Contact Customer Care

Questions:

1. How do I contact the Guide of a site?
2. How do I unsubscribe from newsletters?
3. How do I update my e-mail address on newsletters?
4. How do I submit my website to About.com search?
5. How can I get permission to reprint information/graphics from About.com?
6. How do I change my Member name?
7. I have questions about being a Guide. Where can I find answers?

Answers:

Q. How do I contact the Guide of a site?

A. To contact any Guide on our site, click on the Guide's name located on the top left corner of the particular site. You will then be brought to a page containing their e-mail address or other information that you can use for contact purposes.

Q. How do I unsubscribe from newsletters?

A. To unsubscribe from any newsletter, a link is provided at the bottom of the newsletter itself, including instructions on how to be removed. You can also remove yourself from newsletters by visiting: http://talk.about.com

Q. How do I update my e-mail address on newsletters?

A. To update your e-mail address on any About newsletter, you will need to unsubscribe the old address first, then resubscribe with the new address you wish to use. This can be done by following the instructions at the bottom of the last copy of the newsletter you received or directly from the GuideSite by clicking on Newsletter. You can also remove yourself from newsletters by visiting: http://talk.about.com

Q. How do I submit my website to About.com search?

A. If you are interested in placing a link on our site, please e-mail the Guide directly. The Guide will then consider your link for inclusion. Please note that requesting a link does not guarantee a listing on any About site. For a complete listing of About Guide Sites, please visit: http://a-zlist.about.com.

Q. How can I get permission to reprint information/graphics from About.com?

A. In order to get permission, you will need to submit a reprint request form. Please allow 3-4 business days for your information to be reviewed. Someone will then contact you with further details.

Q. How do I change my Member name?

A. Once you have created a member account on the About network, the Member name assigned cannot be changed. In order to use a different Member name, you will need to register again at the Member Center.

Q. I have questions about being a Guide. Where can I find answers?

A.We have a separate FAQ for Guide-hiring-related questions, including information about the status of a submitted application and how to suggest a new topic. You can find the FAQ here.

Say a Name, and the PC Dials a Phone Number

Frank Thorsberg

Don't feel like looking up phone numbers? If you install Mindmaker's Tell A Phone system, you won't have to.

The $100 Tell A Phone turns your phone book into a voice-enabled dialer for all phones on a single line--with help from a box about the size of a desk stapler. I looked at a preproduction unit. You connect the box to any phone jack and then to your PC's USB port with the included cable.

After you install the software from a CD-ROM, you either type in the names and phone numbers you want to use or let the program's wizard assist you in importing existing phone listings from a Palm PDA or from Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer, GoldMine 4, or Symantec Act database files. You can also import listings from other applications, using comma-separated value files. Installation took only a few minutes.

You can identify your contacts by first name (Bob), last name (Smith), full name (Bob Smith), nickname (Babe), or name of business (Pizza Hut).

Once setup was completed, I simply picked up any phone on that line and spoke the name clearly--Tell A Phone did the dialing. However, your computer must be on for the system to work, which makes this product more feasible for a small or home office than for personal use.

Tell A Phone requires a PC with Windows 98 or later, a USB port, and a minimum of 32MB of RAM. Linux and Mac users are out of luck. The program works on any normal analog phone.