reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) (03/07/91)
Hey, now! Yesterday I tried dialing a call with my MCI calling card. I tried dialing 10222 and the number and got the MCI "boing" ... then I dialed my card number. It choked on it. I tried the 950 number and it worked just fine. Any idea what happened? I tried several times. The card is actually an American Express "expressphone" card -- which is supposed to be a regular MCI card billed to my Amex card... reb *-=#= Phydeaux =#=-* reb@ingres.com or reb%ingres.com@lll-winken.llnl.GOV ICBM: 41.55N 87.40W h:558 West Wellington #3R Chicago, IL 60657 312-549-8365 w:reb ASK/Ingres 10255 West Higgins Suite 500 Rosemont, IL 60018 708-803-9500
carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com (Carol Springs) (03/09/91)
In article <telecom11.184.9@eecs.nwu.edu>, reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) writes: > Yesterday I tried dialing a call with my MCI calling card. I tried > dialing 10222 and the number and got the MCI "boing" ... then I dialed > my card number. It choked on it. I tried the 950 number and it > worked just fine. Any idea what happened? MCI and Sprint don't accept their own calling card numbers for use with 10xxx. They accept only your BOC card number, also known to many people as their AT&T card number (since these numbers are shared). As a guess ... MCI and Sprint figure most people won't use 10xxx, but rather simply 0+, from whatever nonhome phone they're calling from. They need to be able to take a universal-type card with any phones for which they are the default carrier, and the card number that makes sense is the one that most people have (a BOC/AT&T card number). Sure, they could accept their own card numbers as an alternative. But they don't want people to get confused about why their card number works "sometimes" (with phones for which "their" carrier is the default LD carrier) and not "other times" (with phones using some other carrier). They also don't want people to get into the habit of dialing just 0+ from a pay phone, since this will result in a substantial loss of business to the aforementioned other carriers. ("Gee, my MCI card didn't work here ... well, let's try my NETel card ..." Result: Customer is billed by slimy AOS, or perhaps AT&T or Sprint. All three scenarios are equally bad as far as MCI is concerned.) So MCI and Sprint make sure you always dial their 950- or 800 number to use their card when away from home. Since a 10xxx-0-<number> call is treated the same as a "regular" 0-<number> call at the carrier level, those who like 10xxx lose out if they want to use their MCI or Sprint card on such a call. The BOC card number will work, but will (always?) result in casual billing through the BOC rather than through your MCI or Sprint account. Carol Springs carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com
schwartz@baba.nynexst.com (Steven Schwartz) (03/16/91)
I had a similar situation in Brookline (Boston) MA. When I moved in two years ago, I selected MCI as my primary carrier, then called MCI to request a calling card. The card number comprised my home phone, ending with the "passcode" "1234". Some time later, I called the MCI/AAdvantage number to associate my MCI account with my American Airlines AAdvantage account. I then received a second calling card, with the AAdvantage logo; this card's number was my home phone plus "5678". One of the numbers was only valid on 950-1022; the other worked only on 10222+. Calls using "1234" showed up on my New England Telephone bill as an MCI attachment. Calls using "5678" showed up on my separate MCI bill, which included 1+ calls from my home phone. I believe -- I'm not certain -- that "1234" worked on 10222+. S. H. Schwartz schwartz@nynexst.com Expert Systems Laboratory 914-683-2960 NYNEX Science and Technology Center White Plains NY 10604