Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!killer!vector!nobody From: johnl@ima.ISC.COM Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: USA-Direct Message-ID: Date: 30 Jan 89 03:13:06 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 37 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Originally-From: harvard!ima.ISC.COM!johnl (John R. Levine) X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 38, message 1 In article gast@CS.UCLA.EDU (David Gast) writes: >I also fail to see how using USADIRECT saves time or hassle. If you >have to go to a special phone, it almost certainly does neither. It >might save money, but it might not. From the above country X, it is >possible to use a pre-paid phone card or coins at many phones to call >the U.S. at direct dial rates. Depending on how long you talk, it may >be cheaper than USADIRECT. ... I guess you've never tried to make a credit card call from Country X (which, for the purposes of argument, we'll call France.) You pick up the phone, then you dial 19-3311 to make an operated assisted call to North America. (This is in the phone book, but if you have trouble reading French or your hotel room doesn't have that volume of the phone book, that might not be much help.) An operator answers, and you explain what you want, in French, repeating everything about three times if you have an American accent like mine. Fine, they say, we'll call you back. Wait about 1/2 hour. They call you back, then your call is completed. With USA Direct, I dial 19-0011 from any phone and three seconds later a voice says "AT&T, may I help you." You can indeed use a phone card, but the standard 40 unit phone card is only enough for about three minutes and I don't believe you have the opportunity to stick in a fresh card when the old one runs out. You can use 10 franc coins, but the phones don't make change* so if your call costs 11 francs you lose the other nine. It's true that calling card calls from France aren't discounted by time of day (a holdover from the bad old days, these days in France you get the evening rate even from noon to 1PM because everyone's at lunch) and the direct-dial evening rate may be slightly cheaper, but USA Direct is so much easier, particularly if you're traveling on business and can get reimbursed for calls if you have a recipt, that I'll never use anything else. Regards, John Levine, johnl@ima.isc.com * - In Germany, if you use a large coin to make a cheap call, there's a button on the phone you can push, put in the actual amount the call cost, and get your large coin back. Only in Germany do they expect people to understand that.