Telephone companies' new foray; aim is to supersede answering machines

Article Abstract:

Telephone companies will offer customers a voice mail service that allows callers to leave a message whether they receive a ringing or a busy signal. The service, which costs about $5 a month, costs more than an answering machine over a year's time, but the new arrangement provides better service. Customers who order the service will record a greeting that is stored at the telephone company's central office. When customers want to recover their messages, they will dial a phone number and access code that gains entry to an electronic mailbox. Nynex Corp offers the service in its New England Telephone service area; Bell Atlantic Corp's Bell of Pennsylvania will also offer it. Other phone companies are testing the service for capability and security. Privacy advocates are against the service, because they believe the system is not impenetrable. They say people will be giving up privacy for convenience.

Innovations, Product introduction, Voice mail, Telephone Answering Devices

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Computer breakdown at A.T.&T. snarls long distance across U.S

Article Abstract:

AT and T was not able to connect approximately half of the long-distance, international and toll-free 800 calls placed yesterday because of a failure in its new computer software that controls switching. The impact of the failure was lessened by the fact that many businesses and the government were observing the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Nonetheless, many users were unable to get their calls through, hearing instead a recorded message saying that all circuits were busy. The system that failed works by finding the most efficient path for a call to take, and is considered the most sophisticated network in the world. AT and T's main competitors, MCI Communications Corp and US Sprint Communications Co both use the same switching technology, but reported no problems yesterday.

Product defects and recalls, Reliability (Trustworthiness), Reliability

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A.T.&T. to expand service for language translations

Article Abstract:

AT&T will expand its language translation services to include 143 languages and dialects available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service will be called AT and T Language Line Service, and customers will be able to access the interpreters through a toll-free 800 number. The service is already available to businesses, which pay a subscription fee of $1,000 to $1,500, monthly fees between $25 and $50, and a per-minute charge of $1.94 to $2.75. Later in 1990, the company will make the service available to the public for $3.50 a minute. AT&T expects the service will prove valuable for helping non-english speaking residents contact emergency services, utilities and schools.

Telephone, Telephony, Translating and interpreting, Translation (Languages), Foreign Languages, Language Translation

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