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Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!swlabs!jack
From: jack@swlabs.UUCP (Jack Bonn)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Telebit TrailBlazer overseas (German phone system, really)
Message-ID: <848@swlabs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Nov-87 21:16:27 EST
Article-I.D.: swlabs.848
Posted: Thu Nov  5 21:16:27 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 8-Nov-87 11:02:52 EST
References: <99@sda.atexrd.UUCP> <8676@pyramid.pyramid.com> <362@sering.cwi.nl> <1021@houem.UUCP>
Organization: Software Labs, Ltd. Easton CT USA
Lines: 28

In article <1021@houem.UUCP>, hgp@houem.UUCP (#H.PAGE) writes:
> Yes, the German Post Office runs the phone system.  
> 
> Everything cost about twice as much as it did in the USA and the bill 
> does NOT itemize one's long distance calls, One can, however, lease a 
> phone with a meter that tells how many units have been used.  

I was working on a voice switch for the European market and was very
surprised about the lack of detailed billing that is done in Europe in
general.  I thought that our switch could provide this feature and
beat the competition to the marketplace.  But I was informed by some
of the "tech transferees" (Europeans temporarily working on the
project) that the customers preferred the status quo.  The idea was 
that if the information was not kept _anywhere_, then the right to 
keep these records private couldn't be violated.  I started to think 
how easy it is to get a court order here in the USA and the idea 
sounded better and better to me.

As an aside, I heard that the people in the UK had made a serious
improvement to their scheme of hand reading the meters in the COs.
They mounted a camera on a mechanism that would automatically position
it over each meter and take a picture (actually 2 or 4 at a time).
Then the human would later read the picture and key it in.  When I 
contrast that with the level of billing features available even in 
small PBXs here in the US, it made me smile.
-- 
Jack Bonn, <> Software Labs, Ltd, Box 451, Easton CT  06612
uunet!swlabs!jack