Too Much Information (among other things)

Too Much Information (among other things) was Originally Posted on July 19, 2010 by lavarock

So when is too much, well, too much?

I admit I am a geek, a nerd, a techie. I also am heavy into communication. When I worked for HP, I had to be able to communicate with people. Well, I make few exceptions.

Over the years I have begun collecting telephone numbers. Most of them have their own purpose, however it is difficult for me to explain and people to understand, so hang on! By the way, you will NOT be quizzed, so no need to try to remember or keep notes.

I have a toll free number for the business, a cell phone, a local phone at the house and a new local phone at the house (more on that later).

I have a Packet8 number, which has an inbound number in Florida so Mom can call me at no cost. I also get outbound long distance on that, but my callers see a Florida caller-ID.

I have an inbound number in Maryland, Georgia and Virginia Beach. The first two are for friends and the last for my Sister to call in.

I have two California numbers which help with call screening.

Although not one of mine, I manage another number for a friend.

I may have forgotten one, but by my count at this moment, I have 12 numbers. I am really in the process of consolidating them. No, really!

As an aside, a PBX is a telephone system commonly used in offices, hotels and so on. It is the future of telephone systems. What used to take a room full of electronics to duplicate can now be performed by a simple, cheap computer. You can route calls, have voice mail, and take advantage of low cost or free telephone calls, which bypass most, or all of the telephone companies and instead, uses the Internet.

I have had a local number on this island for years. It was a Hawaiian-Tel number, then a Verizon number, then back to Hawaiian-Tel. Many people know this number, but I cannot block callers on that number. I found another VOIP provider who can give me a local number on the island AND allow me to control all calls. I do this by running a PBX myself. So the new number is working and is forwarding calls into my PBX. Tomorrow, the old number is supposed to be “ported” to my new number. Think of it as forwarding, but in reality, the new number will be controlled in an account that I will manager, not Hawaiian-Tel. At some point, I will have all people using the new number and can cancel the old one. Since the old number will also appear in my PBX system, I can have an intercept recording that tells callers that the number is changing, etc.

I also get lots of telemarketers and the system allows me to forward them into a black hole, or a recording that the number they called is not in service; even when others can call the same number and get through. Those 2 numbers in California take regular phone calls and convert the call into an Internet call. They come into my computer PBX where I decide how the calls are handled. One number goes to a phone in my house while the other goes to the recording that the number they dialed is not in service. Thus anyone that calls the SPAM number gets the recording. People calling the non-SPAM number get through. I have ways to forward calls out in the real world to the SPAM number if needed. Some cell phone companies allow that and some services allow that. Soon I will combine those numbers or eliminate them as my PBX system can do the same thing. Once a call comes into the PBX, I can look at which number they dialed and what their own number is and decides how I want to handle the routing.

Let’s say that someone calls my toll-free number. It costs me a per-minute charge for those calls. While not a big cost, I don’t want telemarketers or idiots to continue to call and cost me money. Some people constantly misdial the same wrong number and perhaps it has happened to you. Perhaps someone else’s number is very similar to yours and you want to intercept the calls. “If you are calling Joe’s plumbing, press 1 now, otherwise stay on the line.” Pressing 1 would take the callers to a recording that Joe’s Plumbing’s number is actually xxx-xxxx. Please make a note of it.”

I mentioned that I had inbound numbers for friends in certain cities. Some of these people don’t have access to free or unlimited long distance. These numbers allow them to call at no cost to them.

Did I mention that these numbers I have are for the most part free? I am only paying for a few numbers and many have free or low cost long distance.

The service that I have on my new phone number allows me to add other numbers for very low cost. Remember that this is the company that allows me complete control over calls to their system. If I wanted to, I could add another number in the US, the UK or Luxemburg for about $3 a month. I would get something like 100 free inbound minutes a month, as I understand it. Someone in Scotland calls a local number for free and the call gets converted to an Internet call and sent to my service, which sends the call to my PBX. There I can detect the call came from Scotland and perhaps send them to a mailbox where the voice has a Scotch accent. It could also give them prices for shipment in their own currency, etc.

Besides handling inbound calls and moving the calls between phones in my house, the system also lets me transfer the calls outbound to other phones. A call from Scotland could be received and then forwarded back out my unlimited long distance line to someone within my calling area. Should a telemarketer get the number and continues to call, I can just program their number into the file and from then on when they call, the call gets forwarded back out of my PBX, through the unlimited world-wide dialing plan, and end up ringing a pay phone in the train station in Moscow! You may begin to see just how fun this can be.

There really are practical usages to the system. I can create voicemail boxes for my own business or for friends. They can connect from their house to hear their voicemail or to connect to each other, all for free. I can travel the world and as long as I have access to a computer, can transfer calls to where I am, or I can connect my computer to the system and have a little application ring, just like Yahoo messenger does phone calls. From anywhere in the world I would have access to my own phone company.

I know that you think this is expensive and it’s not. In fact the software is free and runs on a free operating system on an old computer I had lying around the house. I was able to download the operating system and PBX software, install it and configure it all in about 2 or 3 hours and it worked the first time. I will note that if you get really creative, you can break it, but hey, then you own both halves Yes it helps to be a computer nerd, but it really is fun to play with.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that there are companies who have small computer system with the software already installed and simple interfaces for you to control things. This means that a small company can afford to install a system like this for a very low price. The box might cost $600 to $1000 and could connect to both regular telephone inbound connections AND connect to the Internet at the same time. The inbound local numbers don’t need long distance associated with them, just an inbound connection.

The Internet connection side of the system can make the outbound long distance calls. On my system, if I want to have an unlimited worldwide calling for perhaps $50 a month. If I just have local service and want to pay for all overseas calls, they can be very cheap. I can call Australia for 2 cents a minute. The systems can route calls over different services based upon time of day to reduce cost. You can block certain phones from being able to dial long distance or even locally. One option allows you to pick up a phone (like at the front door) and automatically dial an extension without the caller knowing any numbers or having to read directions. You could place a red phone on the wall and have it automatically dial 911 if picked up. To ensure people understand this, a recording can come on saying “This phone will automatically dial 911 in 5 seconds. If you do not need 911 service, you must hang up now” and then you wait like 10 secons and put the call through.

I installed and played with this system of mine for a number of reasons. I used to work for a Timeshare service, which managed something like 24 units. There was a phone in each room and a couple in the office. The company was paying CENTREX rates for these phones, which was thousands of dollars per month. The phone company was the PBX and managed it. Each room could dial between themselves, they could call local outside numbers for free. Long distance calls were blocked. Each room had a different telephone number however; the guests would have to call their family back home and give them the number. Otherwise, guests would have the callers call our office and we would give out the outside number or transfer the call. The guest rooms had no voicemail.

If guests arrive late, they would pick up a phone, which would autodial, a company in Honolulu, which would look up the lock combination to their room. That was an expensive proposition which involved us faxing info to Honolulu and paying for the service they supplied.

The rooms had no wakeup call service and many people needed to get up early for helicopter excursions, etc. They relied upon alarm clock radios, which often were not set correctly.

This PBX system solves almost off of those problems with minimal cost. The computer is free to a few hundred dollars (it doesn’t have to be very powerful). The voicemail is built in. The wakeup calls are built in. heck, there is even a time extension and a local weather extension. There is an extension that will tell you the tides and read news to you. The system could give them free long distance and in fact, their room phone could be set to call their cell phone while they are staying here.

The late check in can be completely automated. When sending out reservation conformations, you assign a random number (perhaps 8 or 10 digits). The person arrives; picks up the phone and a ecording asks them to enter in their confirmation number. The system tells them their room number, the lockbox code and gives them directions to their room. If they have problems, they press “0” on the phone and it transfers them to an employee offsite at home.

Guests would be able to schedule wakeup calls, call an announcement extension that tells them checkout times and procedures and another number might tell them the events for the week or how to get to the local farmers market. Although it sounds a bit impersonal, many people come to expect that their phone or TV do some of the work for them.

I think you get the idea. Almost anything is possible and for cheap or free.