pda@gatech.edu (Pa3ul D. Anderson) (08/30/89)
This excerpt is a from a little flyer that was enclosed in my last
telephone bill. I have reproduced it in entirity, since there was NO
copyright notice on it.
--------------------------
"TouchStar services from Southern Bell-- six remarkable telephone services
that give you more from your phone-- more control, more security and
more convenience.
"TouchStar services work for local calls made to or from phone lines within
the same TouchStar service area. Excluded are long-distance calls, call to
and from party lines, coin telephones, PBXs and multi-line hunt groups.
"The star on your phone will star in your home with these six special
services for one- and two-line customers:
"REPEAT DIALING. Dial a number and if you get a busy signal, press
'*66' and the called number is checked every minute for the next half
hour. You hear a special ring when the line's available, and you can
make or recieve other calls while the service in in operation.
"CALL RETURN. Miss a call? Press '*69' and the last number that called
you is called.
"CALL TRACING. Now you can take action against obscene or annoying calls.
If you receive a harassing call, hang up, immediately press '*57' and that
person's number -- plus the time and date -- will be sent to a Southern
Bell office. Give us a follow-up call and we'll investigate further.
"CALL BLOCK. Now you can stop calls from up to six numbers. Either
program telephone numbers ahead of time or block annoying repeat calls(1).
"CALL SELECTOR. Calls from important telephone numbers will produce a
special ring on your phone. That way, you can tell who a call is, or
isn't, from(1).
"PREFERRED CALL FORWARDING. Lets you forward only important calls from
numbers you choose(1).
"Call now to order one or more of these services. Toll free, 1-800-522-BELL
(2355), extension 997.
"TouchStar service rates
Services Homes Businesses
Repeat Dialing $4.00/mo each $4.50/mo. each
Call Return $3.00/mo each $3.50/mo. each
Call Block $3.00/mo each $3.50/mo. each
Call Selector $3.00/mo each $3.50/mo. each
Preferred Call $3.00/mo each $3.50/mo. each
Forwarding
Call Tracing $4.00/mo. $5.00/mo.
"(1) Not available in some areas.
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It seems to me that these services give me the features that I want
from Caller-ID, without invading the callers privacy to a large
degree. Yes, Call Return could cause a problem, but since it doesn't
reveal the original caller's telephone number, the possibility for abuse
is severly restricted. It appears to only work on a one-shot basis- it
doesn't store the number away for later re-use.
All in all, with a significant reduction in rates, this might be a
pretty good package.
Comments?
Paul Anderson (w) (404) 841-4000
gatech!stiatl!pda (h) (404) 662-0799msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark Robert Smith) (09/01/89)
These services are the same as those offered by NJ Bell as Bell Atlantic I.Q. services. The prices are about the same as well. The only thing different is that NJ Bell offers Caller ID. In fact, the *NN codes are the same. NJ Bell automatically allows a line to use Call Trace - you don't have to have it turned on in order to use it. -- Mark Smith | "Be careful when looking into the distance, |All Rights 61 Tenafly Road|that you do not miss what is right under your nose."| Reserved Tenafly,NJ 07670-2643|rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!msmith,msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise.
anthony@uunet.uu.net (Anthony Lee) (09/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0335m05@vector.dallas.tx.us> "Pa3ul D. Anderson" <stiatl!pda@gatech.edu> writes: >"TouchStar services from Southern Bell-- six remarkable telephone services >that give you more from your phone-- more control, more security and >more convenience. Besides the question of privacy does the flyer say anything about how many services you can have together on the same phone (disregarding cost ?). Does it say whether certain services are incompatible ? Any other people out there had experience with using those services ? Does any one know on average how many services the average customers subscribed ? It is nice to see people posting articles about supplementary services instead of the usual complaints about quality of service. cheers Anthony Anthony Lee (Humble PhD student) (alias Doctor(Time Lord)) ACSnet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz TEL:(+617) 3712651 Internet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (+617) 3774139 (w) SNAIL: 243 Carmody Rd, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia [Moderator's Note: I use those extra services here. In Chicago, they are called 'Starline Service'. They pretty well all work in harmony, but where there is a conflict, then an established order prevails. For example, 'call forwarding' takes precedence over 'transfer on busy or no answer' when the transfer is made. Incoming calls direct to the number being forwarded will forward. Calls routed to that line due to busy or no answer elsewhere are NOT forwarded, but ring through despite forwarding being turned on. I have not done a detailed explanation of Starline in quite awhile; if there is interest, I will post it again. PT]
anthony@uunet.uu.net (Anthony Lee) (09/06/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0343m06@vector.dallas.tx.us> anthony%batserver.cs.uq. OZ@uunet.uu.net writes: >called 'Starline Service'. They pretty well all work in harmony, but where >there is a conflict, then an established order prevails. For example, 'call >forwarding' takes precedence over 'transfer on busy or no answer' when the If "call forwarding" takes precedence over 'transfer on busy or no answer' that means if call forwarding and transfer on busy are turned on at the same time. A incoming call would be forwarded regardless of the fact that the phone might not even be busy. >transfer is made. Incoming calls direct to the number being forwarded will >forward. Calls routed to that line due to busy or no answer elsewhere are >NOT forwarded, but ring through despite forwarding being turned on. I have ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Patrick that doesn't sound right ? If forwarding is turned on then all calls should be forwarded no matter whether it's been forwarded before or not. Suppose the incoming call was from another switch then how does the switch I am on know that it's been "transfer on busy" in the previous switch ? >not done a detailed explanation of Starline in quite awhile; if there is >interest, I will post it again. PT] Yes, please could you ? Does the manual you get with Starline tells you in advance what features cannot be used together etc. ? cheers Anthony Anthony Lee (Humble PhD student) (alias Doctor(Time Lord)) ACSnet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz TEL:(+617) 3712651 Internet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (+617) 3774139 (w) SNAIL: 243 Carmody Rd, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia [Moderator's Note: Okay, in a day or so, I'll recap all the Starline features. Jon Solomon tells me he recently got Intelli-Dial turned on at his place, so maybe he will send a summary of that also, to compare the differences. PT]