Beep me when you get there

27 Sep, 2007
You've ran out of credit? Then go "beeping" as the Africans do. Reuters UK reports that a research carried in Africa shows that the so-called "beeping" is increasingly popular in developing...

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  • L
  • Leonard
  • pqD
  • 27 Sep 2007

Beeping is very popular in Romania too. Some musicians even write songs about it :)

    • Y
    • Yardie876
    • kaK
    • 27 Sep 2007

    This isn't a phenomenon, Jamaicans have been doing this for years! We don't call it beeping though, matter of fact, we don't have a name for it. However, one of our providers already has a "please call me" feature but it's limited to a certain amount. I think it's a good idea though; now if they'll just find a solution for people who call & say "call me back" then hang up.

      • p
      • pgr
      • nU1
      • 27 Sep 2007

      I hate it when I get this from call centres with an 08 or 09 number!! so annoying!

        • r
        • raf
        • mb3
        • 27 Sep 2007

        beeping is VERY popular in Poland, i naver ran out of credit, but i do beeping several times per day. in Poland it means ' i think about you' and usually the other person do re-beeping :)

          • A
          • Alex
          • MMn
          • 27 Sep 2007

          Well, it's a very very very old method. I think it started since the first mobile phones and gsm networks. At least in poor countrys. They are intended to save money spend useless just to say hello or, i've arrived, i'm waiting, etc. What you don't seem to know is that some gsm operators used to tax only after the first second. So two persons we're talking for free like this: hi (hang up), hello (hang up), i'm here (hang up), ok (hang up) and so on. It was funny to see a detailed bill; pages and pages. So no matter what they will try to do I don't think the beep will ever die.

            • t
            • thor
            • xKb
            • 27 Sep 2007

            Haven't you guys heard of Collect call? =S ...over here in Iceland you use *888* in front of the number you'd like to call collect and that's it, you don't need credits and the other party chooses to accept or refuse the invitation... this is probably in many countries like this but the writer of this article makes it look like this method is a breakthrough or a new trend... the auto mobile collect call is made so this so called "beeping" is unnecessary.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • mt4
              • 27 Sep 2007

              This is nothing new gsmarena, at least here in Romania people have been doing this for ages. Why call and waste money just to say 'im ready' for example when you can assign this signal to a beep on your previous call

                • p
                • persophile
                • TuF
                • 27 Sep 2007

                It's also popular in Iran and they call it "tak-zang" in Persian ("one-ring" in English). But it does not mean that the receiver should call back. Usually their meaning is defined beforehand by the two sides to convey a pre-defined message like: "I just arrived home". "We are here". etc.

                  • R
                  • Raid
                  • 0wM
                  • 27 Sep 2007

                  nothing new, this is very popular in Poland

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • n1t
                    • 27 Sep 2007

                    in the Philippines, telcos are so greedy that they charge the subscribers not per second but per minute call. so even if your call is only 20 seconds, they get charged for 1 minute rate...and if their call is 61 seconds, they get charged foe 2 minutes rate...so this 'beeping' is very common in the philippines and we call it miss call.

                      • S
                      • SuccessCre8or
                      • iE8
                      • 27 Sep 2007

                      yeah...& here in Egypt that's called "give a missed!"

                      eg. give me a missed when u r there ;)

                      but now Vodafone EGY is offering customers a 3 daily (plz call me) sms messages for free to make the network "FREE" because "missed calls" makes the network down sometimes & u get " network busy :(

                      so yeah free sms's are a good solution..

                        • k
                        • kaeDee
                        • 2SN
                        • 27 Sep 2007

                        I used to get such annoying calls that beep for a second and a half and they will repeat the same if I have not called immediately...

                        To avoid such irritating calls, I have a MP3 rintone which is silent for first 3 seconds... I will set that file as ringtone for those annoying persons... If they cut within a second or two, my phone will not ring... After trying for a dozen times, they will give a full ring, then only I will pick up the call...

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • BEv
                          • 27 Sep 2007

                          In Saudi arabia they came out with a thing called "Free call me back". Your limited to three per day and incase you dont have credit you send someone a msg with a code in the begining and it sends them a msg for free.

                            • J
                            • Jim Bob
                            • S35
                            • 27 Sep 2007

                            To the above, the practise has been around for a long time in the UK but is known as 'one-ring'. Used in this context, "I'll one-ring you".

                              • k
                              • kc
                              • jst
                              • 27 Sep 2007

                              In Jamaica, the concept of beeping is used however it hasn't been classified as 'beeping' though. Alternate means to that however is where phone providers allow users to send "please call me" messages when ur credit balance is below $3.00.After your balance falls below $3.00 the provider allows you up to 30 "please call me" messages, which is replenished after your pone is topped up again.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • yRP
                                • 27 Sep 2007

                                in vietnam, we call it "nha' ma'y" .. or "flashing"

                                  • d
                                  • di
                                  • T6U
                                  • 27 Sep 2007

                                  Oh, c'mon it's as old as sell phones are... even older LOL It can mean anything, depending on the arrangement between the "beeping" parties or the counties culture. I think that it is not popular only here in the US, because it doesn’t matter who will call who it still takes up of your minutes. Wake up America it is not the case everywhere else!

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • D8X
                                    • 27 Sep 2007

                                    "Pranking" here in the UK

                                      • S
                                      • Silviu
                                      • nue
                                      • 27 Sep 2007

                                      I am from Romania and when I came to UK I found out that people here never heard of beeping. Americans never use beeping either.

                                      This phenomenan has arised from the fact that calls are too expansive for most people that are not in the Western World, so they use text messages and beeping.

                                      One of the most commonly known situation is something like this:
                                      SMS:
                                      Hi, would you like to go see a movie with me. Beep once if YES, twice if No.

                                      Probably sounds strange for some people but my Romanian phone bill is in avarge 40-50 euros a month while some of my friends that constantly use texting and beeping can get away with less than 10 euros.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • pSP
                                        • 27 Sep 2007

                                        Well, here in Bulgaria, we do it all the time - the lack of credit being only one of the reasons.
                                        More than often we use it to give e pre-arranged message such as "I'm ready", "Pick me up", etc.

                                        It's usually called clipping here since the caller id service in Bulgaria is called CLIP (Calling Line Identity Presentation).

                                        Also some guys call it Jew's SMS for fun, as Jews have that reputation of being misers. Nothing offensive though, just a cultural peculiarity that they've been known about.