(800) ZOM-BIES

Now, a Phone Line to the Dear Departed

from AFP

BERLIN - People who feel the need to talk to their near and dear even after they have passed away can now do so quite literally, thanks to a special mobile phone invented by a German who wanted to keep in touch with his late mother.

The system, patented by Juergen Broether and on sale since last December, consists of a one-way phone and loudspeaker device that can be buried close to the person's coffin, and will transmit a voice message into the tomb for a period of up to a year.

Broether's told AFP that his "telephonic angel" as he has dubbed it arose from a desire to be discreet while talking to his late mother, to whom he had "a lot to say" after she died in 1998.

He said that when in a cemetery, "people always feel that others are watching, they feel embarrassed, and obliged to whisper" when speaking to the departed.

"With my phone, the feeling is quite different, and one can even call in the middle of the night, when the cemetery gates are closed," he said, adding that the sound generated by the phone could not be heard above ground. "It's very discreet," he said.

However for users who might be hoping that their dear departed would decide to talk back, there was no provision, as the phones were not fitted with microphones.

As regards his own use of the device, Broether, who is 64, claimed that he still had a few words to say to his late mum from time to time, even six years after her death.

He called "to tell her things that might interest her," he added.


'Can you hear me now?'