Google Gives All SF Homeless Free Voicemail

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Google is partnering with the city of San Francisco to provide every homeless person a life-long phone number and voicemail. The numbers with voicemail can be used for everything from personal messages to contact numbers for employment.

The announcement was made at a Project Homeless Connect event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Wednesday. A homeless person will be able to call in for his or her messages from any phone. The move by the city and the company would allow someone to be able to fill out a job application, which asks for a call back number.
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I wonder how long it will be before this is seriously abused? This is ideal for drug dealers and crooks.
 
This looks like a good idea, with a lot of details that need to be refined and more thought out I think.
 
Interesting concept that has a lot of potential to help people, and a lot of potential to be abused. I guess we'll need more details before passing a judgment. As Steve already said, it could make it easy for crooks to come up with anonymous and disposable phone numbers to do their dirty deeds.
 
wouldn't they have a record of conversations? I don't see why they would deal with this risk of getting caught
 
Sounds like Google needs to go through some screening process before bringing on projects and betas on. Heck throw it through HardOCP forum they'll get feedbacks.
 
"Hi, this is Bill. I'm either picking out of a dumpster or passed out from a $3 bottle of Vodka, so please leave a message after the tone". :p

Also calling it a "life-long" service, seems to not raise much hope for these people.
 
Martyr said:
i here they could use jobs and home a lot more.
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agreed. or how bout some free job training classes so they have the skills to get a job. teach them how to use a computer, powerpoint, word, etc.
 
PRIME1 said:
"Hi, this is Bill. I'm either picking out of a dumpster or passed out from a $3 bottle of Vodka, so please leave a message after the tone". :p

Also calling it a "life-long" service, seems to not raise much hope for these people.
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Vodka? They can't afford vodka. They are hitting the wine that is cheaper than water.
 
Martyr said:
i here they could use jobs and home a lot more.
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baby steps... first they get the phone number, then they get the job, finally they get the home.

Good for Google, helping to support the community and not just themselves.
 
NKDietrich said:
Vodka? They can't afford vodka. They are hitting the wine that is cheaper than water.
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Bah! Wine is only around 12% ABV. while Vodka is 40% ABV. Although you can get a good buzz by drinking a whole bottle of wine, while drinking a whole bottle of Vodka.....
 
Here's my question - where are they going to charge them?

The article is apparently hammered.
 
I think I should go homeless... last I heard they make 200-250 a day on average (no tax).... and now they get free phones.

All I get as a hard working person is a bill from the IRS saying I owe them oney :( !
 
Glad to see some more positive news stories. I'm not a daily reader, but I've been annoyed with all the negativity in media surrounding corporations and their "big evil hand" that somehow grips the general populace and intrudes into all aspects of their life. Unfortunately, these kinds of news stories don't usually make it to the mass media outlets.
 
cool thats what san francisco needs is more homeless people flocking to that once great city. gg google. maybe google can put up some homeless toilets so they dont have to take dumps on the sidewalk?
 
I'm not sure there is anywhere near the potential for abuse that people are squaking about. This isn't a disposable cell phone. This is a phone number for life. And they never said it was annonmous. They could very well demand finger prints and DNA sample. And there is no privacy issue here as no one is required to get a phone.

+1 to google for giving back to the community.
 
Ockie said:
I think I should go homeless... last I heard they make 200-250 a day on average (no tax).... and now they get free phones.

All I get as a hard working person is a bill from the IRS saying I owe them oney :( !
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Last I heard from a radio statio where I used to live, they surveyed some of the local "bums" and found out that they made as much as $800 a day.

This is from the same city that had a lot of fake bums that would go park their BMWs in a nearby parking lot. Change into their "bum" clothes and go bumming at the intersections.
 
Fharakin said:
I would rather they open a shelter with showers and private rooms so they can live, but we all know what happens to ideas like that.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini-Green
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You know what they say, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime". Its hard to get even a part-time minimum wage job without any contact info, so by at least having a phone they will increase their chances of being able to get a job and (hopefully) move up in the world (cheap, crappy apartment > street)

Interesting concept that has a lot of potential to help people, and a lot of potential to be abused. I guess we'll need more details before passing a judgment. As Steve already said, it could make it easy for crooks to come up with anonymous and disposable phone numbers to do their dirty deeds.
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Not really - which has lower risk and is easier: Robbing homeless people for their cell phone registered to Google who likely knows whose phone it is (+tracking?), or buying an anonymous pre-paid phone using fake contact information?
 
This is stupid, this will get abused and quickly. In SF the bums make hand over fist that is completely tax free. I use to goto college up there and I use to watch the bums collect 20's and 10's from almost every 5th car rolling through the stop lights. Also if you went into the Haight Ashbury all the bums where 18-30 year old potheads who where homeless by choice, they just wanted to smoke out and do nothing and thats what they did.

Only place worse than SF as far as the bums go is Berkley where they have gangs of bums that demand cash or they try to kick your ass at night.

This is how you fix being homeless, give them a place a live, with just the essentials, bed and toliet and place to shower. Then they have 3 choices, goto a job training school, get a freaking job, or do hardcore physical labor like road improvement, park clean up, etc. The food they get there should be those nasty tasteless food bar things marines and the like use when they are on extended patrols, all the stuff you need nothing you want.

The trick is to make being homeless so bad that people don't want to be there. As it stands now you make a great deal of money, get to buy women and drugs and do whatever you want. Sure your cold every now and then but just goto the golden gate park, build a fire pit and smoke some weed and get drunk.
 
Perhaps Google is doing this for the sole purpose of catching crooks in SF. They probably monitor each and every call, as homeless people don't have a need to worry about privacy (irony in a sense), and therefore this could also be the perfect scheme for catching those who try to abuse the system. That is, if the system is 100% manipulation-free.
 
cyclone3d said:
Last I heard from a radio statio where I used to live, they surveyed some of the local "bums" and found out that they made as much as $800 a day.

This is from the same city that had a lot of fake bums that would go park their BMWs in a nearby parking lot. Change into their "bum" clothes and go bumming at the intersections.
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its great to do on state street in madison. tons of college kids with no sense of money.
 
Well as someone who WAS homeless, IN SF BTWY: no one in MY area made more that $20-30 standing at a stoplight, and THOSE people would blow it all on alcohol/drugs.
As for ME, I never panhandled (except the time someone stole my shoes while I was asleep) and as far as shelters go, the problem is that not only are some of them run with security who steal anything good you happen to have they also have a problem with othrs doing the same thing.

Now that is meant to be the small miniority but one I left from (INDIO, ca) was close to that plus I have a problem being around people that I "preferred" the streets.

The system has me in an SRO (one room apt.) and I am working on getting work, to supplement my disability payments.

As for this it is a good thing, one of the thing it can do is let family know you are ok and there is a chance that some could decide to go home again.As well as a chance at starting a job.

(I am bad enough people wise that I could never even go to the free food places)
 
about letting family know you are ok....in most cases, wouldn't your family be helping you instead of letting you live on the streets? i mean i'd be helping family if one of them was in a hole and had no where to live. paying their bills is a different matter, but giving them a roof and some food is something i would do.
 
Well it might be a step in the right direction... definitely beats lettings homeless people die of starvation or resulting to illegal activity for some grub
 
markt435 said:
agreed. or how bout some free job training classes so they have the skills to get a job. teach them how to use a computer, powerpoint, word, etc.
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wait i have these skill and IM still working a shit hole job how is this going to help the homeless?
 
The computer part would help, basic layout, getting used how to do things without thinking about it, WORD helps, powerpoint, and even excel are above the jobs that they will be able to get.(Assumption STILL trying to be able to start working again-HATE people, make it hard to breath/nervous)
 
I can see this beeing a good idea. Criminals would probably shy away from using this service because they can't guarantee it's completely secure. PAYG mobiles would be a better option for them. It might also help homeless people communicate with each other about good places to go to find employment/food/cheap alcohol.
 
Will the bums get to archive their conversations like with Gmail? Is Google going to shove advertisements on these phones while in use?
 
Steve said:
I wonder how long it will be before this is seriously abused? This is ideal for drug dealers and crooks.
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Sadly thats what prevents a lot of great ideas like this from taking off. The potential for abuse.
 
Elios said:
wait i have these skill and IM still working a shit hole job how is this going to help the homeless?
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:rolleyes:

baby steps. if they learn how to use a computer in this tech driven world, it will make it easier to possibly apply for a number of jobs on a computer at the unemployment office.

by your logic, it sounds like you expect to be a CEO by now just cuz you know how to use a comp. all baby steps. better than them sitting on a curb doing nothing with themselves.
 
Personally I think its a great idea. Alot of employers will not hire without some sort of contact information. This will be nice for the ones who actually want to get out of their rut...as for the low lifes who dont care, hopefully this wont affect the ones who are actually trying...

just my 2 cents :)
 
markt435 said:
:rolleyes:

baby steps. if they learn how to use a computer in this tech driven world, it will make it easier to possibly apply for a number of jobs on a computer at the unemployment office.

by your logic, it sounds like you expect to be a CEO by now just cuz you know how to use a comp. all baby steps. better than them sitting on a curb doing nothing with themselves.
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no but i would like a job other then walmart >.> i dont think wanting a tech job ANY even tier one support would be nice but no...

mexicans also get jobs under the table and are payed less then min wage...
 
It would be nice to give all the homeless a free phone. All these phones should have cameras and GPS tracking. That way, the homeless can record things that the rest of the world does to them, and post the pictures as evidence... 'yes, that police officer did beat on my homeless buddy, and I have the pics to prove it!'. Also, when one of those vagrants should need to be tracked down for quesioning, all the police have to do it pull up their GPS location. I mean, its an expensive item, so its not like they are going to just toss it for no reason. By adding a huge number of small portable cameras and GPS into the 'not so nice' areas of many cities, it would be a nice way to deter crime. No longer would 'pookie' be selling crack on the corner if he knew all the homeless people passing by him could be taking photos and emailing them to the police station.
 
Burning_Monk said:
baby steps... first they get the phone number, then they get the job, finally they get the home.

Good for Google, helping to support the community and not just themselves.
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I think this is the right path too. Homeless have hard times getting jobs because they don't have means of potential employers calling them back when there's an opening.
 
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