sfq@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (11/15/88)
Is there a commercially-available, inexpensive, device to prevent outgoing
long-distance calls? I have a friend whose daughter runs up bills of
$500 per month.
The phone company says they can't help (or that it will cost big bucks,
depending on who she talks to).
If I had a circuit, I could build it. She's willing to go all-tone on her
phones, if that would help.
Thanks.
--
Stanley F. Quayle N8SQ @ W8CQK (614) 276-6557
{ohio-state | osu-cis}!bcd-dyn!sfq 3375 Fisher Rd., Columbus, OH 43201
Internet: sfq@battelle.arpa Fido: Stanley Quayle, Node 1:226/610
My opinions are mine. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore.rog@hpcilzb.hp.com (Roger Haaheim) (11/17/88)
Why doesn't she just control her daughter rather than the phone line? [Moderator's note: Roger raises a very good point, worthy of discussion in a forum devoted to parent/child relationships. The horror stories in the local media here (Chicago Tribune) when the Nine Hundred Service Corporation first started operation were unbelievable. Illinois Bell wound up writing off several *million* dollars in uncollectibles as a good will gesture for parents who were stuck with phone bills typically in the hundreds of dollars because of their inability to discipline and/ or control their children. Now the various Bells offer 976/1-900 blocking on request. Why can't the parents handle this? **PLEASE** no response to this mini-flame required....at least not here! Patrick Townson]
neal@uunet.UU.NET (Neal Woodall) (11/22/88)
>Is there a device available which can be used to toll-restrict >long-distance calls? I have a friend whose daughter runs up bills of >$500 per month. Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the phone bill? It sounds to me like what she needs is to give her daughter a taste of some kind of punishment, not some gadget to prevent outgoing phone calls. BTW, things like this do exist, but I don't know where you can buy one. Neal
apple.i.intel.com@marko (Mark O'Shea) (12/01/88)
I had a similar phone problem. My local phone company set it up so that no toll calls could be made from my phone or to my phone. When I wanted to call long distance I used my credit card. I worked just like a pay phone. The operator would come on and ask for my billing. It cost me about $20 (one time) for the service. It cost about the same to have it removed once I no longer needed it. I live in a small rural community with a local phone company, but we use AT&T operators. For those of you who say "...why doesn't she control her kid...". Save your posting and read it again after you have raised two or three teenagers. Mark O'Shea SDA
patth@nyu.edu (Patt Haring) (12/03/88)
{{{ Quoted text edited down to pass inews. -chip }}}
In article <telecom-v08i0185m04@vector.UUCP> nobody@vector.UUCP writes:
>>Is there a device available which can be used to toll-restrict
>>long-distance calls?
>Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the phone bill? It
>sounds to me like what she needs is to give her daughter a taste of some
>kind of punishment, not some gadget to prevent outgoing phone calls.
'twould be nice if you cross-posted this stuff to misc.kids.
I do remember when my child first learned to dial the telephone; I'm
in NYC and soon discovered she liked the area code for HAWAII * sigh *
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{{{ receive the USENET newsgroups per se. -chip }}}uevans@uncecs.edu (Elizabeth A. Evans) (12/06/88)
In article <telecom-v08i0192m05@vector.UUCP> phri!dasys1!patth@nyu.edu (Patt Haring) writes: >In article <telecom-v08i0185m04@vector.UUCP> nobody@vector.UUCP writes: >>>Is there a device available which can be used to toll-restrict >>>long-distance calls? >>Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the phone bill? It >>sounds to me like what she needs is to give her daughter a taste of some >>kind of punishment, not some gadget to prevent outgoing phone calls. This kind of device would be useful for more than parents restricting kids' access to toll telephone calls. We have a shared pool of modems available to our medical school network users. In order to prevent unauthorized toll-dialing by those users, we had to remove the ability to manually dial out -- if the needed telephone number doesn't exist in a list of numbers we think people will use, the users can't dial the number. It would be much nicer to let them dial other local numbers. -- Elizabeth A. Evans internet: uevans@med.unc.edu Office of Information Systems usenet: uevans@uncmed UNC-CH School of Medicine Chapel Hill, NC