Tymta Muvda Carz Agin. Plz.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Good morning, campers.

Please note the following Connect CTY message going out citywide at 8:30 a.m:

Hello, this is Tom Champion calling from the City of Somerville with snow emergency information for Saturday, February 23rd. The City has lifted its snow emergency regulations effective 9 a.m. this morning. Residents parked in municipal or school lots during the snow emergency have a two-hour window in which to move their vehicles once the emergency ends – but today’s window has been extended by one additional hour. Cars still parked in municipal or school lots at 12 noon may be subject to ticketing and towing. Residents, landlords and business owners are required by city regulations to shovel their sidewalks but may not shovel snow into the street. For additional information, please call the city’s 311 constituent service line or visit the city's website at www.somervillema.gov. Thank you.

Comments

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

*dies at the subject line.* Go Tom!

[ron_newman]

I got your phone call around 8:30. At least I think it was your phone call. It went something like this:

Me: Hello.
Male voice at other end: Hello. (Long pause)
Me: Hello?
Male voice at other end: Hello. (Long pause)
Me: Hello?
Male voice at other end: Hello. (Long pause)
Me: Hello?
Female voice cuts in: I'm sorry, we can't hold any longer to deliver this message. Goodbye. (Hangs up.)

About five minutes after this, I got another call, and this time decided not to say anything after the initial Hello. It was your robo-call, presumably trying again.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Did you have ambient noise in the background? A staticky line? If the system "hears" noise on the other end, it pauses and resets.

Some callees, especially those who get their calls on cell phones while walking down the street, say "hello" once then cover their microphones with a thumb.

The Mayor often has screeching offspring in the background (three boys under four will do that to you) and he has to cover the mike with his hand almost every time.

But no matter how they answer, some callers occasionally get anomalous calls that pause, start, pause, start, etc. no matter what. And then there the calls that stutter -- "Hello, this is TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT ... with ssssssssss........." The company is aware of the problem, and they're working on it.

On balance, though, the Connect CTY technology is far better than any other robo-call system I've ever heard or used.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yay Tom Cat! Thanks for the update. :-)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

kthxbye.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

All is right in the world when city officials start speaking in lolcat.

Next robo call - make it macro!!!

any way to opt out of these messages?

[kalimba21.livejournal.com]

Hi Tom -

I love that you follow this live journal. It's like getting a personal ear.

So... I have a driveway and don't really need or like the 8:30am calls, especially on saturdays, a rare opportunity to get to sleep in.

Is there any way to opt out?

Thanks for any insight.

Re: any way to opt out of these messages?

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

You can call or email 311 to ask to be dropped, or just send me the number at which you receive the calls and I'll delete you from the database.

tchampion@somervillema.gov

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

HAHHA. win.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

This made the Somerville Journal's blog:

"Tom Champion roxxorz" by Steve Bagley
http://blogs.townonline.com/somerville/?p=30042