wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil (Will Martin) (11/13/90)
Reference the recent discussion of Telephone Pioneers: if you want to talk to a Telephone Pioneer, they staff the "Contact 2" consumer-assistance phone lines run by Channel 2 (KTVI) here in St. Louis. These lines are open for calls from 11 AM - 1 PM and 5-7 PM Central Time, at these numbers: 800-782-2222 314-282-2222 I don't know if there is any geographic limit on the 800 number; do these new 800 services still have geographic limits, or has the old concept of "WATS Bands" disappeared with the flood of competing 800-providers? I have no idea how busy these people are with the consumer-affairs service this is designed to provide -- if things are slow, they might be willing to chat about the Pioneers and telecom issues. If you have a consumer problem with a company in the St. Louis area, you can use these numbers to register a complaint or get information or maybe help with the difficulty. (The other two mjor network-affiliate TV stations in this region also have such lines, but they don't have the Pioneers, which is what makes this Telecom-related.) Regards, Will wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil OR wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil
rgehrig@bcm1a05.attmail.com (11/15/90)
Regarding TELECOM Digest V10 #818 11-13, >Reference the recent discussion of Telephone Pioneers: if you want to >talk to a Telephone Pioneer, they staff the "Contact 2" >consumer-assistance phone lines run by Channel 2 (KTVI) here in St. >Louis. These lines are open for calls from 11 AM - 1 PM and 5-7 PM >Central Time, at these numbers: >800-782-2222 314-282-2222 >I don't know if there is any geographic limit on the 800 number; do >these new 800 services still have geographic limits, or has the old >concept of "WATS Bands" disappeared with the flood of competing >800-providers? Yes ... "WATS Bands" are alive and well, as well as "customized" 800 services. Customized 800 services available now can terminate on POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines, with no special equipment or "dedicated" lines needed. Some 800 services allow the customer to pick and choose which area codes to receive 800 calls from. The 800 number above (for Channel 2 (KTVI)) can be reached by callers in Illinois and Missouri only. Richard Gehrig attmail!bcm1a05!rgehrig Rookie Reader