Rich Kulawiec <rsk@oldfield.cs.colostate.edu> (09/02/90)
Excerpts from an article in the {Fort Collins Coloradoan}, Sunday 8/26/90:
Duo Develops Phone Device - Owner can Choose Calls to Receive
by J. Lewandowski
No one should ever be bugged by nuisance phone calls, two Fort Collins
businessmen believe.
So Rob Day and Andy May are convinced people will pay $200 to stop
unwanted calls.
The two Fort Collins businessmen wlil soon be selling an answering
machine-sized device that can stop incoming calls. They're so
confident in their product that they expect to sell 500,000 of the
electronic machines during the next twelve months.
[...]
The product, called Tess, plugs into into the phone just like an
answering machine. It prevents the phone from ringing and only lets
calls through from people you might wnat to talk to. Tess is an
acronym for Telephone Exclusion Screening System.
[...]
Tess works like this: Users enter phone numbers from whom they'll
accept calls -- up to 25 numbers can be programmed. The machine
answers before the phone rings and asks the called to enter their
number. If the machine doesn't recognize the number, a recorded
message asks the caller to try again later. Approved numbers allow
the phone to ring.
[...]
Telesync [the company the pair have formed] is now signing up a
variety of national marketing companies to sell the product
nationwide. And in what could be considered a case of entrepeneurial
cannibalism, the bulk of sales in the first year will be done by --
get this -- telemarketing companies.
"They'll call up and say 'how would you like this to be the last phone
call at dinner you ever need to answer?'" May said.
[...]
-- end excerpts, begin comments --
There are a number of obvious problems with this system, and a few
that aren't clear, at least from the text of the article. The
caller's "number" isn't specified. Is it their phone number, or is it
a unique N-digit number that must be told to each caller? If it's
their phone number, then it could perhaps be deduced by someone with
knowledge of the personal relationships involved, allowing an
unauthorized person access. If it's only a few digits, then it could
be found by trial and error.
That deals with the problem of unauthorized folks gaining access; but
what about folks who should be authorized but can't get in? The
police and fire departments, for instance; the person who found your
lost dog and is calling the number on the tag; a friend you haven't
heard from in a while, etc. And with only 25 storable numbers, it
seems like it would quickly be necessary to start giving multiple
people the same number.
Finally, their use of telemarketers to sell the device is one of the
sleaziest tactics I've seen yet; it's reminiscent of the street types
in certain large cities who run up to cars stopped at intersections
and throw mud on the windshields -- and then offer to wash the car for
a fee.
Rsk
[Moderator's Note: You'd have the device on your public, listed line.
Your animal's tags would show your non-pub private number. And since
this new device apparently does not distinquish one number from
another, except that either it is listed in the table or not, you'd
just program one number, i.e. 12345, and let it be known to the people
you want calling your public number to insert that sequence on answer.
If instead of merely saying 'call later' this device would transfer
the call to an answering machine, that would be the best arrangement
of all. This isn't really a new idea. A company called International
Mobile Machines of Bala Cynwyd, PA had a similar product on the market
about ten years ago. Why it did not become more popular, I do not
know. Their model shunted unwanted calls to an answering machine. I
bought one, then later sold it to a friend. PAT]"J. Eric Townsend" <jet@karazm.math.uh.edu> (09/03/90)
In article <11636@accuvax.nwu.edu> the Moderator writes: >[Moderator's Note: You'd have the device on your public, listed line. >Your animal's tags would show your non-pub private number. And since Right. How many of us can afford to have two voice lines? I have two lines because I need a dedicated data line. The idea of two voice lines, one published and one unpublished, strikes me as both silly and expensive. J. Eric Townsend -- University of Houston Dept. of Mathematics (713) 749-2120 Internet: jet@uh.edu Bitnet: jet@UHOU Skate UNIX(r) [Moderator's Note: Many folks have two lines, particularly if there are children in the family. Or, they may have two lines with one for voice and the other *primarily* for data, like myself. I still take/make some voice calls on my second line as needed. PAT]
jgo@mcgp1.uucp (John Opalko, N7KBT) (09/05/90)
In article <11636@accuvax.nwu.edu> rsk@oldfield.cs.colostate.edu (Rich Kulawiec) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 615, Message 2 of 9 [ Description of the Tess device for screening incoming calls. ] Sounds like the old American Bell "Telstar". I've got two of 'em. Not a new idea at all, I'm afraid... John Opalko jgo@mcgp1.UUCP
matt_mcgehrin@pro-graphics.cts.com (Matthew McGehrin) (09/08/90)
In-Reply-To: message from jet@karazm.math.uh.edu In reply to the message about 'two phone lines', I have an a cheaper idea that would work. NJ Bell and other Baby Bell companies usually offer a service called a 'teen line', that can be put on a subcriber's line, for a family member or 'teen'. When I first got my modem, I had my own 'teen' line and had higher phone bills then my parents ever did, anyhow. If you need a second cheaper line that is automatically unlisted, get a teen line. Use the teen line for your 'voice' number and your 'orignal line' as your data line. That way you can get unlisted service free of charge. Another recommendation would to subscribe to PC-Pursuit or if you like faster communications, use Reach Out America. The first hour is $8.70 (gone in one day), and additional hours are $6.60 which is an great rate; (about 11 cents) a minute after 10pm. Matthew McGehrin Internet :Matthew.Mcgehrin@f528!n520!z1!ieee!org Fidonet :1:107/528 Pro-Graphics BBS 908/469-0049 ....UUCP: crash!pro-graphics!matt_mcgehrin ARPA/DDN: pro-graphics!matt_mcgehrin@nosc.mil Internet: matt_mcgehrin@pro-graphics.cts.com
gs26@prism.gatech.edu (Glenn R. Stone) (09/12/90)
In <11899@accuvax.nwu.edu> matt_mcgehrin@pro-graphics.cts.com (Matthew McGehrin) writes: >...or if you like faster >communications, use Reach Out America. The first hour is $8.70 (gone >in one day), and additional hours are $6.60 which is an great rate; >(about 11 cents) a minute after 10pm. Ummm .... MCI Prime Time will beat that on two counts .... I currently pay $7.50/6.50 (they didn't TELL me they were cutting their rates, but they did, anyway; I'm not complaining :), and Prime Time coverage starts at 5pm instead of 10 .... Switch, hell. Why should I pay Deathstarco more money for services I never use? Just another satisfied MCI customer. Glenn R. Stone gs26@prism.gatech.edu
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (09/13/90)
"Glenn R. Stone" <gs26@prism.gatech.edu> writes: > Just another satisfied MCI customer. Well, OK, since we have been whacking Sprint lately, thought I'd share a little goodie: --------------- AT&T NEWS BRIEFS [All items are today's date unless otherwise noted] Wednesday, September 12, 1990 SLAM DUNK -- ... Last spring, ... arthritic, 83-year-old widow [Margaret Olt] became another casualty of the long-distance industry's battle for customers. A telemarketer called Mrs. Olt at home. All he wanted, he said, was to save her some money on her long-distance phone calls by switching her service to MCI from AT&T. Annoyed ... Mrs. Olt says she hung up on him. But when her next phone bill arrived, ... it showed a $5 charge from "some outfit called the MCI." In phone industry parlance, Mrs. Olt had just been "slammed." She thus joined tens of thousands of telephone customers around the nation who claim their phone service has been switched without their consent. ... MCI denies that it would slam a customer and [contends] that ... it received oral approval for service from Mrs. Olt. ... Last year, in any case, at least 100,000 phone customers complained to their local phone companies that their long-distance carrier had been switched without authorization. ... AT&T says slamming is costing it millions of dollars, not only in lost revenues, but also for processing complaints from consumers who still think AT&T runs the nation's phone system. ... "It reached a crisis stage in 1989," says Merrill Tutton, vp of consumer services at AT&T. Mr. Tutton says the biggest culprits are ... MCI and companies that help sell its service. ... In the current fiscal year, complaints to [the FCC] so far total: MCI, 387; Sprint, 194, and AT&T, 22. ... MCI says it is capturing about 100,000 AT&T customers a week. But Mr. Tutton says that when AT&T asks its former customers why they left, more than 20 percent of those contacted say they didn't know that they had given up AT&T service. ... The FCC is reviewing a request from AT&T that would require written authorizations from customers before any service changes. ... Wall Street Journal, A1. ------------------- So how 'bout it? From all accounts MCI does seem to be the slamming king. I have, on several occasions, had to "clean off" MCI as the default carrier on some of my clients' trunks. Associates of mine report the same. So while Sprint is exhorting potential customers to switch from AT&T, MCI is doing it for them whether they like it or not. What a slimepit! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !