TweetToCall.com - Ringing Other Twitterers Up

TweetToCall is a spot where Twitter users get the chance to call each other up without having to disclose their real phone numbers. How is that achieved? Quite simply.

You see, the service requires you to click on the “Call” button that is provided in the profile of any other Twitterer that uses the service and then the company will ring up your friend and ask him he accepts the call. In order for this to work, the Twitter API is employed to retrieve your account’s data, and you previously have to authenticate who you are via OAuth and confirm that your phone number belongs to you indeed.



In practice, this means that the other person will receive a call from the Tweet To Call line with the operator introducing himself and explaining that there is a request from you (IE “John Doe, who in Twitter is known as JDoe”). Upon pressing 1, he will be able to accept the call.

I think we all agree that this is novel to say the least. I just wonder how global it can become, and how can that be handled. For the time being, this beta paints an interesting picture.