---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <7f2c5bba-1309-469f-8b61-ce22087fc7f2@googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 16:28:02 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Modern small business telephone systems? I was in a small pizza place and I noticed their busy telephones, ringing with orders. I was curious how a small business would like that would be connected to the network (e.g. classic landline, VOIP, other?), and what kind of telephone sets would be used. It appeared the place had three telephone keysets and three lines. I don't know if they had any special features. Since it was a small place, I don't think they had any need of an intercom or paging. Could someone elaborate on what kind of telephone systems such a place would have? Roughly, what would be their total monthly phone bill? Thanks. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ Message-ID: <dd8b97d3-77d7-4236-b876-fa5ae6121b78@googlegroups.com> Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2016 22:23:36 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: History-1957 Independent Telephone Companies-Central Office Cutover Here is another Youtube film, this one from 1957 about the Independent Telephone Companies (those not part of the Bell System). The basic story of the film is the cutover of a central office to improved equipment. However, the film describes the Independent telephone companies and their equipment suppliers (AE, Kellogg, S-C, North, etc). As other films of that era, the film is quite folksy and virtuous, with the sonorous yet friendly narrator and characters. It mentions "free enterprise" several times, as well as "honest social values". We're introduced to the dedicated employees of the local telephone company of various units. We also meet the three generations of the founding family; who all are participating in the cutover, even the semi-retired beloved "old man". (The film makes a point that the company workforce is multi-generational.) The film stresses how the telephone company is a key part of the community, including its relationship with local banks for financing. The film has a light moment with a teenager sprawled out talking on her Princess phone, phonograph in the background. While Youtube has many old Bell System films (as does the AT&T archives website), there are very few on Automatic Electric or General Telephone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NF_SQCTeYk In viewing this film, I can't help but think about the numerous posts in this newsgroup we have today about modern telephone companies failing to provide service, and telling off regulators and government officials. It is a very different world than depicted in the film, or old Bell System films. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n9u2md$1fr$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 21:51:41 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Bamboozled: Verizon Wireless keeps a promise, then steps up a second time by Karen Price Mueller Everyone makes mistakes. We're only human, after all. Companies make mistakes too. That, by itself, isn't such a big deal. What is a big deal is how a company handles a mistake. How it treats a customer when it learns about a problem. How it makes things right. Katie O'Neal said Verizon Wireless made a mistake when O'Neal bought a new phone and service for her 11-year-old daughter Jackie. http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/bamboozled_verizon_wireless_keeps_a_promise.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <n9u36a$2kc$1@dont-email.me> Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 22:00:08 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: TV Auction View: AT&T, VZ Top Bidders; Comcast In; Google, AMZN Out by REINHARDT KRAUSE JP Morgan is bullish on the upcoming "Broadcast Incentive Auction," which will free up prime, low-frequency airwaves owned by local TV broadcasters for wireless data services. Naysayers continue to contend that the Federal Communications Commission faces many challenges in pulling off a successful auction, which for now is scheduled to start late next month. One risk is that broadcasters might drop out of the auction if they determine that bidding prices are disappointing. The auction is key for T-Mobile US, which needs spectrum. AT&T and Verizon Communications own most of the available low-frequency spectrum, in which waves travel longer distances, among other advantages over higher-frequency spectrum. http://www.investors.com/news/technology/tv-auction-view-att-vz-top-bidders-comcast-in-google-amzn-out/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 16 Feb 2016