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Posted by walz 4 days ago

Payphone Go(walzr.com)
309 points | 69 commentspage 3
tl2do 8 hours ago|
Quick telephony question: how can calls from payphones to (888) 683-6697 be toll-free for the caller? I’m Japanese, so I may be missing something, but I don’t understand the mechanism that makes this free (or low-cost enough) to run as a free service.
toast0 5 hours ago||
Most countries have some numbers with receiver pays or reverse billing as a feature. Sometimes called 'free phone'.

My research says Japan has several prefixes, 0120, 0800, 0088, 0531, although not all phone numbers in these prefixes are available to all callers.

In the US, holders of a toll free number pay their carrier a per minute rate (sometimes with billing increments of 1 second), as well as a fee per call from payphones.

The per minute pricing is pretty reasonable typically one or two cents per minute; I think the per call cost from a payphone are more significant, although I don't see this listed by most providers; I seem to recall it being pretty hefty (and some toll free numbers would not accept calls from payphones as a result), but maybe changes in the network and intercarrier billing have resulted in a smaller fee or it's just not relevant to most people because payphones are hard to find.

slim 7 hours ago||
the owner of the (888) 683-6697 line pays for incoming calls
qingcharles 15 hours ago||
I wonder if Chicago's last payphone still exists?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt9Vs4k80m8 (2022)

cameronjpr 17 hours ago||
I love this, it's so creative. The audio recordings were a great idea
shevy-java 14 hours ago||
I think every modern state should have some emergency phones. Not everyone has a smartphone, available at all times.
marpstar 14 hours ago||
In many cities there are "Emergency Call Boxes" throughout the streets that are distinct from payphones but operate similarly in that they allow you to get in contact with emergency services.
IncreasePosts 13 hours ago||
I'm sure most strangers or businesses would call 911 for you if you asked and appeared to need it
zontyp 13 hours ago||
quite cool man.

wonder what the benefits could be of the game. one is that we now know which phones are tested ok.

also it can be like a local public radio where anyone could come in and voice something...

enjoyed playing with this.

FugeDaws 18 hours ago||
Damn this needs building for the UK payphones there are a dying breed too and they used to be everywhere
jonty 7 hours ago||
We actually ran something similar in the UK a couple of years ago but had to shut it down due high costs.

However we recently figured out how to do it in a way that won't bankrupt us, so keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks...

https://payphone.team

pjmlp 17 hours ago||
In Germany some of the booths were converted into public libraries, those that people use to freely exchange books.

They are rare, but I have already spot some in the wild.

FugeDaws 17 hours ago||
yeh UK went from 100,000+ now i think theres 20,000 left half of those i bet dont work
bknis53423 16 hours ago||
As a GIS programmer and a payphone nerd. I love love love this.
citizenpaul 11 hours ago||
The recording left on this one is super weird and creepy like its from some ARG game which I guess is appropriate.

The next night we ate whale, the next night we ate whale.

https://walzr.com/payphone-go/?phone=592

Runner Up this one playing "Im at a payphone" song

https://walzr.com/payphone-go/?phone=576

mx60s 8 hours ago|
the whale thing is from a really great poem by Tao Lin. You can watch him perform the whole thing on youtube
jasonjayr 18 hours ago||
How is it verifying the calling line? Via ANI, or CID?
libria 17 hours ago|
Trying to win this from your couch, I see...
jasonjayr 16 hours ago||
It's in good fun, physically visiting them is way more fun than handing a SIP trunk to a short script + CSV file.

The nerd in me is just always curious about the backend :)

xd1936 18 hours ago|
Incredible idea. I love this so much.
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