[fa.telecom] accepting/making anonymous calls - WHY ???

werner@utastro.UUCP (09/19/83)

Re:  Transmission of caller's phone number

>	From: Anonymous@inmet.UUCP
>	Subject: Re: Re: Transmission of caller's phone n - (nf)
>
>	1) I am willing to accept anonymous calls - WHY NOT!
>	2) I want calls placed from here to be labelled anonymous - ABSOLUTELY!

So you are and so you do.  Hmmm, as the caller knows my number (obviously)
I want to know his - only fair, isn't it ??!!  What are you afraid of,
anyway ??  Posting as Anonymous, and not wanting me to know where you are
calling from ??  Very weird, indeed.

I am quite adamant about wanting to know the number of the phone I am being
called from, it is a form of protection I feel I need and am paying for with
my monthly phone bill already.  At my door, I can see who is calling,
and get to decide if I care or dare to answer.  At the office, nobody
calls or walks in unannounced.  Only the company number is published,
not the number where I can be reached during office hours.  Short of a
personal secretary answering the phone at home for me, there is really
little in the whole present set-up that is in my favor, the one who is
paying for the damn phone in the first place.  I must pay extra for an
unlisted phone (shouldn' that be cheaper ??) - something I don't want
anyway, because the system where I should hand out my phone number
to all those people against whose call I have no objection, is really
detrimental to the purpose of the phone in the first place.  Allowing
people to contact me for "urgent" reasons - or vice-versa.  I see no
reason why I should be able to hide the number I am calling from.
(Anyway, there is always the public phone booth)  That would at least
put a stop to those cursed political and commercial calls, where the callers
refuse to properly identify themselves or a number where I can call them
to request a stop to this intrusion.

Honestly, I can't think of any circumstance under which I would regret
not wanting to be disturbed by the call from someone unwilling to let
me know the number he is calling me from.  Anyway, he can always write
an anonymous letter, if he so desires, and I don't mind that ( I might
mind the contents, of course, but that is a different matter )

And a system where the caller must type in his number ( scout's honour system?)
or an assigned "secret" code is simply not sufficient or practical.

So it seems to come down to the old problem - where user-friendliness and
progress depends on the "good-old phone company" and is not open to 
competetive market pressure, the consumer gets the shaft.  Reminds me of a
*VERY* large computer company ...  But I am hoping that the entry of ATT into
THAT market might lead to some consumer-benefits, for a change.

And - I am the first to recognize the comparative qualities of the US phone
system - but that's really no excuse for it's existing short-comings or
for not improving it.