Pat,
A bit of rebuttal to Fred Atkinson's comments regarding directory listings:
Why does he not pressure his VoIP provider to establish an interface
with the ILEC, as do the CLECs, which would include setting up the
processes necessary to list his telephone number in whatever directory
he wishes.
Is the problem here with his service provider or the publisher of the
telephone directory?
Bill Hendley
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: At one point the rule was that every
telco, Bell or independent, was a billing and collection agent for
every other telco. The technical name for the process was called
'Separations and Settlements'. That not only included Long Distance
settlements but also more esoteric areas like foreign directory
listings, pay phone collections, etc. Much of it has been automated
of course, like your ILEC directory interface thing. But not only
did ILECs insist on trimming things down so much that no profit was
left for anyone (but themselves, hopefully), but traditional telco
fought long and hard against it also. There was a time in the the
distant past in this country where ANY telephone service rep was
recognized as such and able to do the work for any other service rep.
Eventually, as things got more and more complex, service reps were
unable to absorb it all.
Wasn't life a lot simpler when there were two basic entities: Bell
and Independent? And just as back in 1900 when Bell and the
independents were at each other's throat constantly, by 1980, when
Bell and the independents had made peace with each other and were
working hand in hand like two peas in a pod, the VOIP companies and
the cellcos -- who honestly should have been treated as 'independents'
in the Bell vrs Independent struggle -- came along and upset the whole
thing once again. PAT]
BILL HENDLEY (wh3786@swbell.net)