Sunday, November 2, 2008

Temporary Phone Numbers

So, last week we had the Phillies World Series parade, where I had planned on meeting up with friends from all over the state. I knew Twitter and my cellphone would be the best tool in the enormous crowds, but I didn't want to broadcast my cellphone number for the world to see.
Alas, I couldn't find a running Septa train to get me to the parade, but I did find a solution for my phone.

I heard about Numbr.com a few months ago on Twitter, as some of my followings were preparing to attend an educational technology conference. They wanted to be able to contact each-other, without losing all privacy by giving out their cellphone numbers. The idea is simple (I have no idea how it actually works, only that it does!): You click on the "get a free number" link, it then assigns one (you can choose one in your area code, too). From that point, you put in the phone number you want it forwarded to, along with some settings like automatic forwarding to voicemail, blocking telemarketers, and more. Most importantly, you set how long your free, temporary number will last before it automatically expires. 
The timeliness of this post is mostly due to the fact that I wanted to keep my current "inumbr" through the duration of BarCamp Philly (November 8, folks!!!), so I can network on the go. I'm hoping this solution works for others attending BarCamp, or any other event. For a brief video walk-through, watch below: 

p.s. I will post my inumbr via Twitter on Wednesday. ;)
photo credit: Karmalize

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