MAP@AI.AI.MIT.EDU ("Michael A. Patton") (10/25/87)
From your TELECOM message dated 23 Oct 1987: However, if you want a good example of a service that we shouldn't be charged extra for, try touch tone on for size. Touch tone calls are dialed faster, and therefore take up less of the central office's processing time. Perhaps back in the Stroger or crossbar days it made sense to charge extra to cover the cost of installing touch tone dialing equipment, but for ESS offices, people should really pay extra for *pulse*. This would have the additional benefit of hastening the demise of antiquated pulse equipment. Robert Lenoil In fact tone dialing was developed by Bell because it would save money and make it beneficial to replace older equipment. They (the technical types who developed it) proposed that, one CO at a time, the entire Bell System should convert from pulse-only to tone-only service (at NO COST to the subscriber!). This would lower costs, decrease equipment requirements, and other assorted benefits. They even did an economic analysis with the cost of buying everyone a new phone to replace their existing one (in those days they were all leased from Bell anyway), upgrading CO equipment, etc. They determined that the savings would pay for this. Unfortunately, the marketing people then got into the act and said to themselves, "Here is something that the subscriber will see as having a personal benefit, therefore we can get them to pay extra for it." The regulatory agencies, of course, would not let them FORCE people to get a more expensive service. Thus we have the current state of affairs. Mike Patton