There is no doubt that Smartphone technology is rapidly evolving. Every day, it seems as if there is a new wireless device coming out or, for that matter, a mobile app coming out.
By the last count, as of last year, there were 100 billion mobile apps that were created and downloaded primarily from the Apple Store and Google Play.
With all of these new developments occurring, it was recently announced that Verizon has petitioned the FCC to have permission to shut down four of its legacy services, as follows:
1) Person to Person Calling
2) Third Number Calling
3) Collect Calling
4) Inmate Collector Operator Services
These terms may not even ring a bell with people today because they are so outdated. For example, with the third item–collect calling–usually, the person accepting the call is charged for the long-distance phone call rather than the person making the call. For the fourth item, these are phone services available to people incarcerated in prison. Verizon has been the primary carrier for these kinds of services.
The main reason cited for shutting down these four services is a simple lack of customer demand for them. This is because, these days, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the main technology which is being used to make such calls.
Essentially, VoIP allows you to make calls over the Internet. The best example of this is Skype. When you communicate with somebody over this particular medium, the actual voice is being broken down into individual data packets at the computer of origin. They then traverse across the Internet and are subsequently reassembled at the computer of destination in order for the call to be made.
Finally, according to a Verizon spokesperson, “. . . customers today already overwhelmingly make voice calls or communicate using alternative services and products from Verizon or other providers that perform the same functions as these services.”
GeoTel Communications, LLC, provides fiber route maps that help businesses visualize telecom data and locate fiber for predictive analytics and location-based intelligence. If interested in obtaining these datasets, call (800) 277-2172.
