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From
TNPC issue #3.08...
Free or Replacement Phone Service
by T.J. Lee
April 13, 2000
I hate my phone bill. Oh, I look it over every month like I know
what I was doing but truth be told I have no idea if the
"Universal Connectivity Charge" regulatory fee is supposed to be
$5.57 or if the In-State switched outbound charges are correct.
I'm doing good if I remember to mail the check on time. So
wherever possible I like to bypass the phone company to the
extent I can. Fortunately, there are a number of very neat
resources that can help you cut down on your phone bill.
The first is Freeway.com. This service, provided by BroadPoint,
lets you earn free long distance time by listening to
advertisements delivered over the phone. How it works is, you
sign up for the service. You get a toll-free number to call and a
personal identification number. You call in, listen to however
many messages you want (they're interactive and you have to press
buttons on the phone so they know you're listening), and for
every 10 to 15 second ad you hear, you earn 2 free minutes of
long distance time. When you've heard all you want you press the
pound key (#) and make your long distance call.
The down side is that you can't earn more than two hours a month
in free phone charges and it takes forever to sign up for the
service. In addition, you have to fill out a lengthy and detailed
questionnaire about yourself so they know what type of ads you
are most likely to respond to.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/308/tr.cgi?freeld1
Dialpad may be the hottest tip in telecommunications (it was a
featured product in TNPC back last November). You call people
using your computer. For this you need a sound card, speakers,
and a microphone. Actually, speakers are lousy for this, what you
really need is a PC headset (different from telephone headsets I
find, the voltage to the microphone is different). A PC headset
plugs into the speaker and microphone ports on the back of your
sound card. You call using your computer and you place the call
through Dialpad's Web site. Sign up for a free account and you
can create a phone book for one-click dialing.
Ah, but how many of the people you call are sitting by their
computers to receive your call, you ask? Doesn't matter because
the recipient receives the call on their telephone. Is it clear
as a pin drop (whatever that means, I've seen that stupid Sprint
commercial too many times)? No. It's about like talking on a so-
so cell phone connection. It won't work through some firewalls
and there are some extra steps you have to take to set it up for
ICS. But like I said, it's free and free is tough to beat.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/308/tr.cgi?freeld2
A similar service (albeit one that I've not tried personally) is
My Free LD. If anyone is using this service drop me a line and
let me know what you think of it.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/308/tr.cgi?freeld3
If you don't like talking at all then consider replacing the
phone with your keyboard. Services like ICQ let you know when
other people using the same service are online and provide a way
to instantly message them. I tried ICQ when it first came out but
discarded it as too interruptive of my daily work routine. But
I've since learned how to remain invisible on the service except
for a select few people whom I don't mind ICQ-ing with me. ICQ
makes it easy to ask a quick question or to engage in a chat if
necessary.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/308/tr.cgi?freeld4
uReach.com (discussed in TNPC #3.05 "Virtual Office with
uReach.com") provides a neat chat facility for their users as
well. It will even archive a chat so you can stop a conversation
and pick it up later knowing right where you left off. uReach
also lets you make outgoing phone calls from any regular phone
using their service.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/308/tr.cgi?freeld5
Cut back on your phone costs with one of these handy replacement
technologies and make yourself more virtual than ever!
You can reach T.J. Lee at:
mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com
Copyright © 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved.
The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422
You may reprint an article from TNPC as long as you show the
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Free or Replacement Phone Service
by T.J. Lee
(This article originally appeared in The Naked PC
newsletter #3.08, subscribe at http://www.TheNakedPC.com)
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