telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (04/06/89)
You don't have to be a hotel guest to get a wake-up call anymore.
People in California can now dial a service called '976-WAKE' and arrange
a telephonic alarm clock/reminder service for the next day.
>From one of several area codes in California, the caller dials 976-WAKE,
then follows the instructions given, entering his own telephone number
on the touchtone pad, and the time for the wakeup call, etc. The system
is programmed so that only California area codes can be called; and no
calls can ordered for numbers such as xxx-555-xxxx, etc.
The charge is $2 for each wakeup/reminder call. You do not have to be in
California to hear how it works; just dial 213-976-WAKE. From outside of
California all you will pay is around 25 cents if you call at night, but
don't expect to be able to get a wakeup call, because it won't work without
a California area code entered.
Is this God's way of telling people they have too much money?
Patrick Townsonlim@csvax.caltech.edu (Kian-Tat Lim) (04/10/89)
Ummm... From the description given of the wake-up service ("entering his own
telephone number"), it appears that it would be quite easy to annoy my enemies
(for $2/day), without my having to be awake to place the crank call. As this
service is presumably provided by a company separate from PacBell, the call
would also be a little more difficult to trace.
This kind of service would be much more secure if Calling Party ID were
implemented for it, and such usage of CPID should not be objectionable to
civil libertarians.
--
Kian-Tat Lim (ktl@wagvax.caltech.edu, KTL @ CITCHEM.BITNET, GEnie: K.LIM1)john@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) (04/11/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0126m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > The charge is $2 for each wakeup/reminder call. You do not have to be in > California to hear how it works; just dial 213-976-WAKE. From outside of > California all you will pay is around 25 cents if you call at night, but The California 976 providers hate it when you do that :-) Pacific Bell may be the only BOC to not block 976 calls from outside the state. As a result, providers' call counters click away, but the Pac*Bell remittance is a pittance. Some of the party line people have literally been driven out of business because their machines have been busied out by out of state (and non-remitting) calls. -- John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.uucp | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: You mean like 415-976-4297, which bills itself as the San Fransisco Hot Conference, where in just a few seconds you will be connected for up to two and a half minutes of lively adult conversation? Men from all over the world call that thing for the cost of the tolls. To heck with any surcharge! That only applies to Californians, and *they* call the one in New York City to avoid the same surcharges! PT]
dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Horsfall) (04/19/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0126m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: | | You don't have to be a hotel guest to get a wake-up call anymore. | People in California can now dial a service called '976-WAKE' and arrange | a telephonic alarm clock/reminder service for the next day. I don't know about the rest of the world, but Australia has had this service for years. However, it is a manual service (you speak to a Real Person), and I presume the cited service is automatic. This has its advantages, since you are called back within a minute or so, to confirm it (you have to say what number the call is to go to), and this obviously reduces the potential for abuse. Of course, this is easily circumvented by methods I need not go into. Does the California system perform any such checks? Or does it immediately know the number you are calling from? Suppose you really want the call to go elsewhere? Is this comp.risks material? -- Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU), Alcatel STC Australia, dave@stcns3.stc.oz dave%stcns3.stc.oz.AU@uunet.UU.NET, ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave