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Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

charge.co

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Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#171

Post by ryan-c »

ashitlerferad wrote: post #169
rsync wrote: post #11

Can I have no voicemail ? That's a feature I really want and it's not easy to do. If you configure a mobile phone line without voicemail, it will not just ring and ring and ring (as I hoped it would) - instead, the caller gets a message that "the number you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time" ... or some other message (depending on the carrier) that makes it sound like you don't pay your phonebill or som…

I always wondered why mobile carriers don't text you "voicemail from ..." and attach an mp3 file of the message.

PhoneTag[0] can do that via email, though the transcriptions are generally good enough that you don't need to listen to them. I've been using it for years and don't remember the last time I actually had to listen to a transcript.

0. https://www.phonetag.com/

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#172

Post by jwmerrill »

mrfusion wrote: post #163

I don't understand how the http://your-carrier-is-hijacking-dns.com/ url works. Am I supposed to see Rick Ashley?

I think Charge meant to use it to show you what happens when you visit an unregistered domain.

This being the Internet, someone registered it and pointed it at Rick Astley.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#173

Post by ryan-c »

icelancer wrote: post #100
post_break wrote: post #97

Nerds use data, and this pricing structure basically punishes them for it. I have unlimited data and 7gb tethering with T-Mobile and unless they do something stupid or close their doors I will just keep throwing money at them. I managed to snag it at $50 a month too.

Is that plan available still? I am on their $30/month plan for 5GB but would switch to your plan in a second. Got links?

I have unlimited data/calling/text and 5GB of tethering per month for $50/mo with T-Mobile, but it's a grandfathered in plan that they put me on when they stopped offering plans with limited voice minutes (I had the lowest allowance possible) about two years ago.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#175

Post by Anthony-G »

mpclark wrote: post #149
nickpsecurity wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great post. Makes since. Makes me remember something I read that came decades earlier. It was a write-up about how the telephones were one of the worst things that happened in the home and the office. The reason is they create a sense of urgency forcing you to answer immediately for something that may not be important. They also put the caller in control of your time a bit. So, outside fun or profitable stuff, they'r…

Yup, I learned in retail during that time that you always deal with the customer in front of you before you answer the phone, too. Serving the person actually in your store is more important than serving the one sitting at home.

I don't really like talking on the phone and prefer face-to-face interaction. However, experience dealing with retailers (less enlightened than yourself) forced me to conclude that customers using the phone were more important. Too many times, I've had a retailer or receptionist answer the phone in the middle of an interaction.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#176

Post by ryao »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #4

Aaaand they are a Sprint MVNO. Sprint has a pretty bad network in most of the US. Maybe they'll pull a Google-Fi and make themselves available on more networks.

I switched from a Sprint MVNO to a GSM operator a couple years ago and then back to another Sprint MVNO several months ago. Before I left, I often had problems with connectivity. After returning, I found that connectivity problems were rare. I suspect that Sprint today is about as good as Verizon was 5 years ago, which is good enough if the price is right.

In my case, I signed up with RingPlus, which charged me once when I activated my phone and has not charged me since. I consider myself to get cellular service for free, which is a fantastic price. Support leaves much to be desired, but that is to be expected at that price point.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#177

Post by DiabloD3 »

untog wrote: post #88
Johnie wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wondering.. Can an app pull off the carrier switching function of Fi or is it an OS level functionality?

Google Fi also makes extensive use of wi-fi for texting and calls, which definitely requires OS-level hooks.

As far as I can tell, a lot of that magic isn't in the OS that way, as in, they are using "Wifi calling", which AT&T and Verizon also support on limited handsets (ie, Apple only, even though all modern Android phones support it fine.

A lot of their multiple device calling magic seems to be done entirely in the backend.

I'm not saying there ISN'T magic in the OS specifically for Google-Fi, but they seem to be trying to use as much standard magic as possible before using their own.

Although, it'd be nice if a Google engineer actually confirmed if my suspicions are right.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#178

Post by drivingmenuts »

rsync wrote: post #11

Can I have no voicemail ? That's a feature I really want and it's not easy to do. If you configure a mobile phone line without voicemail, it will not just ring and ring and ring (as I hoped it would) - instead, the caller gets a message that "the number you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time" ... or some other message (depending on the carrier) that makes it sound like you don't pay your phonebill or som…

Is it possible to just have my actual phone handle voicemail? I'm walking around with more computing power in my pocket then we used to fly a space shuttle, you would think it would be able to record a simple voice message from a phone line.

Re: Charge, a phone company with features for nerds

#179

Post by hackney »

CodeWriter23 wrote: post #128
rsync wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Charge CEO here. We can definitely disable voicemail for you." Yes, but what happens when you disable voicemail ? ATT wireless can disable vm for me, it just results in weird behavior that confuses people... If I disable voicemail on Charge, and am out of coverage area (or have phone turned off) what does the caller experience ?

I'm thinking the reason you can't get the feature you want is because some engineers who designed the call setup for cell networks decided keeping the phone's battery from dying as a result of excessive ringing is a nice feature. I'm with you though, I hate voice mail. So does my mom. She recorded her outgoing message to politely say she never checks v/m and to text or email.

Sony Z3's have voicemail built in. Sadly they are glass both sides and break too easily. The other thing to consider is that when you are out of range or it is turned off, you may well miss an important call. All smartphones should be able to take a message first, and if that fails, then, it should fall to the carrier.
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