'A' is for cellphone annoyance

Abe Turner gets a stream of unwanted messages. Photo / Doug Sherring

We've all had them, phantom texts and voicemail messages containing nothing but a blank screen or background chatter.

They're caused by everything from children playing with mummy's mobile to phones buffeted in bulging briefcases.

The problems are usually the result of unintentional accessing of the cellphone directories - so spare a thought for people whose names start with A. "Eight per cent of our customers' first names start with the letter A and only 1 per cent with Aa or Ab," says 2degrees spokesman Michael Bouliane.

The company logged 6302 "pocket calls" last month and more than 150 on Tuesday alone, most to those at the top of the alphabet.

Retail worker Abe Turner, who gets them almost every day, says: "It's people talking in the background, and I get random texts all the time."

The prepay customer spends about $5 a week listening to voicemail messages that should never have been sent. "If I don't hear talking in the first 10 seconds I delete it," Turner says.

Some people unintentionally transit recordings of their most intimate moments.

Preschool teacher Abbie Oliver, 32, said she had listened to a message from someone in the toilet: "I've heard them flush."

Aaron Eddington, 35, is top of most of his friends' directories, which is not a good position when children get hold of phones. "If it's a number where I know it's a kid who's done it a few times I often don't listen to the voicemail," he says.

He also gets random texts from unexpected places.

"Once I got this series of text messages that were all empty. It turned out the sender was on a rollercoaster and every time the G-forces came into play he texted me from his pocket."

There are some upsides to the situation. Turner got a message in which he heard girls gossiping about his friend.

And Oliver doesn't mind the occasional bogus call from her friend's daughter.

"I find it quite entertaining."

Alphabet advice

You can help friends minimise phantom calls if your name starts with A. Ask them to:

* Save you under your surname - bad luck if it's Aaron

* Put a PIN number on their phone to prevent unintentional calls and messages

* Save a default number at the top of their contacts list

* Avoid sitting on their phone.

Source: Vodafone