FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Leads that wound up being lost causes, having nothing to do with the ARG. Also, for threads discussing what turned out to be hoaxes.

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thebruce
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by thebruce »

once again, this has nothing to with ring central from my perspective... all I want to know is - what are the voices saying behind the ring central promo? The voices sound very much like the guys from the FCC conference call.
Everything else, IMO, -is- red herring. A this point - that is my only question. If it proves to be nothing (for example, an exerpt from the original conference recordings, or a faulty promo recording, or anything other than new words from our old friends), then the # is entirely OOG.
The other extensions - don't care about
Thomas - don't care about
Ring Central - don't care about
sound effects in the promo - don't care about
Recognizable drowned out background voices - DO care

Just need a decent recording to see if it's possible to bring them out more
Ceantari
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Ceantari »

Or you could just ask them via their Live Online Operator...
info: Please wait for a site operator to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Julia'

Julia: Welcome, I'm your online Sales Rep. I can help you select the right RingCentral service. So what is it that brought you to our site today?
you: apparently the new ad campaign from Bungie (the videogame company) brought me to your site. :)
Julia: Ok
you: users on an Alternate Reality Game forum brought up the question...
you: (888) 778-5672 was used for a fictitous company called the Flood Containment Control
Julia: Giw may I hel p you regarding sales
you: Well, here's the situation, people redialled the number and received your guys (Ring Central) voice machine.
you: After accessing the extenstions, people are wondering to what the "ex halo number" extension is about.
Julia: You can create a business phone system using the phone number and extensions .Connect teams across the country or create virtual departments that are meaningful to you.Each extension has its own voicemail,call logs and you can even setup a password for each extension.
Julia: This is how extensions work: "Welcome to ABC Inc. Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support, Press 3 for PR and Press 4 for Biling Support"
you: ah
you: yeah, it appears many of the users on this forum are still convinced that number is still live.
you: Well, okay, that's all I needed to know.
Julia: Have a great day
you: I'm glad you were able to help me with this silliness my fellow forum users troubled.
you: You too! ^_^
Everyone may now rest in peace.
Dalthanas
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Dalthanas »

I'm leaning with Bruce on this one, although keeping my standard helping of doubt by my side.
Some good points as to why this isn't affiliated with the company have been brought up.
* A major corporation like ring central simply would not allow something so "shoddy" to be put in any sort of official public communication.
* 800 numbers ARE recycled, but there IS a time frame before which this is done. This is to avoid people calling, for example, people calling for all the new Ron Co. Super Food Ultracooker and instead getting Extendz All New Male enhancement or something. I am not familiar with industry guidelines, but it wouldn't be this fast, not when it was so active so recently.
* There is clearly a real company called Ring Central, but it is insane to assume that they a company that CREATES extensions for companies, would have half a dozen non-working or looped extensions. Thats like a paving company having a crappy parking lot, it's just not gonna happen.

Now I understand that there's music and information about Ring Central - but we've seen MS leverage other corporations in this ARG. The FCC postings were all over 3rd party sites (although I believe they were guerilla marketing, as many of them were quickly taken down), and lets not forget Amazon. There was some crazy interaction there, so its not unreasonable that MS would get Ring Central to allow them to hide their information behind their existing sales spiel. When the FCC number was first found up until the day it lead to the map site people doubted it was official. Additionally, not all the audio was clear at the begining, and more pieces were put into place as time went on until it all clicked. The use of a real company like Ring Central, who has nothing to lose by thousands of gamers knowing their name, helps with the ARG-likeness of a viral marketing campaign like this - it suspends belief.

I am going to keep a close on this.

Ceantari - I fail to see what your post proves, that we may rest. The answers seemed automated or silly at best, and she didn't once answer any of your questions. You said, essentially, "is this in game" and she said "This is how phone lines work" I'm not convinced its OOG yet.
Doug52392
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Doug52392 »

I made a recording of the entire message!!! Dialed the number and used HyperTerminal to listen in on the modem, then plugged one of those audio cables with jacks at bolth ends into the microphone port and speaker port, and recorded. Got a clear recording, although I have no idea as of what to do next... Also, in regards to what the last person said, there are federal laws controling what happens to phone numbers, IP addresses, and domain names used on TV, movies, and video games. For example, lets say theres a doman name advertised during the Super Bowl, and the first 100 people who go on it during the super bowl win prizes. A few hours after the super bowl, they decide to pull the plug on the domain name and sell it to the highest bidder. Lets say a porn site buys it. The next day, everyone who TiVoed the Super Bowl see the site and wonder what it is... there are laws to prevent these types of things from happening.
Last edited by Doug52392 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dalthanas
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Dalthanas »

Doug52392 wrote:although I have no idea as of what to do next...
Could you upload it? That way people with audio editing skillz (mine are limited to nunchuk and bike riding, so I can't help) can pick it apart, see if the audio is distinguishable at a separate layer or something fancy. Bruce seems excited to get his hands on it, I'm sure he'd appreciate the upload ;)
Last edited by Dalthanas on Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Omega Hunter 9
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Omega Hunter 9 »

Doug52392 wrote:I made a recording of the entire message!!! Dialed the number and used HyperTerminal to listen in on the modem, then plugged one of those audio cables with jacks at bolth ends into the microphone port and speaker port, and recorded. Got a clear recording, although I have no idea as of what to do next...
Use the upload file function of posting, below where you click submit.
Ceantari
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Ceantari »

If we're not out of the ballpark yet, then what have people gotten from trying these following extensions?

* extension one... press 1
* ex halo number... press 998
* if a woman answers, hang up... press 333
* message from the key... press 6454
* ring central voice mail... press 999
* ring central v-o-r-e beta... press 37
(that was the closest sounding I got to anything comprehensable)
* thomas marquez... press 0
* test fact... press 88
* thomas... press 44
* voice... press 2

Please correct them if you've intrepreted them differently.
terstyne
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by terstyne »

I just dialed 888-778-5672 on my cell phone and I get a "we're sorry but the number you dialed cannot be reached from the calling area" message.
I dialed it fine yesterday.
So I'm not really sure what you guys are talking about.
sux.
Doug52392
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Doug52392 »

If I upload the file, and you find anything, promise me you will give me credit for giving you this file, ok.
Ceantari
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Re: FCC PHONE NUMBER CHANGED, NEW COMPANY ANSWERS!!

Unread post by Ceantari »

Agreed. I just called it this morning, and now I, too, am receiving the same error. Soemthing's up.
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