Paginglist.com spells the end for giving out phone numbers
What’s stopping us from talking to more of our online friends? Our phone number. If it falls into the wrong hands then it’s either get a new number, or face the music. Paginglist.com have announced a service that allows people to talk on their own phones without giving out a number. Instead, they are dialled by their ‘Tag’, a unique ID which might be their real name, their facebook ID, or any name they care to give out. “I’ve never seen anything like paging,” says Paginglist founder Davide Antilli. “Sure, you can talk over VoIP apps without giving out a number but paging’s different: if I don’t add your Tag to my list there’s no way you can get a call through to me.” Here’s how It works like this. Zoe and Rickie meet online but aren’t ready to swap phone numbers. So they swap Tags: Rickie adds ‘Zoe LA’ to his paging list, Zoe adds ‘Rickie B2’ to hers. When Rickie logs on to paginglist.com and clicks on Zoe’s Tag, the paging server dials her phone; and when she picks up, the server dials Rickie’s phone, and they talk. Paging is between friends only “I can safely post my paging Tag online,” explains Davide Antilli, “because you can’t page me unless I add your Tag to my list. I could be Barack Obama and tell the world my Tag’s ‘Barack 61’, there’s no way a nuisance call can get through.” Works on any mobile phone Another feature that sets paging apart from VoIP apps is the ability to make and receive paged calls from any mobile phone. “It works on my backup phone, an ancient Nokia,” explains Antilli. “Instead of clicking online I can text a Tag to paginglist’s SMS number and it works the same: their phone rings, they answer; my phone rings, we talk.” Security Paginglist.com use the same state-of-the-art encryption technology as would a bank. “But anyone who’s worried their personal details might still somehow be compromised can relax,” says Antilli. “because we don’t keep any personal details, just your phone number. And without a real ID attached that’s just a random number.” Cheaper than All Major Networks PrePay Rates You can create a Tag and receive paged calls free; and the cost of paging a friend is aggressively competitive. “It costs our users 18p/minute to Page mobile-to-mobile in the UK, lower than all the major networks’ PrePay rates. “I can page a friend in the States and vice versa for as little as 11p a minute,” continues Antilli, “That’s cheaper than Google’s new voice service.” The universal solution to phone numbers With all the current talk of the US internet giants’ next steps into telephony it’s notable that a British venture is first to market with a universal alternative to phone numbers. “You don’t need to go online to page,” Antilli stresses, “you can talk on any handset, any time. The VoIP apps you’re seeing just can’t do that.”
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