View Full Version : Anonymiseme - the safe way to give out your mobile number on forums
scuba2_diver
20-05-08, 09:57 AM
Hi guys and girls,
I've found a new website with a great new concept.
The site is www.anonymiseme.co.uk (http://www.anonymiseme.co.uk/) and it is totally free!
the idea is that once you subscribe to the site they issue a new mobile number that you can give out on forums, dating sites, pubs, clubs, write on walls, whatever floats your boat. The trick is that the number isnt your real number is simple one that you "hide" behind - messages sent to the anonymiseme number are sent through their server and forwarded on to your real mobile number while hiding the senders number behind its own anonymiseme number
Why go to all this bother? havent we all given out our mobile number to someone and wished later we hadnt? yes you can ignore them, switch your phone off of just change your number, but what a pain? The beauty of anonymiseme is that you can tell the server to block particular senders from sending you messages, you can also pause and restart the service if you are in an important meeting for example?
Check it out, it seems like a really good concept and its free - what could be better than that?
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If this worked for calls too, it'd be ideal for an impending situation I'm facing.
But it doesn't, so it's not. I'll stick with my VoIP forwarders instead :)
scuba2_diver
20-05-08, 10:51 AM
It doesnt at the moment, this is just the free version, but I understand it might in the future.
good luck with whatever they situation you are in is.
good luck with whatever they situation you are in is.
Cheers, nothing particularly exciting, just business. Having a number that's easily portable, whilst not being my actual number is handy for a number of reasons (like stopping clients calling at 4am after I've had a night on the pop :lol:).
yorkie_chris
20-05-08, 12:19 PM
So, whats in it for them?
They just selling everyones number to some muppet in a call centre in Bingla-bongla who's going to try to sell me a mobile phone (ironic), double glazing etc etc??
Cheers, nothing particularly exciting, just business. Having a number that's easily portable, whilst not being my actual number is handy for a number of reasons (like stopping clients calling at 4am after I've had a night on the pop :lol:).
Have a look here:
http://www.btsmartnumbers.com/
and give them a ring, talk to John Johnson, tell him Dan at Northern Doctors recommended you call.
They can do all kinds of useful stuff, virtual call centres, comfort messaging, fax to email, you name it.
Blue_SV650S
20-05-08, 07:40 PM
If this worked for calls too, it'd be ideal for an impending situation I'm facing.
But it doesn't, so it's not. I'll stick with my VoIP forwarders instead :)
What you stalking someone and you don't want them to know its you making breathing noises down the other end of the line?!?! :D
So what do Anonymiseme get out of it? :scratch: ... apart from '000s of mobile numbers to sell to a 3rd party ;)
scuba2_diver
21-05-08, 08:22 AM
So, whats in it for them?
They just selling everyones number to some muppet in a call centre in Bingla-bongla who's going to try to sell me a mobile phone (ironic), double glazing etc etc??
lol... thats very cinical of you... when I registered all I had to do was send Join to 077814844001, they haven't recorded any other infomation about me - age/sex/location/etc - so as a number collecting exercise it would be pretty useless data to pay for... wouldnt it?
maybe its a proof of concept or something... I havent seen anything like it before???
lol... if it makes you feel better you could send me some cash and pretend you're paying for the service ;)
Have a look here:
http://www.btsmartnumbers.com/
and give them a ring, talk to John Johnson, tell him Dan at Northern Doctors recommended you call.
They can do all kinds of useful stuff, virtual call centres, comfort messaging, fax to email, you name it.
At the risk of derailling (:oops:), I've already looked into all sorts of stuff like that. I'm toying with renting office space etc, but I'd only be there when I *needed* to be, so looking at the virtual call centre solutions etc.
I've had a look around the BT website, and there's no pricing plans specified on it that I can see. I'm always sceptical of companies that don't freely announce prices, it usually means it's expensive.
Thanks for the thought though. :)
SoulKiss
21-05-08, 08:35 AM
lol... thats very cinical of you... when I registered all I had to do was send Join to 077814844001, they haven't recorded any other infomation about me - age/sex/location/etc - so as a number collecting exercise it would be pretty useless data to pay for... wouldnt it?
maybe its a proof of concept or something... I havent seen anything like it before???
lol... if it makes you feel better you could send me some cash and pretend you're paying for the service ;)
how nieve........
Nothing is EVER free, especially something that costs the other person nothing.
Cold callers dont care who you are etc, only that the number is valid and active.
They will also may be able to harvest your friends mobile numbers.
Same with "IM smiley" deals and Online Greetings Cards, even those "click here to send link to a friend" things on webpages, all designed to gather valid email addresses or phone numbers.
So its not just you you are opening up for spam, but any of your friends who you contact using any of these "services"
scuba2_diver
21-05-08, 02:26 PM
how nieve indeed......
if it will set your mind at rest... I know your numbers are safe from cold callers because its not just a website I've stubled across its a bit of a pet project that I've been working on for a few year.
Its free at the moment because we want to prove the concept. costs are covered by the nature of the way that telco providers cross charge. there is no profit being made out of this, but equally there are no significant losses at the moment either.
there is no threat of spam because there is no margin in that for us.
We have tried to take the concept to various dating sites etc in the past, with billing models, but they just dont get it.
by launching anonymiseme, the hope was to show real world proof of concept - would you be happier if you got charged for the numbers and messages??
yorkie_chris
21-05-08, 02:32 PM
I thought the OP sounded a bit like an advert ;-)
Sound idea if you can get it to take off and not just con every fecker who uses it. Personally I've got no interest in it as a service, nothing personal I just have no use for it.
Good luck to you getting it off the ground.
SoulKiss
21-05-08, 02:32 PM
how nieve indeed......
if it will set your mind at rest... I know your numbers are safe from cold callers because its not just a website I've stubled across its a bit of a pet project that I've been working on for a few year.
Its free at the moment because we want to prove the concept. costs are covered by the nature of the way that telco providers cross charge. there is no profit being made out of this, but equally there are no significant losses at the moment either.
there is no threat of spam because there is no margin in that for us.
We have tried to take the concept to various dating sites etc in the past, with billing models, but they just dont get it.
by launching anonymiseme, the hope was to show real world proof of concept - would you be happier if you got charged for the numbers and messages??
See thats the problems with these things - the guys behind it are NEVER up-front about it - lol :p
The 2 problems I can see are
1) Its too good to be true -and EVERYONE says they wont pass on your details, yet through single use mailboxes etc I know thats not true - and all I have is your word on it.
2) It would be inherently DANGEROUS for anyone to deal with someone on a dating site who isnt upfront and honest enough to give a real number. I have a friend who seriously considered setting one up and looked at it from a load of angles. He gave up on the idea as his desire for easy cash was over-ruled by how would he feel if someone got attacked/killed due to meeting someone through his site.
Anonymity has its place, but person to person contact isnt it.
And the government/police would be forever on your back under the RIPA act
Sounds good & something I would be happy to use.
I know somebody who is going to change their mobile number after getting to many crank calls when they advertised their bike for sale on MCN :shock:
The problem I see is it doesn't work for calls, so it wouldn't be much use to give it to someone, either for dating or advertising, you don't know how they are going to call you or text you. Plus say you give it out to someone for dating, they are going to find out when they can't call you, you have to own up & you'll have ruined your chances if you decide you do actually like them :lol:
At the risk of derailling (:oops:), I've already looked into all sorts of stuff like that. I'm toying with renting office space etc, but I'd only be there when I *needed* to be, so looking at the virtual call centre solutions etc.
I've had a look around the BT website, and there's no pricing plans specified on it that I can see. I'm always sceptical of companies that don't freely announce prices, it usually means it's expensive.
Thanks for the thought though. :)
Ring John and talk to him. They can do a lot more than you'll see on the BT site, and their pricing is not stupid either.
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