Conference 7.286::digital

>    Obtain corporate license agreements with the common PC software suites 
>    and operating systems that we use.  Millions of dollars are lost in
>    ordering software kit by kit, mistakenly ordering extra software kits
>    and even figuring out how to buy the software.  Paying a corporate
>    license would make software distribution much simpler, license
>    management simple and the sofware would be much easier to obtain.

And you think this hasn't been done? Keeping the agreements current has been a 
problem (e.g. for Office), but check out VTX QPC for information about this.

    re: .0

>    Let your ideas and comments follow this.
    
    yeah,  1 comment, 0 ideas and 3 days later, one really questions your
    direct approach Larry. You could have instead started by whining about
    how much bonus others are getting and chances are you would have gotten
    at least twenty comments/ideas. Hey, even the note about Naseer
    elicited  more notice than this silly idea of "Ways to save the company
    money".

    While your suggestion about cutting PC's for home use has some merits,
    do you really expect people to raise their hands and say - 'Yes, please
    take away my PC at home. I can do with a Notebook and docking station.' 
    How naive Larry. Don't you realize our selfishness and short
    sightedness will get in the way. Also, as anyone would tell you,
    hardware is cheap and costs next to nothing. Moreover such a move to
    take away what is already ours, would be most foolish and bound to
    raise a lot of anger and resentment and would eventually be
    counterproductive.

    Moreover, who is interested in "Ways to save the company money". In the
    past couple years, DEC's book value only went down from 40 to 20. But
    that is the pessimistic view. Be positive. We still got the other 20
    bucks to blow. cheers!

>    An area where I see lots of waste is PC's.  I see many people who not
>    only have a new PC at work, but the company has allowed them to
>    bring a PC home AND they have a Laptop computer.  One laptop with
>    possibly a docking station would suffice for these people.  There are
>    many people in this corporation who still need to have personal
>    computers on their desks.  I don't believe it is the company's
>    responsibility to provide home PC's for people who work in the office
>    40 hours a week.  I am sure there are many examples where these PC's
>    are put to good use but there are many more cases where these PC's are
>    used mostly for personal use either for games or the families of the 
>    employee.
    
Hmmm, where do *you* work?  I certainly haven't seen anyone having two
desktop PCs and a laptop.  We're lucky if we can get any useable PCs at
all.  That aside, why do you assume that a PC at home is used mostly for
personal use?  Several times in the past week I've worked at home until
close to midnight 'cause we were in a crunch and I had to get something
finished.  Perhaps you'd like to confiscate the computer I have at home
(which is an old VAXstation, not a PC, but that's beside the point) and
restrict me to working 40 hours a week at the office?

I suspect there's more to your story than you've revealed here, 'cause
from the little bit you've reported in this note you come off sounding 
like someone who gets annoyed if everyone else doesn't thrive in the same
working paradigm as you do.  Are the PCs people are taking home new PCs?
(I doubt it)  Perhaps they're old junk like most of the stuff hanging
around our office.

-Hal

    
    	Of course the basenoter could always quit, and save us some small
    change (the old love 'em or leave 'em note - I'm disappointed this
    hasn't been said earlier, and I'm having a bad week so...)
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

    Folks, I apologize for the length of this.  The readin' gets better as
    you go, 'cause I started it on my first glass of wine and finished it
    on my third.  Bear with, if you can. 

    One way that I've worked on saving the company money is doing away with
    as many dial-ups as I can.  Our modem pool is pure s*** anyway, so the
    chance of a good connection or staying connected for more than moments
    is poor.

    I got the cyber-key and am aggressively trying to use it instead of
    dial-up, which incurs phone costs.

    Also, thanks to Andre, we can mail savesets across the internet.  I'm
    doing this instead of dial-up also.  FTP it when ya can, mail it when
    ya can't.

    Project plans, which used to be in beautiful DecWrite documents, are
    now done in ASCII text and mailed out via the Net.  Saves having a
    professional documentation person do them, whereupon every update
    requires having them redone by the same person.  Sure, not as pretty,
    but fast and effective, and to date the customers love 'em.

    No installations are done on site.  If you're on site, you can only
    work on that customer's issues.  Via remote, you can multi-task, save
    the customer expense money, and avoid travel wear-and-tear on yours
    truly (who's already lookin' a might frayed with age anyway).  Also,
    when you're havin' problems, the customer doesn't *see* it...big plus. 
    You're also in your own environ, with access to notes, people, and
    internal help.

    Use the facilities of SEETRA to set up a mixed Digital/Customer
    notesfile.  Why answer the same question 50 times when you can answer
    it once and let the other 49 see it?

    Use Thomas Cook *after* you've checked things out yourself, not before. 
    TC cost us a fortune one time getting from point A to B.  I later found
    out SouthWest flew on the half hour for $59.  According to TC, there
    was nothing.  Another time, TC told me there was only "one hotel" in
    Mexico City.  Being the largest city in this hemisphere, possibly the
    world, I assured them there might be two or three.  NASA ain't waitin'
    on any TC resumes. Most airlines have pages on the Net.  Other travel
    info is there, too.  If you don't have access, get it.  It's usually
    pretty easy.  You can set host to a box that does and use SET
    DISPLAY/CREATE/NODE=(mynode) then run MOSAIC.  Doesn't have to be on
    your box.

    When traveling to a client site, ask the client if they have any
    discounts at local hotels.  Chances are, they do.  Digital seldom does,
    and when they do, it's usually about $5 higher than if you were a
    member of the "North American Man-Hamster Love Association".

    Have an old laser printout of some out-of-date material?  Turn it over
    and feed it back through the printer if you're not printing something
    for customer consumption.  Only copy two-sided, never one, if you're
    usin' fresh paper fodder or makin' somethin' for a client.  Don't print
    off 50 copies of something for a client...send them the .PS file before
    you go and let them have at it.  They like the chance to preview it
    instead of being surprised anyway.

    And to you Digital internal folks that send me beautiful little
    brochures on "How To Answer Your Phone"...wipe with 'em.  The sharp
    edges and shiny surfaces might be a good reminder to you of how much of
    a pain in the *ss those expensive, idiotic, mind-numbing, glossy pieces
    of bull***t really are!  Christ, *I CAN READ E-MAIL*!

    Oh, and speaking of mail.  I spend a fantastic amount of time (usually
    with sales people) trying to send things to them.  Never receive, just
    send. This is a waste and can be easily avoided:

    	1 - Make *sure* your ELF entry is correct.  You should also have a
    	    node name on it.

    	2 - It is *not* my responsibility to discover how you like to
    	    receive your mail.  You an A1 bigot, fine...forward your
    	    VaxMail to your A1 account.  Forward *all* nodes you work on
            to that account.  You a VaxMail bigot, fine...do the reverse.
    	    This takes *minutes*, folks, and saves days in the long run.

    My reply to "Oh, I never read my VaxMail" is "Then you shouldn't be
    receiving your mail there, should you?  Are you stupid or just
    obnoxious?".  (I make a lot of friends this way :^])

    (Side note: If the first three pages are the distribution, don't bother
    reading it...just delete it.  Saves time, and if it was really
    important, someone else will mention it sooner or later.  Is it some
    ego thing with certain folks that the first thing they want me to see
    is how important they are by the number of people they distributed to? 
    I've been doing this for over two years...anything of importance missed
    to date is zero, to my knowledge.)

    If you're using a Scholar modem for anything, throw it away.  You can
    plug a lat cable into the back of your VaxStation then into any open
    lat port.  This allows you to SET HOST/DTE TTA2: and puts you on the
    server, through Kermit if you need to.  Connect to your local modem
    bank (at least they're 9600, even if they're crap).  If you don't have
    a local modem bank, or it's too bad to use, toss the Scholar anyway and
    buy a Zoom modem at WalMart for $59/$69 and expense it.  The savings in
    your time and phone bills will pay for it right quick. Do *NOT* turn
    your Scholar into Idle Assets if at all possible.  Digital then pays
    shipping to send it back to New Hamster or some such and there's a
    mountain of paperwork.  Wait a coupla years then declare it "lost".  My
    own estimation is that every Scholar modem returned to Idle Assets
    costs about $250-$300.  Also, don't save 'em in a corner "In case we
    need 'em".  That space could be used for something valuable, like old
    Playboys.

    If you're using Kermit-32, don't, unless you have to.  Ckermit is
    faster, more reliable, and tells you how far along it is as it goes. 
    Set your packet lengths up higher, too.

    Keep a notesfile for your group on your activities.  This is often the
    only central repository for institutional memory and can cut time spent
    installing, trouble-shooting, etc. drastically.  I put pointers to
    notes in other conferences in ours, if nothing else.

    Don't spend 240 hours trying to install something that another group
    can do in 2 hours flat.  Have them do it then JV the expense money
    over.  Sure, you can learn a lot installing TCP/IP and getting Mosaic
    up and running...but if it's a one-timer and you just want it as a
    tool, hire the pros.  Your dept may be out $180 or so, but you've now
    got 240 billable hours to spend bringing in cash.  Play to your
    strengths.

    Take the time to answer a "help!" message in a notesfile.  I've done
    this for years, and it's always come back to me.  The Digit you saved
    today will, more than likely, remember you tomorrow.  Avoid asinine
    answers like "See SEND::OBJECT_BROKER" when someone posts a question in
    another notesfile and is obviously, completely lost.  A couple lines of
    reply, a question to clarify their problem, might save them days. 
    Saving days saves Digital money.  Saving Digital money may save your
    job.

    Digital is a huge beauracracy, often completely inefficient, sometimes
    working under guidelines passed when Billy Carter was still whizzing on
    the Libyan embassy. Rule #1: "THERE IS A WAY AROUND ANYTHING".  If it's
    obvious the most direct route is not through it, go around it.  It's
    easier to get forgiveness than permission.  I've been completely chewed
    out before then, at the end, got a smile and a "good work, now get out
    of here".  Good enough for me.  You a system manager and someone needs
    SYSPRV to fix a major problem?  C'mon, we all work for the same
    company!  If you're really concerned they'll abuse it or don't know
    what they're doing, that's one thing.  If it's the regs, give 'em
    SYSPRV, let 'em log in, then remove it from the account. DecInspect is
    none the wiser and the problem's fixed.  Look to the object, you'll get
    around the roadblocks.  Look to roadblocks, and that's where you'll be
    parked. 

    (If Palmer's readin' this, all I can say is that if I adhered to all
    the stupidity I'm supposed to, we'd have zero satisified clients, no
    money, and I'd be unemployed.  No apologies.)

    This is a Southern thing, so I hope it translates OK..."If Mama ain't
    happy, ain't NO ONE happy!".  In this case, it ain't Mama, it's our
    customer.  I will bend/break any rule, call in any markers necessary,
    and go to any length to make sure the customer's happy.  If you're
    trying to do the right thing for the customer and Digital is in the
    way, then see the preceding paragraph. :^]  It takes $10 to cover the
    collateral damage from an unsatisfied customer, a $1 to have made 'em
    happy in the first place.

    								Tex
    				------------------

    (Hell, I gotta stop doin' this stuff at night with a Box-O-Chardonnay.
    My apologies for bein' a tad bit verbose here, folks, but Saxena's sarcasm
    was well-directed, IMHO.  We got a lotta rocket scientists workin'
    here, a lotta good folks, and we *can* make a difference.  Keep them
    cards and letters comin', folks!)
    

   Way to go, Tex!

    I agree with you 110%; if the bureaucracy roadblock gets in your way, then
 DRIVE THROUGH/OVER/ROUND IT (preferably through it - a smashed roadblock
 won't slow up the next driver!).   If the company really wants these things fixed, let
 them employ another VP; sales have better things to do.

   Des G.

    
    	You know where I stand, Tex. Lock and load....
    
    	BTW, saving money - yours or Digital's is a habit. One does not
    develope good habits unless one practices them everyday. And then it
    becomes second nature (not to be confused with a second coming of any
    type :-))
    
    	Let's get some other good ideas in here. I'll do 'em. PROMISE
    
    
    			the Greyhawk

    Here's one more.  When I fill out an expense report I have to send in
    beaucoups of receipts for every meal, drink, etc.  I checked with other
    folks doing what I do for Unisys, HP, Arthur Anderson, etc....they
    don't.  Why all this paperwork and processing instead of a fixed amount
    per day per area for meals?  Someone keeps updating the VTX TRAVEL
    section containing the average amounts per city...this takes time. 
    Someone (or hundreds) of others track and record it.
    
    If the amount was fixed ahead of time, wouldn't that solve this and
    reduce paperwork?
    
    								Tex

    Tex, I gotta agree on that last one (though the longer one from last
    evening really had me rolling!). I just spent the last couple of hours
    sorting and copying receipts for the last few weeks expense reports.
    It's ridiculous. It just cost Digital a big chunk of change for me to
    be doing that, when I could have been doing something productive!
    
    As I'm now on the road nearly all the time, there's a big hit on "do
    the expenses" time. :-(
    
    Harry
    

Why can't employees charge business expenses to a corporate credit card and have
Digital pay the bill?  If copies of receipts are included, these could be
reviewed as easily as the pieces of paper we now have to submit.

This sounds too simple.  There must be a reason why it isn't done.

Paul

Here's a question:

	How does one make a credit card call from a Digital phone?

	Ignoring for the moment the time spent in making the call,
how could I pay for the call instead of Digital?

	Thanks,
	Chuck

    	Another ditto on the expenses thing. Travel is optional in my
    case, so I can just say "No" to travel. I pity those that can't. Such a
    waste the current procedure is -
    
    	1. Fill out expense voucher and daily expense log and turn it into a 
    	   secretary
    	2. Checked by a secretary, return to step 1 if anything was off
    	3. Checked by a manager, return to step 1 if anything was off
    	4. Checked by a finance person, return to step 1 if anything was off
    
    	By the time everyone in the process has scutinized it, not to mention 
    the time it took to do it all it the first place, any possible savings by 
    having that much scutiny were long since lost. 
    
    	Ray

Re: credit card calls,

Most carriers in the US (I cannot guess how it is done in other coutries
as I've never travelled to overseas Digital offices) have 1-800 access
numbers.

My personal carrier does.  So, I make a call exactly as I would any other
1-800 call from my office, then punch in the destination number, and my
access code, and I'm off...

Re: corporate credit cards...

I believe that this was done in the murky depths of time (read before I
arrived 8 years ago).  They found some folks abusing the system by charging
personal items and travel on the corporate cards.

What did they do?  Did they hang those responsible, and the managers who
approved the charges in a very public way, as a warning to others?

No!  They gave 'em a slap on the wrist, and punished the rest of us by taking
away that business tool.

I believe that Digital could save a LOT of time and money if they changed
philosophy to "Here's your budget.  Spend it wisely, and be rewarded. Fraud
and/or abuse will be dealt with as theft, and you will be fired"

And then have the guts to follow through.

Think of all the VP time we'd save if they weren't scrutinizing $50 software
purchases from managers with $5000 signature "authority".

Kevin Farlee

    re:10
    
    	The "Corporate" part of the Corporate credit card is a misnomer.
    The card is in *your* name and *you* are responsible for payments and
    penalties. The only difference is you have essentially an unlimited
    credit line, but it cannot be used for anything other than business
    purposes.
    
    	Also, not everyone accepts the card and it is not always
    convenient to just go someplace else.
    
    	Ray

    Re .5Wow!!!  That list was right on...Has anyone tried to get a Pager
    through VTX Pager lately?  I should have mine 8 weeks after loggin
    the request...And the centralized pager office was supposed to SAVE
    money?
    
    Greyhawk - can I take you up on your offer?  Believe me, my salary is
    nothing compared to all the waste in still in Digital.  Actually, its
    almost nothing compared to anything.
    
    Larry :)
    

re .14
    
>    	The "Corporate" part of the Corporate credit card is a misnomer.
>    The card is in *your* name and *you* are responsible for payments and

Ah, but in the olden days we really had a true corporate card that could be 
used to charge airline tickets, hotels and rental cars.  The secretary (re-
member those?) made the arrangements through the travel agency du jour and 
we didn't see a bill or account for them on an expense form.  We only had to 
account for (and get reimbursed for) meals and miscellaneous expenses AND 
we could get a cash advance to help cover those.

Diner's Club and Traveletter were less convenient but at least we were 
reimbursed quickly.  The new system stinks, ESPECIALLY if you have to copy 
every little receipt for a quarter pounder with cheese!!!  I've never had to 
do that, but I know groups that do.  The groups I've been in always used the 
recommended meal allowance for the city we were in as a ceiling and trusted 
us to keep track of the daily totals.

Maybe if Digital trusted us again, we could save money.  I don't know.  I 
don't know how much was really lost through abuse/theft and I don't know 
what the pain threshhold was that pushed us into the central control we have
now.  It's possible that the current system came about to create more work 
for the bureaucracy, and I suspect we aren't saving as much through intense 
scrutiny as we lost through abuse -- but that's only a guess.

			SQ

>Ah, but in the olden days we really had a true corporate card that could be 
>used to charge airline tickets, hotels and rental cars.  ...

Airlines and Rental Cars, but not hotels.

>we didn't see a bill or account for them on an expense form.

They were accounted for in the "Company Paid" section of the expense form.

/john

    It has to be cheaper to use a Corporate Charge Card, and
    eliminate the middle person namely us. Years past there were
    abuses, and as a few notes before, we all suffer. I am sure
    if we looked into it, there are tighter controls on both ends
    to make it work. I would enjoy not passing money to the credit card
    company, think of the productivity savings...

    A couple ideas that do not directly cut costs, but by increasing
    efficiency add to the bottom line:

   1.  Pay part of employee compensation as company stock. The employees
       watch the ticker symbol like a hawk, want the company to look good
       and do good.

   2.  Large company size necessarily leads to inefficiency, gets into each
      other's way and difficult to prod along. Solution?? Splinter company
      into several separate companies. With the size reduced, not only will
      they respond faster to the market situation, but grab increasing
      shares of market opportunities that would otherwise just pass by.

      Consider the reason why AT&T split up. They did not want to loose the
      sales opprtunities to Baby bells once a part of AT&T also became
      competitors to baby Bells. So split the sucker. Brilliant and bold
      solution. 

      DEC should do the same thing. Why should the S/W division write
      software only for what their hardware division produces?? No let 
      Digital Software write and port software for any and all platforms
      with equal flourish. Whatever sells.

      Same with PC, Alpha, Semiconductors, MCS. Let them be separate
      independent companies competeing with each other and the market. They
      now grab increasing shares of opportunites because there are no
      coflict of interests. It's a win-win brother.

      MCS is already doing something similar i.e operating in a impartial
      open way. Spinning it off into a separate company would just make it
      easier for them. ANd then let the other Business Units follow suit. 

      Am i rambling? Maybe it's getting too late. But I think the idea has
      merit. In fact the more  i think of it, the more I like it.

    
    	re: -1
    
    	Absolutely right on.
    
    	Digital Software as a BU is "dead nuts on". Everything should be in
    that group; operating systems, groupware, network software, layered
    products, pc junk, everything. And turn 'em lose. Could be awesome, RP!
    
    	Stock I like very much. Give everybody a ten percent pay cut with
    options for the difference. Just like the new plan proposed for the BOD
    with *some* modifications (although I would like the 2500 shares part).
    Set the price once a year at 15% below that market price on that date,
    and voila....
    
    	Talk about some hungry beavers after that:-)
    
    	Travelletters I liked a lot. The card is OK, but only because I
    have the most concious manager in DEC on expenses. I don't know how
    he gets 'em processed *so fast*. Really, not kidding.
    
    	Of course, there is the old Greyhawk flattening formula that could
    be applied. For every level in the field have .25 levels of management,
    at old DEC that would make about three between me and Texas Robert.
    
    	Sounds about right....
    
    
    			the Greyhawk 

    	>The only difference is you have essentially an unlimited
        >credit line, but it cannot be used for anything other than business
        >purposes.
    
    Sort of, but not quite. Once the credit line goes above $3,500, only
    meals, travel and hotel charges will be approved. (Which means that I'm
    nearly always over that limit!) This week I tried to purchase a $35
    cable lock at CompUSA to secure my new $6,000 HiNote Ultra. The
    corporate card was rejected. I had to use my personal card to complete
    the transaction. :-(
    
    Harry
    

    
    Re: .5
    
    	Tex,
    
    	What site are you dialing into? I am in CNS and I have an idea
    where you are located, but can you verify what site which site is
    having a problem with the modems ? I will raise theissue to get it some
     visability, FWIW!  Relpy here or send me mail @ALF.
    
    Rick Flaherty                                  

    re: .11
    
    At least from here (Spitbrook Rd, Nashua), If I dial 2-9999, I get an
    outgoing line that allows (requires?) 0-nnn-nnn-nnnn calls. That's how
    I dial personal card calls.
    

    Hey, Flaherty.  DLO_DIALOUT in Dallas has been an ongoing problem
    forever.  It's been behaving the past three days (mostly), but usually
    likes to drop you within 2 minutes for inactivity...while you're
    typing. :^[
    
    Next on ways to save money...come up with a way for all Digital
    employees to find what they need via a simple search engine, much like
    WebCrawler.  C'mon, this can be done with RDB and Rally, no rocket
    scientistry.  Almost EVERYONE hates VTX and the info in there is often
    useless, misleading, or totally incorrect.. F'rintance:
    
    Under VTX SWLOAN, which I tried to use this morning, it says "call
    1-800-DIGITAL, opt 2, opt 9 for assistance".  There is no longer any
    option 9 and that number isn't DIGITAL, it's now PC Compleat!  It's
    time-consuming s*** like this that costs us time, hence money.
    
    								VTX
    

    
    
    If anyone wanted to *really* save the company money, offer a 
    % of the savings for the idea. 
    
    So, if your idea saved, say, $100,000 and the percentage was 2%
    then you would get an 'idea award' of $2,000.
    
    jc
    p.s. As an alternate, create DEC-Bucks ( er,... DIGITALBUCKS ) and
         after an accumulated number of DEC-Bucks, you could trade them 
         in on a new toaster or TV or breakfast with Bob.
         

    Re: 20
    
    What new plan proposed by the BOD?
    

re .17

>>Ah, but in the olden days we really had a true corporate card that could be 
>>used to charge airline tickets, hotels and rental cars.  ...
>
>Airlines and Rental Cars, but not hotels.
>
>>we didn't see a bill or account for them on an expense form.
>
>They were accounted for in the "Company Paid" section of the expense form.

Hmmm.  Maybe that explains some of the problems I had with my expenses back 
then.  I only traveled a couple of times before Diner's Club and Traveletter 
and one of the problems we had (still have) was getting accurate information 
on what goes where.

			SQ

  Another way to save money:  let those of us with fleet cars go back to making
minor repairs on our own, only increase it to repairs under $100.  I can't 
believe that requiring a PO for every nit-picky repair saves any money at all, 
and based on my experiences, it has to cost us.

  Let's say I have a flat tire.  If I were driving my own car and I could 
continue to drive a short distance without damaging the wheel, I'd pull into
the nearest gas station, pay my 10 bucks and be on my way quickly.  Instead, 
I have to call Fleet; they send a tow truck which takes me to the nearest 
Goodyear or Firestone.  After the repair, I can't give them the 10 bucks; 
they have to generate a PO and wait several months for payment.  Also, I 
spend more time in "admin" time instead of at the customer generating revenue.
Costs us; costs Goodyear.  BTW, it's getting harder to find places that will
touch the darn cars because GE is so slow to pay.

  Over the last couple of years I've had at least 4 such instances -- tires or
radiator hoses (can't proactively yank out all belts and hoses, gotta wait 
till they break, on the freeway of course).  Belts and hoses should be less of
a problem now that cars are being replaced more often, but three years ago I 
spent four hours broken down on the freeway (away from the customer) dealing 
with a radiator hose.  I don't know whether I'm just lucky but my cars seem to 
die on the way TO the customer instead of on the way home.

			SQ

In reference to Note 4141.24:

The telephone prompting system associated with 1-800-DIGITAL
has changed.  If you listen to the options, the new sequence 
for calling Digital's Software Loan Group is: 1-800-344-4825, 
Press #1, #1, #9.

A request was submitted to the IM&T organization to
make the appropriate changes to the VTX screens, however,
due to COST CUTTING, there are now resource constraints
which have impeded our ability to get the necessary 
modifications made!


Sheila J. Soucy
Digital Software Loan Manager
        

My apologies if this has been posted elsewhere in this conference.

Tex,

They heard you about turning off dial-ins, and will implement in 2 months.

Hope the rest of you that don't have the crypto keys are ready.
/jon
================================================================================
Note 166.0             WATN will discontinue as of 12/1/95            No replies
STOWOA::TALEGHANI "Bardia Taleghani"                 50 lines  26-SEP-1995 19:35
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                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     25-Sep-1995 03:44pm EDT
                                        From:     WATNFEEDBACK
                                                  
WATNFEEDBACK@STOWOA@MRGATE@STOWOA@OGO
                                        Dept:      
                                        Tel No:    

TO: See Below

Subject: WATN User Notification                                      

    This memo is being sent to the current user community of the WATN (Wide 
    Area Terminal Service Network).  
    
    As many of you know WATN was designed and installed some years ago to 
    meet the then current requirements of a highly reliable and available 
    data-connectivity network.  Since that time our internal data network 
    has undergone significant enhancements in both capacity and 
    capabilities offering now IP and DECnet services. Additionally, the 
    user requirements have changed and the number of users of the WATN 
    network has significantly decreased. For these reasons and with the 
    objective to streamline telecommunications infrastructure costs, it now 
    becomes necessary to take action and discontinue the WATN service 
    effective December 1, 1995.
    
    Global Telecommunications and Network Service (GT&NS) has evaluated 
    several alternatives that will provide remote access connectivity to 
    our varying user community.  For site-to-site usage these alternatives 
    include Telnet, SETHOST and extended LAN solutions.  For dial-up users 
    the traffic will be moved to the existing site modem pools.  As the 
    legacy applications are re-engineered to support the evolving client 
    server environment, the new 28.8KB Remote Access Service modem pools 
    can also be utilized. 
    
    Another very important part of this evaluation and service migration 
    includes the creation of a 'how to' document designed to provide 
    instructions for using the new connectivity methods.  These 
    instructions will be communicated in advance of the discontinuation of 
    the WATN service.
    
    It is our goal to provide service products that meet the needs of all 
    of the current user community.  However, recognizing that there may be 
    certain mission critical legacy applications requiring customized 
    alternatives, we have set up a special E-Mail account to ensure timely 
    two-way communications of issues and concerns.  The address is 
    WATNFEEDBACK@OGO.  The product design team will be conducting a daily 
    review of any issues as they arise.

    Regarding the prior list of entries on expenses ...
    
    What *really* bugs me is we work for a COMPUTER company, but the
    expense process is still as brain-dead as when I first started working
    (long ago and in a company far away).  Why  not the following:
    
    - The corporate card is a "BANK" card, not just a credit card.  Each
      of us have an account tied to a personal card.
    
    - We have access to the account information via a "terminal" session of
      some kind FROM OUR INTERNAL SYSTEMS.
    
    - We use this access to assemble our expense statements ON-LINE; we 
      can tag specific items as part of a designated trip or week, etc.
      so that AS CHARGES ARE REGISTERED WITH THE "BANK", WE CAN KEEP
      AN UP-TO-DATE RECORD.
    
    - Statements are then submitted electronically, and each statement is
      thus tied to specific items in the account.
    
    - Digital sends our expense payments to the "bank", pre-allocated to
      specific expenses.  As the payment is made, those expenses are closed
      out, and only expenses not yet submitted and/or paid remain in the
      account.
    
    - Non-card expenses are dealt with by using a form to capture these
      expenses line by line, and then crediting the account for these
      amounts.  You recover this $$$ by making  "cash withdrawals" 
      from ABT machines for these amounts;  you can also use the 
      same form to account for cash advances after spending the cash.
    
    
    Maybe not all the above is workable, but the idea is there.  What are the
    incentives?
    
    For Digital
    -----------
     -  Ability to eliminate lots of processing of paper 
     -  Lowers the errors in transcription
     -  Much happier employees (for those that do have to do expenses)
     -  Much better "paper trail" (ability to go "data diving" on the 
        records as well).
    
    For the "BANK"/Card Issuer
    --------------------------
     -  Shorter cash cycle; Digital pays you direct, rather than 
        via the employee.
     -  Differentiator for potential customers (why use your Corp Card??)
    
    For the Employee
    ----------------
     -  Greatly simplifies the task of accounting for expenses
     -  Much more timely process
     -  Can account for currency exchanges quickly
    
    I know this sounds crazy, but I certainly would like to see something
    better than the current system, where I could have an improved capability
    to effectively manage this process.
    
    
    Just give it some thought ... Charles
                                

    re:30
    
    	Since I can't see the whole picture here, I can only comment on my
    view of it. The "site modem pools" alternative happens to be a toll
    call for me. Being that I live in S. NH, which last I heard has the 
    3rd highest local long distance rates in the US, this becomes an
    expensive option.
    
    	I typically use WATN if I have something I need to finish but I
    also need to get home after putting in my 8 or more hours. I could 
    work on it at night after the kids went to bed, or on the weekend when
    it was convenient. 
    
    	Another time is if I had something that needed to be done and I
    was sick. I may not put in a whole day, but I'd usually finish what
    had to get done and then go crash. Either that, or if my wife got
    really sick, I could work from home for the day, assuming I had
    something I needed to do that could be done over then net.
    
    	I guess in these cases, there's proabably a strong arguement for
    leaving work at work, but it's not like I did it a lot and it was
    really convenient to have this ability.
    
    	I did work from home for a week once, in an area where I had no
    local WATN access. I had to use the site modems. The business portion of 
    my phone bill came to about $350 for the week. Add to that the time it 
    took to sort things out and fill out a voucher, and it's just not worth it 
    (for me or DEC) to use the alternative "site modem pools".
    
    	Guess I'll provide some feedback, but as I said, I don't get to see
    the whole picture. Perhaps it is more cost effective to eliminate WATN.
    If I'm in the vast minority here, I guess we'll see WATN go away after 
    Dec..
    
    	Ray

    The "site modem pools" at most sites have not been upgraded in years.
    It is ironic that no concreate plans or implementation of modem
    upgrades have been yet put forward but removal of WATN has been already
    announced.
    
    - Vikas

Re:: .-1
If Telecom is really going to eliminate WATN, they need to provide two
things:

1) A means for folks on the road to dial into somewhere that will in turn
	connect them to their "home" system.  Without incurring coast-to-coast
	phone bills.  Picture yourself working onsite at a customer where
	there is no Digital site in the city.  How would you keep up on E-mail,
	etc.  If you can answer that in a way that you PERSONALLY would be 
	willing to do, that doesn't cost Digital lots of extra money, then
	you've probably got it.

2) A means for folks to dial into their "local" modem banks when those banks
	are not a "local" call.  Again, without incurring exhorbitant phone
	bills.  I should NOT have to pay to do extra work for Digital!!!
	One idea would be to connect the modem pool to a local "800" number.

Kevin Farlee

re: WATN

You've all missed the point.  This is a typical cost-shifting scheme 
attempting to hide itself under a cloak of "cost savings".

Will it save the corporation money?  Somehow, I doubt it.

Will it make a particular organization look good?  You bet it will!

If you use WATN now, and you don't already have a corporate telephone 
credit card, I suggest you get one.

Re: .-1
>If Telecom is really going to eliminate WATN, they need to provide two
>things:

No, they don't.  The rules of the game say that they win when they
eliminate this "cost".  It's your problem to figure out how to pay to
connect. 

Ray

    I don't have a PC at home, nor a notebook...don't laugh, I'm using
    a DECmate III and for what I need to do it's OK, but I sure will
    miss WATN.  I don't live near any Digital sites, gotta have local
    access via something.  What should I do? --woof to the WATN people,
    get new equipment, what?
    

  I guess the FX ("Foreign Exchange") lines will show a real
  burst of activity come January 1st.

  These lines terminate in many towns and allow you to make
  DTN data calls *AFTER HOURS*. During the day, they're used
  to handle 81-xxx-xxx-xxxx calls that would otherwise cost
  Digital a long-distance charge.

  Someone "in the know" may want to describe the procedure by
  which people can find an FX line near them.

                                   Atlant

An FX line is apparently a solution for me. I can dial in fine using
WATN but I have never been able to get in over an FX line, and I think
I have tried everything.

Pete

I haven't had a chance to wade through all the notes in this string yet
but feel compelled to address the issue of multiple machines. 

The PC I have at home is from the discard pile. It's a 333 we hacked together
and force fed windows 95 onto (the beta version thank you, we can't get the
real thing till the "big buy" goes down). I use it mostly for dialing in
to work and also getting used to windows95.

Another team in our area got all their PCs as refits that customers had
returned. liesl

p.s As for playing games on my PC. The last thing I want to do in my spare
time is sit in front of a computer screen. 

 

re: .37, .38

The other problem with FX lines is that if you dial in before 8 AM and
then around, say, 10:30 AM the line drops (who knows why, but it happens
fairly often), you need to have a WATN-like alternative.

Does anyone know how much 800 numbers cost?  I keep hearing that it's
too expensive for us (vs. owning and upgrading and managing and trouble-
shooting thousands of modems in hundreds of sites).  Is it?

By the way, the biggest savings we could possibly have (on topic again)
would come from flattening the management hierarchy.  Not only would
it eliminate unnecessary levels, but by expanding each manager's span
of control/employee ratio, you'd make it really difficult for them to
get into so much mischief "managing up" instead of down.  This should
have been Option 1 before TFSO, but even now it would be a good Option 2.

- paul

    re: FX lines
    
    From what I understand there was a plan to "open" the FX lines to
    7x24. I advocated this for a few months, not that I was in any
    position to alter the decision, before the idea was dropped. The
    reason given was cost. 
    
    Jim C.
    

    Great.  My group uses WATN constantly, as we're usually on the road
    somewhere.  That means we now have to call into our local site modem
    pool which, as someone else pointed out, probably hasn't been upgraded
    in years and, as I pointed out, is usually a total piece of sh*t.
    
    I've got a crypto-key, but what good will that do me from a hotel room
    using my laptop?
    
    Somehow, something's wrong somewhere when I b*tch about our modem pool
    and instantly get a message that that will be my *only* alternative as
    of 1 December.
    
    I'm going to send mail to the address in the memo and get
    clarification, but in the meantime I'm looking for folks input on how
    I'm going to live without WATN and with a long-distance modem pool that
    either doesn't answer, connect, or stay connected.
    
    This appears to be one for the Dilbert file....
    								Tex

    Speaking as someone who eventually grokked both WATN access & access
    via MCI's corporate-card system, I'll take MCI every time.  No hassling
    with "let's see, I'm in area 415, what's my nearest POP #, have I got
    that in my auto-dialin-script...??" Just one #, to get to MCI, and I'm
    home.  As long as The Powers That Be ordain that it's "close enough" in
    total cost to the WATN program, I'm perfectly OK with that.  MindJoo,
    in order for this to work, you have to have an MCI corporate card. 
    These should be easily available to those Road Warriors who need 'em.
    
    FWIW.
    

    Does anybody have figures for the hourly cost of WATN versus MCI
    calling card?  I'd expect MCI to cost more by a factor of four or more,
    but that's just a guess based on telecom charges passed on by the likes
    of Compuserve and my own personal experience with calling card calls.
    
    Due to some quirks in the local calling areas, I'm long distance to the
    local Digital offices and rely on WATN quite a bit.  With some luck, my
    move to an area better served by Digital will be complete before WATN
    disappears.  Others will not be so fortunate.
    
    Bob
                                                 

    WATN costs
    $1.25/hr off peak (06:00 - 19:00)
    $3.25/hr peak (Other times)
    

    Well, that says that!  It's $3.25/hr peak times -vs- dialing into our
    crummy local modem pools across MCI long-distance lines.
    
    I've sent mail to WATNFEEDBACK@OGO, but have received nothing back yet. 
    PLEASE, everyone else that relies on WATN take two minutes.  I want to
    get "feedback" from these people and either:
    
    1 - get the problem resolved satisfactorily for us worker bees
    
    2 - find out *exactly* whose name I need to forward to Scott Adams.
    
    								Tex

    
    	I'm still trying to figure this WATN stuff out. Keep getting
    dropped all the time. But it has got to be cheaper than Southern Bell
    which is hitting Digital up for about $7.25/hr when I have to go to
    the modem pool at LAC to do my basic work.
    
    	Why don't we just send this string to WATNFEEDBACK??? Or maybe
    they've just discovered tin cans and string :-)
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

A Theory:

They have discoverd string and the tin can. However it's the old hemp type of
string and every time they try to solder the string to the can they typically
forget where they are and have to start over.

Any bets?

    My inquiries to:
    
    WATNFEEDBACK@OGO
    TAGLIANI
    phone to the WATN group
    
    Have all gone totally unanswered.  I'm forwarding my concerns to
    Palmer's office at this point, since this appears to be another one of
    those gigs wherein faceless people put out memos drastically affecting
    our working lives and promising "they want our feedback"...but actually
    want us to just go away.
    
    								Tex

    Have now also left voicemail w/ Bardia Taleghani.

    Just to add another voice here in case the string *does* get sent
    to someone of influence,  I use WATN daily because the engineering
    group I work with (and more importantly, the group's computing
    machinery) is located in ZK, while I work out of New York.  I don't
    know how it is in other parts of the Easynet, but the connection from
    the NYO nodes to the ZK nodes I must access is often intolerably
    unresponsive (several second delays of character echo, etc.).

    The 7-bit space parity setting required by WATN is a little ludicrous
    in this day and age, but it's still far and away my most dependable
    connection to ZK.

			Ken

    Every once in awhile, things work out here at Digital.  I just had a
    nice conversation with Bruce Meyer in GTNS.  Here's the gist:
    
    * We're not losing WATN, per se, just the flavor we've got now.  He's
    easily convinced me it *will* be a cost savings.
    
    * The transition is being done carefully so as to avoid disruption to
    us.  We may see zero change.  At worst, we may see some account
    changes.  Even the phone numbers will continue.
    
    I ain't gonna go into detail, as that would be 3rd hand info, but Bruce
    will be dessiminating info in the next coupla days for all of us.  I've
    asked him to post same in this string.  Coupla other comments:
    
    The original message that says "timely two-way communications"
    shouldn't have.  It shoulda said "we want your feedback, but don't
    expect a personal reply unless you've got a specific need".  (He's
    still payin' the price for this one :^] )
    
    "WATN goes away" should've been "WATN underlying structure changes".
    
    "Reliance on local modem pool" should've been "if you're using WATN
    when you could dial a local number for free, you may be forced
    into using your local modem pool to save Digital $."
    
    Watch this space for further details.  Corson, BBQ goes back into the
    fridge until further notice.  Bruce, thanks for the personal call and
    update, looking forward to your entry here.
    
    								Tex

    re: .52
    
    Brent, sounds to me like you are saying that the memo sent out was
    almost completely incorrect.  Wonder why they didn't issue a
    correction.
    
    Bob

re: .53
    
>    Brent, sounds to me like you are saying that the memo sent out was
>    almost completely incorrect.  Wonder why they didn't issue a
>    correction.

To my (perhaps overly cynical) mind, sounds like an excellent example of
damage control/spin doctoring.  There was plenty of time to retract a bad 
memo.

What makes you think that the original memo wasn't completely correct when 
it was written?  There's certainly plenty of precedence for decisions being
changed if enough people squawk; and then claiming that the original plan
was "misunderstood" or "miscommunicated". 

I think we owe all the people who made their feedback known a vote of 
thanks for getting this "misunderstood", "miscommunicated" plan turned 
around.

Ray

>I think we owe all the people who made their feedback known a vote of 
>thanks for getting this "misunderstood", "miscommunicated" plan turned 
>around.
    
    Ray, you're absolutely right.  As I've said before, if all's we do is
    bitch here in DIGITAL, ain't nothin' gonna change.  I'd like to urge
    *everyone* to write to WATNFEEDBACK@OGO and explain how you use WATN
    and if it's important to you.  Don't rest just because of my post. 
    They're relyin' on your feedback...and if it the final plan is *not*
    good for us...Corson, how long's it take to heat up that BBQ?
    
    								Tex

    This memo is being sent to the current user community of WATN (Wide 
    Area Terminal Service Network).
    
    The purpose of this memo, and all subsequent WATN memos, is to ensure 
    that the user community is kept informed of upcoming changes in the 
    delivery of this service.
    
    On September 25, 1995 a memo went out indicating that WATN service 
    would be discontinued effective December 1, 1995.  That memo also 
    requested feedback to this action and indicated a daily review of the 
    issues would be taking place.  To date WATNFEEDBACK@OGO has received 
    approximately 80 mail messages, the review of which indicated an 
    overwhelming concern about the possibility of a lack of future remote 
    dial-in capabilities.  To respond to your concerns about dial-in, 
    following are the services to be provided.
    		
    	o Existing Modem Pools: 
    
    		- Users will be encouraged to use existing modem pools 	   
    		  where available.
    		- This service is designed to be accessed within a local 
    		  calling radius, and as such is the lowest priced service. 
    
    	o 28.8Kbps Remote Access:
    
    		- This service is currently in the early stages of 	   
    		  deployment.
    		- It is targeted at the client server environment, with 
    		  particular attention to Microsoft RAS applications.
    		- Separate user communications will be distributed as this 
    		  service becomes more prevalent.
    
    	o WATN Dial-in Service:
    
    		- The current private MCI/TYMNET network will be migrated 
    		  to a public MCI/TYMNET network.  This change should have 
    		  minimal, if any, impact on network performance.
    		- The same access phone numbers used today will be 	   
    		  available tomorrow.
    		- Some modifications to user account information may be
    		  necessary and will be discussed in future communications.
    
    WATN services are two-fold, dial-up as addressed above, plus internal 
    Digital site-to-site services (which are used in lieu of 'sethost' or 
    'telnet').   For WATN Site-to-Site service, the following solution will 
    be implemented:
    
    	o Current private WATN service will be migrated to EASYnet, making 
    	  use of comparable access methods over the existing extended LANs.  
    	
    	o Users will be encouraged, wherever possible, to use TELNET, 	  
    	  RLOGIN, or other access methods.
    
    Future communications will provide additional details of these 	  
    service options.
    

    re: .54
    
    Ray,
    
    I was trying NOT to say that.  Thanks for saying it for me.
    
    Bob

    re:.51
    
    	Well, sometimes I experience a few seconds delay between typing 
    characters on ZKO systems too, and that was when I was *in* ZKO ;-)
    
    	Ray

It takes 3 seconds to light the grill and have it ready for cooking.
Sixty pounds of charcoal and 3 gallons of LOX is all it takes. 

Jim

    
    	Thanks, Jim.. always appreciate help in firing up the barbie...
    
    	Now is the time to watch and wait. Would really like WATN to
    work on a constant basis where I am in south Florida; which is not
    to be confused with south Texas, or other parts unknown.
    
    	Our modem pool down here is average at best, and has been
    significantly downsized, I believe. Would be nice to get a real
    comment from serious technical people familiar with the situation like
    my friend Mr. Moreau. That would be beneficial.
    
    	Suspect everybody's situation has unique twists that maybe
    *blanket* unsolvable. So not every glove will fit perfectly ;-)
    
    	OJing it for now....
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

    I have a difficult time understanding how Netcom, America Online,
    Global Network Navigator and a host of other dial-in internet access
    providers all have local numbers in major metropolitan areas that
    support 28.8K bps connections, while Digital still relies on 9600 bps
    dial-ins via WATN (and most of our own modem pools as well!). :-(
    
    Why don't we have deals with some of those other companies, so that
    Digital employees can dial in and get connected to their home systems
    at 28.8K bps? Encrypting the data so that internet sniffers can't
    unscramble it should be fairly painless.
    
    It's just rather sad that Joe and Sally Average can get a 28.8K bps
    connection from their den to Compuserve or America Online, yet
    employees of one of the worlds largest computer and network companies
    have to rely on 9600 bps dial-in lines to do their jobs. :-( 
    
    Harry
    

Actually, once we have the Digital Internet Tunnel product available, 
it will probably be available for internal use.  What this will allow you
to do is dial up your ISP from your PC and create a secure route through
the Internet inside Digital's firewall.  For more information, see 
http://plugh.ibg.ljo.dec.com/tunnel.html and related links.

j.

.56 seems to say that because of the feedback, only the facility-to-facility
private WATN links would be removed.

Dialin to WATN through MCI/TYMNET (which is what most people used) will
continue to be available.

/john

    		< 9600??????  Where do I get one of those? >
    
    	As one who is still working at 2400, I am amused that you are
    looking for 28.8k!  Where did I miss the boat, or do I need to go buy
    my own?

    You probably can't get a 9600 baud modem, except used; they're
    obsolete. You can get a 14.4k modem for well under $100, and if your
    dial-in supports 9600 baud or better, you might consider the
    investment well worth it in terms of your personal time savings...

    Re .64 I bought my own 14.4k to use in my previous job (and to make AOL
    faster!) ;-). Digital supplied my current 28.8 becuase it will pay for
    itself in reduced long distance charges. Modems are too cheap NOT to
    have these days. 14.4k's can be had for less than $50 and I've seen
    28.8k's for $160.
    
    Harry
    

    WATN Update: #3					November 20, 1995
    
    This is the third in a series of updates associated with the future of 
    the WATN (Wide Area Terminal Network) service.  
    
    The purpose of this memo is update the user community on the new 
    services (both dial-up and site to site), and the expected dates for 
    implementation.
    
    Dial-Up Service: (Implementation period: Dec. 95 - Apr. 96)
    
    	o Services to be provided - 
    
    		1. Existing Modem Pools: 
    
    			- users will be encouraged to use existing modem 
    			  pools where available.
    			- this service is intended to be accessed within a 
    			  local calling radius, and as such is the lowest 
    			  prices service.
    		
    		2. NETWAY Service (new WATN dial-up):
    
    			- this service will replace the current WATN 
    			  dial-up
    			- the phone numbers dialed today WILL stay the same
    			- some modifications to user account or login 
    			  processes may be required
    			- if modifications are necessary the communications 
    			  will be made well in advance of implementation
    
    		3. 28.8KBS Remote Access:
    
    			- this services is in the early stages of 
    			  deployment
    			- the target user in client server, Microsoft RAS 
    			  applications
    
    SITE to SITE communications: (Implementation period Dec. 95 - Apr. 96)
    
    	o Services to be provided - 
    
    		1. Current MCI Private Sub-net services will not be 	    
    		   impacted during the transition to this service
    
    		2. Site to Site communication will be transitioned to the 
    		   Digital EasyNet and Digital Extended LANs.
    		
    			- This is currently accomplished a private MCI 
    			  provided sub-net
    
    		3. User communications and instructions will be forwarded 
    		   well in advance of any transition
    
    

<<	RE: .67 by STOWOA::WATNFEEDBACK 
<<		WATN Update: #3		November 20, 1995
<<    
<<    		2. NETWAY Service (new WATN dial-up):
<<
	What is Netway and what are its' features?  Anyone have experience?
<<    
<<    		3. 28.8KBS Remote Access:
<<    
<<    			- this services is in the early stages of 
<<    			  deployment
<<    			- the target user in client server, Microsoft RAS 
<<    			  applications
<<
	What is a 'Microsoft RAS applications'?    
<<
<<	RE: .56 by STOWOA::WATNFEEDBACK
<<		 WATN Update: #2
<<
<<    	o Users will be encouraged, wherever possible, to use TELNET, 	  
<<    	  RLOGIN, or other access methods.
<<    
	Does this imply SLIP or PPP access will be widely available via 
	local dialing?  This is what we have today with the FX lines into 
	local sites.  

	The real business question is 'How can we get a minimum speed 4.4 
	modem connection to display graphical information to workstation at 
	home in the most cost effective way?'  

	Currently we use FX lines from NH and MA into LKG to get SLIP or PPP 
	TCPIP connections and use Xcursion, the Web or network connections 
	to bring graphical applications up on a PC display.  Do announcements 
	in .56 and .67 say WATN will provide similar capability soon?  It 
	is not clear to me they say that and if they do say that.  

	I would also hope they are in place, tested, communicated and phased 
	into full service BEFORE the FX lines are pulled.  

	Dave

    >	I would also hope they are in place, tested, communicated and phased 
    >	into full service BEFORE the FX lines are pulled.  
    
    Some of them have already been pulled.  The FX # I used to use in Lowell
    is gone, and when I asked about it, I was told they were going away and
    therefore they wouldn't give me an alternate, if there even is one.
    
    	Steve

Well, I don't know who "they" is.  There is a Lowell FX.  Its number changed
as part of the Mill shutdown.

/john

Is there a person/group to contact about the FX lines?
Recently I've found the Maynard line off-line on nights and weekends.

Thanks,
Jean

I wonder what's going on.

Because it worked the previous time I checked, but not now.

I'll have it checked out.

Unless you're calling from a Bolton number, you can use Acton or
Marlboro until it's fixed.

/john

Can you posted the FX lines? 
I know the Maynard number but not the Acton number.

Gim

We think we found the problem; expect it to be fixed soon.

/john

    Does anyone know if there was a problem this past weekend or still
    occuring with the FX for the Watertown/Waltham area????? The number
    starts with a 923 ex-change, I just checked it and instead of the
    recording I get a busy signal.
    
    				/Dave

                                              <<< Note 4141.75 by HELRZR::GAUDETTE >>>
                                              -< FX problem (Watertown/Waltham area) >-

    This number was canceled, see attached note:
    
                  <<< JETSAM::ENT:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DTN.NOTE;1 >>>
                      -< DTN - DIGITAL Telephone Network >-
================================================================================
Note 567.0                Watertown FX Service Ending!                   1 reply
GLRMAI::LOWE                                         25 lines   3-NOV-1995 15:46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Attention Watertown FX users:

    Service on the Watertown FX (617-923-4705) will be discontinued on
    November 30, 1995.
    
    
    ---- Rest of note with new FX notes deleted, but viewable in DTN
    notesfile.

    What is an FX?
    
    Larry
    

    FX stands for Foreign Exchange.  It refers to a situation where you
    have a phone line from the phone company that acts like it's in a
    different town than where the line really terminates.
    
    Essentially, you are "renting" a trunk from where the line physically
    terminates to some central office and connecting your trunk to a phone
    line at that central office. The cost of these lines is based on the
    mileage of the "trunk" plus usage charges for on the phone line you
    connect it to.
    
    Digital has a bunch of these lines that are used during the day for
    outgoing calls.  So, if for example, you call Cambridge from LKG, the
    call gets routed internally to an FX line in Arlington (where Cambridge
    is a local call) instead of paying a for a long distance call from
    Littleton to Cambridge.

    If there's no appropriate FX line, or if all the FX lines are in use,
    the call goes out as a long distance call.  The trick is to manage the
    number of FX lines so they pay for themselves.

    At night, since we still pay for the "trunk", they get turned into
    two-way lines.  You dial the FX line and get a DTN dialtone.  You then
    dial 8 followed by the DTN. You can get any DTN, but this is mostly
    used for modem access.  You can't get outside again (i.e. you can't
    dial 9 or 8-1 and have it work) so you can't use it to call Aunt Mabel
    in Omaha.

    I would hope that the accounting that determines when to remove a FX
    line takes nighttime use into account and includes the whole costs
    (long distance phone charges by the employee plus accounting costs to
    process the paperwork).  Wearing my cynical hat, I suspect that the
    only costs examined are the direct costs to the telecom cost center.
    
    Steveg

    Suppose an FX line gets substantial use at night but the line doesn't
    make the cut based on daytime use by itself.
    
    I read .79 to mean that there is no consideration given to the fact
    that Digital's costs have gone up, just that some cost center's costs
    have gone down (assuming that there is no cheap alternative like an
    alternate FX line, of course).
    
    Sounds penny-wise and pund foolish to me.
    
    Steveg

In this case, there were many alternate FX lines for those local to the
Watertown number.  It didn't seem like anyone would be left without free
service.  Hopefully this is so in this and all other cases.

Paul

    re.81
    
    Precisely.  The Watertown FX was removed because it was redundant with
    several other FX lines.  As usage decreased with declining population
    :^( it became possible to provide the same services with fewer lines. 
    No coverage was lost due to the Watertown disconnect.
    
    re: several
    
    The cost savings due to the incoming use of the FX lines is taken into
    account when decisions regarding the removal of capacity are made.  The
    cost avoidance (to Digital, not just the DTN cost center) that results
    from the use of these lines for inbound traffic is considerable.  We
    would not be very good corporate citizens if we just took the outbound
    traffic into consideration.
    
    Due to decreases in traffic, both inboound and outbound, we have had to
    close (recently) a number of the non-economic FX groups and reduce the
    size of several others.  Due consideration to the inbound usage on
    these lines was given as part of the decision process.  I realize that
    some people (a very few) will be inconvenienced by this, but the
    economics of maintaining the old configuration just weren't there.  A
    very real problem with maintaining un-economic FXs is that there are a
    number of managers around who would disconnect all of them, based on
    the idea that if the configuration isn't economically justified, then
    the whole thing (baby and bathwater syndrome) would have to go.
    
    SET HEAT_SHIELD/ON
    
    I know about this because I am the one who makes these recommendations
    as part of my normal job as a telecoms consultant.  These changes are
    not capricious; they are based on minimizing the cost to Digital for
    handling the traffic loads that exist.  I must react to the declines in
    traffic in ways that produce the lowest unit costs to the company. 
    Unfortunately, as others have commented in this conference at length,
    this ain't the old DEC anymore, and this is just one of the
    manifestations of that fact.
    
    Regards,
    
    Bill

    So how does one learn of these numbers for incoming calls? Being on the
    'home-alone' program, I call into DEC a lot. We also just hired a new
    guy that lives in NH- how can we find the numbers he can use?

    Your local telecoms people should have the telephone numbers....
    
    At the risk of creating some controversy, I need to point out that this
    is *NOT* a "service" in the normal definition of the word.  There is no
    way that we can "guarantee" that it will work for you; if it does,
    fine; if not, nothing can be done.  It is a voice grade service, and
    it's performance for dial-up data may be highly dependent on where
    *you* are calling from.  As public network transmission has improved
    over the years, we have been getting fewer and fewer complaints about
    use of the FXs for dial-in data, even with the higher speed modems now
    available.  
    
    Now, a plea for understanding (this is the "saving Digital Money" note,
    after all).  If you are on-line for more than about 10 hours per week
    during business hours (as "home-aloners" almost certainly will be), the
    FXs are probably NOT the most economic choice for Digital.  There are a
    great number of factors to take into account when trying to decide just
    what the "right thing" is, and the local telecom group may be your best
    bet for helping to figure these things out. 
    
    The FX lines are very useful for the "occasional" user or the
    evening/night/weekend crew.  This is because they are a SHARED
    resource; users who "hog" the lines lock out other users who have a
    need for a few minutes of connect time.  If you are dialing in on these
    lines before 8 am and holding the connection most of the day for more
    than a couple of days per month, there are other services available
    that don't lock out other users.  Some connections have been held for
    DAYS at a time; don't do this, please.  Other people would like to make
    use of the capacity, too.  I have often advocated opening up access for
    in-bound calls 24 hours per day  (most of the FXs are not available
    from 8 am to 5 pm on business days), but the fear of users "hogging"
    the lines (even more than now) is keeping the decision from being made.
    
    This is a "freebie" only because it works; it is paid for by the
    outgoing calls that use the capacity.  If incoming calls block the
    outgoing calls, the group that pays for the FXs end up paying a higher
    unit cost for their services, and overall costs appear to rise.  This
    may well be one of the last vestiges of the old "DEC", where "doing the
    right thing" was the rule;  if we don't all "do the right thing", the
    cost center bean counters will take over and this kind of shared
    resource will disappear.  No threats here, just observations of similar
    behaviors all over the company.
    
    Sadly,
    
    Bill

How many people can simultaneously use one of the FX phone numbers?  I used the
Watertown number for years and never got a busy signal.  I sure hope I wasn't
"hogging" the line, preventing all others from using it.

Paul

    This is NOT a flame at you, Bill, but when you said "We would not be
    very good corporate citizens if we just took the outbound traffic into
    consideration" that brought to mind the current situation vis-a-vis
    intranet-to-internet connectivity.  
    
    Those of us who depend on easy access to the Internet from within the
    firewall (a percentage that imho had better be asymptotically
    approaching 100, if we are to stay in business!) are often plagued by
    what is represented to US by those who support the two proxy gateways
    as poor connectivity.  By this I mean that www-proxy.pa.dec.com and
    www-proxy.crl.dec.com are running very slightly warm, while the wires
    leading to them (especially the one to CRL) which are provided by
    Corporate Telecom are running white-hot, and often melt. 
    
    Metaphorically speaking, of course.  
    
    It is further represented to us that "someone" is cutting their own
    group's costs at the expense of the job efficiency of those others of
    us who depend on those common resources.  
    
    This often happens in large organizations -- the expression "the right
    hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" is almost as old as the
    hills -- but one hopes that it can be corrected with the proper nerve
    pathways being activated, one of which pathways in THIS large
    organization is DECnotes.  
    
    Using the direct my-voice-to-their ears pathway, I (among many others
    I'm sure) have recently have mentioned this issue to several senior
    managers who have promised to work it with their peers, and in fact I
    have noticed fewer work-stopping meltdowns in recent daze.  Still, I
    feel forced to establish an account with an external ISP simply to be
    able to manage the external webserver I maintain...  which will be an
    extra expense that MY cost center will have to absorb.  
    
    Can anyone speak to the allegation that insufficient resources are
    still being applied to Digital's access to the Internet from our
    Intranet, and to when that insufficiency will be remedied?  Tnx.
    

>How many people can simultaneously use one of the FX phone numbers?  I used the
>Watertown number for years and never got a busy signal.  I sure hope I wasn't
>"hogging" the line, preventing all others from using it.

I was always under the assumption (and I'm sure Bill will correct me if I'm 
wrong), that a single FX line can support a single connection, hence if there
is only a single FX line to Watertown you are indeed blocking others when 
connected.

However, I also am under the assumption that one can configure an FX line to be
actually n-lines, each with their own number, but all associated with the same
number via hunting and therefore appearing to be a single line.  If this were
the case you would NOT be "hogging" the line. 

In order to really understand the level of "hoggage", one would have to know not
only if there is an FX line, but how many lines are associated with that 
particular one since all can be configured independently.

-mark

    re: .85
    
    The number of simultaneous connections that can be made over the
    various FX lines varies by the FX, and the service is dependent on more
    than just the FX (like how many modems are there in the modem pool that
    you're dialing into).  FXs are provided in groups of circuits, the
    number in the group depends on the measured traffic.  For instance, the
    old Watertown FX group that you mention was provisioned on a T-1 which
    gave the possibility of 24 simultaneous connections.  Some other groups
    have been limited to two or three simultaneous connections.  The
    decision to close the Watertown group only came after it was determined
    that there was more than ample capacity to cover the same area
    available elsewhere (Arlington, Dover and Quincy).
    
    re: .86
    
    Dan, I didn't take your note as a personal attack.  I have little to
    say about internet connectivity within the company, except to point out
    that historically the gateways in pa and crl have been managed on a
    "best effort" (actually quite good, given the resources required) basis
    with little corporate funding.  It has only recently been recognized by
    the "powers that be" that having fully-funded gateways are a necessity. 
    I suspect that this situation will improve.  You all have to remember
    that we are only just emerging from a (too) long period of expense
    constraints; the telecoms organization has been hit with annual demands
    to reduce spend by 25% (each year).  This year it is only something
    like 10-15%, so things may be looking up.
    
    Under these expense constraints it has been awfully "easy" to defer
    adding anything new (like better internet connectivity) in favor of
    keeping the existing infrastructure going with double-digit growth
    occurring.  In the new Digital it appears that the best way to get
    things done is to do just what Dan has/is doing: take your needs and
    concerns up your own chain of command with a strong business case for
    them and get explicit funding from your BU to provide these services. 
    The telecoms group(s) can only do so much and are unreasonably
    constrained by the necessity to use senior BU management as an
    intermediate step between them and the users in order to get funding to
    do anything.
    
    Personally, I think that this will be fixed sooner or later, but it
    doesn't make anyone's job easier in the meantime.  For now, finding
    someone to write a check is hard enough.
    
    Regards,
    
    Bill