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Google gives free telephone numbers to the homeless
"Our goal is to get every single homeless person in San Francisco a local 415 telephone number," says Google's senior product manager of voice products. (San Francisco Chronicle)
February 28, 2008 | Permalink
Comments
That's nice, but whatdoes it have to do with the price of eggs?
Posted by: Jack | Feb 28, 2008 10:05:04 AM
Just another perk of being homeless.
Posted by: beavis | Feb 28, 2008 10:07:56 AM
Only in America is laziness and drunkeness rewarded with free food, shelter, welfare payments, food stamps and now free phones. The homeless are homeless by choice. If they refuse to work, they should be rounded up and institutionalized for the remainder of their days. The homesless have ruined the downtowns on most major cities.
Posted by: Dick Tater | Feb 28, 2008 10:17:29 AM
Well, I'm glad that we've solved the problem with homeless being drug addicts, alcoholics or mentally ill first - leaving them with the sole deficiency of just not having a phone number.
Thanks Google!
Posted by: Nick | Feb 28, 2008 10:26:10 AM
"Having phone service is something most people take for granted," no, i dont take it. bums take. i buy.
Posted by: buddy | Feb 28, 2008 10:27:51 AM
It actually makes a lot of sense from a Human Resources perspective.
Occasionally, we get job applications from people who don't have telephones. So if we want to interview them for a job, we can't because we're unable to get in touch with them.
It would actually help these people find jobs and get them off the streets.
The thing I don't understand is how are these people going to be able to charge the cell phones if they don't have houses?
Posted by: twerp | Feb 28, 2008 10:32:08 AM
What's the problem? You aren't paying for their voice mail accounts. The government is paying for it. Google is paying for it and they can afford to be generous. Also, they aren't getting a phone, just a phone number where people can leave them a message. They can then access the message from any phone. How is that a bad thing?
Posted by: mickie | Feb 28, 2008 10:32:26 AM
You don't have to be homeless to sign up for a free account on Grand Central. If you actually peruse the entire article you'd see that they're only giving away a free VM box, not a phone. I can see where it would be useful to someone who is trying to get off the streets. I think it is a pretty good idea.
Posted by: John | Feb 28, 2008 10:32:50 AM
What's the problem? You aren't paying for their voice mail accounts. The government isn't paying for it. Google is paying for it and they can afford to be generous. Also, they aren't getting a phone, just a phone number where people can leave them a message. They can then access the message from any phone. How is that a bad thing?
Posted by: mickie | Feb 28, 2008 10:33:05 AM
spoo, my bad, I should've read the entire article.
Posted by: twerp | Feb 28, 2008 10:43:55 AM
I'm also really happy that a large company is so generous to help out the poor.
People run into tough times. This really can change some lives.
Posted by: twerp | Feb 28, 2008 10:53:53 AM
This is a great idea. One of the biggest hurdles for a homeless person getting a job is not having any way a prospective employer can contact them quickly. Voicemail boxes solves that problem in a cost-effective, intelligent manner.
Kudos to Google for having the business acumen to do this. Rather than insult the homeless, they have found an inexpensive way to help them get off the street.
Posted by: David | Feb 28, 2008 10:55:28 AM
From the article: "Users can also record their own greeting..."
-----------
"Hello, this is TayShawn and I GOTS A BUNION LOOK JUST LIKE FLIP WILSON!!!! THE GUMMINT PUT BUGS IN MY FILLINGS!!!! SPACE ALIENS IS STEALING MY MAN SEED AT NIGHT!!!! Please leave a message at the beep."
Posted by: Howie Feltersnatch | Feb 28, 2008 11:03:18 AM
I agree with you, David. It's a great idea. It's giving people something *useful* that can help them get a job. It's not a "thing" they can hock or sell somehow, it's a useful thing they can put to work for themselves.
My sister works with the homeless and she's said that two of the most vital things to getting people jobs and off the street (the ones that want that) are the ability to keep decent hygiene/grooming, and the ability to be contacted by future employers.
Posted by: LooseyGoosey | Feb 28, 2008 11:04:10 AM
What's wrong with a private company doing charity work with the homeless? It's Google's money and they can blow it as they please. Giving homeless people a phone number and voice mailbox is a simple thing that can have some real benefits, especially if helps homeless folk get jobs and housing.
If you're that jealous of homeless people getting a Google phone number, you could always claim you're homeless and snag one yourself.
Posted by: Phranqlin | Feb 28, 2008 11:08:38 AM
Loosey, David, it's so great to see people who really understand.
I've worked in Human Resources for the past 3 years and it's so frustrating to try to get in touch with a job applicant who doesn't have a phone.
I've been given phone numbers of friends or relatives of the applicants and have gotten in touch with the applicants that way. The process is so long though and when our departments need workers, they need them ASAP.
Posted by: twerp | Feb 28, 2008 11:13:55 AM
Who's up for some prank calls!?
Posted by: SwarthyTroll | Feb 28, 2008 11:14:29 AM
I'm confused. How about giving every hard working single parent a cell phone...there are plenty of hard working people out there that can't afford a cell phone. I think they should be the first choice. Not the homeless.
Posted by: Cherie | Feb 28, 2008 11:25:13 AM
I'll be hanging out with Swarthy today. Please leave your message after the beep.
Posted by: Soo | Feb 28, 2008 11:27:32 AM
hello you have reached the voicemail of homeless harold. I am not homeless right now but if you leave a message i will return your call as soon as i return homeless, thank you BEEEP
Posted by: ASM | Feb 28, 2008 11:34:32 AM
The phone number is free, but the phone is $399.99 with a 2 year commitment.
Posted by: jilldini | Feb 28, 2008 11:39:03 AM
Cherie: Because presumably the single parent actually has, you know, a house and stuff? Homeless people generally have a cardboard box and mason jar filled with pee. The single parent has probably fulfilled their shelter requirement, while a homeless person hasn't.
Also, since this is a service, it doesn't really cost Google anything. Giving out actual cell phones to single parents would cost.
Posted by: Howie Feltersnatch | Feb 28, 2008 11:39:18 AM
By the way, my first comment was sarcasm.
Posted by: jilldini | Feb 28, 2008 11:41:05 AM
I also recall that San Francisco area homeless are unionized, aren't they? Isn't that what their newspaper is for?
Posted by: Dn | Feb 28, 2008 11:53:52 AM
Google isn't physically handing out cell phones, it's handing out phone numbers and voice mailboxes on an electronic phone messaging service (which it owns). Homeless people can retrieve their voice mail messages using any kind of phone.
Posted by: Phranqlin | Feb 28, 2008 11:56:20 AM
