Do people still call time and temperature phone numbers on the telephone? One of our customers (a rural telecom company) recently gathered calling statistics for the time and temp system we provided to them.  In a town of 3500, they received over 3800 calls in a 6 day period. 

The details provide some interesting insights:

Local Calls:  1242
Extended Area Service Calls: 1055
Toll Calls: 1022
Cell Calls: 576

The "Local" calls are coming from within the town limits. 

"Extended Area Service" means the callers live just outside of town, but they pay the phone company to be able to make toll-free calls into town. 

"Toll Calls" are callers who are calling long distance from a landline phone.

"Cell Calls" came in from cell phones. 

We already knew that a number of calls are made from cell phones to Time & Temp systems – what is interesting are the number of calls coming from long distance customers – who may be paying long distance charges to call the Time & Temp service. 

If we apply these same usage statistics to other methods of communicating with the public, you can assume that Time & Temp in this small town is a very effective service.  For example, what would you say about a website that had 3800 hits per week in a town of 3500?  You would say it was a rather effective website!