Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Do-It-Yourself Payphones or Netphones?

Posted by Cliff on from the ever-changing-face-of-telecommunications dept.

Controlio asks: "With the explosion of cell phones, pay phones are disappearing quickly. I work in a large sports venue that seats over 60,000 - but has only 5 pay phones. The problem is the rent on those 5 phones is ridiculous - we net a loss of over $150 per phone per month. Its a great convenience for the public, but it'd be cheaper for us to have people stand in the middle of the stadium with cell phones saying "here, make a call for free." We have a great deal of both telephone and internet capabilities - we're a brand new facility and have far more than adequate data and voice pipes to our building. The question, is how can one roll their own payphone service? Has anyone done this? Where can you purchase equipment? What are the technical ramifications if we want to stay basic or get complicated with things like TTY or internet phones? Does VoIP or POTS make more sense? Any advice on where to get started?"

2 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Federal & State Regulations by Detritus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would check with your state's public utility commission before making any decisions. Going into the telephone business may require more than just hooking up some hardware.

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  2. replace pay phones with people with cell phones? by donutz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The problem is the rent on those 5 phones is ridiculous - we net a loss of over $150 per phone per month. Its a great convenience for the public, but it'd be cheaper for us to have people stand in the middle of the stadium with cell phones saying "here, make a call for free."

    I think you're joking here, but I don't really think this idea would be any cheaper. Lets say you still want to stick with 5 phones, so you've got 5 people holding those phones, waiting for takers. I'm assuming you will have a hard time finding volunteers to do this, or even people to volunteer use of their cell phones, so you're going to have to pay wages and monthly cell phone fees. Lets say minimum wage is $6.00/hr, and cell phones cost you $35.00/mo. You'll want to have these free cell phones available for most or all events at your stadium, so let's figure you have about ten 5 hour events per month.

    Wages will cost you:
    10 events/month * 5 hrs * $6/hr * 5 people = $1500 per month

    Cell phones will cost you:
    5 phones * $35/month = $175 per month.

    $1500 + 175 = $1675 per month, compared to $750 that you lose per month with 5 pay phones.

    Doesn't sound worth it to me.