woody <djcl@contact.uucp> (09/21/90)
From the Bell (Canada) News, it seems that the Payphone Messenger trial that has been going on in Ottawa is something of a success. This is the service for payphones that allows one to leave a voice message should a called number be busy or unanswered. If the caller wants to leave a message, the '#' button is pressed and the caller leave a message. The called number will ring every fifteen minutes until answered or until two hours have passed. Leaving a message costs the coin deposit (25c); the caller can also hang up on the busy or no-answer and get the deposit back. The Ottawa trial will end on 1st October, and the service will stop, at least until the service is offered commercially next year, as a feature of the new Millenium payphones. The Marketing and Development groups of Bell Canada involved in the trial won an award for the project. 89% of Payphone Messenger users who tried the service were satisfied with it. On the receiving end, three-quarters of those receiving a payphone message considered it a "major improvement" in payphone service. (The figures were based on those interviewed with respect to the message service).