Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!umich!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: gillett@ceomax.enet.dec.com (Christopher Gillett)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: What's the Deal With NET and Directory Listings?
Message-ID: <14116@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 28 Oct 90 22:07:54 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 772, Message 7 of 8


At present, I have your "standard" two phone lines (one voice, one
data).  The voice line is xxx-9020, while the data line is xxx-3691
(and is configured with "RingMate", NET's name for distinctive ring
service, so that that line can double as incoming modem, incoming FAX,
or outgoing anything).  The 3691 number is rarely hooked up to a
telephone since it's supposedly only used for data and FAX traffic.
So, if you call expecting voice, you won't get it.
 
I prefer to be listed in the phone book as "Christopher Gillett",
since that is my legal name, even though I "go by" Chris.  So, when
people called directory assistance looking for me, the operator said
xxx-3691, and folks could never "find me home", or thought that there
was something wrong with my service.
 
When I got wind of this, I called NET and asked to have things
structured such that people would get 9020 when they called directory
assistance.  The bottom line is that I cannot be listed at 9020 as
"Christopher Gillett", I had to be listed as "Chris Gillett", and have
the 3691 line changed to unlisted.  Their reasoning was that since
"Chris" comes before "Christopher", and 9020 comes after 3691, it was
necessary to have "Chris" at the 9020 number to avoid the directory
assistance operator telling people I was unlisted.
 
And when I asked if they could list me as...
 
        Gillett, Christopher
                       voice xxx-9020
                        data xxx-3691
 
 ... they got all huffy and inquired as to whether or not I was
running a business, and no, sorry, they couldn't do that unless I
wanted business service.
 
All this seems incredibly stupid to me.  It seems to me that you
should able to be listed in the phone book in the manner of your
choosing, using your name or legal, proper derivation thereof, without
a lot of hassling.  If someone is looking for the "official me",
they'll look for Christopher.  A directory assistance operator might
say "well, I have a 'Chris', do you want that?", but then again the
operator might not.  So, it's not only a nuisance and a nit, it could
cause problems.
 
Further, I don't see why "data line in your home" means "commercial
rates".  What is the story here?  Have other people encountered
similar listing difficulties with NET or other telcos?
 
One last thing, it is SOP amongst all the different telcos to charge
*more* every month for touchtone service than for rotary dial?  I
thought it worked the other way around.


Christopher Gillett               gillett@ceomax.enet.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation     
Hudson, Taxachusetts              (508) 568-7172
Semiconductor Engineering Group/Logic Simulation Group
Disclaimer: Ken Olsen speaks for Digital...I speak for me!