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Technology Stocks : Nortel Networks (NT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lynn who wrote (6433)	8/4/2000 8:14:54 AM
From: Bosco	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14638

Dear Lynn - yes, FON has been promoting this service. I am tempted too, if not b/c I am such a lazy person. I am using MCI but I may follow you once I overcome my own inertia <g>. NT is hot right now. She is also on LEH Uncommon Value etc etc. If not b/c I made the mistake of getting into margin prematurely, I would have added position in NT. But I am happy that I ve a stake in the co. Please let me know how you like the service, thanks best, Bosco

To: Lynn who wrote (6433)	8/4/2000 1:12:41 PM
From: telecomguy	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 14638

Lynn, where does it say that NT is going to bill the service? I find it surprising that Sprint would sell NT's Call Waiting technology under NT label and have NT bill the customer! Why would Sprint do that rather than OEM'ing the technology and reselling it under their label??? Nowhere in the sign up site you pasted is NT mentioned as the supplier of the service........are you sure NT will be billing you?

To: Lynn who wrote (6433)	9/1/2000 9:53:53 PM
From: Lynn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14638

I have had NT's Internet Call Waiting (ICW) for just under one month now and the _only_ reason I have not dropped the service is because of the delay in getting a second telephone line [Verison went on strike right after the GTE:Bell Atlantic merger]. To say I am unhappy with it is an understatement. Problems I have had with the service since the 10th of August have still _not_ been fixed--or even replied to as promised. In case someone from NT headquarters is lurking, here are my complaints, not necessarily in order of importance: 1. There is no telephone number to call NT directly to speak with a person. The only way to speak with someone at ICW is to first call Sprint and have Sprint transfer the call [and yes, it is transferred to NT]. For a non-Sprint customer, this means one has to put up with some pretty heavy-duty sales pitch about changing carriers every time one calls. 2. The preferred way to communicate re: ICW is via e-mail. The autogenerated message one received after sending a message states someone will get back within 48 hours. It also gives a case number which one is supposed to reference for future correspondence. Well, I am still waiting to hear from someone about the problems I reported via e-amil on August 14th. Two days ago I gave up on the e-mail and called via the Sprint transfer. Suprised that my e-mailed problems had not been addressed, the ICW tech person promised someone higher up (in expertise) would call immediately, that day, to figure out/help fix the problem. Nothing. But yesterday, at 11:55 a.m., someone called when I was out and said he would send e-mail as soon as he hung up to arrange a time to call back. I got the answering machine message then immediately checked my e-mail at 4:00 p.m. yesterday. No e-mail as promised. Clicking on the URL in the autogenerated message from August 14th, I dropped the fellow who called a note. This message area states one will hear back within 24 hours. Nothing. Summary of #2: ICW technical support is *terrible. Forcing people to go through Sprint, even if one is not a Sprint customer is absurd, especially since billing is by NT, not Sprint. 3. The problems I have had with ICW: It's hit or miss if someone can get through to me. About 1/2 the time they get a message that I am not taking calls at which point they are disconnected. The other 1/2 of the time they are first asked for the area code and phone number of the party they are trying to call [a recording they are not supposed to receive]. Sometimes I am ultimately contacted by ICW but the vast majority of the time they either: a.) get a recording that the number does not exist, "Goodbye."; or b.) Have trouble getting the whatever to accept the number and get disconnected. All my settings are correct. I have no optional phone services that could possibly conflict with ICW. Talking to the ex-GTE people at Verison, they have never heard of problems such as I have noted above. The recordings are not GTE/Verison recordings [as the ICW fellow 2 days ago suggested they might be]. ICW has cost me both aggravation and money. I have missed some extremely* important telephone calls. The strange recordings have thrown some people for a loop and resulted in their sending me USPS letters asking me to call _and_ let them know my correct/new phone number. I'm not talking friends here, I'm talking important business and other contacts. All the calls I'm missing are long distance calls. Would I recommend NT's ICW to someone? No. The NT ICW people have had one month to resolve these problems. Their preferred customer communication channel, e-mail, is like talking in the air. Phone tech support promised is unfulfilled. Oh, when someone calls, the telephone number is supposed to show on the screen that pops-up. Every call I have received so far lists, "Unknown," for the number. None of these people have their numbers blocked and none of them have unlisted numbers. I now see that Prodigy is offering a similar service called Internet Call Manager, "Powered by InfoInteractive." The "Help" section of ICM gives a 24-hour telephone number. I'm going to call and see if this is a repackaged NT ICW. If it is not, I'll sign up for it. It's more expensive, but if it works, I really do not care. Sign me both dissatisfied and frustrated- Lynn