Three times today there were instances where an important call was not received and the possible explanation was:

1. The phone was busy
2. The *other* individual at home is always on the computer.
3. There is no answering machine or service at that address.

Wouldn't it be nice if a more fully integrated environment allowed third party service providers such as TV stations and local phone companies to insert text onto a variety of displays? If your phone line is used for on-line work, then "Pick up the phone--it's Pub C House" appears as a text popup. If no computer listed, then a popup appears on the next connected device (TV, radio, cellphone) available.

I'm aware of the subscriber side options available, such as 'surf and never miss a call' or 'integrate voice and text messaging over home, pager, and cell lines with call forwarding'. What I'm thinking of is a pay-per-use busy line interruption service with a few options to get attention.
-- reensure, May 23 2001

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