7 ms·
If you're in Boston without phone service, use this website to call your family
- cbhl 14y agoThe "Source on Github" link points to a repo that isn't public at the moment.
- RobSpectre 14y agoWorking on getting Travis setup now. Wanted to get the service up asap - code will be posted shortly.
- sikhnerd 14y agoIt's always encouraging to see a startup use it's resources to help others. Unfortunately quite rare as well. Good job Twilio!
- unreal37 14y agoCell service is shut down so that the terrorist cannot remote detonate any more bombs. But if you have access to this website (internet access), then you have access to Skype and 100 other phone services... so why does this web site exist?
- joshguthrie 14y agoSkype isn't free.
- mbell 14y ago> Cell service is shut down so that the terrorist cannot remote detonate any more bombs. This is false. Verizon, Sprint and AT&T have confirmed its false, hours ago. The networks are likely overloaded and, as a result, spotty, but they have not been shut down.
- RobSpectre 14y agoLot of disinformation spreading about this. All I know is my friends couldn't call their folks, so I wrote the app. No idea what the diagnosis or prognosis on the situation is there - we'll keep it up until we hear all the telecom infrastructure is nominal.
- ValG 14y agoGreat work. Taking the extra step to be proactive in a situation that seemingly is localized, you still found a way to (likely) make a difference from 3k miles way. Visibility to the site is likely the only barrier now, but if there is anyone on the ground that can spread the word, this may be a hugely beneficial service.
- paperkettle 14y ago"UPDATE, Monday, April 15, 6:08 p.m.: Wireless carriers say reports that authorities had shut down cellphone service in the Boston area are untrue." http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/15/boston_marathon_explosion_cell_service_shut_down_by_police_to_prevent_remote.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/15/boston_ma...
- salman89 14y agoCan any of those other services give you ten minutes of free talk time without registering or downloading any software? Within 30 seconds from that link you can make a phone call, I don't think Skype or any other comparable services can do that reliably as Twilio can.
- mikestew 14y agoI ran the race today, and my cellphone has been going off all day (within minutes of the incident, far as I can tell, up to my last call an hour ago) with family and friends checking on my status (which is fine). I'm not saying the service has been good for all, and thanks to RobSpectre for setting this up, but I can say at least some phones have worked all day. EDIT: mostly SMS, but at least a couple of incoming and outgoing calls without problems.
- icambron 14y agoMy cell service has also worked all day. I'm a bit confused about the status of the network, but I've tried to keep off the phone for most of the day to avoid flooding it.
- andyfleming 14y agoIf only the whole screen wasn't bright red!
- RobSpectre 14y agoYeah. My bad. :/
- Scaevolus 14y agoBlue is a nice, calming color for a website or bikeshed.
- RobSpectre 14y ago@djinteractive was actually kind enough to submit a pull request with a calmer red. Looks much improved.
- danjones 14y agono probs
- brendanobrien 14y agoThanks Twillio for a proactive response to a horrible situation.
- DivisibleByZero 14y agoSimply amazing.
- geekam 14y agoTwilio is great. I read about their collaboration with the Polaris Project for Human Trafficking victims. It is always great to see companies standing up in the time of need.
- nvk 14y ago+1
- jrockway 14y agoThat's useful. This is one of those times when I remind people that it might be a good idea to get an amateur radio license and have a charged handheld always available. If you do, you'll be able to talk to people locally (and halfway across the world) for free, with no centralized infrastructure to fail. (All you have to do is get 26 out of 35 multiple choice questions correct and buy a $40 radio from Amazon. Then, free communication forever.) --KD2DTW (/AE!)
- cdjk 14y agoI agree, and was regretting not bringing my handheld on a trip this weekend (although I wasn't traveling in Boston, it reminded me I left it at home). It requires a little more planning, however, as you have to have a communication protocol established with the parties you want to communicate with (primary and secondary frequencies, and when - i.e. 5 minutes past the hour or something like that). You also are likely going to have to rely on simplex, since repeaters will be jammed or used be ARES/Red Cross/etc during a major disaster or emergency. Now if only the engineers who design handhelds would learn a thing or two about user interfaces... 73 de KJ6FON
- omarali 14y agoI thought they only worked locally. How do you talk to people halfway across the world?
- cdjk 14y agoHandhelds (i.e. VHF/UHF, most likely 144MHz or 440MHz) will only work locally without additional equipment. If you have access to a repeater (which isn't a problem, as most are open) that's linked the internet then you can talk to anyone, either via the internet, or via a repeater (that's also connected to the internet) elsewhere. HF (1.8 MHz - 30 MHz, in select bands) will propagate around the world if the conditions are right, just like shortwave radio. It's really the same thing, except lower power. That "if the propagation is right" is a big if, however, and also requires a large antenna. I also would not have wanted to set up a portable HF antenna in Boston this afternoon - even if perfectly legal, spreading out wire along the ground and throwing a wire up in a tree doesn't really sound like the best idea right now. Of course, most of the time it's the HF stuff that's the most fun... and although somewhat reliable, and likely to get you talking to someone, somewhere fairly quickly, it's not going to let you talk to a specific person at a specific time with a lot of reliability, even if you've schedule things in advance.
- josh2600 14y agoWhat a great site. Shoutout to Team Twilio for constantly killing it from a marketing perspective and doing a great job on the humanitarian side as well. On another note: It is crazy that the authorities can simply disable wireless networks en masse. Just crazy.
- hiddenfeatures 14y agoNot so crazy, if you think about the fact that many bombs are remotely-triggered using a cell phone. Kill the network, switch off additional bombs.
- fnordfnordfnord 14y ago>if you think about the fact that many bombs are remotely-triggered using a cell phone. Kill the network, switch off additional bombs. Okay, I'll see your cell network shutdown with a slight change to the bomb trigger logic. Now it they're triggered if they receive a trigger signal OR if they don't receive ANY signals for some time.
- akama 14y agoThey didn't in this case, however the idea that they could is disturbing. Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-cellphone-still-operating-boston-20130415,0,3645612.story http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-cellph...
- aren55555 14y agoHoly crap that burned my retina.
- austenallred 14y agoClassily done. It's difficult to balance the want of marketing and yet not whore yourself out based on popular interest during a tragedy, but this helps a lot of people. Hats off.
- oacgnol 14y agoIt's not even marketing in my mind but a public obligation. If there is anyone who would be able to provide this service, it's Twilio. Agreed, hats off.
- aith 14y agoIt's marketing. However, it's awesome to see them spend money to help people directly, rather than on advertising or something like that.
- icambron 14y agoIt's marketing, but it's not cynical marketing. It's the kind of marketing that should, in an ideal world, totally work. You prove you're a good, friendly company by doing good, friendly things.
- j_juggernaut 14y agoCan't people already use gmail to do so?
- alive-or-not 14y agoI use gmail, so everybody else must use it also ...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- brianberns 14y agoYou can also make free phone calls to anywhere in the USA via Gmail. Look for the "call phone" icon on the left sidebar, above your list of contacts.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- koltkorivera 14y agoThank you for posting this, chrisacky.
- austenallred 14y agoI couldn't resist trying it out from a non-boston IP to a non-Boston number. Still worked. It's cool to see that they trusted people enough to not put any sort of controls on that.
- jonny_eh 14y agoI think it was just easier to not put up limits, hoping that people wouldn't take advantage.
- DigitalSea 14y agoA very nice move on Twilio's part. The fact they didn't seem to implement checks of Boston IP's and numbers as well and instead opting to rely on people being truthful is also great. Much respect.
- zapdrive 14y ago>If you're in Boston without phone service, use this website to call your family. Or, use Gmail to make unlimited domestic calls. Its disturbing that companies are looking to get marketing even out of tragic events like these.
- jonny_eh 14y agoThis doesn't require you to sign up for a service.
- joelrunyon 14y agoWhenever people say stuff like this, I wast to bring up the idea of the "net good" of the implementation. Twillio doing this doesn't take away from the tragedy and it's not preying on vulnerable people. It's helping people through their service. If they get press for it, so be it. It's unfortunate that people think that in order for one party to "win", another party has to "lose." I think this is a good case of win/win.
- zapdrive 14y agoBy putting a big logo on the page, they are definitely trying to get some marketing mileage out of it.
- nicholassmith 14y agoWhich is also promoting the gmail unlimited domestic calls service, driving business to Google.