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Why doesn't Nokia try including the following in the next update of the firmware for their phones.... an option in the menu to turn off the function which allows 999,911, 112 etc to be dialed on a mobile even with the keypad lock on.
I'm sure the world emergency services would back this suggestion,
given 60% of the calls they now receive come from people who have phones in their pockets dialing 911 without even knowing it.
Note: I don't know anybody who hasn't at some point looked in their recent dialed calls list and seen {911/999/112} in the list and thought... oh sh*t....
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Never buy a phone without a flip. Worse when the keypad lock is on on my Nokia the lights won't come on without unlocking first which of course I can't do because the lights aren't on! |
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How about just make it voice activated? You have to scream emergency at a certain decibel to get the phone to dial? |
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// Never buy a phone without a flip. // |
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Sage advice, indeed. I concur. |
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While I am sure that the emergency response centers get more than their share of unintended calls, I think that has to be better than the opposite problem. Imagine your car has just slid off the highway due to loose gravel or something. After the impact with a utility pole, you realize that you need medical attention immediately. You fumble with your phone and attempt to dial the emergency number, but the keypad lock prevents it. You are in total shock, so it takes your addled brain a full 2 minutes to identify the problem and remember that pesky unlock code. Meanwhile you've lost so much blood that you lose consciousness before you can tell the dispatcher your location. Oops. |
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We can hire enough dispatchers to handle the additional volume created by unintentional calls. We can not hire enough psychics to guess when you have an emergency and can't get your phone to dial. |
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999 is a bad idea due to the repeat, but how the hell do you accidentally dial 9+1+1+Send on a regular basis? |
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How about a firmware update that causes 999 (or 911/000 or whatever) to open an onscreen menu containing:- |
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off/fire/police/ambulance/other/operator |
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That way it could pre-send which emergency service you require but since the first option is off, typing with your buttock is more likely to turn the phone off than anything else. |
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Surely it's better to have the odd false call, rather than people not being able to call when they need to. (Disclaimer: I've never dialled 999 or 112 (official European emergency number) accidentally.) |
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[BigBrother] - I don't know what the keypad unlock code is on *YOUR* phone but on all Nokias it is Menu * which is not only easy to remember it is almost automatic after the first couple of weeks... |
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{FlipPhones} - Most phones arn't flip phones. FlipPhones tend to be larger than other mobile phones. I don't want a flip phone. niether do 60% of the population. |
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[PottedStu] - Statistics say it's most likly you have... you just never realised. (Like 85% of the population never reaslises) |
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[BookWorm] - 911 can be easilly dialed past the keypad lock as it doesn't matter what buttons you press in between. It might take a while but eventually.... |
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[Dare99] - Or maybe just make it so you have to dial 9 3 times *in 5 seconds*..... |
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[RodsTiger] - A panic combination would be good but hard to make it easy enough to push in an emergencey but hard enough no to be pushed accidently. I for one am quite capaable of unlocking my phones keypad and dialing 999 without the need for a special function, so if this was in, again I would like a menu option to turn it off... |
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{Additional} - I don't want my phone to be able to dial 999 while the keypad is locked. I would suspect a large part of the population, given a menu option to turn it off... would do so. |
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"911 can be easilly dialed past the keypad lock as it doesn't matter what buttons you press in between."
Now that's just silly. |
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Besides, the emergency number (on every phone *I've* ever owned) is just a speed dial number and can be changed (or removed). |
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Do you work in the emergency response field [CasaLoco]? Why does this bother you so much? |
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// {FlipPhones} - Most phones arn't flip phones. FlipPhones tend to be larger than other mobile phones. I don't want a flip phone. niether do 60% of the population. // |
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Yes, well I guess the flip phones are a choice of the elite ;-) |
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"911 can be easilly dialed past the keypad lock as it doesn't matter what buttons you press in between." |
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Not on my phone. It won't let me key in a number or make a call when the lock is on, oddly enough. I just tried (I actually tried the speaking clock, but there shouldn't be a difference). |
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CasaLoco: I'd know if I had because it'd show up in my recently dialled list. |
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Rods, sounds like a mobile version of the 'Panic PIN'. Good idea. May be it needs it's own spot...? |
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Somebody out there owes me a lot of money, and the reason I don't try to collect it is that the phone I found with the money had an identification and a ready speed dial. Had there been a keypad lock -- $?. |
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Rod - SIMS potentially should make there less reason for mugging. To make the phone work, the SIM (your ID) has to be associated wiuth the handset. Put a new SIM in, and theoretically, you should have to go through all the secuirty checks to make it work with your phone. This doesn't always seem to be the case, as some SIMS appear to be hackable. This could easily be fixed by the manufacturers. If it was, this would help the current situation.
IN addition, alot of people don't use the PIN function (which I found to my cost). i dropped my phone in the cinema, and reported it stolen the next day. Meanwhile someone had made £70 of calls to Algeria and France on it.
If the phone operators changed their security and we all used PINS, the problem would reduce dramatically. If there were no SIMS, it would be even harder to associate the phone with you and be sure it was you're phone, which (I think) would make things worse.
If so called m-commerce takes off, and we do start using our phones to pay for things, it will probably be the incentive required to make them more secure (and for people to start using PINS etc.). |
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[Pheonix] - The 2 biggest phone brands on the market have an emergency number that can't be changed... it's not a speeddial. |
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[Pottedstu] - Dialing any number apart from the emergency number does nothing. Try 112 or 999 or 911. On my phone it look s lke it is blocking the number *UNTIL* you pess the third digit... then it unlocks... How often do you deliberatly browse through your entire recent calls list? |
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[Reensure] - Please can you ensure that all annotations are actual sentances and not just text from a random word generator. |
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[RodsTiger]/[Goff] - What you are trying to get at is the idea that orange have been doing for at least the last 5 years... when they give you a phone they make a note of the IMEI number and if it is sibsequently lost or stolen they disable both the simcard AND the handset. Some phones can have the IMEI changed but that is not a home user task... |
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Pottedstu: In the US, 911 can be dialed even from a 'dead' phone. As long as it has power, even a phone that's been disconnected <for nonpayment or whatever> will allow one to summon help. 911 is also the only number you can dial while the phone is locked, probably for the reason BigBrother mentioned...or if you crash and someone can reach your phone but doesn't know your code... |
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Grant it that some people accidently dial 911 by having the phone bump around in there pockets, but what if in the one freakish occasion that you actually need to dial 911 but don't have the few precious seconds to unlock your phone? Then you, and anyone else in the situation, are screwed! Just don't buy a regular phone. Get one of the flip ones if the whole accidentally dialing 911/112/999 thing is going to bug you. |
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My old phone was not a flip and thus had a keypad lock. The screen did still show stuff without the backlight on, such as the time, and alerts such as missed calls, new message and low battery. Pressing the power button which was on the top, and by it's placement and design, could not be pushed accidentally, made the lights come on, and it would show "press * and OK to unlock". Pressing any other key, made the screen show the same, but the light would remain off to avoid running down the battery. |
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By "locked", I don't mean an actual pin number, but just pressing * and then OK to prevent pocket-dialing or other unintended operation. |
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Since the instructions are shown right on the screen, anyone who can read can unlock the phone, so I don't see why it should be able to dial 911 without unlocking the phone first. |
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