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Wednesday, February 9, 2000
10A
they've got your number
hen the phone rings at Dusty Coultis' apartment, he and his three roommates do not answer the call right away.
Each student has a Caller ID display unit in his bedroom, allowing him to quickly and easily check the caller's name and telephone number.
It helps the students to avoid people they do not want to talk to, and the roommate whom the call is for answers it.
"I always have to check who's calling before I pick it up," said Coultis, Bucyrus sophomore, who has used Caller ID for several years. "It would be a big adjustment if I didn't have it."
Phone companies say Caller ID units, which provide subscribers with the caller's name, number and time and date of call, have become one of the most popular telephone options since they became available to the public about five or six years ago. Companies say it has dramatically changed the way people use the phone.
Changing the Phone Industry
"This is the biggest thing to come along in the phone industry since the cordless phone," said Terry Kroon, assistant manager at Office Depot, 2525 Iowa St.
He said more and more phone manufacturers had started introducing models with the display units built in. Between 30 and 40 percent of the phones sold at Office Depot include Caller ID features, he said.
"I always have to check who's calling before I pick it up," said Dusty Coultis, Bucyrus sophomore, who has used Caller ID for several years. "It would be a big adjustment if I didn't have it."
Story by Lori O'Toole Photos by Lucas Krump
Kroon said the cordless phones with the display unit on the receiver were the most popular.
"It itmes it easier for the user, and they don't have to worry about connecting the table-top units," he said.
Liz Villanueva, a Southwestern Bell sales agent who works in the corporate office in San Antonio, Texas, estimated that more than 90 percent of the company's customers had Caller ID.
She said that although the company did not track use in specific regions, there probably were hundreds of Caller ID users in the Lawrence area. The price in Kansas is about $7.50 a month through Southwestern Bell.
"I only talk to about 10 people a day that don't have it," Villanueva said, adding that she usually speaks to about 150 customers daily.
Shari Ernst, operations manager of BasicPhone, a company that also provides Caller ID to Lawrence residents, said a little more than 30 percent of her 13,000 customers had the service.
BasicPhone, based in Orange, Texas, also offers the option of Call Waiting ID. With this service, subscribers can see information about incoming callers while they are talking on the other line. However, this function only operates if the user already has both Call Waiting and Caller ID. She said this service had become increasingly popular since it became available about a year and a half ago.
According to Southwestern Bell representatives, more than 90 percent of the company's customers have Caller ID. One of the most popular phone options, Caller ID has revolutionized phone use.
Ernst said that the Caller ID service cost between $8 and $10 a month and that Call Waiting ID cost between $10 and $15 a month.
"As common and popular as it is becoming, it will make straight Caller ID obsolete," she said. "It's gotten insane with the screening, but I guess that's what the public wants and what they're paying for."
Caller ID Uses
Erika Dodd, Topeka junior, said she has had Caller ID for about a year and a half. She said that she used it to see who called and did not leave a message and that it also offered a form of security.
"I'm a girl living without my parents, and I feel like it protects me," she said.
For example, she said she would not answer the phone if she knew beforehand that the person calling was someone who frightened her or made her nervous.
Dodd said she and her roommates mainly used Caller ID to screen calls.
There may be many reasons why a specific number would not show up on a display unit, instead saying "out of area," "unavailable" or "blocked." A number may be unlisted or a call may be long distance. Pay phones also often show up that way, and callers can have their numbers blocked by pressing *67* before dialing.
"If it's out of area, we usually don't answer it unless we're expecting a long-distance call," she said.
Ernst said many telemarketing companies paid for the option of having their numbers unlisted to reduce the chances of residents not answering their phone.
Dodd said that was one of the reasons why she and roommates did not answer such calls. She said they ignored about 10 to 15 out-of-area calls each week.
Billy Pike, assistant manager at GECKO Communications, a telemarketing service at 2449 Iowa St. said Caller
"When you're making so many calls, someone's going to answer the phone," he said. "In the long run, we're still dialing. It's not a concern."
Kansas law requires telemarketing companies to register on Caller ID units unless their technology is incapable of doing so.
ID had not harmed the business.
Sherry Hoover, Parkville, Mo., freshman and McCollum Hall resident, said she probably would subscribe to the service if it were available. She said she and her roommate purchased an answering machine when they first arrived on campus and learned that Caller ID was not available.
Caller ID Limitations
The Caller ID option is unavailable to more than 3,500 students living in university housing, including scholarship halls and resident halls.
Another limitation of the service concerns many students who have roommates.
Because phone numbers usually are registered in one person's name, Caller IDs may be misleading because they show one name when it is actually another person calling.
"It isn't as secure without it," she said. "It would be helpful."
Most phone services can change the name registered with a telephone number, making it convenient for students to have their name — or someone else's — listed with their numbers.
"One of our friends changed his number to Gunther Cunningham (Kansas City Chiefs head coach), and we thought it would be cool to do something like that," he said. "We thought it was so funny."
Chris Pivonka, Alameda, Calif., senior, and his three roommates have their number listed under a phony identity: Pat and Carrie Manuts. Pivonka said he admitted it was vulgar, but the humor made it worthwhile.
Pivonka said he and his roommates' parents and friends all got a laugh at their phony identification. But he said he and his roommates relied on their Caller ID unit for more than just a chuckle.
"I've had it for four of five years," he said. "I check it all the time."