Raise your hand if you’ve had this nightmare: You’re on a business trip, the alarm clock fails and the front desk forgot your wakeup call. And the worst part? It’s not a dream.

How can you prevent that from happening?

It’s usually best to go with a two- or three-step approach.

Some people prefer hotels where a human being actually makes the wakeup call, but that leaves room for human error.

You know what I do? I ask for a wake up call, let’s say at 7:33 and 7:39.

They actually have to write that one down because it’s not in their book and they don’t forget.

Now, you can also do it online.

The Web site WakerUpper.com is a free service that sets up an automatic phone call with a message that you set up yourself.

Another one, called Iping.com works in a similar way.

But what I don’t like about these guys is that you have to enter your email address, which according to them, gives them the right to send ads to your inbox.

That’s a wake up call I don’t want.

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