Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version Vortex 1.1 8/4/83; site vortex.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!vortex!lauren
From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: charging for uncompleted telephone calls
Message-ID: <137@vortex.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 17-Sep-83 11:19:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: vortex.137
Posted: Sat Sep 17 11:19:50 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Sep-83 04:07:15 EDT
Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles
Lines: 28

I'd be willing to bet that any country whose (presumably 
government-operated) telephone system charges for unanswered calls
also always charges for calls that were fouled up in the system and were
never completed in any form.  The concepts behind this sort of charging
scheme are simple:

1) All you need to charge the calling subscriber is a simple pulse
   meter (or even a timer if we're going to be *really* crude) that
   counts all activity on the line, regardless of called party
   answering supervision status.  One might presume that this status
   isn't even passed back to the originating CO in most cases.

2) Since the government *is* the "phone company" in most countries, they
   would rake in the dough from such charging techniques.

--Lauren--

P.S.

I might add that the "alternate long-distance carriers" (MCI, Sprint, etc.)
currently use a charging scheme similar to what I mentioned above (this will
change in the relatively near future).  Currently, they charge for most calls
that last longer than a certain preset interval (usually 30-45 seconds)
regardless of whether or not the call was answered, terminated in a recording,
reached an intercept operator, etc.  Needless to say, they don't advertise
this little element in their charging algorithm very widely.

--LW--