94 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
94 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
From: "John R. Covert 30-Nov-1989 0343" <covert@covert.enet.dec.com>
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Subject: Re: AT&T Operator Handling of International D.A.
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>The way to implement and administer DA on an international basis is the way
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>it is done here in the USA:
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>Dial country code + city code + 555-1212. Let the gateway switches
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>translate that into an actual number, just as '6ll', '411', '911' and
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>'800-xxx-yyyy' are presently translated into whatever number(s) they ring
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>into.
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>You tell me why it wouldn't work. PT]
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I'd like to have direct access to international D.A., but there are a number
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of problems, many of which are not under the control of any single body:
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1. Country code + city code + 555-1212 isn't always available. In Sydney,
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Oz, it happens to be someone's valid phone number. This is certainly
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true in many other places.
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2. Sometimes it's too long. The city code for Rimpar, Germany, is 9365.
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+49 9365 555-1212 is more digits than our local exchanges can handle.
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The above two problems could be handled by some other numbering scheme.
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As I said, I'd like to see direct access, but that's not the end of the
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story.
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3. We can't force our culture on other countries. D.A. operators there do
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not expect calls from customers. They are in the business of only
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supporting other operators. We're lucky in the U.S. that AT&T will even
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call overseas to get local assistance. In Europe, international D.A.
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(and national D.A. for that matter) is provided by centralized operating
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centers (which often take a _loooong_ time to answer). They have telephone
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books (really, I kid you not) for almost the whole world. Only when they
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don't have the book (no matter how out of date the one they have is), do
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they _maybe_ make the call for you.
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By international agreement, these operators only accept calls from other
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operators, who are _supposed_ to be trained to speak carefully, to ask only
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the pertinent questions, to have all the information available when the
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operator answers, to use phonetic alphabets when necessary, and all sorts
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of things that you or I would do, but not Joe Sixpack.
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Our directory assistance system is much better. But it's our system, not
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theirs.
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4. More culture problems. D.A. operators in some countries will extend the
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call to the called party after providing the number. Remember, they are
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used to an operator being on the line. We can't change the culture in other
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countries.
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/john
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------------------------------
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From: "Berlin S. Moore" <bm24+@andrew.cmu.edu>
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Subject: Re: AT&T Operator Handling of International D.A.
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As a former AT&T International Operator, I would like to respond to
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your article. One reason that the operators here take the caller's
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information and pass it to the foreign operator is that frustrated
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American customers have a tendency to be abusive to the foreign
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operators. Once you get them mad, they become very uncooperative to
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all Americans.
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Given that, then, it makes sense to take all the details before trying
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to establish the connection with directory assistance. You can't hold
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up an international circuit while an American operator gets the
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details from the local customer. If you have been having a
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particularly hard time obtaining a number, ask your operator for the
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service assistant. Sometimes they can expedite things for you. Also
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ask for the service assistant when you have a particularly incompetent
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operator on the line.
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That operator can be singled out for special training. On the other
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hand, don't forget to ask for the service assistant to commend an
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operator when you get particularly good service. Pittsburgh
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International Operating Center is still alive & well, but they mainly
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only handle difficult calls now that the local operators can't handle,
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such as High Seas calls, & calls to hard-to-reach places like
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Afghanistan.
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Berlin (Bonnie) Moore PPP RRR EEEE PPP
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User Consultant P P R R E P P
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PREPnet NIC PPP RRR EEE PPP
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530 N Neville ST P RR E P
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Pgh, Pa. 15213 P R R E P
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412-268-7873 P R R EEEE P net
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bm24@andrew.cmu.edu Pennsylvania Research & Economic Partnership Network
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------------------------------
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Downloaded from P-80 Systems 304-744-2253
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