rborow@bcm1a09.attmail.com (02/26/91)
In TELECOM V11 #154, Nigel Allen had commented on the 201/908 NJ split. Our Moderator had remarked about Illinois Bell being swamped with complaints, etc. Just an amusing afterthought to that statement: IBT implemented the switch in November of 1989. Ayear and a half earlier, they began to -- as Pat put it -- intensely promote it. From buses to trains to airports to flyers to radio and TV ads -- you name it, they advertised it. Fairly well, I might ad. There were even countless newspaper articles and TV news stories about it. Well, when the permissive dialing was stopped on Feb. 9th last year and the 708/312 codes became mandatory, IBT had to open several operator services centers which were normally closed at the time just to handle the flood of calls. Even we here at AT&T, when we handled billing inquiries at that time, received a bunch of quries. The most common? According to IBT and other telecom. folks to whom I talked, the most frequent complaint about the area code split was: "Well, nobody ever told ME about it!" To which we all wanted so badly to respond: "Where the HELL have you been -- in a cave or something ...?!?" The stupidity of our fellow homo sapiens never ceases to amaze me. Oh well, that's what makes life so interesting I guess. Randy Borow Rolling Meadows, IL. [Moderator's Note: I think other telcos due for area code splits would do well to learn from IBT's example and assume the worst. They should plan to have their offices well staffed for at least two days following the change to mandatory dialing. PAT]
IZZYAS1@mvs.oac.ucla.edu (Andy Jacobson) (03/03/91)
The new GTE phone books just came out on the westside of L.A. This is that wonderful part of town that will be switched entirely to NPA 310 on November 2 of this year. The phone book will be current to March of next year. The entirety of what GTE says about the new area code is limited to a tiny note on the bottom right of the cover of the book, saying only "Introducing new area codes 310 and 510 -- see information pages", and one page, after the civic, first aid, and earthquake info at the very end of the information pages that preface the book. This page is separate from all other telco related stuff, and is so vague, it doesn't even mention when permissive dialing ends for this area. It appears to be a poor rip off of the page in the PacBell directories in this state, but with GTE's usual less information. The only other reference I could find is the 310 region on the countrywide LD map, but not on the state map, which says in bold letters "YOUR AREA CODE IS 213**", the asteriks refering to a tiny note at the bottom of the page about 310. Otherwise the phonebook says nothing, and has 213 this and that all over it. There is no mention of any changes in the material about calling zones and rates, even the list of all prefixes in the area code makes no mention of any changes. Randy Borow writes: > Well, when the permissive dialing was stopped on Feb. 9th last year > and the 708/312 codes became mandatory, IBT had to open several > operator services centers which were normally closed at the time just > to handle the flood of calls. So far there has been no publicity whatsoever. The only info available to the public was a newspaper article a while back. If their phone book is any indication of what they will do, GTE will be in big trouble. Period. Andy Jacobson<izzyas1@oac.ucla.edu> or <izzyas1@UCLAMVS.bitnet>
gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) (03/11/91)
> A year and a half > earlier, they began to -- as Pat put it -- intensely promote it. From > buses to trains to airports to flyers to radio and TV ads -- you name > it, they advertised it. Fairly well, I might ad. There were even > countless newspaper articles and TV news stories about it. That all looks great and more importantly it can be put in the rate base. The problem is that these are not necessarily the best way to reach people. I take the bus practically everyday, there ads on the inside and the outside, but I could not tell you what one of them is about. Perhaps there are ads in LAX, but I haven't noticed them. I read three newspapers today, but I did not read any ads. (Don't even have the slightest idea what one of them said). I try to avoid TV and I never watch local news -- it's just a chat line with ads claiming to be news stories. And what I do watch has been prerecorded so I can zip over the commercials. (Anyway, it's network news to the extent that isn't an oxymoron). In spite of all this, I managed to catch the announcement of the 213 split the day it was announced. My concern is that the customers responsible for all of this, are not paying for it. Grandma with one line is not causing the exchanges to be used up. Those that need pagers, cellular lines, modem lines, extra lines, or a huge bunch of Centrex or PBX lines are responsible, yet as John Higdon has noted the very largest users (the ones most responsible for these splits) are getting their rates cut. With the cost of splitting area codes what it is, perhaps dummy phone lines (for DID, distinctive ringing, etc) should cost more. These new area codes cost a lot of money to implement and not just for the telephone company. Businesses must print up new forms and advise their customers. Citizens have to tell people they do business with and their friends. The result is a lot of expense. It is rather like moving only you don't have to pack and unpack. IMHO, the best way to educate people is that during the permissive dialing period, an intercept should come on (it can be phased in) and say "the correct way to dial this number from your phone is <blah>; please use this method in the future. For a short time only, we will continue to connect you via the number you dialed. If you have any questions, please contact . . ." Also, when a person dials 411, a message announcing the new area codes could be played instead of the current one. Finally, I would like to note that I feel it is unreasonable to expect everyone to know all about the new area codes. I am a devoted reader of the telecom-digest. I know that Dallas/FW, for example, is either about to split or will split soon. Since I don't call Dallas/FW, I don't really care. Even if I did care, would I necessarily understand the geography? That is, how many maps should I buy to plot out every area code change? And even if I knew the exact address, due to foreign exchange lines and exceptions to the general rule, I would not be perfect. Many of the people who said "I did not know about it" may be refering to the particular line in question, they may not be refering to the whole idea of the area code split. In particular, if X tells you that effective Y our new phone number will be Z, do you expect everyone to know the exact geographic boundary of the split? Do you expect the typical person to automatically assume it is because of an area code split? (By a typical person I mean someone who is not a telephone junkie). How many messages have there been during the last year on the proper way to write a phone number? Shouldn't we telephone junkies know that by now? And if we like our own notation, why do we expect Grandpa who has been dialing the number this way for years to like the idea of changing? David
emanuele@overlf.UUCP (Mark A. Emanuele) (03/16/91)
In article <telecom11.195.5@eecs.nwu.edu>, gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) writes: > Also, when a person dials 411, a message announcing the new area codes > could be played instead of the current one. That is JUST what NJB is doing for the 201/908 changeover. After a while it gets to be a pain in the a**, but I SURE wwill NOT forget the new AC. Mark A. Emanuele V.P. Engineering Overleaf, Inc. 218 Summit Ave Fords, NJ 08863 (908) 738-8486 emanuele@overlf.UUCP