Hello Paul.
When I tried to order the PROVOICE Upgrade today by phone I was on hold for a half hour until a Uniden person finally answered and said I have to do the ordering online at Unidens website. But When I try to oder it that way, the registration process for this, that and the other thing is just a big hassle for me.....Would Uniden come up with another way for those who are having problems like mine with ordering?
Thanks Sheldon.
The Uniden registration site is pretty straight forward, although it does involve the input of many alphanumeric characters in order to generate the key for your specific radio. I believe that there would be much more confusion is this were done with a person over the phone than it is on the registration site.
You need three key pieces of information--- the serial number that is printed on the back of the radio, the ESN which is generated on one of the menu pages of your scanner as a second serial number, along with the checksum which is found on the same page.
After you pay your fee, an algorithm is generated to create your unique input code to unlock the Provoice function within your radio.
I found this much easier to do with my 436, as I had the radio right in front on me; with the 536, which was not in front of me, I had to write down all the information and make sure I copied it correctly into the registration screen. Agreed that the whole process if very tedious---- Uniden has gone to extreme lengths to make certain that it would not be feasible to circumvent the system.
In addition, your key is saved on your registration page and is also emailed to you. I can imagine all the confusion with the amount of information which has to be exchanged if you were doing this with a person on the other end of the line.
I have been critical of Uniden in many respects; as far as the registration process is concerned, they are doing it the right way.
P.S. Incidentally, I had several of our compatriots here on the forums asking if I would please send them my unlock key. They were obviously diluted in their thinking, believing that my code would unlock their radios. Can't happen. Each unlock code is unique.
Others have asked for my full information--- serial number, ESN, checksum and unlock key--- these folks are apparently trying to reverse engineer Uniden's algorithm. You should not share this information with others. The 49.99 price is very reasonable and to circumvent the payment would discourage Uniden from developing any additional digital decoders.
