Got a Verizon cell phone? DITCH IT NOW!

[neadods]

Got a new Verizon cell phone? DITCH IT NOW. Seriously, the morons over there have added the world's stupidest new feature: an alarm that can be heard for several yards that sounds when you dial 911.

They say it's a new feature. They say the FCC demands it. They say nobody has complained. (Don'tcha just love that? The woman who complains is essentially told "well, you're the only one with a problem.") But out in the real world the FCC is going "WTF? Oh, HELL no, we're not that stupid!" and I don't think there's a person alive who hasn't twigged to the concept of hiding from attackers/hunters/housebreakers while calling for help.

There are too many cell phone companies out there for you to have to tolerate one that's going to put a big, audible "Come and get her, she's right here!" target on someone in trouble. Switch, or failing that, return to an older phone model... and give Verizon an earful. "Nobody's complained" my ass. Nobody probably believed they were that insanely careless with safety... or possibly this woman is the first to have survived to complain.\

ETA: According to this source, the tone is in all 2006 and newer Verizon phones -- some 35 models.

Comments

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Features on devices meant for people "with disabilities" (can't they just be honest and say for blind people?) should not be turned on by default on devices used by those without said disabilities. When a person "with disabilities" gets a new device, chances are they aren't the ones to set it up because of those same disabilities. As such, the person setting it up (usually a phone company employee or retail clerk with the right experience or training) can turn those features on as they enable the device for use.

The idea that we ALL should have devices meant for the lowest common capability is downright insulting. We can be equal in shared respect while at the same time acknowledging openly that we are not equal in capability.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

its also not particularly useful for a blind person. How does a screaming alarm that rings until it is picked up, but only AFTER the number was dialed, help?
did it help them dial it correctly? no
all it does is tell them it was dialed. and then scream in their ear until its picked up.. which could just as easily be realized from the ringing noise...

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'm with fabricdragon: that's a feature that makes no sense. Regardless of disability, there are quieter alternatives already existing - the blind can hear the phone ringing at the other end; the deaf can see the lit display.

This feature serves exactly one purpose: to paint a target on someone when they are at their most vulnerable.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

I was generalizing, not talking about this specific "feature".

The ADA and related regulations require that certain capabilities be made available for those with specific disabilities. That does not mean that we ALL have to have "handicapped" devices (yes i'm going to use that term because in the gadget world, that's what it is). Verizon's attitude is that because of the disabilities requirement, we ALL should have devices with features in them that non-disabled people neither need nor would want.

THAT is the insane attitude I was attacking. It's a MUCH bigger attitude problem than just "nobody complained so we don't see why its a problem". It's an attitude of design itself, at the core of the company, and not just an attitude of customer service.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I can almost see their point of view - they'd severely reduce market share if they had "regular phones" and "specialty phones," so it's easiest to work most of the features into a single item; they don't know who is going to be shopping for what at TARGET.

But that doesn't mean that those features need to be enabled!

[avidbeader.livejournal.com]

Complaint sent. And boy, did I have to jump through some hoops to get to their email address!

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

Could you share?

[avidbeader.livejournal.com]

It's actually not a listed email address but a customer-service form:

https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/contact/email.jsp

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

yup, me too. five pages and a bunch of personal details i dont think they need later, i filled out an email form.

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

What scares me is that I just bought a new Verizon phone for my teenager, and this was never mentioned. ::is seeing red::

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

please complain to Verizon, AND to the FCC or regulatory agency in your country.

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

According to Jonathon, the Verizon phone rep I spoke with, the signal is not audible from the handset.

Now, I obviously haven't tried to call 911 to test it out, but this being the internet, perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the two reports (piercing tone versus not at all audible).

[neadods.livejournal.com]

(Between thee and me? I'd dial and apologize profusely saying you hit the wrong button. Then you'd *know.*)

Thing is, this isn't one of those "this friend of my friend's cousin" things; I was pointed there by whisper-down-the-Internet, but there are two local news websites showing up on google news discussing the case, using the name of the woman who reported it.

http://www.khou.com/business/stories/khou071114_ac_verizonphones.1ced95c.html
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/110907kvueverizonalarm-bm.1f46e16ee.html

[bana05.livejournal.com]

and now i want to dial 911 on my new phone just to test out the theory. that be bad . . . and this be real stoopid. jeez. really, verizon? really?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I had a ferret accidentally dial 911 on me once (it stole the handset, pressing the one-dial button in the process) and they were pretty cool when I apologized and got off the line.

[bana05.livejournal.com]

Did it make that loud obnoxious noise?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The phone or the ferret? :>

[bana05.livejournal.com]

lol, the phone

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It was an old landline; well before the world of cell phones. That it was attached to the wall didn't dampen Donnie Double-D's aspirations to take it downstairs and shove it under the couch.

[bana05.livejournal.com]

lol, aw, ferrets! When there's a will . . . ;)

[swallowedbysky.livejournal.com]

Man am I glad the only time I had to call 911 from my cellphone was before they put that alarm in. I was held up at gunpoint on walking home from work a few years ago and I could still see the jerks running away when I was connected to the 911 operator. I can't imagine what would have happened if they'd turned back to take my phone off me while I was calling for help.

That being said, it gives me greater motivation to do what I've known I should do since I moved: Call the local police and ask for their direct line to program into the phone. 911 calls from cellphones aren't always routed to the local department, and it can take up to five minutes to be transfered to someone in your area, or so I was told the one time I did dial 911.

Sigh. I really didn't need anything else to make switching phone carriers more attractive.

Routing FYI

[webqatch.livejournal.com]

Speaking as one who would know (spent nearly 7 years dispatching & answering 911 for PGPD), cell 911 is as you say, *however*

Routing of 911 calls is handled based on tower location/triangulation. If you're on the border between county A & county B, you might not get the right place. If you're in a municipality that doesn't have its own 911 hub, you might not get the right place.

HOWEVER - the "5 minutes" bit is a crock of shit. In nearly all cases (certainly in urban/suburban areas, and increasing greatly in rural ones), the 911 centers have one-touch speed dials that will get you from where you were connected to the right place. In many (most?) places, the one-touch instantly transfers the ENTIRE call (not just the voice but the meta-data like your number & address & such) to the new jurisdiction.

That being said, it does require that you either pay SOME attention to what they say when they answer the phone (XXX County 911) and/or have someone on the other end of the phone recognize your location as being "not in their jurisdiction." If neither of these happen, it could take a moment or two longer, only because the call-taker would then only find out "you aint from around here" when they tried to actually submit your information into their system -- whereupon the system would respond with "out of jurisdiction - transfer to YYYY instead."

Speaking only for myself, it never took more than 2 minutes to get this data and complete the transfer... significantly LESS if it were a true emergency call since SOP on those is to get the bare-bones information from the caller into the system and submit it -- then get details into the system as "additional info" while units are being dispatched and already enroute.

[fyrdrakken]

And suddenly I'm glad I'm on T-Mobile. I'm going to find myself replacing my phone at some point in the foreseeable future, too -- so I'm glad this is just Verizon.

My $0.02

[webqatch.livejournal.com]

http://webqatch.livejournal.com/233180.html

Re: My $0.02

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Answered. My view remains unchanged - we're viewing this from other sides of a huge gulf in life experiences.

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

So that's what that noise was.
I have Verizon- it's the only service that works at my house- and a newer-than-'06 phone. I have called 911 more than once to report having witnessed an accident. Noticed that it made a quick series of little beeps, but at least on my phone it's no louder than the beeps it makes when I press keys. If the phone wasn't at my ear, I wouldn't have heard it.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

at least on my phone it's no louder than the beeps it makes when I press keys

That is really important to know. Thanks.