A T & T is short for: "American" Telephone and Telegraph Company. What a fuckin misnomer that is, these days!

I wanted to put my Florida phone on vacation mode for the next several, months. So I called the phone number listed on the bill, and after following the prompts, (Never had the option to speak to a human) and then waiting 10 or so minutes, I get connected to a foreigner that I can't understand.
So I said I wanted to be transferred to a person in the USA, and she said she did not have a number to transfer my call to. So I hung up, and repeated the ordeal "8" mores times! (I'm a glutton for punishment)
And every time thereafter, I got an "Off shore" (as they put it) operator, (in South East Asia, India, Nicaragua, &?) I asked one guy (Don) who said he was in America, I said where in America, he said, Michigan Detroit. I said you mean, Detroit Michigan don't you, and he quickly hung up. I could never get to speak to a AT & T operator in the USA.
So having no other choice, I finally dealt with 3 different hard to understand foreigners, as each time each one said they would put my phone on vacation mode, and all 3 times, none of them did what they said. FUCKIN SOB's!

Today, I called my AT&T phone number in NE, and got to speak to an operator in Louisville Kentucky, who really was in the USA, and I "CANCELLED" the Fuckin Florida Phone.

I'll show em, fuckin a, I'll get Verizon or Comcast phone next season. Rant over!!

You must really be mad because you never use the F word. Lol

So why do you need a separate cell phone for here and home?

Not cells. Land lines.

Ahh...in that case lose the hard line completely and just go cellular unless your running fax machine.
I have a fax line on my Vonage box, 2 lines about $70/month, connected to my router all the time

Who even uses a fax these days? I haven't sent a fax for five years I reckon..

We're still sending faxes multiple times daily out of the office.

Hard copy signatures are still required on a lot of health care related forms and we've got boxes and boxes of files in the storage cabinets -- gotta keep hard copy documentation of client files for 7 years in case of an audit (even though we've got them scanned and saved in electronic files which are backed-up to a secured server).

It's annoying and wasteful.

(05-20-2014, 09:32 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: We're still sending faxes multiple times daily out of the office.

Hard copy signatures are still required on a lot of health care related forms and we've got boxes and boxes of files in the storage cabinets -- gotta keep hard copy documentation of client files for 7 years in case of an audit (even though we've got them scanned and saved in electronic files which are backed-up to a secured server).

It's annoying and wasteful.

Umm..what's the difference between a scanned/printed copy of a signature and a facsimile of a signature? They're still both copies..

I send out faxes daily too. I do it through the computer instead of a fax line because it's cheaper. Most residential customers have e-mail, but a lot of the commercial customers still use a fax number.

Paper Checks, Faxes...do you still send telexes too.. beepers?

When did you guys just get complacent and lose the edge?

Soon cash will be gone but I bet it still gets printed. I love cash, the last bastion of freedom.

(05-20-2014, 09:49 AM)crash Wrote: Paper Checks, Faxes...do you still send telexes too.. beepers?

When did you guys just get complacent and lose the edge?

It's industry-specific as far as hard-copy signature requirements.

Plus, most of my senior clients don't communicate and transact electronically anyway.

I don't think the US (if that's what you meant by "you guys") has lost its edge or fallen behind. When I left the corporate world, we'd gone completely paperless a year or more prior.

(05-20-2014, 09:47 AM)crash Wrote:

(05-20-2014, 09:32 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: We're still sending faxes multiple times daily out of the office.

Hard copy signatures are still required on a lot of health care related forms and we've got boxes and boxes of files in the storage cabinets -- gotta keep hard copy documentation of client files for 7 years in case of an audit (even though we've got them scanned and saved in electronic files which are backed-up to a secured server).

It's annoying and wasteful.

Umm..what's the difference between a scanned/printed copy of a signature and a facsimile of a signature? They're still both copies..

Long term care insurance and some medical providers often don't have a a dedicated representative for each client/patient, or centralized drop box or email. You fax the claims department the completed and signed form, it gets reviewed, and it gets delivered to the appropriate/available representative for processing.

Old school, for sure.

Jesus wept..

I always thought Mexico was invading the US, maybe they're just overtaking you.

So, in Australia, faxing is obsolete and even medical records and traditional or small business no longer require or prefer hard copies?

Mostly, yes. Like I said, a printed hard copy of a scanned original is still a hard copy. Usually colour or better resolution b&w too, if you absolutely need one.

For important documents where an original signature would be required (loan documents etc.), you would scan, email and snail mail the original.

Sure, there are still a few good ol' boys that haven't worked out that fangled new Eee Mail yet, but ya no. Most people are pushing for paperless. Some utility providers actually charge you for a paper bill now.

(05-20-2014, 10:30 AM)crash Wrote: Mostly, yes. Like I said, a printed hard copy of a scanned original is still a hard copy. Usually colour or better resolution b&w too, if you absolutely need one.

For important documents where an original signature would be required (loan documents etc.), you would scan, email and snail mail the original.

Sure, there are still a few good ol' boys that haven't worked out that fangled new Eee Mail yet, but ya no. Most people are pushing for paperless. Some utility providers actually charge you for a paper bill now.

Thanks.

That sounds about the same as here for most industries and companies.

Electronic is definitely the norm.

(05-20-2014, 10:34 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Thanks.

That sounds about the same as here for most industries and companies.

Electronic is definitely the norm.

When I say mostly, I mean like 99% of the time. The absolute majority of businesses I work with would be lucky to send a fax a month. If it was even that frequent.

(05-20-2014, 10:37 AM)crash Wrote:

(05-20-2014, 10:34 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Thanks.

That sounds about the same as here for most industries and companies.

Electronic is definitely the norm.

When I say mostly, I mean like 99% of the time. The absolute majority of businesses I work with would be lucky to send a fax a month. If it was even that frequent.

Ok, crash.

I can't derive a meaningful estimated percentage that could logically be applied to the whole of US industries, businesses and individuals based only on my past or current personal observation/experiences.

CPUs, digital imaging, email, PDF (writable or read-only)...technologies invented in the US and used widely by US businesses and individuals. That I can say with certainty.

I don't have any basis or incentive to challenge your contention that Australia has adopted and used those technologies across all demographics and industries more so than the US -- you're the Jetsons, we're the Flintstones.

I use the fax machine almost daily, it's just a fact of life for me when I'm taking care of business & I know they use it up in the stable too for sending/receiving documents from racetracks, owners/trainers, etc. I think it's going to be awhile before it's considered obsolete here.