot of results for harshad telephone numbers. More research showed that harshad numbers are numbers that are divisible by each of their digits. But what does that have to do with very spammy looking telephone numbers?

Write the number dow-uhn

activitystory — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:08:09 -0800

Why the two-syllable pronunciation of "nine" for the telephone? Does anyone have an explanation of why, in the Nichols and May comedy bit "Telephone", Elaine May (in her role as a telephone operator) pronounces "nine" as "ni-uhn"? Walter Mathau also uses this pronunciation on the telephone in Plaza Suite to incredible comic effect.

May uses this two-syllable approach for "down" and "dime" in the bit as well.

Also, for bonus points, where else is there recorded evidence of this pronunciation?

How do we make our PBX grow with our company?

MrBobaFett — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:41:09 -0800

Where should I look and what should I look at for replacing our old Norstar/Meridian PBX? Should we replace the hardware or switch to a hosted solution? Our current phone setup is running off a T1 that we will likely be dumping in a year. The T1 was serving as both our phone and internet but was not cutting it anymore for our data needs but we have a contract so we are stuck with it for a while.

Recently we got a Comcast Business cable modem installed. So we moved our data network over to that while leaving the voice on the T1 since we are paying for it anyway.

Current setup is a Norstar/Meridian PBX with Norstar phones on the desks. Currently we have 19 extensions, 5 incoming lines for voice and one for fax.

Our small company is growing and splitting into two divisions. My boss would like to have two different number for the two divisions, but they would ring in at the same front desk. So the receptionist would need to be able to see which number is ringing in, also if it could hunt to the proper extensions if the auto attendant is on. We would need voice mailboxes and also we have a large warehouse that we need to be able to use the intercom system for paging people in the warehouse.

Should we just be getting phone service thru Comcast? Or can I leave it as a data plan and use some other form of VoIP? Telephony is not an area I have much experience in, but it has fallen to me to investigate this.

Also I would love to just call in a good, reliable company that deals with many different voice communication solutions and can come in and consult with us, I just don't know who that might be. We are just north of Chicago. (The guy who helped us with our original phone system is no longer available.)

What kind of microphone do I need for recording audio for an automated telephone system?

banished — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:32:27 -0800

I would like to use Audacity to record voice audio files for an automated telephone system. What kind of microphone setup (USB or standard headphone / mic jacks) that will work with my laptop do I need? I would like the equipment to be as inexpensive as possible, but it needs to sound decently good. Will only be used for recording voice. Is a standard headset good enough, or do I need a professional mic? Would it be less expensive than buying the microphone to just hire voice talent online?

Collection of crisis call role play scenarios

KLF — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:55:38 -0800

Please help me come up with role play scenarios to assist me in practicing my telephone counselling skills. In a few weeks I will be assessed in my telephone counselling course, so I am doing a lot of practice phone calls with my peers.

It's gotten to the point where I struggle to come up with scenarios and wind up doing the same calls every time - e.g. Relationship breakup, gambling addiction.

I thought mefites could give me short paragraphs describing how the person is presenting, a bit of their back stories, and maybe occasionally some key phrases that might be challenging to work with, e.g. "you suck! You're not helping at all!"

We are being assessed on 3 types of calls - suicide intervention, crisis, and mental health.

Thanks my imaginative friends!

Can I plug my analog phone into the Internet? Please??

shipbreaker — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:47:02 -0800

I've got high-speed Internets. Also, old-fashioned Fax machines and analog phones. Is there a Voice-over-IP box which _provides a DIALTONE_ and touch-tone-dialing functionality to analog phone devices? I do understand that the technologies are very very different, but maybe some crafty lad out there has built a box which lets you plug your good old-fashioned Plain-Old-Telephone-System RJ11 phone wires into a box, which then provides dial tone and touch-tone dialing functionality, to then place calls over IP. Has anyone here heard of such an invention? (without buying a complete 5ESS switch system).

Help Me Save Money

crazylegs — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:24:30 -0800

Seeking suggestions for inexpensive telephone and internet service in Ontario. Service Details:

Current telephone service: Bell - $64.25/month, includes unlimited long distance throughout North America.

Current internet service - Cogeco - $53.05/month, Express 8, 40 GB limit per month.

Personal details:

We don't use long distance that much, so I'm sure that an option that charged a lot less for a monthly charge plus a per-minute charge for long distance would be more appropriate for us.

We almost never use more than 10 GB per month on internet. We'd like to keep wireless high speed service.

I see a lot of different services advertised online, but am not sure which are legit and which might be kind of wonky. Any Canadians and especially people in Ontario who can direct me to inexpensive and reliable phone and internet, I thank you! A bundled option where I get both at once is fine too.