What is a VOIP phone? Is that what I posted in another message in this thread, where it's a device that looks similar to a payphone, but with no dial buttons, and only calls 911 ????
While telcos wont make much money from a payphone, I think they should be required to install them in small rural towns. After all, they are making money from each customer in that town, so they should provide an emergency phone. There cant be a lot of maintenance on those phones.
Besides, there are federal funds available for providing 911 service in rural areas, but it seems like many of the towns are not using it.
That's what I meant when I said "I hope this volunteer/telco employee is high enough in the food chain to be able to *get a payphone installed no matter what it takes*.
"what it takes" could be the downfall of that endeavor.
There is a 25 mile stretch of I-87 through the Adirondacks in NY where cell phone service is spotty. Every 2 miles along the Northway there is a call box, reminiscent of the call boxes that used be along the highways and byways of old.
You never have to walk more than a 1 mile to get to one, assuming you remember where the last one you passed was. I used to drive that stretch of road a few times a year when my daughter went to SUNY Plattsburgh. Most times I had service all the way through, but there were times when it did indeed drop out for short distances.
I tried a few times to keep track of each call box to see if I would know which way to walk if my car broke down, but it's really easy to get distracted and lose track of where the last one was. One time I noted the mile market of the first one, so I could use that as an estimate of where the next one should be. Luckily I never had to test either of my methods.
Street level payphones are still very much a presence in NYC, so maybe that technique could be used over there.
Basically, the trick is... to allow advertising on the phone kiosk.
In NYC, for example, if you run a bookstore (hey, grandpa, what's a book?) and you want to place a banner across teh sidewalk or a clapboard sign.. well, you can't.
But if there's a payphone on the corner, you can put up a 3 foot by 6 foot sign on it. And there are a whole bunch of sides to that kiosk...
I looked up VOIP. That wont work at all, because there is no internet in that town. In fact the restaurant that burned was the only place in town that had WIFI, which in itself drew in customers, esp. young kids with smartphones. In warm weather they often sat outside using their internet phones.
Even where I live, which is close to a larger town, all I have is dialup, unless I was willing to pay around $100 a month for satellite.
Many rural areas around here are technologically deprived. But I know this is true in many parts of the country. I can live without fast internet, but not having emergency service is not only irritating, but dangerous.
Given the explosion in cell phones, I don't see the need. We have far better phone availability today than we ever did with pay phones. The far better solution to the OP's case would be for someone to provide cell phone service to that town. How do we even know they really don't already have it? Could be the carrier the OP has doesn't have service there, his phone is configured to roam, etc.
VOIP = Voice Over Internet Protocol, ie phone service over an internet connection. It's why copper landlines are rapidly disappearing.
If the restaurant has wifi, then there is obviously some internet connectivity in the town. They are connected somehow. And if that restaurant is an open Wifi and you had a VOIP app on your smartphone, you could have made a call using that. I have a VOIP app on my phone.
Since the origin of the fire was electrical, the WIFI was not likely working at that time. Plus I do not have a smartphone. Just a basic prepaid phone thats only a phone and texter.
The Sheriffs and Fire Dept. acknowledge there is no service. A cell tower was to be built 4 years ago. A few months ago, they decided to abandon it, and move it to another small town, claiming it will still serve the town where the fire occured. Even the authorities said they doubt it will help since the planned location of the new tower will be
12 miles away. Even so, there is no planned date to build the tower, and it could be many more years ????
Even if they started to build a tower tomorrow, in the meantime there is still no emergency service. A payphone can probably be installed in an hour or two (or less).
Right now, payphones, or one of those 911 ONLY type of outdoor phones, are the only option. (Or a call box, but those are REALLY obsolete).
It will be nice if they ever build a cell tower, but until then, a means to call 911 is most important.
I asked this before and didn't see an answer, so I'll try again.
How small is this town? Can they put the pay phone someplace where everyone - even out of towners - could find it if there was a fire anywhere in town?
Would a single pay phone solve the issue that you are concerned about?
That is truly tragic. It's a real shame that you were there, and you were concerned, but had no way to call to have the smoke reported. Sounds like if the fire department had responded when you saw the smoke, the building could have been saved.
I'm on the same page. If you really need to call 911 in a small town, you can certainly bang on someone's door. Likely doors are going to be easier to find when you've just had a serious accident or have an axe murderer chasing you, than a pay phone. The real big hole is when you're traveling in the middle of nowhere, hiking, etc and there is neither cell phone coverage, nor anyone living nearby that has phone service. The odd thing is that in a small town like that, you would think there would still be at least one pay phone left from years gone by. I'm going to start paying attention to where there are or aren't payphones around here today, just for the heck of it.
Years ago, I heard that a cell phone with no paid contract (the old one that I used to use....) will call 911, even if I can't make regular calls cause I don't have a paid carrier. Well, if there is a working cell tower within range.
Decided to test the information. I got my old cell which no longer had contract or paid service. Dialed
911 (I'm in area with good cell signal from the towers). A couple seconds later, a voice from far away answered. I could barely hear, probably operator with the microphone pointed towards her adams apple. I explained what I was doing, and the reason for the call, cell phone test. She asked my name and phone number, and I answered honestly. Asked where I was, and I also answered honestly. About half hour later, two cops arrived at my place to check on me. We chatted for a while, and I told them what was going on. Offered to show them the phone I'd used (which was now in the back of my van). I apologized several times for wasting thier time.
Since that time, I've kept an old cell phone in my vehicle, with battery and car charger. Would have done no good in the case of the restaurant fire, but some day I may use it to report a fire in a cell signal area.
IMO, that is a real problem that should be looked into to see if there is a reasonable solution. There is no way to know if 911 works before you need it. And today people think they are connected all kinds of ways, via God knows how many different VOIP systems, for example. They have you register your address for 911 service, but who knows if that is actually in there correctly, gets to where it needs to go when you make a 911 call, etc.
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