In American history, there are few electronic devices that we have grown
more dependant on than our cell phones.

And, fewer yet that are misplaced or forgotten more often.

Because the cell phone is constantly with us, these gadgets can be lost
in a variety of places, including malls, retail stores, even churches and
other places of worship.

Depending on our method of travel, we often misplace our phones in cars,
buses or on subways.

In large cities like Chicago, cell phones are the leading electronic device
found most often in the back seats of taxi cabs. In fact, according to a PC
World article, over 80,000 of these gadgets are found in Windy City taxies
alone each year.

While most cell phones eventually make their way back to their owners, a
growing number eventually end up stolen.

Why would a thief want with a cell phone?

In the past, when our cell phones were used only as a means of communication,
a thief often stole a phone to rack up hundreds - and sometimes thousands - of
dollars in fraudulent calls.

While this is still popular a method for most cell phone thieves, there may be
more ominous reasons for a thief to want your phone.

Depending on the information you’ve stored on your phone, a stolen phone can
actually increase your risk of identity theft.

How?

When you think about it, our cell phone contains a lot of information about us
and the people we know. We often store:

Contact Information: such as names, addresses and phone numbers
of our family, friends and business acquaintances.

Financial Information: including bank and credit card numbers, safety
deposit box information and others. A few of us store more sensitive information,
such as a spouse or child’s Social Security Number.

Access Information: such as Personal Identification Numbers (PINs),
passwords, along with other codes used to access our private information.

In the best case scenario, thieves could use the phone’s contact list to sell to
mass marketing firms or the growing market of data brokers found on the internet.

The worst case scenario?

If thieves finds enough information from your cell phone to piece together, they can easily steal your
identity, apply for credit, or wipe out your bank account.

In the event that your cell phone is lost, or presumed stolen, here’s what to do:

(1.) Call your carrier immediately to suspend your cell phone service. The
sooner, the better! You’ll be liable for any calls placed on the phone before the
service suspended, so it’s best to hurry.

(2.) File a theft report with the police in the county you believe the cell phone
was taken. You’ll be issued a case number for the report. Keep it handy! Your
carrier will most likely request it, and if your phone was insured, that agency will need
a copy too.

(3.) Notify Financial and Credit Institutions such as banks, credit bureaus and
other financial businesses if the cell phone contained sensitive information regarding
business with that agency. Have them flag your account. This should deter most
criminals from gaining access to your finances.

For now, the best way to protect your cell phone and personal information is to lock
the phone after every use.

Sure, it’s an inconvenience. But, it’s also the easiest way to prevent any unauthorized
access to both your phone’s service and data.

Sandra Landwehr is the webmaster of The-Cell-Phone-Advisor.com, a consumer awareness site which offers National Carrier Reviews (Pros and Cons), Prepaid Cell Phone Comparisons and insightful, well researched advice on choosing your cell phone and service.

Previously we explored the history and technology that gave
rise to VOIP Telephone service (*see footnotes). Today we will examine
some of the benefits and also the drawbacks of this new opportunity.

In previous articles we discovered that traditional “Landline” type
phone service is set up much like a “Toll Highway”. Billing starts
when the “Circuit” is opened, and continues until it is closed.
Just like travelling down a Tollway, the longer you stay on, and the
farther you travel, the more “Toll Booths” you pass through. These
toll booths are the phone company’s switches, and you get charged
for every one that you pass through.

In contrast, VOIP phones use “Packet” switching. As the broadband
Internet connection is always open, digitized voice signals are
sent to the receiver in discrete packets. The result is that no
“dead air” exists on the line, as no traffic is sent when there is
a lull or pause in the conversation. This allows several two-way
conversations to use the same “bandwidth”, or space that previously
was tied up by ONE call.

This has resulted in great economy for VOIP providers who in turn
pass along the savings to the end user. Most top VOIP plans run
around 30 dollars a month, and the best include International calls
to many countries worldwide within that base fee along with a host
of features like Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Three-way
Calling, Online Access, Etc.

While most major traditional carriers have an “all inclusive” plan,
none that I know of include International calling, and most of their
“basic” plans are double the cost of VOIP. In my experience, the most
coveted features are also charged extra for. Add in the taxes and fees,
and all of a sudden you’re talking REAL money!

The other great benefit of VOIP is the ability to take your device
anywhere and make calls just like you were at home. The best services
are fully find-me, follow-me capable. This means that wherever you
happen to be, your phone number will find you and ring at THAT location.
I use mine with a Laptop, a cheap cigarette lighter a/c converter,
a wireless card, and an old “princess” phone in my truck parked outside
of hotspots all the time. That’s huge. You can have your office in
whatever hotel or airport or Starbucks you happen to be in at the moment.

Having covered most of the benefits of VOIP, let’s examine some of
the drawbacks. The major one is spotty 911 service availability. As
the device is portable, any call to 911 will result in emergency
crews being sent to the device’s address of record, which is set up
when you activate the VOIP device and service. Obviously this doesn’t
do you much good if you are in a hotel in Montana but live in Ohio.

One way around this is to change your address with your provider when
you travel, and then change it back when you return home. Of course,
this only works with domestic addresses, and you must remember to do it.

A better way is to ignore the issue entirely, and keep a very basic,
cheap, no frills service plan with your local phone provider. This will
still be cheaper by far than a full blown plan. Also, you avoid the other
main issue with VOIP- Power Outages. If power goes out, or you lose your
Internet Connection, you lose your phone service. Of course, you run
that risk with today’s cordless phones too, so it’s always a good idea
to have an old hardwired phone around the house, or at least a cell
phone available.

*footnotes: See http://ezinearticles.com/?id=144018

Glenn R. Grundberg is an Active Internet Marketer specializing in Affiliate Products and Programs, including Top, Innovative MLM Opportunities.
Mr. Grundberg is also a Contractor, Master Electrician, and Low-Voltage and Communications Expert Certified by BICSI and several Major Hardware Manufacturers. Mr. Grundberg writes on a variety of subjects, and Consults on Major Construction Projects Worldwide. Mr. Grundberg also Sits on several Codes and Standards Commitees Including the NFPA 72 for Fire Alarms.

http://www.theaffiliatebusinessreview.com
Honest, Ethical reviews of Top Products and Programs.

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“Happy Birthday,” reads the text message on your mobile phone. It’s from your favorite restaurant, and it’s accompanied by an email from the owner, who offers to buy you that appetizer you’ve always loved.

You pass by a poster promoting your favorite band’s upcoming release.

It contains a code, and if you send it via text message (SMS), they’ll give you the inside track on the release date, along with a couple of sample MP3s.

Meanwhile, your local florist texts you a reminder of your sister’s anniversary, and a 15% off discount if you phone in an order to send out a bouquet today.

Personalized, targeted, and, above all else, desired– For these companies, mobile technology didn’t merely offer a chance to get their foot in the door. They were enthusiastically invited in.

If you’re considering making use of today’s mobile phone technology for marketing your business, you’ll find it surprisingly easy to implement. It’s dramatically less expensive than traditional advertising and promotional methods, as well. And, it allows you to target your message precisely to the ones most likely to buy– That means, fewer wasted dollars.

Is it the right tool for your business?
These marketing techniques already have nearly a 15-year track history in many European and Asian countries. Regardless of what type of business you are in, someone is bound to have forged the trail ahead of you.

Generally speaking, these are the primary qualifiers:

If your products or services have pricing tiers that you can easily define; e.g., complimentary appetizer when you order two drinks; a free rose with every flower arrangement you order, etc.

If your customers are likely to have and use current G3 mobile technology.

And chances are they do. Most mobile phones in use are multimedia-capable. A large percentage of these owners use them for checking their email and browsing the Internet. And age doesn’t seem to be a big factor– The market penetration of multi-media phone ownership doesn’t drop off significantly until after age 55– And even that’s respectable, at around 30 to 25%.

The size of your business.

The size has less to do with whether or not you employ these methods, but how best to go about implementing them.

Software applications are available, for those on a budget. They may also be the right choice if some characteristic of your business is so unique it requires you to create a campaign specifically for your operation.

Or you can turn the whole thing over to a mobile application service provider (MASP). It’s likely you’ll even find one that specializes in your particular industry. You’ll be able to choose from a selection of campaigns with a proven track record, and the company can handle everything from launching each promotion to gathering and managing your database of contacts.

MASPs offer a variety of packages, and choosing the right one will depend on how much creative control you want to have, and, of course, your budget.

Why have mobile marketing campaigns proven to be such a success? Industry specialists say it’s because they forge, or strengthen, a relationship between business operators and customers– And the fact that this relationship feels personal is the key.

That means, it builds two-way loyalty between customers and business operators. And it keeps the company’s name fresh in customers’ minds. Given the high expense, and questionable success rate, of traditional advertising, mobile marketing offers methods that are refreshingly inexpensive, and that more than pay for themselves.

Daniel Cavalli is an article writer based in Brisbane Australia. He publishes articles and reports for the Australian Telecommunications Service Provider Telcoblue. http://www.telcoblue.com.au

Why Should You Care About VoIP?

You might have seen the Vonage and other service providers offer ultra-cheap or cheaper voice calling service via your broadband internet connection. Voice over IP service providers use the internet to carry voice signals from their networks to your home phone. Because VoIP telecommunication is not regulated the way traditional phone line telecommunication is, VoIP providers can offer drastically lower calling rates.

Skeptics talk about the quality of VoIP not being the same as regular land lines. They contend that you may to put up with the occasional hiccup in your voice service, caused by the one thing legacy telephone technology has built-in that VoIP does not: guaranteed quality. This might have been true a couple of years ago, but as mentioned before, things are changing and the movement is afoot to adapt quality-of-service techniques to VoIP services so that you calls are just as good as land line calls. As a former Marine and communcations officer, I can wholeheartedly vouch for this technology. If we can make it work out in the middle of a field, it can certainly work in the home.

If someone offered me a way to make a lot of money with this technology I would want to know about it. Why? Because the telecommunication industry is a billion dollar a year industry and the shift that is occurring is in its infancy. If one were to position his or herself in the path of change, one could potentially get very rich introducing this shift to people and saving them hundreds of dollars every year.

You owe it to yourself to check out the benefits this technology has to offer and implement the changes in either your home, business, or both. It’s certainly worth a look if you are paying too much for your phone services.

Reginald Sinevet is a former Marine and communications officer. He is currenly a manager with Lightyear Alliance. To sign up for VoIP service or to contact Reginald, visit http://voipsolution.lightyearalliance.com

I’ve used VoIP technology for the past few years for my home
line, and recently made the switch to using VoIP for my business,
as well. For those who may not know, the acronym VoIP stands for
“voice-over-ip”, and, essentially, means that our phone calls can
now travel over data lines, much the same way our email does.

If you follow telecommunications at all, you may remember the
early days of this kind internet telephony: users needed a
computer, an internet connection, and a headset with microphone
in order to make and receive calls. The amount of equipment
required was rather cumbersome, and one could only make calls
while sitting at the computer. Now, though, the communications
landscape has changed, as VoIP can be utilized in much the same
way as a traditional land-line– you can use a wireless phone and
take VoIP around the house, or you can get a so-called “soft
phone”, which enables you to take your calling around the world.

VoIP plans are less expensive than traditional calling plans, and
come standard with desirable features such as call-waiting,
call-forwarding, 3-way calling, and voicemail. In fact, you can
even have your voicemail delivered as an audio file to your email
account, saving you the time and hassle of calling in to retrieve
messages.

Aside from the cost savings, calling features, and convenience,
(reasons 1, 2, and 3) VoIP is great for business in seven other
ways. First, you can choose your area code. So, for example, if
you have clients in Los Angeles, but you work from New York, you
can obtain a Los Angeles area code so you seem to be right next
door. This can be a good way to create a business presence in
multiple cities very cost effectively. Next, you can order
toll-free lines for less than traditional carriers. Having a toll
free line makes your business seem bigger. Also, you can take
your calling plan on the road when you travel, and can use your
’softphone’ to make calls to/from hotels. No more paying
exorbitant fees for local calls, which saves you money (reason 6)

The higher end VoIP plans allow you to place an unlimited number
of calls for one set fee. This can help you budget your business
expenses more effectively. You can forward calls to any number
when you’re out of the office, meaning more flexibility. VoIP
also allows you to call internationally for very low rates, so
you can expand your business reach and influence across the
globe. (reason 9). Setting up a VoIP phone system is easy, and
can often be done in less than five minutes, provided you have high
speed internet and an IP-usable phone (reason 10).

So, for all these reasons, VoIP is great for business. It’s
affordable, convenient, and simple to use. As the world of
business gets more complex, it’s nice to know your
telecommunication systems doen’t have to follow suit.

Jane Perkis is a technology enthusiast who uses VoIP for home and business. Please visit http://www.voice-over-ip-advice to learn more about VoIP for your home or office.