Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: sandy47@ucsco.ucsc.edu (90784000) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Phones That Last Forever (From the company that lasts "forever") Message-ID: Date: 8 Oct 89 00:32:25 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Larry McElhiney Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz Lines: 34 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 436, message 6 of 7 [Passed on as received from an anonymous AT&T employee...] October 6, 1989 AT&T Announces Major Force Reduction New York AT&T Chairman Robert Allen announced the most comprehensive force reduction in the company's history today. Affected will be all current AT&T employees who will be offered financial incentives to leave the payroll by the end of 1989. It is expected that by January 1, 1989, Mr. Allen will be the only employee left, with the long distance network being controlled by the chairman's PC 6300 WGS. During a question and answer session in front of Wall Street analysts. Allen felt the plan "should not have an negative affect on current service levels, as we will be utilizing the latest technology from Bell Labs to take up the slack." Allen was referring to "RALPH" (Replaces A Lot of People Here"), the 300,000 port AUDIX adjunct that will soon be installed at AT&T's Madison Avenue headquarters. Employees leaving the company will be required to record a generic AUDIX message to handle AT&T's 450,000 calls per day. Although "RALPH" does not return these calls, customers should not notice any change, "our 2-year trial in New Jersey proved this", Allen added. Allen could not estimate the savings to AT&T by this move, saying that, "in general terms, we're looking at saving a shitpot full of dough". [Humorous intent only]