"Emergency service only"

Jun 16, 2015 29 Replies
[anip]

I get warnings on my Verizon phone. Some are desirable (there was a warning for last month's tornado, although I wish it was more than about

45 seconds in advance). Most are annoying.

So, when you hear that tone, the first thing you think of is that it's a test, not that it's a possible emergency.

Same thing with the fire drills at school. The first think I think of when that alarm sounds is NOT that the building's on fire.

A friend has ATT, says he never gets those warning texts. I think it's a good idea, I just don't see why they have to keep testing the damn thing. It's a broadcast text message that goes through the regular, obviously working text system. Why you would have to test that 4x in a single day, IDK.

Sprint and Verizon use CDMA. AT&T and T-mobile use GSM.

IIRC, 4G is the same for all systems.

For some reason the CDMA networks are the only ones I can use here. BTW, I have 2 cell phones, one on Verizon and the other on Ting (Sprint MVNO).

Then doesn't that mean I was getting the right message? "They have to allow emergency service" and the message says Emergency Service Only.

I'll remember.

It's interesting, the smallest one is the cheapest. 120 minutes for $15, but 2/3rds more money for 1/3 more time. 4/3rds more money for

2/3rds more time.

"RECHARGES RECEIVE THE LOWEST RATE OF $0.25 PER MINUTE REGARDLESS OF THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE." and the hioghest original purchase price was

15cents a minute for the middle choice. The first and third choices were less.

Yeah in one way, but I drive less, live in a warmer climate, cars are more reliable, and I have fewer years left than I've already spent. so I think the odds are increasing that I won't have an emergency regarding the car, integrated over the time from now until the end of my life. .

My last phone (HTC) had the warnings but allowed me to turn them off. Likewise the wife's iPhone. My current phone (Kyocera) has no warning capability.

Like you the damn phones would often go off at all hours for tests and for stuff that didn't affect my area. I was glad to be rid of the service.

That's a good point. I've been seeing those warnings for maybe 50 years, and they used to take a whole minute. Now they take about 10 seconds, but despite their saying "If this were a real emergency, you would be instructed where in your area to tune" for emegency information, that has never happened. Ever.

Admittedly, Baltimore, Brooklyn, and other places I've lived don't have that many emergencies, and I don't watch tv all the time, but it still seems like I've been conned.

What did you do with those 45 seconds?

[snip]

Since I was in a brick house, there wasn't much I needed to do. There was just enough time to bring Nibbles

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