Pat,
A bit of rebuttal to Fred Atkinson's comments regarding directory listings:
Why does he not pressure his VoIP provider to establish an interface with the ILEC, as do the CLECs, which would include setting up the processes necessary to list his telephone number in whatever directory he wishes.
Is the problem here with his service provider or the publisher of the telephone directory?
Bill Hendley
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: At one point the rule was that every telco, Bell or independent, was a billing and collection agent for every other telco. The technical name for the process was called 'Separations and Settlements'. That not only included Long Distance settlements but also more esoteric areas like foreign directory listings, pay phone collections, etc. Much of it has been automated of course, like your ILEC directory interface thing. But not only did ILECs insist on trimming things down so much that no profit was left for anyone (but themselves, hopefully), but traditional telco fought long and hard against it also. There was a time in the the distant past in this country where ANY telephone service rep was recognized as such and able to do the work for any other service rep. Eventually, as things got more and more complex, service reps were unable to absorb it all.Wasn't life a lot simpler when there were two basic entities: Bell and Independent? And just as back in 1900 when Bell and the independents were at each other's throat constantly, by 1980, when Bell and the independents had made peace with each other and were working hand in hand like two peas in a pod, the VOIP companies and the cellcos -- who honestly should have been treated as 'independents' in the Bell vrs Independent struggle -- came along and upset the whole thing once again. PAT]