There is a reason why most people opt to use the anonymous email address that Craigslist provides while posting ads. We're only making it possible for people to have a similar experience with their phone numbers.
http://getroller.com/A couple of friends hacked together this project. We'd really like to hear feedback from the HN junta. Is it something you'd be interested in using? Try it for free during BETA.
Take sites like froomz.com or venuecricket.com, for instance. They are online marketplaces for renting spaces. They have many small-time providers renting out there dance studios or workshops. If such providers exclusively use the booking engines provided by the froomz/venuecricket, there are no issues. But if they also use Outlook to handle offline reservations, then keeping it in sync with online booking engines becomes a big challenge. You might end up booking venues only to receive a failed reservation several hours later resulting in extremely unhappy customers who will likely write bad reviews about the site and the venue.
P.S. I oppose SOPA/PIPA and support the efforts of the Wikimedia foundation. But going without Wikipedia is hard.
Many online booking engines struggle with one problem: real-time availability. Even well-established services like OpenTable are not immune to it. Ever been in a situation where OpenTable says there are no 7:30 pm reservations available, but when you call the restaurant, they say they can accommodate you? Businesses find it hard to rely solely on hosted availability calendars (esp. when it is...
Many online booking engines struggle with one problem: real-time availability. Even well-established services like OpenTable are not immune to it. Ever been in a situation where OpenTable says there are no 7:30 pm reservations available, but when you call the restaurant, they say they can accommodate you?Businesses find it hard to rely solely on hosted availability calendars (esp. when it is...