[Electronics-Talk] free 411

[Gerald Levy]

Yes, Verizon still offers free directory assistance to blind customers.  
But as I mentioned previously, it has become almost totally useless, 
because thanks to deregulation and the proliferation of independent 
phone companies, Verizon is no longer an absolute monopoly, and 
therefore, the chances that they will still have a phone number listed 
for the party you want to contact are probably slim to none, unless that 
party is still a Verizon customer.


Gerald



On 1/9/2021 7:33 AM, cheez via Electronics-Talk wrote:
> I haven't checked in some time, but Verizon used to have an exemption for Information when it came to blind customers.  Or, at the least, such customers were granted, [I think] 100 free calls per month.
> Nonetheless, you would have to go to a brick and mortar in order to sign up for the free service.
> But I'll check to verify this when Verizon opens later today and will report my findings.
>
> Vince
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Gerald Levy via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Saturday, January 9, 2021 5:10 AM
> To: Rob Kaiser via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Gerald Levy <bwaylimited at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] free 411
>
>
> Here's the problem with directory assistance services, whether it's
> 800-FREE-411 or the traditional 411.   In the good old days, when big bad Ma Bell, aaka the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, actually a collection of separate wholly-owned regional operating companies under the so-called Bell unbrella, was the only provider of phone service,all companies and individuals were listed in their database, so when you dialed 411, an operator could look up the number for you, and there was a better than 90% chance that she could find it.  For instance, before 1982, when Ma Bell was broken up into 7 separate, independent regional Bell operating companies, New York Telephone was a wholly owned subsidaiary of AT&T, so if you dialed 411 in New York City, you could get the phone number for a company located in Los Angeles, because the phone company there, Pacific Bell, was also a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.  But today, thanks to deregulation, there is no single phone company or service provider that maintains a centralized list of all phone numbers for every company and individual in the US, so 411 and free 411 services have become essentially useless.  So if your land-line or cell phone carrier is Verizon, which became the successor to New York Telephone through a series of mergers and consolidations since 1982, , for instance, and you dial 411 you will only have access to phone numbers for companies and individuals who are registered with Verizon. If their primary carrier is another phone company such as AT&T or T-Mobile or Consumer Cellular, then you will be out of luck.  Welcome to the new and chaotic wild, wild west of totally unregulated and fragmented telephone service. What a mess!!!  When you dial 411 on your Consumer Cellular cell phone, they will probably only have access to phone numbers for companies and individuals registered with Consumer Cellular, which is a relatively small number, because most listings are still registered with Verizon, which is the largest phone service provider and the only one which still has a historical connection to the old Ma Bell/American Telephone & Telegraph company.  Don't confuse Verizon with today's AT&T, which has no connection to the original company of the same name and is actually the successor to MCI, which was one of the 7 original RBOC's created in 1982. If all this sounds confusing, you're right.  You need a Philadelphia lawyer to figure all this out.
>
>
> Gerald
>
>
>
> On 1/8/2021 11:50 PM, Rob Kaiser via Electronics-Talk wrote:
>> I don't know what list to send this to, so, I'll try this 1. I'm with
>> consumer Cellular. My internet was down a few days agao & I needed to
>> look up a phone number. The only way I could get free directory
>> assistance was to use free 411. This is what consumer cellular told
>> me. If I used their 411 there was going to be a fee. When I called
>> free 411, I wasn't even able to give them a name of the business I
>> wanted to look up. Now, I've had problems with free 411 before, but
>> this was the worst. Is free 411 not working any more? If this is so,
>> do we have any platforms where we can get free directory assistance if
>> our internet is down? Or, are we doomed to having to either wait until
>> our internet comes up or pay a fee to call Directory Assistance?
>>
>>    
>>
>>    
>>
>> Rob Kaiser Email;
>>
>> rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
>>
>>    
>>
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