BBUXEIPD@UIAMVS.BITNET (Robert Pearson) (08/23/88)
> During December of 1987, we started working in our Educational Computer > Voice Mail System. Basically this is a Bulletin Board System. The > difference is that instead of having to use a computer, all you need is > a regular touch tone phone. This allows most of the students to have ^^^^^^^ > Once the student proceeds, v.g. 6520 the host computer says: > > "Enter your message after the tone and press the asterisk to > end" ^^^^^^^^ Why is it that almost all of these 'neat' services require the two 'extra' touch tone keys? ('#' and '*') As an end user, I have avoided several of these services because it would require me to purchase additional phone equipment. I realize you cannot set these services up to use pulse, but do you have to use the extra keys? Many pulse/tone switchable phones (mine included) only provide the ten basic digits. From what I have seen, the only companies that limit themselves to the ten basic keys are alternate long distance servers. (I was a subscriber to Teleconnect years befor equal access....) To everyone who is developing 'touch tone' interfaces; PLEASE consider your market and make the '#' and '*' keys OPTIONAL, if you use them at all. Robert
amossb@umbio.Miami.Edu (A.E. Mossberg) (08/24/88)
Robert, if manufacturers of switchable tone/pulse phones do not provide the '*' and '#' keys then you should be complaining to them. Those keys all along were designed for use as special-function keys. For a dial-up service that accepts DTMF input, if you have input fields of unknown length it is very hard to implement without a delimiter that won't be confused as data. (It can be done with a time-out, but then you might as well call a human) Also, some systems provide for alpha input, which is rather difficult without a method of desginating which of the 3 chars on a key you want. aem