Conference 7.286::digital

before someone asks...
    
                  <<< JETSAM::ENT:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DTN.NOTE;1 >>>
                      -< DTN - DIGITAL Telephone Network >-
================================================================================
Note 2.1                    Latest version of DTN.LIS                     1 of 2
JETSAM::DTNVTX                                        5 lines   3-FEB-1996 04:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The DTN master list will now be stored in :

    the VTX infobase (registered page 000120) ($VTX DTN) (Keyname DTN) or
    as the next reply to this note.

Paula:

  I second the .1 recommendation to pick up the list from the DTN
  notesfile. That lit is handy for all sorts of cross-referencing
  among the sites; I keep a DCL command defined just to search
  that file.

  Secondly, though, you might want to consider just calling a DTN-
  equipped site and asking to be put on the DTN to xxx-xxxx. Most
  sites will do this for you, at least on an "occasional" basis.
  Or they can provide the occasional DTN-to-direct_dial translation.

                                   Atlant

    Sign up for the Corporate phone card.  You have to access MCI, punch
    the 7 digit DTN and your access number.  Not painless but it works and
    the charges go to your cost center, exactly where they should go.

>                     <<< Note 4407.0 by DECAGE::LOMASNEY >>>
>                            -< (DTN) accessibility >-
>
>>    I do not have access to the Digital Telephone Network, DTN.  When
>    people call me, they often leave a DTN as a return number, instead
>    of an outside, commercial exchange.  This is frustrating and delays my
>    return call to them.  In general, please be aware that the person your
>    calling may not have DTN. and leave an outside number.
>    
>    Thank you for your cooperation.
>    Paula Lomasney
>


Paula;

How are you calling back? If on the HOME alone program you should have MCI
and MCI V-NET Or if you are at a Digital office that is not on DTN it 
should have  MCI V-NET then a DTN number is dialed using 
Area code 700-DTN-XXXX.  If using A Digital issued MCI credit card access MCI 
per instruciton that came with the MCI credit card then dial 7 digit DTN number
DTN-XXXX. 

    Thanks for everyone's feedback.  I'm resident on a customer site
    that pays all facility related expenses.  Yes, I do have access
    to VTX, but that too can be cumbersome through my PC, when I'm
    doing other work.  Yes, I could print out the whole listing and have it
    as hard copy, which I did, and still lug around in my briefcase.  I've
    also changed my personal greeting on my voice mail to ask if the caller
    could please leave an outside number.  My regular callers got tired of
    listening to a lengthy message.  All I'm asking is that you are aware
    of the inconvenience when you leave a DTN only return number,
    especially when you had to dial a commercial exchange to get me.
    
    Thanks,
    Paula

    It should be a lot easier to lug the MCI VNET card than a DTN listing.

    Yes, I guess it would be.  That's not my point.  I'm trying to make
    people aware that not everyone has easy access to DTN. and if you
    didn't dial one to get to somebody, maybe they don't have access. Out
    of courtesy, please leave an outside number.
    
    Thank you.

re basenote,

where are you based?  If in the UK, you can subscribe to GSN (I think that's 
the correct acronym!) which enables you to dial DTN numbers from an external 
'phone.

Chris.

Sorry, I disagree.  I would prefer that people leave me the DTN.  I work from
home, and I have the MCI VNET service.  It simply drives me nuts when people,
who are trying to be nice, call me and leave the outside number.  Then I have to
go look up in the phone book, what the DTN prefix is.  Why you may ask?  Because
it saves the company money for me to dial 1-700 as compared with dialing direct.

If i'm travelling, I use my MCI card and again dial the DTN direct.

How about people leaving BOTH DTN and external numbers when calling a non-DTN
number?

				Steve

    I leave both; it's easiest.
    
    Oh yeah, make sure your voicemail message has both DTN and external
    versions; remember, not everybody who calls you (or needs to call
    the person you're referring them to) has access to DTN.
    

    re .8
    
    Chris,
    
    I am in the UK and also based on a customer site and I don't know what
    GSN, or VPM is.  Is this the system that "home based" workers use to
    dial DTN numbers? If so it is possibly not available at customer
    sites! I have the same problem as the base noter and have used, on
    occasions, the call to the nearest office and then asked for the DTN so
    if there is a better way I would like to know about it.
    
    Hang on... there was a magic word in your note "subscribe" .. if it
    costs money then there's no chance....
    
    regards,
    
    Jim                                                                 
    (Also no Voicemail, but I suspect that's more to do with being in the
    UK!)

>    I am in the UK and also based on a customer site and I don't know what
>    GSN, or VPM is.  Is this the system that "home based" workers use to
>    dial DTN numbers?

I dunno the details as I haven't got around to getting it myself, but if 
you're interested I can find out for you.
    
>    Hang on... there was a magic word in your note "subscribe" .. if it
>    costs money then there's no chance....
    
oh I dunno, you just badger someone 'til they get fed up and give in!

Chris.

>    Yes, I guess it would be.  That's not my point.  I'm trying to make
>    people aware that not everyone has easy access to DTN. and if you
>    didn't dial one to get to somebody, maybe they don't have access. Out
>    of courtesy, please leave an outside number.


But the point really is, EVERYONE with a corporate MCI card (at least in the 
US) does have access to DTN, and if you have a need to make long distance
calls, you should have a corporate MCI card.. then the  DTN issue doesn't
exist... 

That's probably why all the questions about where you're based... if in the 
US, someone should be responsible (your CC manager) for getting you an MCI 
card so you will have DTN access.

>      <<< Note 4407.14 by FIREBL::LEEDS "From VAXinated to Alphaholic" >>>
>                       -< you "should" have DTN access >-
>
>>    Yes, I guess it would be.  That's not my point.  I'm trying to make
>>    people aware that not everyone has easy access to DTN. and if you
>>    didn't dial one to get to somebody, maybe they don't have access. Out
>>    of courtesy, please leave an outside number.
>
>
>But the point really is, EVERYONE with a corporate MCI card (at least in the 
>US) does have access to DTN, and if you have a need to make long distance
>calls, you should have a corporate MCI card.. then the  DTN issue doesn't
>exist... 
>
>That's probably why all the questions about where you're based... if in the 
>US, someone should be responsible (your CC manager) for getting you an MCI 
>card so you will have DTN access.
>

  Why is a simple request meeting so much resistance?  Yes, I have an MCI 
card, but I'm on a long-term, full-time assignment at a customer site (just 
started my fourth year).  I have an office, a PC and a Mac and a phone with 
voicemail.  I'm treated like an employee by this customer and I rarely call 
anyone at DEC.  If someone from DEC goes to the trouble of tracking me down 
out here, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to leave an outside 
number for me to return the call.  One size does NOT fit all.

				SQ

    ... to *using* the card?  Why does it matter *where* you are or how
    warmly they've welcomed you to the fold--if you have to call Digital
    and all you're given is a DTN, what's the beef?  Is it that much more
    difficult to operate the customer's phone system with the card?
    
    Leslie

    Welcome to the world of "HOME ALONE!!!" The only point I could see is
    if the people calling you would be a local call. Out here on the left
    coast there are no local calls I would make to a Digital facility
    without using DTN. By the way one BIG point to everyone's answer is DTN
    

    Re: .15,.17 & others:
    
    The nature & rationale of your request is very reasonable.  Any hope that 
    your request will be widely implemented is not.  I use the card
    extensively, while at my home, the airport, using my portable (especially 
    when roaming-saves $$$), and at my customer sites across the country.
    
    The minimal extra hassle of punching in extra numbers with the MCI card
    is offset by not caring whether I'm reaching a Digit on an outside # or 
    a DTN.  As many of my sales collegues will attest, just getting any
    staff personnel supporting a field person is very welcomed, be they leaving
    DTN's or otherwise (insert smiley here).  I'm not about to lecture them
    on how I want them to leave me their #.  The company's given us a
    solution to work around that.  Use your card & appreciate those good folks 
    interested & responsible enough to call you.
    
    BT  

>                      -< indeed, why all this resistance >-
>
>    ... to *using* the card?  Why does it matter *where* you are or how
>    warmly they've welcomed you to the fold--if you have to call Digital
>    and all you're given is a DTN, what's the beef?  Is it that much more
>    difficult to operate the customer's phone system with the card?

  I guess I wasn't very clear.  I don't use the card often enough to remember
the numbers so I have to look up the MCI card number and the number to call 
for DTN access rather than just scribble the number given in the voicemail.
AND the few times I've received a call out here from someone at Digital it's 
been initiated by them wanting something from me.  Maybe I'd feel a little 
differently if I were waiting for call backs from support, but I'm not.  If 
you want someone to call you back, don't you make it as easy as possible for 
them to reach you?

  BTW, this has nothing to do with how warmly I've been welcomed into the 
fold.  It's just that the day to day work I do for this customer is all done 
within the site.  Sometimes it's way too easy to forget that I'm a Digital 
employee.  My contact with Digital is for CLARs, expenses and a paystub, 
and I know the number of the person I call for those things.  I'm sure that 
my next assignment will be very different and I'll go back to knowing all the 
correct procedures to use because I'll be using them on a regular basis.

				SQ

    
    	Write the MCI number and access codes on a slip of paper and
    	stick them to the bottom of your keyboard, or monitor, or
    	staple them to your forehead if you can't remember them.
    
    	Judging by your responses in here, it's obvious you don't use
    	the number enough to commit it to memory.  Maybe if you used
    	it more often you'd be better off.
    

>    	Write the MCI number and access codes on a slip of paper and
>    	stick them to the bottom of your keyboard, or monitor, or
>    	staple them to your forehead if you can't remember them.
>    
>    	Judging by your responses in here, it's obvious you don't use
>    	the number enough to commit it to memory.  Maybe if you used
>    	it more often you'd be better off.
    
  I'd say your Monday is going worse than mine.  I certainly didn't want 
anyone to get their knickers in a twist over this.  I do end user support 
at a customer site and I have a bizillion phone numbers and notes all over 
my monitors, keyboards, and desk that pertain to this job.  I'm better off;
Digital is better off and the customer is better off if I focus on the 
customer.

  Now I'm sure that Judith Manners is going to whack us all with a ruler 
and send us to our rooms without supper for our bad behavior.

Goodnight.

				SQ

    The real answer to .0 is that the request is perfectly reasonable.
    
    If I call someone on an outside line, I give them an outside number,
    espesially if I want something from them.  If the person that I was
    calling happened to someone that I supervised, I might care why they
    were not using the prefered method of DTN.  Otherwise, I would do the
    polite thing and leave my outside number.  This, of course, assumes
    that everyone has written their outside number on a piece of paper and
    stapled it someplace they won't forget!
    
    I, too, haven't got access DTN (at least not all of the numbers) nor do
    I have access to 800 numbers or access to MCI.
    
    As stated before one size does not fit all.  It was a simple request. 
    Comply with it or not but a little politeness never hurt and that goes
    for both leaving phone messages and for replying to notes.

    
    	Keep in mind that there are maybe 2K people [at most] who read
    	this conference.  You need to find a way to inform the other 58K
    	people of this problem.
    
    	Or you use a method that you know works, even if it takes you
    	another 1-2 minutes.
    

    I'm amazed.  I mentioned earlier I'm on a customer site that PAYS ALL
    facility related expenses - including telecom.  Why would I want to
    use the Digital MCI card?  I do have one, and yes, I remember every
    digit and use it appropriately.  There are 10 other people on this
    site and 7 at another that I manage.  It's also a mix of permanent
    employees and contractors, (how many contractors do you know have MCI
    cards?).
    
    My request is simple.  If you called an outside number to reach
    someone, then leave an outside number for a return call.  How hard can
    this be?  If you want, leave both.
    
    And to .23, I'm already successful, I didn't expect any replys.
    
    Regards,

    PJ:
    
    	Now look what you started...........
    
    					PeP
    
    
    

    Hey Bud,
    
    I know.  Those of us who dare to be different.......
    
    
    Keep in touch.
    PJ