On Mon Nov 04 at 19:20, Stephen of 1:252/301 wrote to All:
 SC> A new service coming soon here in Ontario, Canada is Visual Call
 SC> Waiting. You need a newer type phone (i.e. Meridian 350 or a
 SC> special Sanyo model) but it will display the name/number of the
 SC> person who's trying to get through while you're on the line with
 SC> someone else. If it's the bill collector then just leave it, if its
 SC> the lottery calling to say you've won big then you know right away.
Ya... but the service costs $13+/month.    I would rather spend that on 
lottery tickets per month.   BTW.. the Lotteries never call the winners; they 
can't since most people buy tickets anonymously!  
IMHO, most people are wasting their money with the telco's proliferation of 
CALL-this and CALL-that services.  Granted, the technology is *new* and it's 
"neat" to use it.  But as Bell continues to increase the basic monthly 
telephone connection fees, I *hope* people will wake up and assess the need 
for the various CALL-services.   
This rural area was just notified that our basic monthly fee will be going 
p.
This does NOT include the $2.50 that will be added in January.  Bell's 
justification for the pre-January increases of the basic rate are to "support
the new *SMART-touch services" that are still NOT available in this area. 
Makes sense, eh?   Bell customers here have to pay for something that they 
cannot get!
Every time Bell takes a request to the CRTC for a rate increase, they make 
he
justification with "we are adding new services".   So... even if Bell 
customers do not purchase the *SMART-touch or CALL-services, we still have to 
pay for the *existence* of these services to help pay Bell for the 
development of them. Pathetic.
The basic monthly rates will continue to climb as more and more Canadians 
decide that they do NOT need the various CALL-services.   Bell is justifying 
the need to raise our basic rates inorder to support the development and 
maintenance of CALL-services and *SMART-touch.   
 SC> I use distinctive calling for my fax/modem use. It grabs the data
 SC> calls and regular calls go to Call Answer if line is busy.
Distinctive Ring is practical only because some of the "fax/voice/modem" box 
products are not always reliable in their detection of the type of call.
  ...AA 
     a.abolins@ieee.ca 
     august@etc.mn.pubnix.net (MTLnet)
 
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