On 31-Mar-12 19:17, wrote:
On Mar 31, 12:30 pm, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
Worse, some carriers do not present _any_ sort of prefix for Caller ID,
so int'l calls come in _looking like_ domestic calls. For instance, I
remember a call from a former employer's Brussels office, which had 10
digits and was displayed on my phone's screen as (322) xxx-xxxx. I
happen to know area code 322 was reserved* and realized it must have
been from somewhere in Europe, but most Americans wouldn't--and they
wouldn't know how to return that call if they missed it.

These days, many people simply press a "dial caller" button without
bothering to listen to a message or know who the caller is. This
leads to fraud, as you describe.

In the above case, if I attempted to return the call, it would have
failed because there is no area code 322. The Caller ID was _not_
presented as +322... or 011322... .

Another carrier presents NANP calls as 1..., but notice the lack of +;
they have the same problem with int'l Caller ID--but I'd be more likely
to notice the lack of a missing 1 for int'l numbers in that case.

My current carrier presents the number as 011322...; that's not as good
as +322..., but at least I can _return the call_.

It also leads to missed connections, since many callers are not using
a callable number. This would include people still using a pay phone,
people borrowing someone else's phone to make the call, people calling
form within a PBX served business*, or someone not at their regular
location.

That is the natural result of most people having Caller ID and cell
phones or DID numbers. It works _most_ of the time, so that's what most
people do _all_ of the time.

*A Centrex served line ususally gives the correct number, but a PBX
line usually gives merely the outgoing trunk that was used for the
call.

s/PBX/KTS/

PBXes typically get this right, though some are misconfigured (I suspect
deliberately, in particular cases) so the Caller ID comes through as
something like 001-001-0001. Why telcos allow this, I'll never understand.

In the old Bell System days, despite continuing advances in
automation, they always insisted on having Operators handy in case
help was needed.

Great customer service is a luxury of companies that don't have to
compete on price and are guaranteed a profit no matter how high their
expenses are, i.e. monopolies.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On Apr 3, 5:03*pm, Stephen Sprunk wrote:


In the old Bell System days, despite continuing advances in
automation, they always insisted on having Operators handy in case
help was needed.

Great customer service is a luxury of companies that don't have to
compete on price and are guaranteed a profit no matter how high their
expenses are, i.e. monopolies.

Except the companies are NOT providing price discounts. They're
getting away with non existent customer service because everyone is
doing it, and pocketing very nice comfortable profits. TODAY there
are more monopolies or _effective_ monopolies so the companies get a
way with it.

On 03-Apr-12 16:34, wrote:
On Apr 3, 5:03 pm, Stephen Sprunk wrote:


In the old Bell System days, despite continuing advances in
automation, they always insisted on having Operators handy in case
help was needed.

Great customer service is a luxury of companies that don't have to
compete on price and are guaranteed a profit no matter how high their
expenses are, i.e. monopolies.

Except the companies are NOT providing price discounts.

Right, that's why long distance and mobile rates are so much higher than
they were 30 years ago. Oh, wait, they've declined over 99% in that
time. Maybe customers _are_ getting lower prices!

They're getting away with non existent customer service because everyone
is doing it, and pocketing very nice comfortable profits.

They're "getting away with it" because the vast majority of customers,
when faced with a choice, consistently choose the lower-cost option even
if it means horrible customer service. They may complain about the
latter, but it doesn't seem to affect their buying habits.

And, yes, _some_ of the cost savings from cutting service levels goes to
higher profits. But _most_ of it goes to lower prices; if it didn't,
price competition would drive them out of business.

TODAY there are more monopolies or _effective_ monopolies so the
companies get a way with it.

There is a _lot_ more competition today than there was 30 years ago,
arguably too much in many industries, and the result is the typical
"race to the bottom".

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking