Path: utzoo!telecom-request
Date: Mon, 20 May 91 17:04:23 PDT
From: Linc Madison <linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Just How Stupid Can Repair Service Be?
Message-ID: <telecom11.381.7@eecs.nwu.edu>
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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In article <telecom11.372.3@eecs.nwu.edu> Steve Forrette writes:

[Ordered collect/3rd number blocking.  Tested it by dialing
0-408-555-1212 from 415-841 to see if the operator would put
through the call as a 3rd-number-billed call.  Call went through
with no operator.]

Well, Steve, the problem is not entirely in Pac*Bell.  Here in
California, calls to directory assistance in the same LATA but in a
different area code, are free.  The switch figured you must've been
crazy for asking operator assistance (of any kind) on a free call to
the operator, so it just put you through.  You'd probably get about
the same response if you tried to dial 0+415+760-1111 (ANI test number
for East Bay).

BTW, as to just how "free" these DA calls are, inter-NPA intra-LATA DA
calls from Pac*Bell payphones are definitely free.  From residence
phones, they're either free or 0.25 each after the first 5/month.
From COCOTs, they're generally about 0.40 to 0.75.  Also, why they
decided on such a bizarre annular system, I don't know; I guess they
figure that anything they do that encourages you to call from Eureka
to Santa Cruz is worth their while.

So anyway, try a regular POTS number for your 3rd-number test.


Linc Madison  =  linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu