Re: Remote Call Forwarding

Regarding my October 26 post on Remote Call Forwarding TELECOM Digest Editor noted:

Here's an example, we'll name it - Which Number Do I Call? The object is to decide which phone number to call; that's pretty easy. You are a reasonable consumer, living in Independence, Kansas.

Your car is in the driveway and won't start. (Or your furnace is misfiring, your hot-water heater burst, you need an oil delivery; you need your lawn re-seeded, carpets cleaned, etc, take your pick.

You look in your local telephone book which covers Independence, Kansas. You find numerous businesses offering the service you need, all with your l ocal telephone exchange of (620) 331-xxxx. Looking at the information printed in the telephone book, the playing field appears pretty level. They all have 331 exchanges. So far, so good. Narrow it down to 2 or 3 choices, and start calling for estimates. (Johnny's Service Co, Neighborhood Service, and A-1 Service, for example) (Being the Game-master, I have inside information; some of these listings use a Remote Call Forwarded number. RCF, using a local telephone exchange, does not require an address to be listed in the directory, according to Verizon, Bell South, or Quests Standards and Ethics).

You find that two businesses charge an hourly fee of $150 per hour, with a $5 per mile service fee. One savvy business charges $119 per hour, plus $5 per mile service fee. Who are you going to call, being a reasonable consumer? (The Federal Trade Commission examines information from the viewpoint of a reasonable consumer, when determining if deception has occurred.) If you choose business #2 who charges the lowest hourly fee ... You just got screwed. LOL They fooled you, huh? Were you decieved?

You just paid $5 per mile from Chicago to Kansas! Let's try those other local listings. I assert that the service of Remote Call Forward facilitates deception, and it is willful and intentional.

Why else would a foreign business use 'Remote Call Forwarding', assuming a local appearing telephone number, and buy RCF listings in your local telephone directory, if not to give the impression of being local?

For a bona fide in-state business, even without the use of Remote Call Forwarding, the customer would still dial only seven digits.

TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Allow me to interuppt. That is where you are wrong. Kansas is not as small a geographic area as New Hampshire. We have three or four area codes in this state and _anything_ outside of our _local immediate area_ (Coffeyville, for example, only about ten miles away) requires eleven digits, 1 plus 620 (or other area including 'toll free' numbers.) Now back to you. PAT]

The argument of saving the customer a toll-charge doesn't fly either. The business has the opportunity to list an 800 number. Back to the above scenario: All those businesses were in the Independence KS telephone book, with local telephone exchanges. Are you likely to suffer any injury based on your decision? Injury to the consumer can be physical, or monetary. Injury exists, if the consumer would have chosen differently, but for the deception. Would you have chosen differently, had you known the business you called was using a 'Remote Call Forwarded Number' and was a non local business?

Verizon states:

'Remote Call Forwarding' allows you to establish a 'local' presence in almost any location, just by having a local phone number, even if you don't have a physical office in that area. In his notes, the Editor posed a few questions to my post which I will try to answer.

A) State and federal laws prohibit misrepresentation "as to the origin or source of goods or services". If a business is registered in New Hampshire, and uses the name Manchester XXXX in its advertising, where does it refer to? What would a reasonable consumer presume?

A) No. Regular Call Forwarding does not require special equipment, and does not involve a switching station. The business has a true physical location at which the dialed number actually terminates; there is no deception as to the origin of goods or services.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So you are suggesting that if the New Jersey person rented some closet somewhere, installed a phone, dialed *72 (New Hampshire number), then disconnected the phone and carried it away with him back to his office somewhere else that would _not_ be deceptive? After all, he did do the call waiting routine himself, did he not? That would qualify his act as legal and non-deceptive?

RCF does not require any 'special equipment'. It is simply a regular telephone line (priced at business rates) with its termination in the central office rather than on customer premise. The star 72 (or other software code dialed) is done at the central office instead of at the premises. Like call forwarding done _at the premises_, from that time forward every call to that line is forwarded to wherever at _station_to_station, direct dial rates for the current time of day. No magic about it. Unlike 'regular call forwarding' where it is up to you to turn it on or off as desired, with RCF it has to be done by calling a certain number, and 'logging in' using your number and your password. Then at that point you do the *72 routine. Now back to you again. PAT]

A) Yes. You are describing Remote Call Forwarding. The call is switched to another town or community. The RCF number is dialed and terminates at a switching station. The call then gets picked up and switched, terminating in a different community, without the knowledge of the consumer. He is unaware that he has just called a foreign exchange in a different location. That is the crux of the problem with RCF. The geographical location where the customer believes he is calling is not where his call finally terminates.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, I am _not_ describing RCF. Like the minor differences between Caller ID and ANI where both produce the same end result for the subscriber, the mechanics are different. RCF is a _one way only_ feature. You call in from a distance and use it. You are switched from your local office to wherever. No circuits are tied down or dedicated at all. FX on the other hand is switched in and out of the _foreign_ (distant city) exchange. In your example, RCF uses the New Hampshire phone number to ring a number in New Jersey. With FX a physical wire pair is 'nailed down' somewhere in New Hampshire but the central office is in New Jersey. The New Jersey person, on lifting the phone to use it hears 'New Jersey dialtone', where with RCF the caller hears his local dialtone. Now you again. PAT]

A) If most of your customers are local, then you have no need for an

800 number; there are no benefits to you or the consumer. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is true, but for various reasons (such as automatic, star 67 defeating, caller ID) prefer to go that way. Only its not 'caller ID'; its actually ANI they are getting via their 'caller ID box'. PAT]

A.) That is exactly how it happens. The customer thought they called Concord Florist but the call was switched, and terminate d at a different location, unbeknownst to the consumer. RCF allows this to happen; this is the premise of RCF.

'Remote Call Forwarding' allows you to establish a "local" presence in almost any location, just by having a local phone number. The middleman then wire-transfers the order to the truly local florist. He ads an extra =E2=80=9Chandling fee usually $10 - $15 to the consumer; and from the net flower amount", he deducts a commission (20 percent), before he wires the order to the florist.

Would that consumer have chosen differently but for the deception? Was there any monetary injury? Is this a fair trade practice? Much like our example of calling that business in Independence, Kansas, the customer thought they dialed a local business.

There are so many businesses using Remote Call Forwarding, when a truly LOCAL florist receives a wire in-transferred order, he has no way of knowing if the sending business is a legitimate florist, or just an order collecting agency which uses Remote Call Forwarding to attract customers.

Our wire-service companies try to screen out deceptive florists, but can't catch them all. The Telephone companies keep PROMOTING this deceptive service.

A). I know because I have dialed Concord Florist, using the local Concord NH phone number of 603-227-0722, and found out that my call ends in New Jersey. Additionally, as a local florist, why would I knowingly agree to fill orders, on a discounted commission agreement no less, with a company in New Jersey that is competing with me, for my customers, in my own local phone book? Remote Call Forwarding creates an unfair trade practice against true, local businesses.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is a business decision you make on your own. Maybe that discounted pricing on orders via a competitor is a good way of picking up business you would not have gotten otherwise, or not without much grief. Customer is angry because once you (as yourself) sold him some wilted flowers. He vows never to do business with you again. "From now on I am going to call that other company in town, Concord Flowers. They treated me okay, although they are a bit more high priced. But for mother's funeral I only want the best anyway." Unless the end-user customer is right there in the funeral home when you -- as yourself -- deliver the flowers for his mother's funeral, he is not going to know the difference anyway. Or would you take off your uniform (or put a patch on covering up other insignia) and claim to be coming from Concord Florist?

Here in Independence, I personally deal with a telephone company called 'Prairie Stream Communications' instead of Southwestern Bell. You know why I, and many other folks in town do that? Because SBC has gotten so many of us almighty pissed off over the years. But you know what? On the very rare occasion a tech visit is needed and I call Prairie Stream, a service tech from Southwestern Bell comes around because SBC controls the lines and wires, in the same way that _you_ and your other locals control the local florist business. No matter what the 'out of town competitors' call themselves, 'Concord' or 'Manchester' or whatever, and no matter what deals you all cut among yourselves for the actual cost and delivery of the flowers, it is still your territory, just like Independence, Kansas is Southwestern Bell's territory. PAT]

A) As to 800-Flowers, they are competing fairly and justly. No unfair trade practices, no deception to the consumer. But please, call your local florist ;-)

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unless he gets me really pissed off, I probably will do just that. But like Southwestern Bell, it is great to have reasonably priced (IMO at least) options. PAT] 8 Q.) If you can demonstrate where actual fraud or deception has occurred as a result of this, it would be interesting to hear actual examples.

A.) In my industry, the floral industry, RCF listings appear by the thousands. For just ONE company using RCF, I have over 1,200 RCF listing this company buys RCF numbers and listings in every city with a hospital and funeral homes. This is an unfair trade practice played out against local businesses.

Also, for years, the Telephone Companies have been making a profit from selling this deceptive service; this is unjust enrichment. Dateline NBC has done an expose on this subject the transcript can be viewed at:

I keep a log of records from myself and other shops that receive complaints ; consumers thought they called a legitimate local shop then they call us because their flowers were never delivered; their credit card reflects a higher price than quoted, they paid $50, and only got $30 worth of flowers.

These links are also related to deceptive telephone listings:

out the 'Florist Of' listings; call and see where they are located; check out the location on the map. Lastly, the Editor states:

I ask: Those calls that are funneled to you using RCF through Vonage Is that service allowing you to create a local appearance? Do people in Chicago dial a local appearing telephone number, thinking they are calling a business in Chicago, and unknowingly switched to a business in Kansas? Under the CPA (Consumer Protection Act), a consumer need not actually be confused or misled if the information is found to have the capacity to mislead or deceive. Does your RCF Winfield telephone number give you a local presence? Is the customer likely to be misled?

Valerie

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Independence, KS was _not_ a good example for you to use. Reason is, this podunk little town has a population of about eight thousand people. We are the second largest town within six counties. All of our telephones begin 331 and the Southwestern Bell _regional_ telephone directory (covering about six counties in rural s.e. Kansas) is a small (about 4.5" by 6" long) book with 365 'white' pages' and 173 'yellow' pages. Our _local_ phone book is the same size, about 25 pages in total, white and yellow pages combined. _Anywhere_ I call other than 330,331,332 numbers has to have one plus area code on the front of it. ('331' [Edison-1] is our traditional exchange here; cell phones are '330'; municipal government and a couple of large employers have centrex on '332'). The largest town in this area is our neighbor to the immediate south, Coffeyville, population twelve thousand, all on 620-251 except a very few others on 252. They use the same regional phone book as us, and their local phone book is slightly more pages. They are the same way, as is Tyro, KS (620-289), Cherryvale (620-336) and others. If not your immediate exchange, (which is your local calling area), dial 1 plus the area code. We have one hospital (Mercy) and two funeral homes here in town (Potts and Penwell-Gabel). Needless to say, we only use four digit phone numbers in verbal practice and everyone knows everyone else. If you will pardon me for saying so, if we ever had any FX or RCF type listings in our phone book, they would stand out like a sore thumb. I do not think very many people would be decieved by the presence of a 'new merchant' (who wasn't really) in town. We have three actual florists in town with physical locations here: (1) Twigs [downtown on Penn and Myrtle Sts phone 331-2013] (2) Hassleman's [801 North Penn, phone 331-0961] and the Floral Emporium [814 West Chestnut, phone 331-3113].

But now that you mention it (and I had not seen it before) there is also an RCF listing in our phone book _but with the complete address_ given as well: "Independence Florist, 390 Route Ten, Randolph, NJ" with the Independence phone number 331-0307. But the address is printed plainly, not missing. He is also in the Coffeyville book with the same address (in NJ) but an 800 number. When I dialed the number, it was answered with a generic voicemail saying 'thank you for calling the florist shop. Press 1 for, etc."

Is that guy in Randolph NJ the one you have your beef with? As Shakespeare once phrased it 'Much Ado About Nothing.' Heck, most of our merchants here in town are still fussing about Walmart moving into town back in 2001 and trying to 'take over everything'. PAT]