Word: phoning
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Some phones come with voice-recognition devices that enable them to follow verbal orders. These phones have proved especially popular with drivers, who can make a call while keeping both hands on the wheel. Innovative Devices, of Santa Clara, Calif., sells a car phone that "listens" for about $200. Once the owner has programmed up to 100 names, along with the corresponding numbers, he simply tells the phone to call George or Leslie...
After a new voice-synthesizing adapter goes on sale, phones may seem to develop their own crotchety personalities. Example: the phone might announce that "Norman Brown is calling." If the owner punches the code to reject the call, the phone will do the dirty work, politely informing Mr. Brown that the call has not been accepted...
...phone dramatically improves when it is plugged into a telephone network with smarts. The intelligence is provided by special switching equipment running new software developed mostly by AT&T. The equipment has made a range of complex phone features available to about half a million homes in at least six states, from Indiana to New Jersey. The services are collectively known as Custom Local-Area Signalling Services, or CLASS...
Perhaps because it enhances privacy, call blocking is one of the more popular CLASS features. By punching a simple code into the phone, the user can program this service, which rejects calls from certain local numbers. To avoid having to talk to that former boyfriend or that pest of a salesman, the owner can direct the phone to generate a recorded message -- some version of "I'm sorry, the party you have dialed is not accepting your call at this time" -- whenever someone on the list tries to get through. Jeffrey Lipman, 35, a pharmacist in Harrisburg, Pa., has combined...
...CLASS option -- Identa Call -- can save lives. When equipped with this feature, a phone displays the caller's number on a small screen. In Atlantic City, N.J., employees at the Bally's Casino Hotel came to the aid of a heart- attack victim after the feature was programmed into the hotel's internal phone system last November. The guest had placed a desperate call to the front desk but could not stay on the phone long enough to give a name or room number...