telecom@ucbvax.ARPA (12/14/84)
From: Jon Solomon (the Moderator) <Telecom-Request@BBNCCA>
TELECOM Digest Thu, 13 Dec 84 16:34:20 EST Volume 4 : Issue 135
Today's Topics:
718 area (specifically, 976)
MCI Mailbox Charges
Equal access dialing
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Date: Thu, 13 Dec 84 8:27:15 EST
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL-VGR.ARPA>
To: telecom@BRL-VGR.ARPA
Subject: 718 area (specifically, 976)
I just got my phone bill with a call to 718-976 New York, NY
(although 718 does not include Manhattan). Does this have
something to do with 718 not yet being fully cut over?
(Full cutover to take place around New Year's?)
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Date: Thu, 13 Dec 84 11:16:12 EST
From: Brint <abc@BRL-TGR.ARPA>
To: telecom@BRL-TGR.ARPA
Subject: MCI Mailbox Charges
Ralph was told by MCI that their new mailbox charge would not
be billed until December 1985? MCI has just informed me
via a piece of MCI Mail that my first $18.00 would be billed in January, 1985!
Brint
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From: ima!johnl@bbncca
Date: Thu Dec 13 11:22:00 1984
Subject: Equal access dialing
To: bbncca!telecom
Just got my latest Boston white pages from NYNEX Information Resources (since
when do phone companies need a separate division to publish the phone book?)
and I am amazed at the total lack of information they give on dialing. For
intra-lata calls, the usual stuff is there about 1+number and 0+number, and
for non-equal-access areas the same stuff applies, with a warning
that you go to AT&T unless do you something else that your OCC should have
told you about.
But for the equal access areas, they say that 1+NPA+number goes to your
preferred carrier and other than that, you're on your own. So I have a few
questions. If you dial 0+NPA+number, what happens? At this point I gather
than only AT&T has operators, so other LD carriers presumably say no. So how
do I dial AT&T and ask for an operator? The obvious thing would be this:
00ATT+NPA+number
but I gather that's not it. Perhaps 10ATT+0+NPA+number. Perhaps not.
And for international calls, they don't tell you how to dial at all! They
give the country and city codes, but no hint on how to dial. I thought
that 011+country+city+number was standard, but evidently not. And how do
you dial international through a non-preferred acarrier? Don't tell me,
it's 10XXX+011+country+city+number. By the time you dial all that with a
rotary dial, you could have written a letter. Aargh.
John Levine, ima!johnl (uucp), Levine@YALE.ARPA (internet)
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From: Jon_Tara@Wayne-MTS
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 84 23:55:30 EST
From: Jon_Tara%Wayne-MTS%UMich-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
To: telecom-request%BBNCCA@MIT-Multics.ARPA
The information that appeared here on Allnet was a bit misleading.
Yes, they have six-second billing, but they also have a 1-minute
minimum. They also charge more for the first minute than they do
for subsequent minutes. Their salesman told me that they don't bill
for calls under 1 minute at all, but they same salesman told me that
the first minute was NOT loaded, which turned out not to be true.
(I haven't gotten a bill yet, so I don't know about not billing
under 1 minute - I'll report back - my FIDOnet system should give
*that* a good test...).
Personally, I've found the quality to be as rotten as any
of them. They proudly enclosed a review from Data Communications
showing that they had better data quality than anyone (ATT included!)
It hasn't been born out in practice, at least not by me.
I'm using a small company called Telemarketing Communications,
Inc. (TMC) They have true six-second billing, and claim to use
ATT Watts lines exclusively. I still can't say that their quality
is as good as ATT, but it's the best of the alternate services
that I've tried (Allnet, Sprint, MCI, and SBS Skyline.)
Each service seems to have it's own "typical" problem.
Skyline's is satellite delay. Allnet, Sprint, and MCI have
chronic low levels. TMC has a peculiar crosstalk problem, which I've
never noticed anywhere else. Suprisingly, though, my modem seems to
ignore the phantom voices.
One final note: the salesperson for Skyline specifically said
that they weren't "tarrifed for data", but that "many people have
satisfactory results" (they must have slooooow reflexes...). The
TMC salesperson claimed that they *are* tarrifed for data. I have
a feeling that this means that if you call and complain about your
data connections, that they don't have any obligation to fix it or
refund your money. Anyone know for sure?
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End of TELECOM Digest
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