daemon@ucbvax.UUCP (08/25/84)
From @MIT-MC:Telecom-Request@MIT-MC Fri Aug 24 13:57:22 1984
TELECOM Digest Saturday, 25 Aug 1984 Volume 4 : Issue 73
Today's Topics:
What you can find inside a phone...
Long Distance Services
Re: Telephone Headsets
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Date: Thu, 23-Aug-84 16:42:45 PDT
From: Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@RAND-UNIX.ARPA>
Subject: What you can find inside a phone...
Some years ago, I was at a large swap meet, and there was this guy
there trying to sell an ITT (non-telco-owned) 2500-type (desk
touch-tone) phone. It seemed to be in pretty good shape, so I asked
him what he wanted for it. "One dollar?" he replied. Hmmm. Rather
inexpensive, even for an ITT set. It seemed to weigh about the right
amount (so I figured it wasn't empty) and the transmitter and receiver
were intact in the handset, so I bought it. So... I take the set home
and try plugging it in. Seems to work OK, until I try to dial.
Nothing! Not even the little tone bursts indicative of reversed
polarity. So, I grab a screwdriver and open up the unit. The reason
for the problem was immediately obvious. A petrified roach (who
apparently had an incredibly bad sense of timing) was wedged between
two of the contacts on the hookswitch. Once removed, the phone worked
fine, and in fact it is now the "white courtesy telephone" that ties
into my keysystem comm line in the livingroom.
But really... talk about bugs in the phone system...
--Lauren--
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Date: Thursday, 23 Aug 1984 18:34:13-PDT
From: nelson%quill.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Documents of Our Lives.)
Subject: Long Distance Services
I recently checked out long distance services for the Nashua, NH area.
I thought I'd share my results in case someone is thinking of joining
one.
Services compared: AT&T, Allnet, MCI, and GTE Sprint
[I've also used a long distance service local to La Crosse, WI:
Century Area Long Lines (CALL), but I don't think anyone's interested
in hearing about that.]
AT&T ==== Well, everyone knows about these guys. Their gimmick is the
"coupons" that you get every time you make more than $15 worth of
phone calls in a month. The more you spend, the more coupons you get.
You get a statement every 6 months showing your current coupon
balance.
This promotion makes me think of the S&H green stamps my mom used to
get; we wound up with TONS of those things, and never did get much out
of them.
Allnet ====== Their services are not offered in Nashua. My dad uses
this (in Minneapolis), so I'm somewhat familiar with it.
Allnet has two nice features that I know of. One is an 800 number
which you can use when you're away from your home city. It's more
expensive than AT&T operator-assisted rates IF you stay on the line
for more than 5 minutes. Presumably, you'd want to use the 800 number
to call your family or office in your home city; they'd call you right
back, using the local access number. Allnet's other feature is you
can charge your bill to your AMEX card. (My dad does this--don't know
if they accept other cards.)
MCI & Sprint ============ Both offer service in Nashua, with the
standard claim for savings. MCI has no monthly fees; Sprint requires
a minimum of $5 of phone calls per month. I went with Sprint, because
MCI doesn't have any way for someone to use their service outside of
their home city. I did hear a rumor (was it here?) that MCI has
applied for clearance to offer nationwide 800 access, which customers
will use instead of local access numbers. Supposedly, no additional
fees are involved.
Sprint doesn't have an 800 number like Allnet, but they give you a
little booklet with all of the phone numbers for every city they
serve. You can use your calling card in any of these cities, but the
charge is similar to Allnet's 800 service: you end up paying more
than operator-assisted rates if you stay on the line too long.
Sprint also offers "volume discounts." For monthly bills greater than
$20, you get an additional 8% off your daytime calls, 11% off your
evening calls, and 12% off your weekend calls. The percentages go up
if your bill is over $45 (somewhere around there), and once more
around $75.
So far I'm pleased with Sprint. Their line quality is OK. But, I
tend to think that AT&T has everyone beat as far as that goes.
I'd appreciate any corrections, experiences, feedback, etc.
JENelson
Thu 23-Aug-1984 22:41 EST
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Date: Fri, 24 Aug 84 9:17:14 EDT
From: Robert Jesse <rnj@BRL-TGR.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Telephone Headsets
Plantronics (Santa Cruz) makes both in- and over-the-ear headsets in
many different configurations costing from about $100 through $180.
DAK Industries (N. Hollywood CA) sells an over-the-ear model for $49 +
$3 p&h. Based on personal experience with Star- sets from Plantronics
vs. the photograph of the DAK unit, it appears as though you may get
what you pay for.
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End of TELECOM Digest
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