johnl@harvard.harvard.edu (John R. Levine) (07/17/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0237m08@vector.dallas.tx.us> John Cowan <cowan@marob. masa.com> writes: >>[Moderator's Note: ... I got *my* calling card from Illinois Bell, >>and although the number is identical (including the PIN) to the one I also >>got from AT&T, > >Naturally. A BOC calling card >is< an AT&T calling card. ... You might think so, but it's not so. The calling card numbers are made up by the operating companies and then picked up by AT&T. Although the card numbers are the same, the BOC cards and the AT&T cards are separate. Your AT&T card is good for AT&T calls, your BOC card good for intra-LATA calls. All of the BOCs have billing arrangements with each other, so you can use your BOC card for intra-LATA calls anywhere. Other LD companies could perfectly well use the same numbers, but for reasons that now seem largely historical, they all make up their own calling card numbers which have the same format as the BOC numbers but different PINs. An insert in my Sprint bill a few months ago mentioned that they're starting to make agreements with the BOCs to take each other's calling card numbers. Furthermore, I have found that if I go to a payphone and dial 10333-0-number, Sprint will take my BOC card number but not by Sprint FON number. Curiouser and curiouser. -- John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 { bbn | spdcc | decvax | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Massachusetts has 64 licensed drivers who are over 100 years old. -The Globe
root%mccc@princeton.edu (Pete Holsberg) (11/19/89)
I've looked at the small print but still can't tell the difference
between my AT&T Calling Card and my NJBell IQ card. Could someone
please explain? (Forgive me if this has been answered before.)
Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334
1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG
Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800
[Moderator's Note: It has been asked before, and you are forgiven. :)
The difference is, as any business office service rep would tell you,
is you take your AT&T card out of your wallet and examine it when
entering the numbers for interstate long distance calls. On the other
hand, you look at your NJB card when charging local calls. See the
difference? Actually, AT&T and the Sisters Bell have yet to separate
the calling card data base which they used in common for so many
years. When they do, one or the other will give you a different
number, or at least a different PIN. In any event, it is the computers
at NJB which administer it now for both companies. PT]narten@cs.albany.edu (Thomas Narten) (11/20/89)
There is a slight difference between AT&T calling cards and those issued by your local carrier. According to AT&T, the local card is only good for US long distance calls, whereas the AT&T card can be used for international calls as well. At least, that's what they told me when I was trying to determine which of my two cards was more useful. Thomas Narten
miller@gvlv3.gvl.unisys.com (Bruce J. Miller) (11/22/89)
Although MCI is my primary LD carrier, I have ATT and Bell of PA credit cards from the pre-breakup days. These cards bear the same number. If I charge a call to this number, the billing comes from ATT for an out-of-state call, or Bell of PA for a call within Pennsylvania (actually different sections of my Bell of PA bill). I recently received a Bell of PA *IQ* Card which bears the same number as the old cards. The paperwork accompanying it claims that it may be used at any phone in the US regardless of the LD company servicing the phone, with billing handled by Bell of PA. It is also stated that I must use the area code of the called phone, even if it is the same as the AC of the phone I am calling from. (This is not required now). What has changed? Has something new been implemented, or has the nationwide capability (i.e. to place a call with specifying a carrier) be there all along? And why must I enter the AC at all times? Comments would be appreciated. Bruce Miller (miller@gvlv3.gvl.unisys.com)
showard@ucqais.uc.edu (Steve Howard) (11/27/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0524m05@vector.dallas.tx.us>, narten@cs.albany.edu (Thomas Narten) writes: > There is a slight difference between AT&T calling cards and those > issued by your local carrier. [other stuff deleted] There is one other difference.... AT&T will NOT bill you for calls from an AOS with certain AT&T cards. I got a little pamphlet explaining this "feature" with my bill several months ago. There was a little note at the bottom that said that this only applied to card numbers beginning with 677-1 and a few other prefixes. (I'll see if I can find the pamphlet if anyone wants more information about it.)
john@jetson.upma.md.us (John Owens) (11/29/89)
On Nov 19, 3:52pm, Pete Holsberg wrote: > I've looked at the small print but still can't tell the difference > between my AT&T Calling Card and my NJBell IQ card. [and a number of responses indicate that there is no real difference] There is one difference I have noted: the AT&T card-reader phones won't take the Bell cards, but will take the AT&T cards, even though the numbers are the same. Also, the one or two card-reading Bell-owned payphones that I've used won't take the AT&T card, but will take the Bell card (and will also take MCI and Sprint FON cards). Apparently, you can get cards from AT&T that are not in any Bell database, and which AOS's cannot use; they start with a number which is not a valid NPA. If I were to give our number to anyone except myself and my wife (like a kid away at school or something), I'd get one of these to avoid accidental AOS charges. John Owens john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US uunet!jetson!john +1 301 249 6000 john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net