Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: eli@chipcom.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: While Phone Rings, Charges May Begin Message-ID:Date: 11 Aug 89 14:32:06 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 31 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 290, message 7 of 13 drea> Return-Path: spdcc!mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu!telecomlist-request > From: Andrew Boardman > Subject: Re: While Phone Rings, Charges May Begin > > I dread the day that I read "Coin calls from this telephone are carried by > the US Sprint PublicFON service.")) Why do you dread Sprint more than any other long haul carrier? Don't all carriers have problems with starting charges if you let the phone ring or give a busy signal for a "very long time"? Which carriers are immune from such charges? If Sprint alone is screwing up billing because of "premature billing", this sounds like a good question for my pal at Sprint. I like to give him tough questions! [Moderator's Note: For one, AT&T has no problem with call supervision. They begin charging when the connection is actually established, and not after some pre-set period of time. You may occassionally listen to "The Larry King Show", a radio talk show late at night which is heard coast to coast. The announcer always gives a phone number to call if you want to talk on the air with Larry King, and his announcement is phrased thus, "...if we have a free line, you will get a ringing signal....let the phone *continue to ring* until it is your turn to speak with Larry....we will answer you a few seconds before you go on the air..." . Typically, you listen to ringing for 10-15 *minutes* -- sometimes half an hour -- while the callers ahead of you voice their opinions. Try that on a Sprint line sometime. Chances are your Sprint rep friend will tell you they do not have 'call supervision equipment' and cannot tell when the call actually starts. PT]