5 ms·

I would add to this, why even have "phone service" anymore. I call my family via Facebook Messenger or Zoom etc... I'm surprised that more more companies don't

I would add to this, why even have "phone service" anymore. I call my family via Facebook Messenger or Zoom etc... I'm surprised that more more companies don't let me call them via these services or that some new startup hasn't starting selling the intergration so a customer can click "connect via Whatsapp" to our customer service. I'm also somewhat surprised there isn't a standard for this (maybe one is being worked on) so that all services and register for the standard to let me connect. Further, I'm surprised there isn't work to let me register some contact info in a global way. As it is, when I move, I have to contact 15-30 companies and update my address. Why I can't I just do that in one place and the companies can use the info live? Yes, I get here are all kinds of privacy issues. Still, there must be some solution. For example, id service providers let me login, change my address, and then select which companies that I've registered to that id get my new address, etc.... I'm going to tell them anyway, just make it less tedious to do it.

majewsky 6y ago
> I would add to this, why even have "phone service" anymore. I call my family via Facebook Messenger or Zoom etc. Emergency services. You can't call an ambulance via Zoom. Even if 911 supported Zoom, Zoom probably won't support 911 because they don't want to be held liable if people die because of a Zoom outage.
- imgabe 6y ago
  Is the phone company liable if there's an emergency and the phone system is down?
  - onecommentman 6y ago
    Yes it is Earlier this week, the FCC Fined CenturyLink $400,000 and West Safety Communications $175,000 for a multi-state 911 outage that occurred in August 2018. To resolve the dispute, both companies also entered into a Compliance Plan. https://www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com/fcc-fines-companies-for-911-outage/ https://www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com/fcc-fines-companies-for...
beepboop43 6y ago
I call my 95 year old grandma every week. She doesn't have a cell phone, only a landline. I would guess many if not most older people are similar. If the replacement service doesn't work with landlines then it's dead in the water as a replacement and will only function as an additional option. Going to stay that way for a while as (my assumption is) the group 70+ likely have a large population without call phones. Not to mention rural communities without adequate cell service.
atonse 6y ago
I am totally in agreement with you in principle. But I've lost count at the number of times all these things have failed me at work and in my personal life, where I've had to resort to "telecom" (just making a voice call, although I do know it's still VoIP, but there are different quality of service considerations and carriers always prioritize these)
Too 6y ago
There is a standard for this which most vendors actually used to support: XMPP federation. Not surprisingly most vendors also dropped support for this merely in favor of lock-in.

majewsky 6y ago

> I would add to this, why even have "phone service" anymore. I call my family via Facebook Messenger or Zoom etc. Emergency services. You can't call an ambulance via Zoom. Even if 911 supported Zoom, Zoom probably won't support 911 because they don't want to be held liable if people die because of a Zoom outage.

imgabe 6y ago
Is the phone company liable if there's an emergency and the phone system is down?
- onecommentman 6y ago
  Yes it is Earlier this week, the FCC Fined CenturyLink $400,000 and West Safety Communications $175,000 for a multi-state 911 outage that occurred in August 2018. To resolve the dispute, both companies also entered into a Compliance Plan. https://www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com/fcc-fines-companies-for-911-outage/ https://www.beyondtelecomlawblog.com/fcc-fines-companies-for...

beepboop43 6y ago

I call my 95 year old grandma every week. She doesn't have a cell phone, only a landline. I would guess many if not most older people are similar. If the replacement service doesn't work with landlines then it's dead in the water as a replacement and will only function as an additional option. Going to stay that way for a while as (my assumption is) the group 70+ likely have a large population without call phones. Not to mention rural communities without adequate cell service.

atonse 6y ago

I am totally in agreement with you in principle. But I've lost count at the number of times all these things have failed me at work and in my personal life, where I've had to resort to "telecom" (just making a voice call, although I do know it's still VoIP, but there are different quality of service considerations and carriers always prioritize these)

Too 6y ago

There is a standard for this which most vendors actually used to support: XMPP federation. Not surprisingly most vendors also dropped support for this merely in favor of lock-in.