Callers were greeted by a friendly message, voiced by different people in different regions. Some phone services included messages from sponsors; others were more straightforward. Before the digital age, many people used the service to reset clocks after power outages or other disruptions. Verizon discontinued the service in 2011, though it held out longer than AT&T, which had pulled the plug four years earlier. It's still offered in some communities by local businesses and organizations.