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From: koverzin@ntmtv.uucp (Raymond Koverzin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Thoughts on 900 Service
Message-ID: <12029@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 6 Sep 90 18:50:03 GMT
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From article <11331@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by 0003829147@mcimail.com
(Sander J. Rabinowitz):

> [Computer:] "You have reached a number that will result in a $______
> charge (per minute) on your telephone bill.  If you wish to proceed,
> press 1-2-3 on your touch-tone telephone, or wait 30 seconds.  Otherwise,
> please hang up.  Thank you."

> If the above is feasible, it can may 900 and 976 work to the advantage
> of everyone involved.  If the service can be made more flexible for
> meeting the caller's needs, then the number of customers who are dialing 
> the lines may increase. There would be less accidental dialing, so
> some of the burden would be lifted off the phone companies.  Above
> all, the customer would be more satisfied.

PACBELL does this.  Every service provider must first tell the caller
that: a) they must be over 18 years old or have permission to from
their parents to use the service, b) describe what the service is, c)
that the caller has up to 18 seconds, I think, to hang up before they
begin charging for the call.

Subcribers can have the charges removed from their bill ONCE if they
stated that they did not want or authorize calls to that service.
After that, they are expected to pay for the services.

Plus, service providers can only charge up to a maximum of $20 per
call.  It is up to the service provider to terminate the call if
caller exceeds that limit otherwise the caller will only be billed $20
while the service provider will be charged for the total line charges.

The reasoning, I guess, is that it limits the charges to the subcriber
but still allows the call to continue as an "800" number after the
maximum charges.  The application for this scheme is for the immediate
charging of customer support calls from clients.  Callers may be
charged $10 for the first minute and $0 afterwards to be able to talk
to a support person regarding a problem.  Therefore, the caller gets
dinged once but can stay on the line for as is necessary to solve
his/her problem.

However, IMHO, customer support calls should always be free.  8^).