The number of times I've rung somebody on their mobile phone and they've just not answered it. When they get round to responding to my voicemail message, they often tell me that they had their phone set to vibrate rather than ring, and had the phone somewhere where they couldn't feel it vibrating.
The solution? A clip-on attachment containing a small bell. When the phone vibrates, it shakes the bell, the sounding of which will alert its owner of the the fact that their phone is vibrating. Ingenious.-- -alx, May 30 2001 (?) Cell phone ring detector LED http://www.elstonsy...l_phone_uv_led.htmlflashes a few seconds before your cell phone rings [csea, Apr 18 2006] (?) Technocel Vibra Belt Clip http://admin.websto...s_key=&nm=UniversalNo idea whether you can still actually get this - this was "innovative" in 1999 -- but that's what it is. [jutta, Jun 26 2006] Then if you're in a meeting, or the theatre, or church, and you don't want your vibrator-indicating bell to sound, you could switch it to 'vibrate' mode.-- angel, May 30 2001 Or if they have a WAP phone, set it to e-mail them, the sending of which would most likely trigger a text message anyhow...-- -alx, May 30 2001 Maybe the person who isn't answering his mobile when you ring him has Caller ID.
"Another 'ingenious' call from [-alx]? I'll let the machine get it..."-- MrWrong, May 30 2001 (Soterios, whether it's a leash or not depends on how you use it. I've carried a cell phone (and before that, a pager) for a long time, and I make sure that everyone who has the number knows that I don't guarantee to answer it if I don't feel like it. But if I do feel like it, I can. I find it freeing.)-- wiml, May 30 2001 I thought the 'vibrate' function was there so it could be a silent alert. The bells aren't silent.-- jetgrrl, May 31 2001 [jetgrrl]: Engage 'irony' mode, then read it again :-)-- angel, May 31 2001 The whole problem could be avoided by having the vibration being arranged so that it can't be ignored. A chip implant perhaps, or maybe some variation of the Defecat-o-mat?-- -alx, May 31 2001 Or maybe instead of vibrating, your phone just starts heating up. Each ring increases the temperature of the phone by, say, 90 degrees, so if you don't catch it on the first ring it will sear your flesh when you answer it. And if you've left it in a briefcase, 5 rings will be enough to cause your papers to burst into flames.-- ejs, Jun 01 2001 ...which would not be before the next ring. So you'd only recover to be able to answer it after the person trying to reach you gave up. Zzzt! Aagh! Zzzt! Aagh! Zzzt! Aagh!...uh...hello?...(dial tone).
...your honor.-- beauxeault, Jun 01 2001 Or go the next step - if you don't answer the phone, it triggers self destruct mode, because you don't need it anyway.-- Deity, Jun 05 2001 You could have a hat, like the Australian bushman's hat, but with hippo's Dodgy Silent Chimes attached (instead of dangling corks). Connect it up to your mobile phone and then, when it starts vibrating, your chimes will jiggle about, alerting you to an incoming call but causing minimal disturbance to others.-- DrBob, Dec 27 2001 Having a small pager-like gizmo which could sit on your belt (or clip to pants, or whatever) and vibrate when your nearby phone was ringing could be cool and useful. While most phones are either too bulky to be comfortably worn on a belt or too tiny to be very useful, splitting the functions would allow one to answer a phone which was e.g. sitting in a nearby jacket pocket or on a nearby table.-- supercat, Dec 28 2001 I'm not sure that [gizmo mum] would approve of that use of her son.-- cp, Dec 28 2001 Brilliant, -alx. Croissant!-- snarfyguy, Dec 28 2001 As per Supercats post there are actually those. Alcatel had something called a vibra clip that basically did so.
Try Searching in google for "vibra clip" and "alcatel vibra clip" there are universal ones taht show for the first search
Call me the bakery finder of thought half baked ideas :)-- noviota, Dec 28 2001 Sorry [noviota], [PeterSealy] has that job already.-- phoenix, Dec 28 2001 I approve, of both idea and its annos.-- dbmag9, Apr 17 2006 How about a clip to attach the phone to body piercing jewlery?-- ideaphoric, Apr 18 2006 The Alcatel vibra clip seems to attach the vibra thingie directly to the phone. My idea would be to have the phone output a wireless signal to a vibrating thingie that could be anywhere within 50-100' or so.-- supercat, Apr 18 2006 Note the [link] regarding a pen-shaped RF detector which senses cellphone activity a few seconds before a ring (or vibrate, or non-ring.)
Irony aside, I have one of these, and it's useful for knowing your phone has received a message, even when you're in a quiet meeting.-- csea, Apr 18 2006 I was thinking of something that would have somewhat better range, and would be a bit more discriminating (the pen blinkies detect nearby cell phone transmissions, but make no effort to determine what they are).
As for pagers, those require separate accounts, etc. My idea would be for a device that would use a short-range wireless link to provide notifications for a particular mobile phone.-- supercat, Apr 18 2006 Okay- I now need this. I just got a cell phone for the first time ( thank you, I'm very proud of it) and have come to realize that I can't hear the ring and I don't really want to carry the phone in my pocket as I have pockets resembling Bobby Brady's (full of toys and crap, and here's a penny from 1964, and a ping pong paddle, and a watch with no strap, and, and..).
So does anyone know if they finally made this thing? I Googled and didn't fare so well. I'm a bad Googler. I do not have sufficient powers in Googlizationalability to find this thing.-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jun 26 2006 What keeps you from hearing the ring? Distaste, deafness, or lack of volume?
Can't you just clip the phone to your belt? By now, cell phones are probably smaller than that external vibrator unit (see link) from 1999.-- jutta, Jun 26 2006 Hard of hearingness is the main reason, my loss is in that high range that conviently most computers make their noises in. I could clip another gadget to my belt but with all of my moving around I don't often feel the pump (diabetic) when it vibrates a warning, plus I'm beginning to feel a lot like batman. A deaf, diabetic, stump fingered, bad kneed batman that doesn't know how to use Google. Not much of a superhero, if you ask me.-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jun 26 2006 Not to mention whiskey drinker and bad bar frequenter.Give me a frequency range you can hear well in and I'll bake and e-mail you a personalised ring tone.-- methinksnot, Jun 26 2006 That would be very cool, thank you. I'm not sure if I will be able to hear it but I'll give it a shot. Besides, when people ask where I got my ringtone I can always reply, "[methinksnot]." They'll think I'm being all snooty and stuff.
My good range is in about that of a deep voiced man or lower. My hearing aids make a very loud beeping noise (in my ear) if I use my watch remote to change the hearing aid program. I wonder if I could tap into that somehow...-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jun 27 2006 Kind of like a James Earl Jones? No problem.What brand and model cellphone did you buy?-- methinksnot, Jun 27 2006 A Verizon PN-215. <overshare moment>My mother got it for me because my wife is with child (that is so cool for me to be able to say that) and it freaked Mom out that we didn't have one. <om>-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jun 27 2006 random, halfbakery