I happened to spot a squeegee guy last week as he attempted to make a phone call using a LinkNYC kiosk. His experience was the same as mine has often been since LinkNYC switched VOIP provider. It didn’t work. He dialed a number. A circle pulsated on the screen. Silence ensued. A “Still here?” nag screen appeared. He tapped “resume” and waited a little longer before walking away. Until around mid-November when you made a call the Vonage phone calling app did what phones have done for generations. It made a ringing sound which signaled that the call was being connected and the phone of the person you were calling was actually ringing. Now, with RingCentral, you dial a number and nothing much happens to instill confidence that this call was initiated.

It seems that no one can call my cell phone from LinkNYC kiosks. The number is dialed, a pulsating telephone handset icon appears (LinkNYC has no handset), and then nothing. I myself have tried calling my number a couple dozen times since the VOIP provider for LinkNYC was changed from Vonage to RingCentral. Not once has a call gone through. I’ve also tried calling random numbers in the same area code + exchange as my number. None of those connect. Ever. Between this and the fact that there have been no new kiosk installations since August I started to think LinkNYC is quietly doing what they were forced to do with InLinkUK in London: block all phone calls from the kiosks and halt the rollout of more of them. Or, more insidiously, maybe they captured my personal phone number from their records and specifically blocked me in some awkward gesture of vengeance for the Softee thing.

Just kidding about the last scenario, but neither possibility is true. Plenty of calls do connect with LinkNYC. I also have Skype and Google Voice numbers to which these machines connect just fine. But if my area code + exchange is blocked then how many others are as well?

Here is what happens when I dial my cell phone number:

I don’t know how clearly my voice comes across so I’ll summarize. I dial my number, which you can’t see because it’s hidden behind dots. I hit the green button and wait for something to happen. A pulsating blue circle is the only sign that something might be happening. The camera I made the video with is my phone, so you should hear it ringing by now. At 30 seconds a nag screen appears, asking if I am still here. After another 30 seconds another nag screen appears. I hit “resume” but LinkNYC has had enough of this nonsense, and cuts off the attempted call altogether.

I have to ask how many people expect to be reachable through LinkNYC, and how many of them are out of luck. LinkNYC claims no real restrictions on where you can call within the United States (ice cream truck numbers are blocked).

If anyone reading this is willing could you try calling your phone from one of these things and tell me, either in the comments or via email, if the call went through? It isn’t just the squeegee guy I’ve seen walk away from phone calls that never connect. I’ve seen maybe a ½ dozen such incidents of people walking away from a screen with a pulsating blue circle on it. It would be interesting to know how widespread this issue is, or if statistics on calls that never connect can even be collected.

I could simply send an inquiry to the fine folks at LinkNYC, but we don’t talk. There is a caste-like corporate protocol that renders riff-raff like me heard but not seen or directly given the dignity of an acknowledgement. We don’t talk.