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September 05, 2005
Helping Katrina Victims: Let’s Virtualize the Non-working Telephone Numbers with a “Peace of Mind” service
I agree with Tom Evslin that Stuart’s suggestion to ”virtualize” the non-working phone numbers of the people in the effected areas is a great idea.
What Tom and Stuart are suggesting is that if we had the proper permissions, one could “virtualize” the drowned landlines and replace them with donated VoIP mailboxes which can then be forwarded to working lines, to mobile phones, or at least provide voice mail where displaced people can get messages and leave an announcement saying that they're alive. These numbers could then be found by anyone who knew their old landline number. The technology already exists to do all of this. What we need to do is play “connect-the-dots” and match the people who can donate the technology with the people who could implement and enable the “peace of mind” service.
Going forward, it would great to see a national policy in place in anticipation of future emergencies such that any landline (or any telephone number) that isn't operational for more than twenty-four hours become eligible for virtualization. While we can debate the implication of this statement for days, now is the time to take action and help families reconnect with each other and find the way to provide such a “peace of mind” service.
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Posted by jeff on September 5, 2005 10:47 AM | Permalink
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Comments
I'm not sure how well this works, but I did check the number to make sure it was valid.
A public voicemail box has been set up at 1-866-217-6255.
You can call in and check for messages based on a persons phone number
(even if the # itself is dead right now) or leave a message based on
your
own.
Posted by: Marian Stasney at September 6, 2005 02:17 PM
We have spare server capacity and LNP relationships and would be willing to try to help participate in this. If someone else reading wants to proceed with this, please contact me.
Posted by: Dave T at September 5, 2005 02:03 PM