black@ll-null.arpa (Jerry Glomph Black) (05/13/89)
Three notes from travels in past 2 weeks: 1) 'Fred's communications' COCOTS essentially NEVER allow 10XXX access. I have repeatedly tried this, and failed. The local BOC payphones usually DO allow it, but certainly not always. 2) Denver Airport: The BOC there (US WEST) phones default to Sprint, and the phones are very clearly marked as such. 10288 works fine there. Houston Airport: The phones are NOT marked, I think you get BUM-Stench Communications as a carrier. About 40% of the big advertisements in the corridors of the airport are flashy placards telling you, in 2" letters, how to access AT&T by the 10288 method. Obviously 10288 is ok here as well. 3) What has failed in only the rarest of COCOT situations is to use Sprint's LD service via the 800-877-8000 access. A few of them shut off the keypad's tone generator after the connection is made, but at least an operator answers, and you can still complete your call, with a $1 surcharge (still a lot better than AOS rates!) I find that the ATT charge-card phones (the silly ones with the CRT and card-reader) usually shut off the keypad, but otherwise the BOS phones are OK. BUMSTENCH phones are usually OK as well. Jerry G Black, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood St. C-120, Lexington MA 02173 Phone (617) 981-4721 Fax (617) 862-9057 black@MICRO.LL.MIT.EDU