On 01/01/2016 01:56 PM, Jon Elson wrote:
On 01/01/2016 01:52 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
I'm amazed that "caller ID" costs CL anything, but it's one of the
highest-priced add-ons.
It clearly costs them NOTHING! It is software on the switch, and the
hardware needed to support it is present on every subscriber line.
They charge for it because people are willing to pay for it.
...and thanks to VoIP, junk calls cost the callers nothing--and the FCC
claims that they're powerless to halt it. Call blocking from the telco,
which probably also costs them nothing, has a low limit on the number of
blocked numbers. So it's left to the subscriber to handle the crap like
"This is Windows Security--we've noticed suspicious activity from your
Windows computer...." or "This is Rachel from cardholder services". And
of course, Caller ID is necessary for that.
I'm looking forward to VoIP. Right now, I run an old modem and an
Windows 98 thin client to handle blocking. It works pretty well--at
least it's something that can be done with those high-priced USR Courier
modems lingering around from the BBS days.
--Chuck
