OFF THE TICKER : This Is the End-All in Call Waiting

For all those times you’ve rolled your eyes or sighed out loud while a long-winded caller kept talking, now there’s a quick and painless escape.

“Gotta Go,” an electronic device that simulates the short interruption and clicking sound made by the phone company’s call-waiting service, is designed to make a chatterbox realize it’s time to get off the phone.

The gadget, which can be hooked up to any single-line phone, is the brainchild of David Schmidt, who came up with it after trying to find a polite way to end phone conversations with a chatty girlfriend.

One day his girlfriend offered to end the conversation after she heard the click-click sound of call waiting and realized he had another call coming through.

Gotta Go, which sells for $14.95, is less expensive than the real call-waiting service provided by the telephone company. In Connecticut, call waiting costs $14.20 for installation and $4.73 a month.

The product, which has been on the market since last month, so far can be obtained only through the mail by calling 1-800-247-2570.