Have you heard: Zip Trip store sinking in roots on Central Ave

"Business has been good. Even when we first opened, the averagehome has 65 devices that need batteries, from computers to radios,garage openers, remotes and smoke alarms," said assistant managerDel Muir.

The type of devices using batteries is increasing

The type of devices using batteries is increasing, includingkeyless car entries, iPods and book readers, Muir said, but the newbusiness largely comes from more people buying the devices.

Agan said the state employee told her that by using an Internettelephone program, scammers can assume the names of legitimatecompanies for their identity but can't use their telephonenumbers.

"She was telling me you can buy this VoIP or Voice over InternetProtocol for $12.95 a month and you can phone anybody all over theworld and they can't trace the numbers," Agan said.