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Ask HN: How to be reachable only for emergencies

7 points by esac ↗ HN
I'm reading deep work by cal newport and I'm trying to implement his advice on allocating times of unreliability for deeper style of work.

The problem is that I need to be reachable at any time by 2 persons, no matter what.

My first idea was to use SMS only but alas, my ISP shares my number with the whole world and I get one SMS message every other day, another option was to use an external software IM (e.g. Signal) and ask those persons to join the platform to reach me. This would work wonders for me since I would add a flashy notification to my desktop and achieve my peace of mind but one of the two is not really internet/computer savvy and I can't be sure he'll be able to signup/install AND operate a telephone app in the time of need.

For now top bet would be to have a webpage they can navigate to and press a big red button to summon me on normal IMs, do you have better ideas?

10 comments

[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 33.4 ms ] thread
smt88
Why not have a physical button? Several companies have released programmable buttons.

You could also have an emergency-only prepaid cell phone and only give the number to those people.

There's also the traditional Life Alert type options that would summon first responders.

esac
physical buttons are hard to debug! emergency-only cellphone looks like the better alternative for now even if it would require me to use two phones or swap sims. It's not a life risk situation, more a (business and peace of mind) life risk situation so i don't think ~life alert could work
smt88
I forgot that definitely Android and probably iOS allow you to make exceptions to do-not-disturb mode for some contacts. Would that do it?
matt_the_bass
Take a look at particle.io. They have a super simple button that you can connect via WiFi or GSM to ifttt or twilio really easily. Sample code leaves almost nothing to debug.
nautical
SMS number on Twilio => Your webhook => Telegram API to forward message to you and you can reply via same (he receives SMS)

Another person can simply install Telegram

This way you can communicate to both using Telegram, one can talk to you via SMS and another via Telegram.

(Telegram or any other IM supporting API access)

esac
Thanks for the suggestion, I didn't think of Twilio=>webook. Telegram is one of the platforms I use daily and something that would distract me but i guess you can replace it with anything else like an IRC client.
schappim
Why don't you whitelist the important contacts on your phone and set your phone into do not disturb mode?

For iPhone see: https://www.imore.com/how-receive-messages-specific-contacts...

For Android see: https://www.greenbot.com/article/2995581/android/take-contro...

If I recall correctly HN User Patio11 used Twilio when he was in Japan to filter messages/calls from his contacts. See: https://www.twilio.com/blog/2015/01/how-patrick-mckenzie-bui...

Edit: Of course http://ifttt.com/ could be your friend and relay SMS to your app of choice ;-)

patio11
Twilio apps really shine for this sort of thing. You can imagine all sorts of UX for a private emergency number:

Forward the call to your primary cell number directly.

If you only have a small number of potential counterparties, blow up all your notification streams with "555 555-5555 (Mom) is trying to get in touch [and has pressed 5, indicating an emergency]."

etc etc

saluki
DND mode works really well for limiting distractions while still allowing your favorites list to contact you.
borplk
I don't have all the answers but I'll just say keep it dead simple and reliable. The last thing you want is an unreliable emergency solution.