Phone Test

At least this is progress but I do not like this idea of testing one thing and assuming that the results will be the same everywhere so no additional testing is required.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), April 21, 1999

Answers

A 100% successful test huh?

Internationally, it appears that the readiness has worsened, said A. John Pasqua, an AT&T vice president in charge of the companys year-2000 program. There has been a shift of some of these countries from medium to high risk.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/260478.asp

-- a (a@a.a), April 21, 1999.

Well this explains why my ATT long distance billing is no longer only being billed directly on my Bellsouth bill but I am also being sent another bill from ATT. Just today on the phone " Tami" assured me that the problem was a computer glitch and she would straighten it out. Last month I got a bill from ATT for long distance for the first time- Billing cycle ended the 13th of April and low and behold I got a bill today for $165.00, $40.00 of which I paid last Month on my Bellsouth bill. "Tami" assured me that the mistake was on their part and the $40.00 had been received from Bellsouth. I'm interested to see what my Bellsouth bill says (cycle ended today) and if there is any duplication w/ATT. I am convinced this mistake is related to their testing and am amazed they claim 100% succesful.

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), April 21, 1999.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990421/bwx.html

[snip]

Wednesday April 21, 7:30 pm Eastern Time

AT&T, BellSouth say they are ready for Y2K

By Simon Hirschfeld

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. (T - news) and BellSouth Corp. (BLS - news) said Wednesday they have completed testing that shows telephone service will survive when computer systems come up on the year 2000.

Fears about the computer problem associated with the changeover to 2000 have forced companies to evaluate their systems, particularly telecommunications and power companies, which can cause serious problems with even a temporary service outage.

The tests -- the most exhaustive test yet between the No. 1 U.S. long distance company and a regional Baby Bell -- covered call transfers between the network operated by Atlanta-based BellSouth, primarily a local carrier in its nine-state southeastern region, with AT&T's long- haul network. The tests had a 100 percent success rate, the companies said.

Such ``inter-operability'' testing is critical to ensure that phone calls and data transfers will go through after the Year 2000 transition.

A typical U.S. long-distance call could go through three networks, from one regional Baby Bell, to a long-distance company, to a second Baby Bell. Other calls or data transfers could make use of even more individual networks.

[snip]

New York-based AT&T will not conduct tests with other Baby Bells due to the similarity in design and equipment of each company formed by the 1984 breakup of the Bell System, an AT&T spokesman said. It will, however, continue testing right up until the end of the year, with companies such as electric power utilities and overseas phone companies.

Large telecommunications providers have backup power in the event of energy failures. AT&T, for instance, has large batteries and diesel generators to back up a power failure, which it had in place prior to Y2K concerns. Power companies, however, rely on telecommunications companies for data services that allow them to operate their networks.

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions industry group recently completed a months-long, multi-carrier study that it said showed that telecommunications service would withstand not only the transition to 2000, but the higher call volumes that would accompany that date.

Carriers are expecting a surge in calling after midnight on New Year's Eve, when people attempt to call friends and family not only to wish them well, but to ask if their power is still on and to see if the phone works.

Such simultaneous attempts to access the public network could itself cause service problems, according to industry experts.

[snip]

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), April 22, 1999.