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From: lars@spectrum.cmc.com (Lars Poulsen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling
Message-ID: <14989@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 27 Nov 90 22:22:26 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 849, Message 2 of 10


In article <14920@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0004056081@mcimail.com (George S.
Thurman) writes (some hype deleted):

>US SPRINT ... now offer the ability to make conference calls on their
>Network ... at no extra charge until February 16, 1991, when
>there will be a 75 cent surcharge if you use this feature with your
>FONCARD(sm).

(1) Does this mean that the service is available without a
    surcharge on 10xxx calls from my home phone ?

>The new service will be known as QUICKCONFERENCE(sm), and instructions
>are as follows:

>After you establish a connection with your first party, depress the
>"*" [for at least one full second] followed by 12. This brings an
>additional Sprint dial tone.  Dial the number of the next party.
>(Do NOT dial "0").  Depress "*" again followed this time by 13.
>You are now connected! To drop the additional party, or if the
>additional party's number is busy, dial "*" followed by 14.

(2) How many parties can be conferenced?  Just three?  Five?
    Unlimited? (probably not, due to computer table space
    requirements).

    If only three parties allowed, it sounds like three-way calling
    without having to pay for presubscription to the feature.
    Nice, but not something I have missed at home; and at work,
    our PBX does three-way calls quite nicely.

    If this allows five or more participants with reasonable quality,
    it will be great competition for the AT&T conference call
    facility provided out of the special service centers.

(3) Is this provided through the switch at the IEC POP ?
    The described procedure would almost require this.
    How is the call billed? From the originator's location to
    each participant?

(4) Since the activation requires the switch to listen to data
    on the open call, will this not interfere with other uses
    of tone signalling? (Banking, remote control answering amchines
    and maybe even modems?) If it does, it would be a near disaster.

Is anyone from SPRint listening ?


Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer
CMC Rockwell  lars@CMC.COM


[Moderator's Note: I'll defer to George Thurman to find out some of
the answers to your questions. As it was explained to me, this new
service from Sprint is intended to be a three-way call type thing
without the need to set something up via Alliance for folks (most of
us?) who rarely need that much conferencing ability.  It will be
billed as two calls from the originator to wherever.  PAT]