"David W. Tamkin" <dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com> (04/16/91)
This afternoon on WBBM AM radio in Chicago I heard a commercial for Ameritech Call-Minder. There was a phone number to call about it: 1-800-222-2522. I'm not sure whether that number will receive calls from outside Ameritech's region. I called and found out this much: The rate for residences is $9.80 per month. That includes the voice mailbox and call forwarding on no answer and busy. Residences will not be charged for the forwarding hop: that surprised me. They will be charged for calls to the mailbox to check for messages, of course. My parents' Illinois Bell CO is not yet converted for CLASS, so they cannot order it. I didn't ask about ordering a voice mailbox without call forwarding on no answer or busy (they could get regular call forwarding if they want). There probably is no price set for such a thing anyway. They do not recommend giving out the direct number to the voice mailbox; their stand is that callers will try to hack the PIN. Centel's position was quite different, offering the possibility of giving out the mailbox's phone number so that calls will go directly there when that's how the customer wants to handle things. Nor did I ask -- nor hope to get an answer to -- how much of the $9.80 is taxed. I know that Centel doesn't collect tax on the $3.95 a month I pay for my voice mailbox from them, but they might tax the $2.25 I pay for call forwarding on no answer or busy (which includes regular immediate call forwarding); technically I would be charged for the forwarding hop to my voice mailbox when a call is forwarded, but my Centel voice mailbox is within my free calling area. Ameritech is supposed to mail me printed information about it. We'll see what, if anything, arrives. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com MCI Mail: 426-1818 CIS: 73720,1570 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN