skydeck

Skydeck Caller ID (beta release)

Posted by Jason on Oct 19, 2009 in Announcements  |  Comments (9)  |  Share 

What do you do when you get a call from a number that you don’t recognize? At best it’s annoying, and it can be much much worse.

Do you answer and sometimes wish you hadn’t? Or do you let it go to voicemail and hope they leave a message?

Starting today on Blackberry smartphones, Skydeck gives you another option: ignore the call and Skydeck will tell you who rang. (If you have the right phone and carrier, we’ll let you know while the phone is still ringing.)

Wait – hasn’t Skydeck always looked up unknown numbers?

Yes, but we only looked up landline numbers. It turns out that 80% of the calls that Skydeck users receive on their cell phones come from other cell phones.

Also, we didn’t let you know when we found a name and we gave you only two options: add every name found to your phone contacts, or never add them at all. It was … mysterious. You still have those options, but the default setting for the new version of Skydeck is that we prompt you on your phone when we recognize a new number, and let you add it to your address book with one click.

Can I control what other people see?

Yes! If you call another Skydeck member and they don’t have you in their address book, they’ll see the name, description, and photo from your Skydeck profile (your “Me Card”).

Where does Skydeck get the data?

The data comes from multiple sources, primarily the cell phone companies. But their information is often wrong or out of date. So Skydeck checks names (and names only) against the address books of other users who have opted in to Skydeck Caller ID. One of our core principles is that your data is private by default, so Skydeck Caller ID is strictly opt in. If you are not interested, nothing has changed for you.

New users will be offered Caller ID at sign up. If you are already a user, launch Skydeck on your phone and visit the Settings menu to enable Caller ID. (If you don’t see “Settings” on the menu, you don’t have the most recent version of the app. Launch the browser on your phone and visit skydeck.com to download it.)

We’ve updated our privacy policy and our terms of service to reflect the new feature, so please review those.

Can Skydeck see through blocked numbers?

No. Skydeck Caller ID is based on the principle that the person calling you has already given you their cell phone number; if they haven’t, we don’t try to discover it. (This means that you can block Skydeck Caller ID the same way you block normal caller ID.)

Our advice: if the number is blocked, it’s either the President or a telemarketer, and odds are it’s a telemarketer. But if you are getting harassing phone calls from a blocked number, contact your cell phone company – they can help.

Can I see results while the phone is still ringing?

If you are on AT&T or have reliable 3G or WiFi coverage from T-Mobile, yes. Go to Advanced Settings on Skydeck on your phone and choose “pre-call” Caller ID.

This won’t work on Verizon or Sprint, since they use a different network technology that doesn’t permit simultaneous voice and data. (It’s the same reason you can’t fetch new email or get turn-by-turn directions while making a phone call.)

How much does it cost?

While in beta, Skydeck Caller ID is free. We plan to keep it that way, but we’re working on versions for Android, iPhone, and other platforms, and we want to see how users respond before we make any final decisions on pricing.

Thanks for using Skydeck, and let us know if you find Caller ID accurate and useful.