Get With It!

It sounds simple. “Dial: 1-800-I ARRIVE,” said an executive car service, in its hard-copy letter to us for our trip from New York to Los Angeles. The car service was to take us from the L.A. airport to our destination. Communications at its best?
We didn’t give it two thoughts — that is, until we were standing in the luggage area and attempted to dial 1-800-I ARRIVE on our cell phone — and couldn’t! Communications from another era? Yes, in contrast to most cell phones, nearly every number on a touch-tone or even a dated rotary dial phones (do they still exist?) has three letters below it (e.g., #2 has ABC, #3 has DEF).

Well it ain’t true on my Blackberry, so how do you dial “I ARRIVE”? Fortunately, I had the phone number of the executive offices of the car service and called them to get “I ARRIVE” translated into numbers. We told them of the dilemma, and the company respondent said, “Oh! Good point.”
Companies might consider the same point when they attract callers to employee directories and you are asked to dial the party’s last name. At least a voice over for cell phone users might say: 2=ABC, 3=DEF, 4=GHI, etc. As unwieldy as it might be to take notes, it is one solution until it becomes a requirement that letters must be posted on all phone buttons.

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