> Hello! > > There is something I really don't get: As I ordered a PRI ISDN line in Germany > with DID, I had not to pay anything for a "DID number block", now I'm trying > to get a PRI ISDN in the U.S. (CA) and SBC wants to charge more than 200 > USD/month for numbers. I mean, this has nothing to do with DID, where > everything that comes after the "base number" will be transmitted to the PBX > anyway. Wasn't DID invented to get rid of number blocks? > > Please enlighten me. Thanks.You're burning up numbers that could be allocated to other customers. There's an incentive for LEC's to discourage this by charging you for the extra numbers. The NANPA is getting tight on numbers, and at the point where we have to move to 11-digit or 12-digit dialing instead of 10, there will be an immense amount of agony. So usually you don't see providers just handing out blocks of numbers for free. Perhaps this isn't the case in Germany. DID wasn't invented to "get rid of number blocks". DID was invented to *allow* number blocks, by passing off the last digits of the dialled number to a PBX. Without that, a PBX (or attendant) has to answer the line and ask you for the extension you want. That situation has the virtue of only burning a single number, but is viewed as uglier. ... JG -- Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net "We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I won't contact you again." - Direct Marketing Ass'n position on e-mail spam(CNN) With 24 million small businesses in the US alone, that's way too many apples.
Hello! There is something I really don't get: As I ordered a PRI ISDN line in Germany with DID, I had not to pay anything for a "DID number block", now I'm trying to get a PRI ISDN in the U.S. (CA) and SBC wants to charge more than 200 USD/month for numbers. I mean, this has nothing to do with DID, where everything that comes after the "base number" will be transmitted to the PBX anyway. Wasn't DID invented to get rid of number blocks? Please enlighten me. Thanks. Andi
> There is something I really don't get: As I ordered a PRI ISDN line in Germany > with DID, I had not to pay anything for a "DID number block", now I'm trying > to get a PRI ISDN in the U.S. (CA) and SBC wants to charge more than 200 > USD/month for numbers. I mean, this has nothing to do with DID, where > everything that comes after the "base number" will be transmitted to the PBX > anyway. Wasn't DID invented to get rid of number blocks?The different US telephone companies have many different ideas on how to generate revenue, and how they do that varies dramatically between the different companies. At one time, the State of Iowa had 600 "independent" telephone companies and most likely hundreds of rates for the same thing/service. That has obviously decreased, but there is nothing limiting each telephone company from doing whatever they want for many different services. Even basic isdn prices vary dramatically across the US. Got to wonder how some ITSPs obain large blocks of numbers and essentially give them away, while others charge large amounts for the same thing. I'm sure they've done their research. ;)
-----Original Message----- Hello! There is something I really don't get: As I ordered a PRI ISDN line in Germany with DID, I had not to pay anything for a "DID number block", now I'm trying to get a PRI ISDN in the U.S. (CA) and SBC wants to charge more than 200 USD/month for numbers. I mean, this has nothing to do with DID, where everything that comes after the "base number" will be transmitted to the PBX anyway. Wasn't DID invented to get rid of number blocks? --you are being charged for the reservation of the numbers being dedicated to you. Each of those numbers represents revenue to the LEC so they are damn well gonna charge you for reserving them. Usually, they are $0.15 per number in a block and the block size varies. Jason Kawakami www.optellabs.com Salt Lake City, UT