0004056081@mcimail.com (George S Thurman) (11/24/90)
Those super-innovative folks at US SPRINT have done it again !! They now offer the ability to make conference calls on thier Network. The service is available at no extra charge until February 16, 1991, when there will be a 75 cent surcharge if you use this feature with your FONCARD(sm). The new service will be known as QUICKCONFERENCE(sm), and instructions are as follows: After you establish a connection with your first party, depress the "*" followed by 12. This brings an additional Sprint dial tone. Dial the number of the next party. (Do NOT dial "0"). Depress "*" again followed this time by 13. You are now connected! To drop the additional party, or if the additional party's number is busy, dial "*" followed by 14. Important note: When entering the "*", always depress the key for at least one full second. The system may sometimes have trouble hearing the "*" if there is a lot of background noise at the other party's location. Leave it to US SPRINT to start this kind of service. Now ... if only US SPRINT could do something about their Customer Service. G. S. Thurman 4056081@mcimail.com
rborow@bcm1a09.attmail.com (11/27/90)
In reply to G.S. Thurman's raves about Sprint's conference calling
service:
Big deal. Has Mr. Thurman (I'm assuming a male here) been
living in a cave? U.S. Sprint didn't "start this service," as he
lauds. AT&T has had something even better (and far less confusing, I
might add) for some time now. It's called Alliance Teleconferencing.
It works in a similar way, by using the "#" and "*" keys, but
also has many other enhanced features Sprint cannot yet match. I've
used Alliance several times and love it. It even has a "Meet Me"
feature which allows all conferees to start the conference at a
predetermined time simply by calling a secure, private access number.
Once again, AT&T leads; the others follow.
Randy Borow Rolling Meadows, IL. (708) 228-7075lars@spectrum.cmc.com (Lars Poulsen) (11/28/90)
In article <14920@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0004056081@mcimail.com (George S. Thurman) writes (some hype deleted): >US SPRINT ... now offer the ability to make conference calls on their >Network ... at no extra charge until February 16, 1991, when >there will be a 75 cent surcharge if you use this feature with your >FONCARD(sm). (1) Does this mean that the service is available without a surcharge on 10xxx calls from my home phone ? >The new service will be known as QUICKCONFERENCE(sm), and instructions >are as follows: >After you establish a connection with your first party, depress the >"*" [for at least one full second] followed by 12. This brings an >additional Sprint dial tone. Dial the number of the next party. >(Do NOT dial "0"). Depress "*" again followed this time by 13. >You are now connected! To drop the additional party, or if the >additional party's number is busy, dial "*" followed by 14. (2) How many parties can be conferenced? Just three? Five? Unlimited? (probably not, due to computer table space requirements). If only three parties allowed, it sounds like three-way calling without having to pay for presubscription to the feature. Nice, but not something I have missed at home; and at work, our PBX does three-way calls quite nicely. If this allows five or more participants with reasonable quality, it will be great competition for the AT&T conference call facility provided out of the special service centers. (3) Is this provided through the switch at the IEC POP ? The described procedure would almost require this. How is the call billed? From the originator's location to each participant? (4) Since the activation requires the switch to listen to data on the open call, will this not interfere with other uses of tone signalling? (Banking, remote control answering amchines and maybe even modems?) If it does, it would be a near disaster. Is anyone from SPRint listening ? Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM [Moderator's Note: I'll defer to George Thurman to find out some of the answers to your questions. As it was explained to me, this new service from Sprint is intended to be a three-way call type thing without the need to set something up via Alliance for folks (most of us?) who rarely need that much conferencing ability. It will be billed as two calls from the originator to wherever. PAT]
penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com (Mark Steiger) (12/03/90)
How can someone access this Alliance Teleconferencing? [Mark Steiger, Sysop, The Igloo 218/262-3142 300/1200/2400/9600 (HST/Dual)] ProLine.:penguin@gnh-igloo America Online: Goalie5 UUCP....:crash!gnh-igloo!penguin MCI Mail......: MSteiger Internet:penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com ARPA....:crash!gnh-igloo!penguin@nosc.mil [Moderator's Note: Alliance is an AT&T service for setting up conference calls between yourself and several other parties. It has two basic modes of operation: Operator-assisted, 24 hours per day, from rotary or touch-tone phones: Call 1-800-544-6363 and give your request to the operator. The other mode allows for a completely automated conference with no operator intervenion or assistance. This mode is available Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 7 PM ** from touch-tone phones only ** by calling 0-700-456-1000. The automatic mode is fully prompted. Further details and rates available from the first number at any time. PAT]
BRUCE@ccavax.camb.com (Barton F. Bruce) (12/04/90)
In article <15144@accuvax.nwu.edu>, penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com (Mark Steiger) writes: > How can someone access this Alliance Teleconferencing? > [Moderator's Note: Alliance is an AT&T service for setting up > 0-700-456-1000. N.B. That 700 number MUST be dialed on ATT. If your default carrier is someone else, you MUST use 10288 up front. Each carrier has its own ENTIRE areacode 700 (unlike 800). What may be free dial-a- prayer on one carrier could be costly dial-a-porn on another -- same 700 number.