Cell Phone Backup for 911

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Everyone knows that it's a great idea to have a cellular phone to call 911 in an emergency--but only a minority of us have one.

SOLUTION: Most old cell phones that have once been activated, STILL WORK TO CALL 911--even AFTER they are deactivated. You can usually pick them up for 5 bucks or so at garage sales (but definitely test them first). Even though I have a digital cell phone, I picked up an old analog cell phone to use when out in rural areas where digital doesn't work.

Even if you are not travelling, it is a great backup to your home or office phone for Y2K. Now let's just hope that Y2K is not so bad that 911 is down for the count (or, worse, that getting through to 911 doesn't do you any good).

Hope it helps,

Nick

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CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR

- Bulletproof Vests for Law-Abiding Civilians -

888-374-7029 * 512-647-7147 * solutions@access1.net

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-- CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR (solutions@access1.net), September 19, 1999

Answers

Cell phones work through a "cell", a repeater of sorts. If there is no electricty the cell can't work unless it has back up power. Some do, many do not. Mike

-- Mike (mwomble@luminet.net), September 19, 1999.

Don't forget that cell phones connect through the "regular" phone system for switching and routing between cell towers. If the local phone system goes down the cellphones go down, too. An awful lot of cell phone users in LA keep learning this lesson each earthquake.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), September 19, 1999.


Excellent points. At home, the cell will help you if a thief cuts your phone line, or the outage is just local to you, and not systemic. But excellent reminders that nothing, by itself, is a guarantee--you can only better your odds by diversifying your options. In any event, it's worth picking up a cell, just for when you are mobile.

Have a Plan A and B and C (Ragnar Benson's Rule of Threes for the important stuff).

Nick

=======================================================

CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR

- Bulletproof Vests for Law-Abiding Civilians -

888-374-7029 * 512-647-7147 * solutions@access1.net

=======================================================

-- CONCEALABLE BODY ARMOR (solutions@access1.net), September 20, 1999.


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