Comments on: Idea #3: Dropped Call Registry

By: Adam Seever

Adam Seever — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:52:11 +0000

Interesting idea. Carriers maintain their own (very detailed) data on calls that actually get dropped, but that data won’t become public, and also doesn’t account for calls that couldn’t be made because of a lack of signal. So something that reported dead zones would be useful for both carriers and the public, and dropped call info would be useful to the public.

+1 on the idea of something that isn’t self-reported because of potential abuse, but agreed that it is paradoxical for reporting network outtages.

This could be useful if you were trying to determine which carrier to go with based on where you live, whether your cell phone would work at the apartment you’re looking at, and the more general “is it down for everyone or just me” for a particular location.

By: damonclinkscales

damonclinkscales — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:04:52 +0000

I’m glad the Mark the Spot app is there. I guess it doesn’t work too well if the network is having problems, but it has the benefit of *not* being self-reported (which is subject to abuse). What I am thinking of here is something that’s cross-carrier and public, which no telecom company will ever provide.

By: Willie Abrams

Willie Abrams — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:55:46 +0000

I use the AT&T mark the spot app, too.

By: Chris Treadaway

Chris Treadaway — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:21:05 +0000

I really think this is cool — kind of like a BSOD log file for Windows but treating a dropped call on a cell phone like the crash.

I’d add details on the hardware & firmware version… but that’s about my only nit. All told that information should be easy to capture and send to a server upon next data or wireless network connection.

CHris

By: maczter

maczter — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:43:53 +0000

Hmm…

AT&T is doing this with the “Mark The Spot” app released a couple of weeks ago.

More info here:

http://appshopper.com/utilities/att-mark-the-spot

http://gizmodo.com/5420524/mark-the-spot-iphone-app-tells-att-where-they-suck

While a lot of people initially say “how can I report a spot with no service if I have no service, you can do it as long as you’re willing to fire up the app so it can grab your location, then fill in the info and move or travel to somewhere where you actually do have service.