[Electronics-Talk] free 411

Wed Jan 13 22:33:14 UTC 2021

Hi all,

I think Free 411 needs a doctor.  It doesn’g sound like it is working properly. 

I have two IPhones, one is on Consumer Cellular, the other is on Spectrum Mobile.  I checked Free 411 on the Consumer Cellular  Phone.  

If I understood the original question correctly, the man wanted to know how he could get free directory assistance while his internet was down!  Yes!  Free 411 is a good option when it works properly.  Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant can work when one is off line.  I turned off my wi fi and I was able to look up numbers while off line.  You would need to download the Alexa and Google Assistant apps from the app store.  Another app would be the real yellow pages.  This too works off line.  

Remember the internet was down!  Alexa and google devices may as well be boat anchors when the internet is down!  They aren’t available!  Luckily the Alexa and google assistant apps can work off line on an IPhone.  I’m certain Android has similar options which work off line. No doubt Alexa and google assistant work with Android.  Sometimes one might have issues with location services when off line. Despite this occasional hindrance, the above mentioned apps work off line.  

I think the internet has made directory assistance less relevant.  I can ask my phone, echo or google device about a business and I’ll have the phone number or my devices will make the call for me!  Another case in point, I dialed 411 on my Spectrum Mobile phone.  I did this three times!  Siri dialed it the third time. I got the message “this number can’t be completed as dialed”.  In other words 411 doesn’t exist on Spectrum Mobile.  I got the same message with 555-1212.  Spectrum Mobile and Consumer Cellular are budget cell carriers.  They cost less than the big boys.  Spectrum Mobile is on Verizon Towers where Consumer Cellular is on either ATT or TMobile towers so I’m told.  As you have heard already, Consumer Cellular still has 411.  If using 411 on Consumer Cellular is the only way I can find a particular number, I’d gladly pay the dollar or so to get that number since I seldom use directory assistance.

Jim

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 12, 2021, at 4:39 PM, Brent via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Interesting. One time, when I just paid the fee and dialed 411 from a VOIP
provider I have as backup, they gave me a number for the person I asked for,
even though I know almost certainly, they don't use this VOIP service.
However, that provider must either use a third party company that provides
them 411, or it goes through whatever carrier they are connected with once
your call hits the phone network, coming out of the Internet.

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of
cheez via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Saturday, January 9, 2021 7:13 AM
To: 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: cheez at cox.net
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] free 411

Thanks for the confirmation.  Nice to know that's still offered.

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 6:03 AM
To: cheez via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Gerald Levy <bwaylimited at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] free 411

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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