Numbr.com: James Bond-ish or Tony Soprano-ish?
Also via geeksugar, here's a cool website that enables one to alias their real phone number for up to a month: numbr.com. Basically, it assigns you a randomly generated (US) phone number, then you tell it your real number so it can forward calls to it for a duration you define. Once that duration comes to an end, the fake # no longer forwards calls to your real #.
I'm struggling with the use cases on this one for those of us who's last name is not Bond or Soprano, but here's one:
You meet a someone who seems "normal" and might want to sync up with them again later, but you aren't quite sure because while mingling with them your freak-o-meter flickered once...or twice. Instead of giving them your real, permanent number, you give them a temporary # during what one may call a "friendly probationary period."
Other suggested use cases?
I'm struggling with the use cases on this one for those of us who's last name is not Bond or Soprano, but here's one:
You meet a someone who seems "normal" and might want to sync up with them again later, but you aren't quite sure because while mingling with them your freak-o-meter flickered once...or twice. Instead of giving them your real, permanent number, you give them a temporary # during what one may call a "friendly probationary period."
Other suggested use cases?
I imagine lots of single women would use this on the dating scene.
Posted by Kevin on August 07, 2007 at 09:31 PM MDT #
So far the only things I've come up with are:
Selling stuff on-line or in the paper (but they don't have a 207 area code, so folks won't think it's local). Therefore calls don't continue after the item is sold, nor do telemarketers get you.
That freak-o-meter you mentioned? Yeah, but with freaks intentionally hooking up for anonymous freakishness. Maybe more Johny Drama-ish than Tony Soprano-ish.
Letting your teenage daughter talk directly to the folks she's already quite cozy with on My Space. Knee jerk says it's a bad idea, but if she's IMing with a "12 year old girl" and the voice of a "dirty old man" is on the phone, maybe it's better you pick up that handset.
Unique idea: Get a number in a city where your friends are to avoid long distance charges on the land-line.
Without tying it to advertising or subscriptions, I don't see how it makes money.
Posted by ToddC on August 14, 2007 at 10:15 AM MDT #
I sell a lot online.
Just search for "numbr" on Craigslist in say, San Francisco to get the use-case.
There are several apps I can think of that can use numbr.com as providers of "transaction numbers" ..
Posted by Raj on August 18, 2007 at 11:46 PM MDT #
does not need to make money if the goal is to sell the company ebay or craigslist to be a service for classfied add customers.
Posted by tom on August 31, 2007 at 05:20 PM MDT #
the service could also be a law enforcement front expected to attract lot of criminally minded people. they would get a nice datafrom from the real numbers that the calls forward too.
Posted by tom on August 31, 2007 at 05:30 PM MDT #