"John R. Levine" <johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us> (08/28/90)
I have been making a fair number of conference calls lately, so I
thought I'd see what the competition is like. The only two carriers I
could find that provide conference service are AT&T and Sprint. (MCI
said they don't.)
Here's the comparison of AT&T Alliance and Sprint FON Conference.
AT&T also still has their old operator completed conference service
which seems noisier and more expensive except for very long (many
hour) conferences.
ACCESS:
AT&T: Dial 0-700-456-1000 if you want to dial it yourself,
1-800-544-6363 if you want operator assistance.
Sprint: Dial 1-800-FON-CONF for a Sprint conference operator.
SETUP:
AT&T: If you dialed the 700 number, you dial the numbers yourself, and
dial # to add them to the conference, * to hang up on them. (There
are voice prompts.) For operator dialed calls, you give them your
list of names and numbers.
You are encouraged but not required to call ahead to reserve operator
assisted conferences. If you don't reserve, they don't promise that
the capacity will be available. Operator dialed calls are placed
person-to-person.
Sprint: Call at least 15 minutes ahead to schedule the call and tell them
who to call. They call you back. All calls are placed
person-to-person.
CALL QUALITY:
In my experience, both are very good. They both have digital
conference bridges that keep the noise way down.
In both cases you can get an operator during the conference (dial #0 or 0
respectively) but I've never needed to do so.
COST:
AT&T: 25 cents/minute/location plus toll charges. You pay the toll charge
from the caller to the conference bridge, and from the bridge to
each callee. There are four bridges in White Plains, Chicago,
Dallas, and Reno; normally you get the closest one, but you can call
a specific bridge if most of your callees are nearer to it. If the
operator dials the call, there is a setup charge of (I believe)
$3/location. You can call any dialable number in the world.
Sprint: Setup charge of $3/location plus 44 cents/location/minute anywhere
in the US. I don't know if they allow foreign locations.
BILLING:
AT&T: Billed to the calling number, or to a third party if they accept
the charge. You can't charge to a calling card.
Sprint: They mail you a separate bill, even if you're a Sprint subscriber.
(How quaint.) No other billing options, though it seems they'll
send the bill anywhere you tell them to.
OTHER NOTES:
AT&T has a "call me" conference which is assigned its own 700 number
for the duration of the call so that people can call in themselves.
There is a large extra charge for this. Calls to the 700 number can
be billed to the caller or to the conference originator. This seems
useful if you don't know where your participants are, e.g. salesmen
calling in from the road.
The rate structures are quite different -- Sprint is cheaper for calls
during the day and people far away. AT&T customer-dialed is cheaper
at night and for calls with people closer together.
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!esegue!johnl
[Moderator's Note: Telecom*USA also provides operator assisted
conference calling via their calling card and 800 number. PAT]