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From: ssc-vax!clark@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Roger Clark Swann)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: more on COCOTS, AOS and such
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Date: 10 Jul 88 20:18:53 GMT
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X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 110, message 2

The following article was reprinted without permission from the
Seattle Times, Sunday, June 26, 1988.

*******************************************

Get Number On New Operators
by Shelby Gilje, Times staff columnist

   You know your ABCs, right? And you are good at acronyms, too.
I'll bet you pride yourself on being a winner a Trival Pursuit.

   OK. What does "AOS" stand for? Quick! Or you will lose your
chance to "win" this game.

   Oops. Sorry, your time is up. You lose.

   But just so you'll know next time you're playing Trival Pursuit,
or you personally encounter "AOS," it means alternate-opertor
service, and it could hit you right in the wallet.

   Since the federally-ordered breakup of the Bell System
companies, it seems as if dozens of new players have entered
some part of the phone business.

   Alternate-operator service is a new aspect in telecommunications.

   What is it?

   Let's say you are out of town and pick up the phone in a hotel
room to call home. You dail without speaking to an operator. You
assume you'll be dealing with AT&T, the long-distance carrier more
commonly known as Ma Bell. But you could be dealing with an AOS
company.

   Or, let's say you are in your home town, you have a flat tire and
go to a nearby restaurant to use a pay phone. You're in an unfamiliar
neighborhood, but it shouldn't cost you any more than a quarter to
phone home. Right? Not necessarily.

   You plunk in a quater. Then an opertor comes on the line and
informs you that the call will cost several dollars, not 25 cents.

   So don't make any assumptions. Before you place a call, ask the
operator what company he/she repesents and what the call will cost.

   AOS companies are in business in other states, too. So if your're
vacationing elsewhere this summer, you'll want to ask the same
questions.

   State agencies in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ohio are considering regulations for AOS
companies.

   Phones used by alternate-operator services may not look any
different than other telephones.

   That's one reason the Washington state Legislature passed a law
this year requiring alternate-operator services to disclose their
names and rates to consumers.

   AOS companies contract with a hotel, motel, hospital, prison,
campus - businesses that own pay phones - or other entities to
provide operator services.

   In response to the new legislation, the Utilities and
Transportation Commission has dratfed amendments to the Washington
Administrative Code.

   Under these amendments the commission would require all tele-
communications firms, including AOS companies, to provide
information to the public upon request.

   Additionally, the commission would require an AOS company to:

*  Be registered and comply with all Washington state laws before a
local company could act as a billing agent. (Not all AOS companies
operating here are registered.)

*  Identify itself at the beginning of a call.

*  Not bill customers for incomplete calls.

*  As part of its contract with a hotel, motel, hospital, etc., post
"in plain view" the name of its company and a sample of rates and
charges for local and long-distance billing.

*  Give dialing directions to reach an operator for rate information.

*  Give dialing directions to reach other carriers providing service
to the hotel, motel, etc.

*  Respond to cusomer complaints and disputes.

*  Not charge for emergency calls. Additionally, AOS companies would
have to arrange automatic identification of the location from which
an emergency call is being made. And the AOS company would have the
correct police, fire, ambulance, poison control and other emergency
numbers available for that area.

   If the AOS phone does not have these provions for emergencies,
callers should be able to dial "zero" and be routed directly to a
local operator who can put them through to the appropriate agency.

   The commission staff believes the proposed rules are the minimum
requirements necessary to meet the new law.

   The utilities commission is asking for public comment on the
amendments. To comment, write the Washingtion State Utilities and
Transportation Commission, 1300 S. Evergreen Park Dr. S.W., Olympia
98504-8002.

   The commission also has invited AOS companies to comment on the
proposed rules, though the commission does not believe the
disclosures required will create a financial burden for these
telecommunications companies.

**********************
end of article

Roger Swann	uucp: uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark