DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) (05/01/91)
Tired of COCOTs which force you to use some slimey high priced
Alternate Operator Service? Decided to buy a carphone to avoid getting
overcharged on your calling card? Well, if you Roam into Metro
Mobile's Northeast system, or Cell One's Boston system, a nice little
AOS-like firm will take the number you are trying to call, a credit
card or calling card, place the call for you, and bill you for the
privilege. How much does all this cost? A mere $1.95 per minute!
Well, actually, this is not all that bad. Here's what happened:
I forgot to set my phone back to the "A" carrier in Connecticut (as
many may have heard, my *favorite* cell co ;) ), and instead came into
their system "looking" like a "B" customer from GTE Mobilnet/San
Francisco. Normally, or should I say, previously, this was never a
problem. As GTE Mobilnet/SF does not, to my knowledge, have a roaming
agreement with Metro Highbill, the call would always be intercepted
and instructions given to make a free call to *611 to see if they can
set you up for temporary service.
Presently, however, this no longer happens. When I turned on my phone
and tried calling myself (to see if it was working), I got connected
to someone who identified herself ONLY as "The Roaming Operator", and
the following conversation ensued:
Operator> This is the roaming operator, can I have the number you are
calling?
Me> Ummm ... "roaming operator" ... I'm not roaming [which was wrong].
Is this Metro Mobile? [Since it was 11PM, and Metro would never
hear of 24-hour customer service, I found it odd that a person was
there to take calls].
Op> Yes, sir, we are associated with them. What is the number you are
trying to call?
Me> Err... 856-2655
Op> Sir, I NEED the area code to complete your call...
Me> The same area code that Metro is in ... I always dial this way ...
203! [not knowing that this wasn't Metro]
Op> I will NEED the complete number, area code first, then the number ...
Me> (tell her the number again) ... By the way, why can't I dial this
myself, I always used to...
Op> (no answer) ... I need your calling card or a credit card.
Me> [Ok, now this was getting weird] Huh? Why? Who IS this? Metro Mobile
never asked for this sort of info before!?
Op> Sir, do you want me to place the call for you or not? (very rudely)
Me> Well, I'm not giving my card number out to just anyone at the other
end of the phone. Who are you and what will this cost me?
Op> It will cost approximately $1.95 per minute. What is your card number?
Me> Who are you?
Op> I want to know your card number (!!!!!!! - pretty pathetic!)
Me> Look, there is obviously a problem here. I am a Metro Mobile/CT
customer. Have been for a few years. This never happened before.
I want to tell customer service about this when ...
Op> (cutting me off) Sir, the number for customer service for Metro Mobile
is 688-xxxx [can't recall, I use the 800 number]. Thank you. [and then
she hung up.]
I don't like being hung up on, so I called back, told her what I think
of being hung up on, she said nothing, and then I repeated my demand
to know who I was dealing with:
Op> You are dealing with Cellular One. Our number is (617) 890-1725.
...so I said "Thank You" as if I was glad to get rid of her (which I
was), and waited until today to call the number.
The 617-890 prefix is used, in part, by Cell One/Boston. They are
owned, I believe, by Southwestern Bell's Cellular outfit. The person I
talked to said this was a new system, started a few weeks ago, called
"Roam Express". It is intended to collect all roamers which do not
have roaming agreements as they enter a service area, and allow them
to place calls through their calling cards or credit cards, for $1.95
per minute.
All that really happens is that instead of the call being sent to a
recording which says "Call customer service to set up roaming", the
call is sent to one of the operators, who will take your card number
and place the call for you. They don't do an ESN check or anything
like that (although they said they may do so in the future. I'm not
sure it is really necessary since you pay the bill directly via your
credit/calling card and are NOT billed via your mobile company.)
Nothing was stated about RECEIVING calls, but this should be possible.
ie, "Roam Express" can have an 800 number that you call into or
something. Metro seems to be doing something with its roam ports -- if
you call its 203-930-7626 port, and enter a GTE/SF number
(415-710-2xxx), rather than get the usual message "The mobile number
you are attempting to reach has either left the car or travelled
beyond the service area", the call just "dies". No ring or anything. I
*suspect* that they may be re-routing all calls to "B" roamers which
do not have pre-existing roaming agreements to "Roam Express", but
that the system isn't fully in place yet. Cell One/Boston, which
according to Roam Express also has this system has not changed the
procedure by which "B" calls are rejected at the port - ie, you call
the 617-633-7626 port, enter a 415-710-2xxx number, and you will get
intercepted right away.
Roam Express claims that they are presently serving Metro
Mobile/Northeast (that's: CT, RI, Western Mass, and Southeastern
Mass,like New Bedford, etc.), and Cell One/Boston, one area of
Florida, a system in Colorado, and a few of the upstate or midstate NY
systems. (I tried the US Cellular system for Poughkeepsie, which comes
in around the mountains surrounding Kent, CT along US-7, and they
didn't have this, so perhaps they are referring to Albany and areas
further north. The NYC system, the Orange County system, and the US
Cell system all don't have it, and the next one north is Albany. Of
course, I believe US Cell accepts "B" roamers, at least from GTE, so
there is no need for Roam Express there ...) New York City's system
should get this by next week (Metro One), and Cell One/South Jersey by
the middle of May.
The rates are the same all over: $1.95 per minute. I am not sure if
they bill for incomplete calls or not. There is no daily roam charge.
The $1.95 is high enough to cover the airtime charges as well as the
toll charges and I suspect make a good deal of profit on the longer
calls. (Perhaps the cell companies charge Roam Express for airtime?
Maybe that's why the "roam operator" who I initially spoke with rushed
me off the phone ... hmmm.)
In any event, it seems like a useful system, but the deceptive way
they try to get your business by pretending to be the local mobile
company and not disclosing the rates until you ask reminds me a LOT of
an AOS. They already have a message which says "Metro Mobile, one
moment while you are connected to the roaming operator", and thus they
could easily have a message saying "You are being transferred to an
operator who can place calls for you. The rates are XXXX, and you will
be billed separately, on your credit or calling card, for these
calls." And $1.95 per minute seems a bit high, although not much more
than you pay Hertz or someone to rent a phone.
Roaming is a bad enough already; I don't need yet ANOTHER company
trying to make a quick dollar off of roaming and to do it in a way
which an AOS outfit would be proud of. It figures Metro Highbill would
be one of the first to sign up! :) (Yet oddly, they don't assess a
daily roam charge to other *"A"* roamers, at least not the last time I
checked. Weird ... I can't imagine Metro giving up $3 for anything!)
Guess that's it ... if anyone has more info on this 'service', please
let me know.
Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet