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L ike any other technology, cellular phones can quickly become outdated, leaving you with the burning desire to upgrade. But what do you do with the perfectly good phone that no longer meets your needs? If you’re like most people, you toss it in your junk drawer or store it in a back closet—or worse yet, you simply throw it away.
What many people don’t realize is that any cell phone, even one that doesn’t have active service, can be used to call 911 in case of an emergency. In
December 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (www.fcc.gov) mandated that wireless carriers connect all calls to 911 regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the carrier’s service.
So those phones you thought were worthless may be valuable after all. In fact, they may help save someone’s life.
Although a phone can be used for
911-only purposes after discontinuing service, there are some things you should consider before donating your phone. If you’re like most people, your
Although your old cell phone may not be useful to you, it could save someone’s life as a 911-only phone.
Now that you know the right questions to ask, you can donate your phone with confidence. And while you’ll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing your old cell phone is being put to good use, someone else will have the peace of mind of knowing that he can call for help in an emergency.
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ARTIN cell phone is a personal phone book, storing the names and numbers of family, friends, and business associates.
This information doesn’t magically disappear once you discontinue service; it has to be manually removed. In addition to the information you have entered, it will also contain your name and cellular phone number, which is programmed by the wireless carrier at the time of activation. However, many organizations don’t take the proper precautions to protect your information and simply pass on your phone, leaving that data intact. So be sure to ask about reprogramming procedures before donating your phone.
One national organization that takes the time to reprogram all phones it receives is Secure The Call (www.secure
thecall.org), headquartered in Washington, D.C. According to volunteer
Neal Holtz, “It’s a lot of work to give out phones, if you do it properly.” He goes on to explain that Secure The Call
“wipe[s] out everything” and reprograms the phone number to (123) 456-
7890, which lets the 911 operator know that you are calling from a phone that cannot receive incoming calls.
Secure The Call asks businesses across the country to hold cell phone collection drives and provides everything necessary to get started.
S ecure The Call is a nonprofit organization that has a passion for 911only phones and the environment.
Founded in 2002 by Mike Morgan,
Secure The Call started out distributing reprogrammed phones to local police and sheriffs departments.
According to volunteer Neal Holtz,
Morgan was looking for a way to prevent phones from ending up in landfills. In less than three years, his solution has become a nationwide effort.
As of July, Secure The Call was distributing 1,200 phones per month, but the group’s mission is to increase that number to 5,000 phones a month by the end of the year, Holtz said. In order to do this, Secure The Call works with its coalition partners to organize phone drives across the United States.
The group provides everything you’d need, including a collection box, fliers, and donation acknowledgement forms for tax-deduction purposes. If necessary, Secure The Call will even pay for shipping the phones back to its
Washington headquarters.
Collected phones are wiped clean of personal information, reprogrammed, and tested before being shipped to
Coalition Partners for distribution.
Coalition Partners include police and sheriffs departments, senior citizens’ organizations, and battered women’s shelters. For information on becoming a Coalition Partner or holding a collection drive, call (301) 891-2900 or email info@securethecall.com.
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