News Update
In our twelve years of publishing, we've managed to avoid getting really ripped off. We've had many opportunities but knowing consumer rights and learning how to deal with the phone companies is a survival skill equal to none. Nothing, however, could have prepared us for our experience with Performance Systems International (PSI). PSI is a company that provides Internet service. This summer we connected our new ISDN line to the net after going through hell with NYNEX getting it installed and working. That is, we thought it was hell.
After making a few phone calls, we came upon PSI and we asked them about their ISDN service. They had service in our area and the price seemed reasonable. We then asked them a very important question. Did they support "data over voice?" (Data over voice allows you to connect over the voice path of your ISDN line at speeds up to 56k. The other way of connecting is to use the data setting which connects at 64k. But NYNEX charges a penny a minute to do this, for no particular reason. So a site like ours which is up 24-hours-a-day can save considerably by avoiding that charge and connecting at 56k.)
The PSI rep said it would be no problem at all. So we signed up for a year and paid them a hefty deposit. Then we tried to connect. It didn't work. We called tech support and after having a little conference they told us they didn't support that kind of connection. We were never given a reason and they refused to even talk to us about it.
Since we signed the contract with the understanding that we were getting a specific type of connection, we asked that it be canceled and our money refunded. PSI refused to do either. They said they intended to charge us for an entire year's worth of service even though we never once managed to connect. After all, we signed a contract.
In this contract there is no mention of certain configurations being "locked out" and, since we were told that our configuration was supported to the first place, we signed their contract under false pretenses.
Next, they pulled the old bait-and-switch tactic, offering to cancel the contract if we would buy their 56k leased line service at an exorbitant price. We declined. But we decided to try a little experiment. We made two phone calls to PSI (703-904-4100) and pretended to be new customers. Again, we asked them if they offered data over voice. Again, they said yes. Twice.
But this time we had our tape recorder rolling. Those of you with web access can hear it for yourselves on our web page (www.2600.com), which operates quite well on a 56k data over voice link through a local provider. We'd naturally be very interested in hearing about any other experiences with PSI that our readers have had. You can write us at the magazine or email psi@2600.com. We intend to fight this one through to the end. For updates, finger psi@2600.com on the Internet or look in future issues.
Not since the (((breakup of the Bell System))) in 1984 has the telecommunications industry faced such upheaval. With the dramatic changes to the industry that the new telecommunications law promises, things may soon be unrecognizable. NYNEX is rumored to be merging with Bell Atlantic and AT&T is said to be getting into the local phone market. Phone companies will be offering cable service and cable companies will be offering phone service. If you thought it was complicated to make a phone call before, God help you.
NYNEX has introduced a new rate plan that has both good and bad in it. Customers are able to pay a flat-fee for calls of unlimited duration in 212, 718, 516, 914, and 917. Clearly, this is a good thing because it opens up all kinds of possibilities and removes prohibitive restrictions. But what's bad is that NYNEX hasn't set a flat-fee that applies to all customers. Instead, everyone pays a different flat-fee, based on their average usage between July 1994 and June 1995. This means that no new customers can get the flat-fee. To make it even worse, NYNEX recalculates the flat-fee after 12 months. It seems a trivial matter to simply flip-flop between two lines but why should customers have to play these games to get a decent rate?
In Alberta, AGT Limited is also restructuring rates. For $20 Canadian, callers can have unlimited local and long distance dialing within AGT areas. This is more like it.
British Telecom is proud of the fact that 1,639;741 customers have "asked for help in the battle against malicious calls" since a department was formed three years ago. There are only 17 million listed numbers in the entire U.K. With numbers like that, this could be quite a battle. If you'd like to own all 17 million of those business and residence listings, British Telecom now offers a CD-ROM telephone directory for just under $300. They're pretty amazed that they got it to fit on one CD. However, in less than a year, a thinner, double-sided CD known as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) will be introduced. DVDs will be capable of holding four hours of video, multiple CD-ROMs, or eight CDs per side at twice the current sampling rate. DVD players will be able to play present-day CDs but it won't work the other way around.
some products our readers might be interested in: an "answering machine intruder" that "enables the user to access telephone answering machines by defeating their security code systems." For $149 you can get a box that plays a Touch-Tone sequence. Then there's the "hold invader" for $99 which pretends to put a call on hold but actually lets you hear what the person on the other end is saying. Apparently this is for people who have never heard of a mute button.
Finally, we have the "Caller ID Blocker" for $69.95. This model, known as the "Anonymous 100" (which would be a good name for the people running this company if they knew what was good for them) "installs on any telephone in seconds and completely kills the effects of Caller ID!" For those people who can't master the art of dialing *67. The company is Phoenix Systems and they can be reached at: 303-277-0305
TRW has really gone over the line this time. Their Credentials Credit Report Monitoring Service had the following blurb in their latest pitch letter: "You and I have got to do something to stop this invasion of our private lives! Far too many companies computerize private information... In the not-too-distant future, consumers face the prospect that a computer somewhere will compile a record about everything they purchase, every place they go, and everything they do."
All fine and good but nowhere in this letter is there any mention that Credentials is part of TRW! And we all know TRW is one of the biggest offenders with regards to letting private information out. But it's not a total loss - you can subscribe to their credit monitoring service and pay them to monitor themselves - one of the benefits that comes with your $59 annual fee is "an official letter that you can mail to [a telemarketer] with a $100 invoice for the time they've forced you to waste against your will and the invasion of your privacy." You can cast evil spells too for an extra fee. So nice to see big business standing up for us little folks.
Here's a little detail Cable & Wireless slipped into their recent bills: "Time of Day Discounts Restructured... Domestic evening, night/weekend, holiday, and off-peak rate periods and international economy, discount, and off-peak rate periods are being eliminated. All outbound, 800, and calling card calls will be rated at either domestic Day or Peak period rates, or at international Standard period rates."
That's quite a restructuring. AT&T also had a little hostility to vent - anyone using 10288 to make a call faces a 75 cent surcharge for the privilege. What are these people smoking?
According to Don Delaney, senior investigator at the New York State Police Department, a recently arrested computer hacker learned how to commit crimes when his parents gave him a subscription to 2600 for his birthday. Those investigative skills just keep getting better and better.
Customers in Ottawa can get names and addresses for Ontario phone numbers by dialing 555-1313 in the appropriate area code. This service already exists in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Manitoba. Web browsers interested in Canadian telecom documents can point to www.crtc.gc.ca for the latest proceedings. And speaking of fun phone numbers involving Canada, callers in the U.S. can dial 1-800-555-1111 to reach "Canada Direct."
NYNEX offers a national Yellow Page listing on the web which lists 16.5 million businesses throughout the U.S. The address is: www.niyp.com
Australia's Sunday Mail clams that an "international computer terrorist group" is threatening to release one thousand computer viruses simultaneously. The group is known as "Nuke" everywhere in the world except Australia, where they are known as "Puke." According to the tabloid, the group put out an underground newsletter to computer virus writers calling on them to withhold all new viruses until one thousand had been written worldwide.
Here are some brand new area codes: 242 - Bahamas, 246 - Barbados, 320 - Minnesota, 352 -Florida, 573 - Missouri, 626 - Los Angeles, 773 - Chicago, 787 - Puerto Rico
In addition, area codes 880 and 881 have been created as mirrors to the 800 and 888 codes (respectively) for calls originating in Canada and the Caribbean. The caller will be billed for the international portion of the call and the domestic portion will be paid for by the 800 number holder.
Some test numbers for new area codes:
330-783-2330 242-356-0000 393-0000 352-0000 (Effective 7/1/96) 864-242-0070 250-372-0123 372-0124 (Effective 6/1/96) 954-236-4242 352-848-0517 320-252-0090 (Effective 3/1/96) 541-334-0057 540-829-9910 630-204-1204 847-958-1204 246-809-4200 787-787-0399 756-9399 781-0199A good source for this kind of information can be found at www.bellcore.com.