lipman@decwrl.UUCP (02/28/84)
From: castor::covert (John Covert)
The designers of No. 5 ESS and I have a "technical difference of opinion"
(as it is sometimes politely called).
Subscribers in No. 1 and 1A ESS have long enjoyed the ability of
using Call Waiting at almost any time during a conversation.
Subscribers in No. 2 ESS and many other systems, most recently,
No. 5 ESS, AT&Ts new digital office, have been unable to make as
good use of call waiting, because any time a three-way conversation
is in progress, a significant amount of time for many heavy telephone
users, Call Waiting is disabled.
It seems that AT&T is convinced this is correct. It drastically
reduces the usefullness of BOTH call waiting and three way calling.
When I complained that my No. 2 ESS service did not work as well as
my No 1. ESS service, i.e. did not provide the same functionality,
even though priced the same, the replies which I received from the
local operating company (at that time a part of AT&T) were that it
wasn't supposed to work, and that the behaviour in No. 1 ESS was
better than advertised.
Here is what the latest advertisements for Call Waiting say:
Never miss an incoming call because your phone is busy.
With Call Waiting, improtant calls get through, even when
you're talking on the phone. Because if someone else is
trying to reach you, you'll hear a "beep" -- and you can
put the first call on hold while you answer the second one.
If the first call is a three-way call, in No. 2 and No. 5 ESS, this
advertisement is not correct.
...{decvax,allegra,ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!castor!covert