Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!vax1.physics.oxford.ac.UK!MACALLSTR
From: MACALLSTR@vax1.physics.oxford.ac.UK
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: PHONE : no useful.
Message-ID: <8801151553.AA18190@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 15 Jan 88 15:53:28 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: world
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 16
X-Unparsable-Date: 15-JAN-1988 13:03:41 GMT +00:00

I'd strongly recommend that people DO NOT USE PHONE. It interrupts work, doesn't
 work satisfactorily on non-DEC terminals and, worst of all, wastes time.
I use a very simple utility ( based on BRKTHRU/BRDCST system service ) which 
 lets you send one-line messages from ANY terminal to ANY OTHER terminal. If you
 don't already have such a such I can mail it to you. ( It's a small FORTRAN
 program . ) There are similar things on DECUS tapes. The TO command allows you
 to send and the receiver to read a message without interrupting his/her current
 activity. TO is useful for short messages ( There's also a conversational mode
 which doesn't let you see all the typing mistakes at the other end ! ) and
 MAIL is best for long messages.
Repeatedly receiving messages 'xxxx is phoning you' when you're in the middle
 of something is really annoying!
Although I don't see PHONE as a useful facility, I don't disable it. It is
 available for those who like it.

John