From ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Fri Mar 28 04:34:55 1997 Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id EAA08210; Fri, 28 Mar 1997 04:34:55 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 04:34:55 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199703280934.EAA08210@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: MyLine 800 Service Now and then I get inquiries from readers asking about 800/888 service and what kind they should get. I've had a few of these recently so I decided to answer in a single note to everyone describing the service I have and why I think it is the best available anywhere. Before I continue, I should mention that Call America has been a financial sponsor of TELECOM Digest in the past, and they recently renewed their support for the present year. But even a few years ago, before they were a sponsor, I was quite impressed with their offering. I have discussed it in the Digest in the past and would like you to give it your consideration now if you are in need of inexpensive, reliable and relatively sophisticated incoming 'tollfree' service. Call America, based in San Luis Obispo, CA has a service called 'MyLine' which is really quite impressive. It has a large number of features which make it quite robust. In addition to the assignement of an 800/888 number, you can have a POTS number assigned as well, which 'ties in' to your 800/888 number in the event you receive a lot of foreign calls where the caller is unable to access your toll free line. When someone calls your 800/888 (or POTS-associated) number, they hear a recording in your voice saying something like, 'please hold while your call is transferred to me ...' If the caller punches in a two-digit priority code during your outgoing announcement he is immediatly transferred to a priority number which you have programmed. You can also change the priority code at any time through the options menu. If you do not respond at the priority number then the caller is transferred to your regular number or your voicemail. If the caller does not enter a priority code then the system attempts to locate you at the number you have programmed for your regular calls. This number can be changed at any time in the options menu. Failing to reach you (or some answer) at that number, the caller is then routed to a secondary number you have programmed in. If you prefer this can be to system-supplied voicemail, or to some other voicemail/answering machine/secretary of your choice. If you have 'call screening' turned on, the caller is asked by the system to state his name, and this information is given to you on a split connection with the option of accepting the call or not. If you accept it, the call is patched through. If you refuse the call, it is sent to system-supplied voicemail (if you have that option) or to whatever voicemail/answering machine line you have programmed. Whenever the system calls you to pass a call along, it makes a short beep tone at the time you answer to tip you off about the call which follows. Did you ever hear of call-waiting' or three way calling on an 800 number? You get these features (known as Virtual Call Waiting and Conferencing) with MyLine. If the system has you on line (either accepting a call, doing maintainence on your account, or placing an outgoing call -- more about that later -- at the time a call comes in on your 800 number, you will hear the call- waiting beep. When/if you choose to respond, the system will say, 'excuse me, there is a call waiting'. You have the option to accept the new call or not. If you accept it, you can then 'flash' back and forth (actually press touch tone keys) between calls or you can conference the new caller with the existing call. Likewise with Three Way Calling: on outgoing calls you can add a third party if desired; switch back and forth between them or conference them together. Regarding outgoing calls, you can use MyLine instead of a calling card at payphones at substantially less cost than a calling card or other alternate billing. What you do is dial your own 800 number. When you hear it answer with your greeting ('please hold while your call is transferred to me') what you do is enter your passcode. The passcode can be changed at any time in the options menu. When you enter your passcode, the greeting stops and you go immediatly into maintainence mode. From there you can either change various programming options (such as the number you want calls to go to) or you can go to voicemail (if you are using the system-supplied voicemail) or you can place outgoing calls to anywhere in the world. International callback is another feature. From a foreign country you may wish to make a call to the USA, at USA rates. You dial into MyLine using the POTS number associated with your 800 number and you request a callback, either immediatly or at some future time. The system knows how to do timezone conversions, so you do not have to worry about whether it knows to call you back at 8:00 pm in California or in England. When you get the callback, you have to enter your passcode and then you go right into maintainence mode and can make outgoing calls or whatever. Wakeup calls is another feature. Tell MyLine to wake you at a certain time and it will ring your phone as requested. You respond by entering your passcode to let it know you are awake. Automatic identification of Fax calls is another feature. If the system answers your 800 number and hears fax tones, it will automatically switch the call to whatever line you have designated for fax calls. Like anything else, you program this as desired in the options menu. If you use MyLine voicemail as I do, then message pickup, the voicemail greeting and all that is part of the package, but there is an additional charge for using theirs. You are free to send callers to your own voicemail if you prefer. 'Call referral mode' is when you tell the system to not pass your calls along but to instead refer the caller. If you toggle this on, when someone dials your 800 number they get an intercept saying 'calls are being taken by xxx-xxx-xxxx'. When you turn it off, calls start coming through again. Is it almost a letdown at this point to say that speed dialing is part of the package? You program it as desired for use on your outgoing calls. There are more features, but this is enough for starters. You will find Call America employees to be very responsive and quick at getting things done. They merged not long ago with a company called GST in Washington State, but Jeff Buckingham, a long time Digest reader remains as president of Call America. The last I heard, they have both 800 and 888 numbers available for assignment. The basic package is inexpensive. Rates of 15-25 cents per minute on 800 calls are pretty common everywhere, and MyLine breaks it into two components. Incoming calls to their switch via your 800 number are 15 cents per minute (I think) and outgoing calls (if any) are 10 cents per minute. In other words, if a caller dials your number but just goes to voicemail, it is less expensive than if the call is outdialed to you. Ditto with you calling to maintain your account: If you call in just to program something you pay less than if you call in for the purpose of making a call out. Very large businesses with a lot of 800 traffic could probably get a better rate than this, but MyLine is intended more for the residential and small business user. Reliability: I have used MyLine now for a few years and on exactly one occassion it was broken. It was about 3:00 am and I wanted to put in a wakeup call for a few hours later. Dialing my 800 number just got me a fast busy, sometimes known as re-order tone. At first I thought it might have been the local Ameritech switch had gotten amnesia with regards to the 800 database however when I then tried my POTS number on MyLine (they assigned me a San Francisco number) the call just trailed off into dead silence; no ring no answer. I guess it was a problem with MyLine since this condition lasted a couple hours and in the morning all was well again. One time, a few hors, in the middle of the night ... a few years of using the service. MyLine versus 500 service: By now you can see that MyLine has many of the features of AT&T's 500 Follow Me service. But it does have a few advantages, not the least of which is the universal acceptance of 800 numbers. 500 is still regarded with suspicion by many PBX administrators, hotels, etc. My two contacts at MyLine Call America/GST are Jeff Buckingham and Ernie Strong. Both are regular readers here; both have been trusted netizens for a few years. They do not spam/scam and if you want to try out MyLine they will get you set up very promptly. I suggest you begin with Ernie Strong . If you want a glimpse at MyLine to see how it operates, try calling him on his personal MyLine number: 888-545-5018. He will explain the entire MyLine operation, and I hope you will decide to try it out. Tell him you read about it in TELECOM Digest. If you cannot reach Ernie, then email Jeff Buckingham . When you write or chat with them, thank them for their financial assistance with this Digest. Patrick Townson