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May 28, 2014

My 'Mi-Fi' Has My Number, but it Doesn't Call Me Back

There simply is no disputing the logic of iPads, Mi-Fis (a name for wireless routers that act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots), or other such devices having phone numbers, seeing as how routing on the cellphone network uses them. How many of us actually know the phone number for our data devices, though?

Calling up a help desk without knowing a phone number is excruciating, often pressing “0” which is usually blocked. So now I am circumventing the system, calling sales when I want tech support.

A few years back, a large cable operator was trying to merge their support desks and their corresponding systems. They had a problem, though, in that they had indexed it all using different parameters. The cable operator was on street address, the Internet Access was on email and the phone service was on the phone number. My understanding is that the phone number was the only one that did not creep people out. If the phone part of the cable company asked for your street address it felt like they were stalking, and if the cable operator asked for your email address it felt like they were spamming. Evidently, SPIT (Spam over Internet Telephony) has not yet been that bad.

So the phone number won, regardless of which service was operating. Now here is my question: Why can’t my Mi-Fi use my phone number as the index, rather than its own phone number?

The HLR/VLR (Home Location Register / Visitor Location Register) does not have to be the index for my communication with a help desk. In fact, it would be even better if the numbers from the data device could be texted to my number from the service provider. Of course, that would mean acknowledging that they are not the only number in town.


Edited by Rory J. Thompson


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