In Quake III Arena, if you were a moment too slow racing for the quad damage, another player would nab it and you would hear the omnipotent voice announce “Denied!” Living in Caboolture, I often hear echoes of that voice…
Most recently the source of denial is VoIP. Yes, it is always something to do with telecommunications infrastructure. Unluckily the provider I contacted, engin, don’t offer a full service in our area code, despite their coverage map saying they do. At least they are polite and have promised to fix their coverage map. Still, why won’t people offer services in this area!!?
VoIP is using the Internet to make and receive phone calls, rather than a regular phone line. Advantages? Cheaper. Disadvantages? Relies on your Internet connection, which often also relies on power. And there’s the worry that in an emergency that bit of reliability might be important. But you know what? Since they closed the emergency ward at Caboolture hospital, it just doesn’t seem to matter. Call for an ambulance and you’re more likely to get a fire truck (sorry, fire appliance) or police car, because the ambulance is busy playing taxi to the next-nearest hospital.
Nope, I’d be glad to disconnect our landline and go with VoIP (and mobiles). It’s not like Telstra even offer us decent phone service—them and their ruddy pair gain! I just need to find a VoIP provider in our area.
Ben Boyle lives here! 