Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: "John R. Covert 31-Jul-1990 2124" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Answer Call Service Message-ID: <10286@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 1 Aug 90 01:24:18 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 45 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 533, Message 3 of 11 From: Greg Monti Date: 31 July 1990 Subject: Re: Answer Call Service > [Moderator's Note: Perhaps, Mr. Monti, you will write again and > explain your objections to voicemail over traditional answering > machines. Is it just a matter of personal taste, or do you have > serious objections to the service? I've had voicemail from Centel here > in Chicago for quite awhile, and like it a lot. PT] Because it just doesn't pique my interest enough, yet. $5 a month is not particularly expensive, but my $89 Panasonic KXT-1415 answering machine (bought 50 months ago) would be paid for in 18 of those $5 months. The machine still works, clunky, mechanical beast that it is, requiring a beeper for remote retrieval, etc., as it does. I'm not the type to call the machine from work every two hours to see what important calls came in. I'm also not the type to call the machine much when out of town (maybe once or twice on a one-week trip). Most people I know are aware when I'm out of town and don't call at all, much less leave a message. I don't object to voicemail. I use and enjoy the Rolm Phonemail system installed late last year by my employer. What I don't like is organizations who install voicemail and, through ignorance or incompetence, fail to force a path to an "always answered by a human" extension, a key requirement of any corporate voicemail system. Call WNYC radio in New York (212 669-7800) sometime and listen to yourself get lost in the ether. Me as a telecom buff and me as a consumer are two different people. Sure, I thought cellular phones were neat when they came out, but not neat enough for me at the $1,600 price tags they had then. Now that department stores here in the Washington area are selling them for $199 with three-month activation, my interest is up. ($199 buys a phone in a plastic "pack" with rubber-ducky antenna, car cigarette lighter adapter and few in-phone features, no battery, no charger, no mag- or glass-mount antenna, no car speakerphone features, etc. But, it's a working unit that allows you to get [removable] phone service in the car - fast.) Greg Monti, Arlington, Virginia; work +1 202 822 2633