Trying to go with the flow...

[alexpgp]

Lately, whenever my cell phone is either not hitting the local tower or if I don't pick up the phone, Verizon has started to inform callers that my number has either been "changed, disconnected, or no longer in service." I should have paid attention instead of writing it off as a random glitch the first time someone told me this happened.

The seriousness of this situation was brought home to me rather dramatically today when a client I haven't done work for in about two years tried to call and inquire about my availability for a huge job (which I may still land, except that the end client may have already found someone else to do the work).

Anyway, I just spent a somewhat interesting half hour on the phone with Verizon customer support and technical support. There was a problem, and by the time I hung up the phone, the problem appeared to have gone away.

While on hold, I decided to buy a trial subscription for a Skype call-in number, which will mean having Skype up all the time (and probably on a dedicated computer, as incoming calls will not come in through Skype Mobile on my cell phone), but as I am not so affluent as to remain inaccessible to my clients, I think it is a good investment. (I also got a Google Voice number, but when anyone calls that number, the service apparently routes the call through to a number that one must answer, and as my only available number is my cell phone, it's not really a solution.)

Now, to keep my fingers crossed about the job. Hopefully, the technical level of the text will be high enough to scare other prospective candidates until my hat goes in the ring tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, perhaps I should go eat dinner.

Cheers...

Comments

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Тоо bad you are on the other side of the ocean... I've a Skype phone which I have no use for, and was planning to put up on eBay in the next week or two. It's a cordless home phone with a base station, which needs to be plugged into the modem and the phone socket - then it can pick up both landline calls and Skype calls. The ring tone is different, apart from that it's very useful to Skype calling.

It works very well, apart from situations when you forget that you left Skype logged in overnight and a client from the other side of the planet calls at 4am, innocently thinking that it's day time in your place too. Well, they are half right ;)

If you are interested, I don't mind mailing it to the US. It's this one (http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-SPH101-Skype-Wi-Fi-Phone/dp/B000F76W78/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1299126035&sr=8-15), but it cost me much less.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure I'd be able to use it. I haven't had a business landline since 2000 (and we ditched the personal landline about four years ago, if memory serves), and the Internet comes into our router through a cat-5 network cable.

Cheers...

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Hmm. There are other VoIP phones out there that you can program to pick up Skype calls. I know that our phone can function as both (or either) landline /VoIP unit - it just needs to be plugged into the router. I just don't really use it much, it's easier for me to use a headset when calling my folks in Russia.

Network internet... *sigh* We are still in the land of ADSL here. Expensive, too.