European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday november 27, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3I. ,. -.  could be a phone Call away by Darrell Lewis staff writer Tony Cross has found a Way to Cut his phone Bill by about $150 a month while increasing his talking , an american living in Germany started piling up savings after he made the connection with anew Breed of phone com Pany called a Call Back service. In this new approach to dealing for Sav Ings enterprising companies buy bulk time on trans Atlantic fiber optic cables to the United states at cheap rates the Compa Nies then resell time units to therall Back services which pass the Sav Ings on to their customers. For those custom ers phone time can be bought for As Low As 46 cents per min Ute. That compare with rates two or Scholl three times More expensive through major carriers or local country rates. Cross a civil service Supply worker at army Materiel come Headquarters in Meckenheim Germany knows he has found a bargain. Without the Call Bac service Cross averaged a $250-a-month Long distance phone Bill. With the serv ice his Bill is reduced to about $100 with added time on the phone he said. Anne Schardt an american working for a computer software company i Darmstadt Germany is another satisfied customer. While Reading a newspaper advertise ment on the service Schardt said she thought on it s got to be bogus at that  but after using the service for four months she said she is convinced. The Only Way they can Hurt me is to overcharge me or take advantage of my credit card Schardt said. The service also known As code calling targets corporations government special interest groups and americans living abroad including servicemen hers stationed in Europe. The majority of users Are Large companies but some Call Back services Esti mate that 30 percent to 40 percent of their personal use clients Are american. Heres How it works an overseas Cus Tomer uses code calling by dealing a com Puter in the United states using overseas lines that the Call Back service has obtained from the bulk buyers. The Call Sig nals the computer to ignore the initial connection and place an immediate re turn Call to the customer Complete with a . Dial tone. In that Way the customers using the competitively cheaper . To overseas rates instead of vice versa. It s like calling a Friend and saying if i let it ring three times Call me Back said Torster Scholl general manager for Westcom a Call Back service offering code calling from a main office in Hei Delberg Germany with a computer connection facility in san Francisco. Telephone rate comparisons calling the United states Check out these rates reflecting Calls from Germany. Rates from other countries Are noted. Calling time Deutsche Bunde Spost tet Okom $1.21 per minute from 3 . Until 2 . Sci Call Usa with additional friends and family Circle discount $1.11 per minute Calls to other Sci customers in the customer s calling Circle 10 minutes 1 hour 3 hours $12.10 $72.60 $217.80 $11.10 $66.60 $199.80 at to military Saver plus $1.09 per minute $10.90 Between 8 . And 10 . With an $8.50 monthly connection fee for 30 Calls $65.40 $196.20 Tel passport .63 per minute $6.30 Calls routed through Bunde Spost in Germany. Rate is .59 per minute for the Netherlands $37.80 $113.40 Kallback .56 per minute $10 monthly charge $5.60 $33.60 $100.80 Cal Call for less .463 per minute $25 per month minimum use $4.63 $27.78 $83.34 Westcom .463 per minute $25 per month minimum use to and from the United states 24 hours a Day rate is .295 per minute for the United kingdom .401 for the Netherlands $4.63 $27.78 $83.34a Tes compiled from available promotional materials and customer service sources is it reverses the process Scholl said., the Federal communications com Mission approved the procedure last May. But the legality of code calling i being contested by major telecommunications carriers led by at to corp. The acc is looking into at Tallega tons that the procedure constitutes wire fraud and violates International telecommunications Laws. Trie acc s decision is expected in Early 1995. Until the acc makes a decision code calling Wilt continue to offer a Cost saving route for voice fax and Modem transmissions Between countries said Scholl and other similar Call Back service managers. We Are on the Brink of something that s new and emerging he said. Of course entrepreneurs take a risk but Idon t believe there s a threat of the serv ices becoming  at to spokeswoman Susan Mach said the european Market for Call Back serv ices is growing. There is Good Public acceptance said Scholl. There is still a lot of mistrust fro people who ask Why Isit so cheap but it s nothing like where we Are trying to offer something seemingly cheap that turns out Tobe More than expected. We have to calculate our operating costs As Low As possible without cutting the value of the service. We get a Small one digit percentage profits we have to get a lot of volume. Most Call Back services ask for pay ment by credit card. Some accept elec tronic funds Transfer or a Security Deposit equal to the customer s estimated monthly phone Bill. Some Static surrounds new service by Darrell Lewis staff writer the major Long distance Telephone carriers would like International Laws to reach out and touch competitors who they feel Are undercutting a none rates by using the carriers Long distance lines without payment. At to sprint Sci and Long distance carriers from South and Central America Are up in arms because the Federal communications commission approved code calling last May. An overseas customer uses code calling by dealing a computer in the United states using overseas lines obtained from bulk buyers of time from major carriers. The Call signals the computer to ignore the initial connection and place an imme Diate return Call to the customer com plete with a . Dial tone. Some More expensive callback serv ices do make the connection and Are not considered code calling  corp. Deems this an acceptable practice. But code calling resellers systematically and intentionally 100 percent of the time use Long distance networks without compensation said at to spokeswoman Susan Mach. We pointed out that whether you steal a Dollar or a million is not the Issue said Chris Gibney at to s global services representative. Stealing is steal ing even if you take one dime from the  at to and other Industry heavy weights have collectively petitioned the acc alleging that code calling constitutes wire fraud and violation of International telecommunications regulations. In response the acc is conferring with the Justice and state departments in addition to soliciting Public comment. A final decision is not expected until some time in 1995, said acc attorney Troy Tanner. In this commission decision to approve code calling we cited benefits of Call Back services in lowering rates around the world he said. We see Call Back services As going away eventually As other countries liberalize allow private companies to replace monopolized sys tems such As those run by government bringing costs in line with each other. Klaus Cirwinski spokesman for Deutsche Bunde Spost Tele Kom in Bonn Germany views code calling As just an other Industry obstacle for european based telecommunications systems mov ing toward Reform. A act cuts travel plans for Europe meeting by Kevin Dougherty Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern Germany financial prob lems Are forcing the a act s National Headquarters to Cut Back on its travel plans for the european branches annual Contention this week an official says. However the organization s interim chief Earl , is slated to attend the three Day Conven Tion scheduled for dec. 2-4, said James e. Cohill head of the organization s european conference of branches. Shinhoster who is performing the senior administrator s duties will deliver the convention s Kev note address and possibly Host a workshop Cohill said. Other top level officials have had to cancel their travel plans to Europe because the National association for the advancement of coloured people is strapped for Cash. Among those affected Are Rupper Richardson the a act National president William Penn the Field Branch services director and Paula edme director of the Region that includes Europe. The Money problems Are not Only affecting the National office but the state conferences As Well in this Case the european conference Cohill said. Since executive director Benjamin Chavis was forced out in August the a act s debt has risen to nearly $4 million and employees have been Laid off. Chavis was bounced from his Job for personal misconduct and financial mismanagement. But a recent infusion of Cash from major contributors such As the Ford foundation has improved the financial picture. Despite the no shows Cohill said Shinhoster s pres ence alone will give the convention a big boost. He s the Man Cohill said. So we should have just As much  the thrust or theme of this year s convention is moving Forward a new  convention will be held at the forint and Neue Eintracht lintels in Kaiserslautern. Local branches can provide details Cohill said. The convention also has been hit by the a act s Money shortage. In other years the conference would have a longer Agenda and More speakers than this year s gathering. The most important of the convention s three Days is next saturday when a whole Day of workshops i planned. In addition Cohill will speak at the afternoon luncheon and Shinhoster will deliver the keynote address at the evening dinner. On Friday the Only significant activity aside from registration is a social event by invitation Only for Shinhoster Cohill said. The convention will conclude sunday with a Brunch. Among the workshops slated for saturday Are discussions on equal Opportunity financial management Branch administration and aids. The last Issue was selected be cause of requests for More and updated information on the deadly disease