Posted by Walter on Jun 26, 2012 in
Featured
For Crystal, the manager of a family restaurant and catering company in California’s Central Valley, Mr. Number is a valued member of the team.
“I can stay in touch with my staff, vendors and clients without the constant interruption of being on the phone. Mr. Number tells people where I am and what I’m doing… or what they need to do.”
Because she’s wary about auto safety (and expensive moving violations), she’s determined to “never use my cell phone in the car.” Instead, Crystal updates her Availability in Mr. Number to let callers know when she’s stuck in traffic or making a supply run.
If a call comes in while she’s behind the wheel, Text Back Availability tells callers when they can expect to hear from her. “Last week, I was waiting on a call from one of our chefs, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk to him. After he called, he got an automatic text message letting him know I’d be late because of a freeway accident.”
Good timing and clear communication are essential to providing quality food service. “Because he knew I’d be late, he delayed some dishes so we everything came out of the kitchen on time. Nothing worse than overcooked shrimp!”
Today, Crystal’s favorite feature is the incoming call prompt that displays who’s calling, along with the last time they called and the last text message they sent. “In a second or two, I can see what my team is up to or a client’s last text message, all without breaking my stride. I love Mr. Number!”
Posted by Walter on Apr 18, 2012 in
Featured
From time to time, parents ask if we can help enforce the rules they set for using mobile phones. We can make it more likely that kids will use their phones responsibly, but the most important thing is to set clear expectations about what’s acceptable. If you haven’t already established ground rules, expect some unwelcome surprises!
If young children have cell phones, parents need to be aware of who they’re talking to. Use the Blocklist to identify numbers that can reach your kids, or you can block every number that’s not already a trusted contact. When unapproved numbers call, our app will pick up and hang up the line automatically.
Mr. Number stores a history of phone activity and keeps a list of the Top 25 numbers that call and text most frequently. We also display the #1 contact from the last 30 days, along with alerts about calls that haven’t yet been returned. With these features, you can see who your children talk to at a glance.
A recent study reports that children aged 12 to 17 send a median of 60 text messages each day, with older girls sending about 100! Following a budget is a great skill to learn when we’re young, which is why you and your kids can easily track the number of text messages and call minutes used in the last 30 days.
Some parents collect their kids’ phones during homework time, but our app makes that unnecessary. To reduce homework distractions, use Availability to select Voicemail mode, then create a custom message like “studying for Spanish test.”
If you activate “Send text back to callers,” when a friend calls or texts your child, the call will go straight to voicemail and the caller will automatically receive a text message.
Availability also reduces distractions while driving. We recently heard from a nervous dad whose daughter just got her license. Our suggestion? Ask her to set Availability to Silent whenever she’s behind the wheel. If she sticks with the practice, she’ll be one of the least-distracted drivers in her social set.
According to one mom we talked to, eliminating constant reminders about not using the phone in the car or during homework/dinner time avoids mutually annoying conversations and promotes mutual trust and respect. It’s certainly worth a try!
One last note: apps update constantly with new features, including ours. If your kids use communications apps, check in with them every now and then to see what’s new or changed.
Posted by Walter on Feb 13, 2012 in
Featured,
Success Story
Joyce D. has owned her Motorola Electrify since September 2011. ”My phone is a part of me, and [Mr. Number] allows me to be me. When my phone rings, I know it is someone I want to hear from, not someone bugging me to buy something or sign up for something.”
Before Mr. Number, blocking calls was time-consuming. “Someone would have to call you, you would have to add them to your contacts, then you would have to edit your contacts to have that number go to voice mail,” said Joyce.
After reading reviews and ratings of Mr. Number in Android Market, Joyce decided to give us a try. “The screenshots made the app look user friendly.” Like many of us, her cell is her only phone, but “the number is inevitably sold to telemarketers,” so she constantly receives unwanted calls. To control who she talks to, Joyce’s Blocklist filters out all calls from numbers that are NOT in her contacts. “This allows me to deal with the calls I want to deal with.”
Today, Joyce “absolutely” recommends us to other people. “This app does everything it is supposed to do and it has always been user friendly, but with the new update I believe it is an even better app.”
I asked Joyce what she’d do without our call-and text-blocking app. “If I didn’t have Mr. Number, I would set my phone to silent,” she answered.
Posted by irv on Jan 31, 2012 in
Announcements,
Featured
About 18 months ago we launched Mr. Number to help you screen your calls and texts, with powerful call and text blocking and the most accurate Caller ID service on the market. We believe that you have a right to know who’s calling you and that you have a right to block unwanted messages easily. Over 4 million people have downloaded Mr. Number so that they can identify mystery numbers and block people who won’t take no for an answer, spam texts, telemarketers, and other pests. With your help and feedback Mr. Number has become the highest rated and most downloaded app of its kind in the Android Market.
Today we’re releasing a major update to Mr. Number. The new version gives you even more control over who you are communicating with and allows you to call, text, block, and identify mystery numbers in one simple app. We want to help you strengthen the relationships that matter to you and break the ones that don’t, and this brings us one step closer to that goal.
Call and Text with Mr. Number
We’ve brought back the full history of your calls and texts, in style. You can see all your inbound and outbound calls and messages in one screen, and swipe left or right to see just calls, texts, or blocked messages. For the first time you can now reply to calls and texts from Mr. Number. You no longer have to switch from Mr. Number to the dialer to make a call and switch back to find out who called you yesterday. We think calling and texting, ID, and blocking (and more features yet to come) belong together in one app. Your friends don’t have to use Mr. Number (though we hope they all do), and you don’t have to use it as your main calling and texting app. You can use Mr. Number for blocking and Caller ID and continue to use the native apps for calling and texting. It’s your choice.
Availability
Last year we introduced the idea of status or availability for calls and texts, so that you could get more calls from the people you actually like. Many people loved the idea, but we got a lot of constructive criticism too. You had to switch from the dialer to our app to set your availability or to see someone else’s, you had to ‘friend’ people before you could see theirs, and some of the settings were mysterious.
The new version is much simpler. Mr. Number shows what mode your phone is in (vibrate, ringer off, all calls going to voicemail, airplane mode). Anyone who has you in their contacts can see this, plus a message if you add one, unless you’re blocking that person. Turn off your ringer outside the app and Mr. Number simply shows that your ringer is off, instead of guessing that you are “Busy”. (Some people keep their ringer off all the time.) And if you use Mr. Number for all your calling and texting, your availability and your contacts’ availability are right in front of you.
New logo, new design, new website, new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
We’re really excited about this update … and we’ve redesigned the whole app and website. We hope you like it and we’ll tell you more about the new design in another blog post. We’ve also updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (for the first time in 18 months) so please take a moment to review those. You can download the new version of Mr. Number from the Android Market today and as always, we’d love your feedback!
Posted by Walter on Jan 16, 2012 in
Consumer Rights,
Featured
When I played soccer as a kid, one of my teammates’ dads was a cardiologist with an ever-changing schedule. He came to as many games as he could, but he ducked out many times when his pager (a brick-sized box with a telescopic antenna) started bleeping.
Eventually, he upgraded to a portable not too different from the ones we use now, except that he lugged his around in a bulky attaché case; when a call came in, he’d take it on a full-sized plastic handset attached to a curly cord.
Today, a cardiologist looks just like the other parents at a kids’ soccer game wearing a Bluetooth headpiece, except she probably drives a nicer car.
The down side of this great leap forward in technology: anyone can reach you at any time, at any place. You always have the option of turning your phone off unless you’re making or expect to receive a call, but that’s a luxury. Family, work, friends — you can’t afford to miss an important call when it comes in, especially when everyone knows you’re reachable.
We often plan to unplug, but what does that really mean when you carry the world in your pocket? Even when you take a few days off or go out for a nice evening, anyone who has your phone number is along for the occasion. Telemarketers, debt collectors, your office, the sister you’ve been arguing with all week…
…This is where Mr. Number comes in; we block and deflect so you can focus what’s on important.
Are you getting a flurry of messages from your roommate about the dishes you left in the sink? Block her calls and texts for the rest of the afternoon so you can prepare a presentation and keep your phone free to stay in touch with co-workers. When you’ve finished your work, give your roomie a call and work things out.
Going away for a three-day weekend? Mr. Number can block all calls and texts except the ones from your parents who are watching the kids.
Sick at home with a fever? Let Mr. Number send everyone — except your mom, your doctor and the pharmacy –directly to voicemail until you’re feeling better.
Get Mr. Number for your Android phone, and you’ll have new ways to manage your downtime.
Posted by jason on Jun 3, 2010 in
Announcements,
Featured
Telemarketers: you can hate them, or hate them. But there’s not a lot you can do about them, except complain.
Today we’re announcing that Mr. Number has figured out how to identify telemarketers and other spam callers automatically. (more…)
Posted by jason on May 22, 2010 in
Announcements,
Featured
Mr. Number is the world’s first crowd-sourced caller ID service.
Mr. Number began as a service of Skydeck, a company that’s been developing app for cell phones since 2008. At Skydeck we discovered that our users hated getting calls and texts from numbers that they didn’t recognize. Sometimes those calls were from old friends or important customers. But sometimes they were from telemarketers, bill collectors, or people they never wanted to speak to again. (more…)
