It's your call

Recently, a friend e-mailed me several pages of humor glommed from various Web sites. A witticism from comedian George Carlin really resonated: "Have you ever noticed that anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"

As children, we were told, "If you don't have something nice to say about somebody, don't say it." Unfortunately, bad news sells. Pundits make their money by criticizing rather than praising. In a daring break with tradition, however, I've decided to single out a telco offering that deserves praise.

Bell Atlantic recently introduced "Work at Home Billing Service" in the Washington area. The service will be deployed off the company's Advanced Intelligent Network platform throughout its franchise area by the end of 1997.

To make a business call from home, customers dial *94. When they receive a second dial tone, they can then dial the party they wish to call. The service costs $4.50 per line per month, and there is a one-time installation charge ranging from $9 to $17. Businesses using the service select a long-distance company for their employees and get an itemized monthly bill. The service also has a distinctive ring that helps identify incoming business calls.

For states like New Jersey and California with mandated telecommuting, and with telecommuting in general on the rise, this is a service that perfectly aligns with a real need, and it is reasonably priced. No more hassles with corporate credit cards, time-consuming reviews of monthly bills or second-line installations for business use.

Work at Home Billing is a good start. But why stop there? I have two modest suggestions for carriers that might be attractive to both residential customers and small office/home office users. I call them "Gateway Billing Service" and "Billing Info on Command.

Gateway Billing Service is an Internet-centric service. Customers would have real-time access to the status of not just their local telco services, but service from all their carriers - including IXCs, paging, cellular and cable TV. The service would be like that offered by biz.travel in which users can access all their frequent flyer and frequent guest programs.

Billing Info On Command is a more radical offer involving voice notification of the total monthly bill status before call initiation. The service could be initiated today for intra-LATA toll calls before Bell companies enter the IXC business. It would work exactly like prepaid calling cards. Users are given control over the monthly cost of their voice communications and a reference for billing accuracy.

While carriers dislike services that threaten usage, they should recognize that if they do not offer this capability, competitors will. In anticipation of entering the long-distance market, Bell companies could combine these services with least-cost routing to create a powerful tool for rapid market penetration.

* * * On the not-so-positive side, I've received requests from readers and editors for comment about the FCC's decision on access charges and support for universal service.

The biggest fault in the FCC's decision is the timing of its release. Something this muddled and antiquated should have been released to coincide with the opening of the "Jurassic Park" sequel.

Bets in Washington are on who will be the first to take this decision to court. The problem is that those interested in sinking this are part of the problem and not part of the solution. For the most part, they are a dinosaur species in their little portion of a theme park gone mad. This sequel to the interconnection decision unfortunately may not be the end of the madness.

The wrong-headedness in this decision starts with this "expert agency" making rules based on absolutely no factual record. In recent years, the FCC has required the filing of less rather than more industry information. As a result, it is unclear what anything "costs," much less subsidizes.

Maybe Steven Spielberg has one more sequel in him - "Lost World II: The Story of the FCC.

Peter Bernstein is President of infonautics Consulting Inc., Ramsey, N.J. His e-mail address is 714-9256@mcimail.com.