|
|
NOTES ON GETTING CONNECTED
USING LOCAL ACCESS NUMBERS FROM MOTELS
by a national traveler - summer, 2004
-
Always ask if
local calls are free. If there is the slightest question, get them to
write it down and sign it. At one place, a desk clerk said that the
calls would be charged on their automatic computer-kept account, but he
would take it off when we checked out. I had him initial beside the
number. When went to check out, this clerk was not there, and the clerk
said that the $50 in local calls could not be taken off. I showed her
the initial, but she still refused. I asked to see a higher up, and she
reluctantly called someone, and that person took them off, but it was a
struggle.
-
Often in large
cities to call local numbers, you have to dial the 1, area code as well
as the number. AND, just because they are listed on the list of local
access numbers that you get off the Cactus home page, the number is not
necessarily a local number particularly when you dial the 1 and area
code. SO check with the people to see if it is local. In a couple of
cases, they had had experience with the problem, and had a list of local
prefixes. In one case, only one of the 3 desk clerks knew about the
list. In one case, I explained my situation to the manager, and he said
to call the number, then disconnect, then call him, and he would look on
the computer to see if there were any long distance charges. If there
were, he would take them off. I took only 3 possible local access
numbers with me for each location. Next time, I would take the whole
list. In a couple of cases, I asked the clerk to check the numbers that
he knew were local. (Note that if you use the national CD, you don't
have to worry - it contains all of the numbers.)
-
Essentially
always, you will need to dial a 9 to get an outside line, and then as
per Cactus directions, put a comma after the 9 which puts a pause in to
give the phone system time to get the outside line. BUT IN ONE CASE,
THE DESK CLERK TOLD ME I HAD TO PUT IN 3 COMMAS. I had trouble in one
other place, so put in another comma, and got connected. You can dial
the 9 and listen to how long it takes to get the outside line, and
estimate the number of commas needed. Each comma is one half
second.
-
In one case, to
get an outside line, you had to dial 88 instead of 9. I did not know
that, but luckily I called and asked and then the clerk told me.
-
Several times,
they did not have the phone turned on, and I could not get a
connection. I did not know that. In one case, it would give the busy
signal after only dialing the first 3 numbers of the phone number. At
first, I did not realize it, and thought the line was busy. One clerk
told me that was what was happening. I had never had a problem getting
a busy signal before on any of the local access numbers, so that did not
make sense. Luckily, I listened more carefully, and caught that the
busy signal came before the number was completely dialed, so called the
desk and they did something to the system, and then it started working
correctly. So if you have problems, call and ask if the phone is on and
if it is set up correctly. Never once, in 30 days of traveling, did I
get a busy signal when I had my PPP connection set up correctly, and the
motel had the phone set up correctly.
-
In advertisements,
they will say they have “data ports.” In all the motels I stayed at,
that meant that there was a plug in for the phone cord on the side of
the phone, generally opposite from where the receiver was. In only one
place was there a special phone connection by the table where one would
put the computer. In one case, I did not know the data port was on the
side of the phone, and was getting my screw driver out to take off the
cover of the phone outlet when I discovered the “data port” on the side
of the phone.
-
In large
motel/hotels, there is generally one employee person who knows more than
others. Look for that person, and ask for that person--who is the local
“get connected” expert. Overall the system worked well for me.
|
