--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3U00003 Date: 03/25/97 From: THE REAL TOM MARKS Time: 12:01am \/To: SCOTT CURRIER (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: call delivery -=> Quoting Scott Currier to George Erdner <=- SC> I can understand that, for most people it's the wrong type of phone. I SC> will probably add a shirt pocket phone to my account this summer. I SC> can have up to 3 phones with the same number and plan. The first one is SC> an extra 17 bucks a month. There are a lot of times when I wish I had SC> a shirt pocket phone but there are quite a few times too when they SC> just won't cut it, I don't like dropped calls and I don't like to SC> annoy the people who I'm talking to with less than a full quieting SC> signal. Even though it is probably the wrong kind of phone for most people, for what it does it is great. It gives you very good clarity and the ability to get trhough when the portable phones don't. But unles you are going to be in your car alot, it doesn't really do you much good. For that they have the cradles that let you nest your portable phone into a socket that turns it into a 3watt mobile phone. I don't know how good those work, but I'm pretty sure it is alot more convinient for most people to use. SC> If I get a shirt pocket phone, will look for an Oki, I like the feel SC> of them and I've used a few before, worked pretty well. I've got a few SC> Motorola bricks, the old 8000s, and I've got a uniden 5500 as well as SC> I'm pretty sure I've got a Motorola flop phone laying around somewhere SC> I could use. SC> Some of the new phones are really small, Sony has got a tiny one, I'd SC> be afraid that I'd lose the dumb thing :) Are you talking about that one sony with the flip out microphone? I have never used that one before, but the one that I am using now, the CDMA CMD500 works very good, the clarity is well above motorolas standards (I've gone through about 7 of their phones, and none of them match this ones's clarity, not even a 3 watt bag phone). It's not very small by any standards, and it weighs about .63 lbs, but it has a 5 hour talk time and a 48 hour standby. SC> Different people require different types of phones. I'm looking SC> forward to Sprint coming into this market, will be interesting to see SC> how their CDMA network performs. Bell Atlantic should roll out their SC> CDMA system soon, will be fun to try that too. Maybe we'll switch our SC> BA phone over to a CDMA one. SC> Thanks for the reply. SC> BTW, just curious, how many minnutes a month do you normally put on SC> your phone? The Sprint PCS and the BA CDMA systems should all be about the same, since they are going to have to be using the same phone since there is only one CDMA producer of phones right now, Qualcomm. The CDMA network supports up to I think 64 users per channel or something, I was looking at the CDMA web page and it has alot of info. From reading most of your posts, I am under the impression that you work for a telephone company, and that you have 5000 minuites to use for free. Since I am uncapable of working for a telephone company and my business has veryone on different god damn service plans all under personal contracts, I am stuck with all the contracts that everyone else has to use. But last month, I used around 2400 minutes and my bill was only like $90, including voice/fax mail, insurance, and unlimited off peak calling. I pay 28c a minute peak. ... Truth does not matter; PERCEPTION of truth does. ~~~ ReneWave v2.00 Gamma-1+ --- Renegade * Origin: LOTL/2 * 412 746 3592 * lotl2.slip.lm.com * USofA (1:129/230) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3U00004 Date: 03/25/97 From: THE REAL TOM MARKS Time: 12:01am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Differences. What is the difference between the 800mhz phones and the higher frequency phones? I was looking at comsumer reports and they showed a Nokia 2160 as being a 1500mhz phone. My friend has 2 of them, and they both show a frequency of 800-900 mhz. What is the difference between PCS phones and regular digital phones? I was also told that the Nokia 2160 was a PCS phone, I thuoght it was just a TDMA-E (extended) phone. It's strange that our TDMA provider in CAlfi doesn't allow the TDMA (standard) phones to recieive things like caller id, they only allow the TDMA-E phones to get them. Nokia 2120, AT&T6650 and a Technophone are all stuck without them because Cell 1 doesn't want them to have it. ... Ostrich: He often runs so fast he leaves himself behind. ~~~ ReneWave v2.00 Gamma-1+ --- Renegade * Origin: LOTL/2 * 412 746 3592 * lotl2.slip.lm.com * USofA (1:129/230) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3V00000 Date: 03/24/97 From: BRIAN LEO Time: 08:15am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS Business Cell Phones at the best air time rates ever. STARFLIGHT COMMUNICATIONS Toronto, Mississauga, Kemptville. (905) 279-9394 MIKE MOBILE (416) 717-1271 ClearNet has lowered all their prices. The "Mike" network is now the lowest cost communication product for the business user. ClearNet beats Bell and Cantel by a large margin. Clearnet have been an industry leader in wireless communications for over 10 years. "MIKE" is made by Motorola a world wide recognized name in communication products. What happens when the mobile phone, pager, and two-way dispatch radio are integrated into one unit, on a digital network? You get a wireless communication breakthrough that can provide a major boost to your company's bottom line. How much will you save with Mike? It depends: What value do you place on your time? With Mike's group call feature you can have instant meetings even when you are on the road. Billed at 10 cents per minute in one second increments. Message Mail: It's like your pager only better. Messages are guaranteed delivered and stored if you are out of area or have shut Mike off. Mike works like a cell phone but, with advanced features. Mike is digital. This means security, privacy and increased audio quality. Message Mail to Mike. Good for dispatching. Send Mike a text message up to 140 characters from voice mail, your P.C. or from the InterNet. It's only 5 cents per message. Air time costs? Mike is fair. If you talk for 2 minutes and 4 seconds why should you pay for 3 minutes? Mike offers one-second billing, so you pay precisely for what you use. No Activation Fees. No Subscription Fees. No Advaance Billing. Rate Pooling. If you don't use up all your monthly rate, it's not lost. It can be shared with other members of your group who may have exceeded their portions. Call for more details and a free consultation of your Communication needs. BRIAN LEO ... No, Taco Bell is NOT the Mexican telephone company! * Evaluation copy of Silver Xpress. Day # 156 * Silver Xpress V4.01 --- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 5 * Origin: Bits & Bytes BBS - Toronto, Ont. - (416) 532-1784 (1:250/350) (1:250/350) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00000 Date: 03/25/97 From: CARL OWENS Time: 04:07pm \/To: SCOTT CURRIER (Read 3 times) Subj: Nextel >Let's hear about that dispatch feature, I haven't heard or read anything >about it yet. The dispatch feature is simply using the unit much as you would a two way radio. You can talk to the whole group of people in your crew or you can talk to only one person in the group. You are allowed to talk for 250 minutes per month. The minutes are billed to the nearest second. After you have used up the 250 minutes per unit you pay ten cents for each additional minute you use. The time is bill to whichever unit starts the conversation. If there is a six second lag in the conversation the next radio which talks is billed. Each unit in the group is allowed 250 minutes. If you and your wife have these units, you each get 250 minutes of talk time per month. You are only billed for the amount of transmit time per unit. The time between transmissions is yours. If you keep the transmissions short, you can get more out of your time. These units were the ones used at the Olympics in Atlanta. >I would test the system before committing too much money to it. I called >Nextel again today, they had sent me out info before but didn't include a >coverage area map. My friend has found some spots which are dead, but in my areas of travel the units perform better than the old cellular systems I have used. I work in the federal building in Philadelphia. none of the cell phones would work inside this building. The nextel unit not only works but it works well even inside the elevator with the doors closed. >Hmmm, that's too bad, both 850 mHz carriers in this market offer plans with >free offpeak. It's nice to have, I save a lot of money using the cellular >after 7pm instead of the regular LL phone. I believe the carriers here plan on making as much money as possible. >Interesting, thanks for the info. you are quite welcome. Both my friend and I like the units thus far. * OLX 2.1 * Isn't this more fun than MTV? --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: FIDONET * Spirit of St. Louis BBS * (215) 742-6606 (1:273/946.0) LR> My phone logs the number of minutes I use in any given period. I at LR> my billing date so I know how many minutes I used each month and LR> compare that with my bill. It's been very close to the same. Good LR> to keep them honest, however. Mu Phone also kept a log which wasn't any where near what they claimed on my Bill.. I explained that to them and as told that maybe the phone didn't disconnect after the calls were completed that happens once in a while and that I need to make sure it is turned off after making a call. Oh well i didn't need one that bad... appreciate the reply. Don ... Click...click...click..damn, out of taglines! --- * Origin: For those with an Open mind (1:147/30) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00001 Date: 03/25/97 From: DONALD BURCH Time: 03:50pm \/To: LEAH ROZHON (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Charges on your phone Bill LR> My phone logs the number of minutes I use in any given period. I at LR> my billing date so I know how many minutes I used each month and LR> compare that with my bill. It's been very close to the same. Good LR> to keep them honest, however. Mu Phone also kept a log which wasn't any where near what they claimed on my Bill.. I explained that to them and as told that maybe the phone didn't disconnect after the calls were completed that happens once in a while and that I need to make sure it is turned off after making a call. Oh well i didn't need one that bad... appreciate the reply. Don ... Click...click...click..damn, out of taglines! --- * Origin: For those with an Open mind (1:147/30) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00002 Date: 03/27/97 From: GEORGE ERDNER Time: 12:01am \/To: SCOTT CURRIER (Read 3 times) Subj: call delivery SC> I can understand that, for most people it's the wrong type of phone. I il SC> probably add a shirt pocket phone to my account this summer. I can have p SC> phones with the same number and plan. The first one is an extra 17 bucks SC> month. What carrier are you with? We don't have multiple phones on the same number here, yet. It should be available by the end of the year. However, for most users, it's more convenient to have different numbers on their phones so they can call cell-to-cell. When I have a customer who needs a car phone and a portable, I put them on an aggregate billing plan and have the main phone number forward to the secondary one. SC> There are a lot of times when I wish I had a shirt pocket phone but SC> there are quite a few times too when they just won't cut it, I don't like SC> dropped calls and I don't like to annoy the people who I'm talking to ith SC> than a full quieting signal. I've never seen a portable small enough for a shirt pocket that was worth the price, including the Panasonic EBH-63 I use. But the larger portables, the ones that fit an inside suit coat pocket or briefcase usually sound OK. SC> If I get a shirt pocket phone, will look for an Oki, I like the feel of h SC> and I've used a few before, worked pretty well. I've got a few Motorola r SC> the old 8000s, and I've got a uniden 5500 as well as I'm pretty sure I've SC> Motorola flop phone laying around somewhere I could use. Around here, the only new phones that can be sold for BANM activation (at this time) are Motorola, Audiovox, Nokia, and some Panasonics. They are the only vendors whose authentication routines have been certified by BANM. Other phones can be activated, but at greatly reduced commission. In some BANM regions, if you use a non-authenticated phone, you also must use a PIN when you place a call. SC> Some of the new phones are really small, Sony has got a tiny one, I'd be SC> that I'd lose the dumb thing :) I have yet to hear a tiny phone whose speaker didn't sound really bad -- no matter how clear the signal. SC> BTW, just curious, how many minnutes a month do you normally put on your I get 250 minutes peak and 60 minutes off-peak for free, so I'm very careful aboutmy usage and never exceed that amount. Of course, I can call the various support departments at BANM airtime free, so I use extra time for that. I also like to call radio talk shows if they have airtime free numbers. My wife gets unlimited off-peak on her phone, and since there are no landline tolls anywhere within our area code, she uses her cell phone to make calls to her mother & sister. The local landline tolls to call just 27 miles are outrageous, so we save a great deal on our landline bill that way. She runs up around 600 minutes a month on a regular basis. * OLX 2.1 TD * No amount of planning will replace dumb luck. --- Renegade * Origin: LOTL/2 * 412 746 3592 * lotl2.slip.lm.com * USofA (1:129/230) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00003 Date: 03/27/97 From: GEORGE ERDNER Time: 12:01am \/To: THE REAL TOM MARKS (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: call delivery TRTM> I am uncapable of working for a telephone company and my business has v TRTM> on different god damn service plans all under personal contracts, I am TRTM> with all the contracts that everyone else has to use. But last month, TRTM> around 2400 minutes and my bill was only like $90, including voice/fax TRTM> insurance, and unlimited off peak calling. I pay 28c a minute peak. Where are you located? What carrier are you with? Here in Pittsburgh, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's aggregate billing plans can help companies save money by consolidating lots of individual contracts into one corporate plan. For example, I showed a local soft drink company how to save more than $16,000 over two years by switching to the new aggregate billing plans. * OLX 2.1 TD * No tagline here, tagline writer broken --- Renegade * Origin: LOTL/2 * 412 746 3592 * lotl2.slip.lm.com * USofA (1:129/230) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00004 Date: 03/27/97 From: GEORGE ERDNER Time: 12:01am \/To: THE REAL TOM MARKS (Read 3 times) Subj: Differences. TRTM> What is the difference between PCS phones and regular digital phones? "PCS" is a term like "PC". Sprint wanted to make it a brand name, just liek IBM wanted to make "PC" a brand name -- both companies failed. PCS stands for Personal Communications System. It's a bundle of features that go beyond regular cellular service. Any phone plan that offers incoming caller ID, voice mail, and a voice mail indicator can be considered a "PCS" phone, as those are the extra features that define "PCS". A phone need not be digital to provide PCS services. Our current best selling phone is an analog unit that provides all the PCS features. It sells for $9.95 with service activation on a two-year contract. Sprint's new PCS service is a CDMA digital only service that is attempting to break the two-carrier only limits across the country. They offer good hardware and service in the few areas where they have towers. If you're not near one of their towers, you're out of luck. Most of the digital services being offered by the cellular companies use hybrid phones that work digital if connected to a digital tower, and analog if there are no digital towers available. If you need to use your phone everywhere instead of just in a few selected cities, forget Sprint PCS. * OLX 2.1 TD * No use crying over spilled water under a burned bridge. --- Renegade * Origin: LOTL/2 * 412 746 3592 * lotl2.slip.lm.com * USofA (1:129/230) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3W00005 Date: 03/26/97 From: BRIAN LINGARD Time: 07:14pm \/To: DONALD BURCH (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Charges on your phone Bill 27 march 1997 Ottawa Canada Sounds like the cellular companies charges are a good reason to get detailed billing. I was under the impression that as soon as you press the end key the call is history. They have good stories but I have never heard of having to turn the phone off at end of a call to ensure it is disconnected. Perhaps a compalint to the state public utilities commissioner and f.c.c. is in order. Those words make any common carrier of communications take notice. ... Do what you will with this tagline, just don't bother me about it! --- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR] * Origin: Vision Information Systems (1:163/266) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 223 CELLULAR Ref: E3X00000 Date: 03/27/97 From: SCOTT CURRIER Time: 05:16pm \/To: GEORGE ERDNER (Read 3 times) Subj: call delivery -GE> What carrier are you with? We don't have multiple phones on -GE> the same -GE> number here, yet. It should be available by the end of the -GE> year. Cellular One Boston, aka, Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems. -GE> However, for most users, it's more convenient to have -GE> different numbers -GE> on their phones so they can call cell-to-cell. When I have Yup, I agree, we tried the flex for a few weeks and when a promotion came along from Bell Atlantic that gave us the free offpeak that we had with C1 we dropped the flex and got a BANM phone. Much better way to do it. Flex is good if one person is going to use both phones and the rate plan is no longer available, my free time starts at 7pm. Noone offers that anymore. Not in this market anyways. -GE> on their phones so they can call cell-to-cell. When I have -GE> a customer -GE> who needs a car phone and a portable, I put them on an -GE> aggregate billing -GE> plan and have the main phone number forward to the -GE> secondary one. Normally that would waste minutes, most carriers charge the same for call forwarding as for an outgoing call. Instead of using one minute they're using two. Is that not the case with BANM? Some carriers offer a better plan than flex, you get two phones, two numbers, and you can no-answer xfer from the primary to the secondary at no additional charge or per minute charge, that's the way to do it. -GE> I've never seen a portable small enough for a shirt pocket -GE> that was -GE> worth the price, including the Panasonic EBH-63 I use. But -GE> the larger -GE> portables, the ones that fit an inside suit coat pocket or -GE> briefcase -GE> usually sound OK. I tried a little Sony, can't remember the model, it has the microphone that folds out. Trouble with the cases, and some trouble with authentication but it sounded ok. How did you like the old bricks, the Motorola 8000's? -GE> Around here, the only new phones that can be sold for BANM -GE> activation -GE> (at this time) are Motorola, Audiovox, Nokia, and some -GE> Panasonics. They -GE> are the only vendors whose authentication routines have -GE> been certified -GE> by BANM. Other phones can be activated, but at greatly -GE> reduced -GE> commission. In some BANM regions, if you use a -GE> non-authenticated phone, -GE> you also must use a PIN when you place a call. Yup, same up this way, the commission is quite a bit lower according to the people I spoke with at cellular dealer. At least they still can be used. If the customer owns the equipment already you will still be making money if you activate them. Pins are a pain. I'm glad they're not mandatory on C1. -GE> I get 250 minutes peak and 60 minutes off-peak for free, so -GE> I'm very -GE> careful aboutmy usage and never exceed that amount. Of -GE> course, I can -GE> call the various support departments at BANM airtime free, -GE> so I use -GE> extra time for that. I also like to call radio talk shows -GE> if they have -GE> airtime free numbers. Geeze, you're just a novice :) I haven't had a bill under 3000 minutes for the past year and a half, I don't think I've ever had one under a thousand except maybe the first one. My last one was 6660 minutes, the one before that was about 5400 or 5600, and the month before was 4600. This month I expect to be pretty low, back to about 3000 or maybe even less, just haven't had the need to use it like I used to. -GE> My wife gets unlimited off-peak on her phone, and since -GE> there are no -GE> landline tolls anywhere within our area code, she uses her -GE> cell phone to -GE> make calls to her mother & sister. The local landline tolls -GE> to call just -GE> 27 miles are outrageous, so we save a great deal on our -GE> landline bill -GE> that way. She runs up around 600 minutes a month on a -GE> regular basis. We have the same thing on our banm account, it's really nice. On my c1 account for some reason there is no LL if I call into N.H. but Mass is 5 cents a minute. Hey, late breaking development, the cellular numbers are now toll free, type 2a's according to the Nynex operators that I talked too. My 508 cellular number is toll free anywhere in 508/617 (one lata). Don't know how long it been like this. I think it's because of a number crunch. We've run tests and I just got my last bill for my home phone, no charges for calling our BANM account which would normally be LD. In Mass you have to dail 11 digits to make a toll call, no exceptions, I was quite surprised when I tried our BANM number with 7 digits and it went right thru. --- * Origin: Computer Castle / 20 Lines / Newton, NH / 603-382-0338 (1:324/127)