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From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 800 Service and Their Local Phone Numbers
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Date: 16 Jun 90 09:21:14 GMT
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Reply-To: John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com>
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John Stanley <nmri!!stanley@uunet.uu.net> writes:

>   While we had an 800 number from AT&T, it had a secret local number
> that was supposed to be for test purposes only. I was told by the
> installer that gave me the number (perhaps not the best source, but A
> source) that billing was based on traffic through that number and
> calling it locally would cost just like a normal 800 number call.

First off, getting the POTS number for a standard 800 service is no
problem. Your local telco business office will give it to you as well
as AT&T (or whoever your 800 provider is). Calling that number using
the local POTS assignment will not, repeat not, bill as an 800 call.
The calls are ticketed in a number of different ways, none of them
including metering the incoming calls to the POTS.

I have a traditional AT&T 800 number. I know the POTS (Pac*Bell gave
it to me) number. A call directed to the 800 number is billed at one
of four rates, depending on location of the caller and time of day. If
the billing was based on simple usage of the POTS, how would the point
of origin be determined?


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 723 1395
    john@bovine.ati.com     | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !


[Moderator's Note: Under the now less common billing system where WATS
lines were in 'bands', the incoming local number detirmined which
'band' should have the charge, for the purpose of minutes/hours of
time accumulated on that 'band'. An hour of time on Band 1, for
example, cost less than an hour of time on Band 4. So someone dialing
one of the local numbers would cause the associated WATS 'band' to
register a few minutes of use, despite the fact that the call did not
really get routed in from long distance. Now with virtually everyone
using simply the equivilent of the old Band 5 (national coverage) in a
'Hotline' (as AT&T calls the service) kind of configuration, it no
longer matters. Twenty years ago, breakdown of WATS calls both in and
out by 'band' was very common.  PT]