Conference 7.286::digital

    
    Has anyone else been told this?  Hopefully this is a local decision?
    

    
    I work for internal support in Atlanta and we have not (yet) been given
    "the good news". I did the original justification to have the second
    phone lines installed for our group about 3 years ago. At that time I
    estimated that the second line would save the company just over $10k
    per month just doing non-billable internal support.

    This should be interesting.

    f.m. 

    One hopes & trusts that this is merely a local aberration.  In which
    case, my sympathy.  
    
    If not, this WILL be interesting, as f.m. says.
    
    If this is NOT a local aberration:  What we might could use is a
    responsible executive (or a dozen) who log in from home in the
    mornings/evenings, or who telecommutes -- especially on snowy days like
    the one just past here in the GMA -- to say "This Will Not Stand!"
    
    Or, as in the case of the recent reversal of the noyade of the (?)CSC,
    enough just plain folks making the case around and up the organization.
    
    

    You mean to tell me that, for the last 5 years, I've missed out on
    another perk and it might be yanked now that I know? Let's see, that's
    about a 100 lbs of turkey and maybe 25 rides on the roller coaster that
    I've already missed. Now this and the word that my paycheck will be
    getting smaller (earlier note)!

    ...Let's be contriversial.
    
    In Switzerland (at least Geneva) this was done away with 3-4 years ago,
    albeit with certain reserves (IS support staff).
    
    Automatic Call Back was implemented for terminal users, which means
    that Modem use is paid for directly by the company.
    
    As you can get a listing of your telephone calls from the PTT, you can
    bill Digital for business related calls.
    
    This did save Digital a lot of money - because any abuses of the system
    (and they existed) were done away with.
    
    As one who works regularly from home I find the system perfectly
    acceptable.
    
    Paul

re. .5

Maybe you live alone, or don't mind tying up your own phone line for sometimes
significant periods of time, but I for one would not like to try explaining
to my S.O. why she can't use the phone because DEC yanked the other line.

All this at a time when we are supposed to be promoting flexible working 
practices to bring down our facilities charges......

Makes you wonder

Terry

Re: .5

It's not an issue of who pays for the call.  Most of us use an 800 number
so DEC pays anyway.  The issue is productivity and consideration for the 
family.  I can't count the number of times my connection was cut because
one of my kids picked up another phone to make an outgoing call.  And, as
-1 says, it was a major inconvenience ffor my family when I tied up the only
phone line.

Bob

I spent 3 hours, from 19:30 to 22:30, dialed in last night working on a problem.
If they want to yank my phone line, those problems will have to wait until the
next morning as I can't tie up my phone for that long.

Bob

P.S. And no, I don't get stand-by pay for that either.

    I find this very disturbing also.  The Southern States Region has just
    been notified that a "work at home" program, earlier piloted somewhere
    will be implemented here in Southern States.  I haven't researched the
    details of the program because I really don't fall into a category that
    would be able to work at home.
    
    Maybe they're doing it in preparation for the HOME program to be
    implemented countrywide.  If you're not eligible to work at home on a
    regular basis, you don't need an additional phone line?  Who knows at
    this point.
    
    JP
    
    

    In the U.K. (Engineering, if that makes a difference) the home lines
    rule has been changed, but not _quite_ in the way .0 suggested.
    
    We can still have a (second) home line. However, the billing for it has
    now been transferred to the employee (they used to be billed directly
    to DEC* ). We now have to claim the cost (line rental, plus the small
    call-charge as we too use dialback).
    
    Dave.
    
    * - anecdote - the lines were obviously registered in the phone co's
    database as belonging to "Digital Equipment Co". This caused me, and
    others to get a number of bits of junk mail addressed to "The Manager,
    Digital Equipment Co, 201 Greys Road etc (my home address)" !)

    
    I guess this is a perk I missed out on.  I've been logging
    on from home for years (and was not even aware of 800 number
    support), and didn't think that I could even get reimbursed
    for that.  Luckily, I don't need much time on (other than
    to check mail for important messages).  I did buy a high
    speed modem so that I can upload and download ascii files
    fairly quickly, which lets me do a significant amount 
    on a local disk.
    
    Glenn

    	I can't imagine this being a blanket policy.  
    
    	I carry a pager at times to support customers calling into
    	the CSC.  Often I do not have to dial in too, but when I have
    	to be dialed in (either to the customer's site, or to mine)
    	and talk to the customer at the tame time, it becomes a very 
    	unprofessional sounding call from the customer's standpoint when 
    	I have to hang up on him to dial in, then call back with info, 
    	then hang up again and dial in again.
    
    	Being single threaded on the phone at these times is frustrating
    	to both the customer and me.  It makes a support call take much
    	longer than it has to -- delaying the next call to which I have 
    	to respond, or decreasing the level of service I am able to give
    	the current customer.
    
    	Having a second line costs DEC $22.04/month currently.  A small
    	price to pay for customer satisfaction.

    
      re .11, ditto me.  I've always just used my own phone.  For me it's
     local call, so is just an inconvenience.  Never bothered me.
    

Re:    <<< Note 2327.12 by CSC32::J_OPPELT "Smooth as a baby's bottom" >>>

>    	Having a second line costs DEC $22.04/month currently.

My second line only costs $18 & change, including being unlisted.  Since we're 
both U.S. West customers, I wonder what the difference is?

-  David

    I think "business" ohone lines cost extra - probably for no good
    reasons since it surely doesn't cost the phone compnay anything extra
    to install or maintain one.
    
    I quit dialing in for extended periods of time to do work at home when
    my father was dying of cancer several years ago.  It wasn't a good idea
    anymore for the phone to be tied up for hours on end when someone
    important (like the doctor or my mother or borther) might be trying to
    call.  Even after he died, I never got back into the habit.  Now I work
    only a few blocks from here, so, if DEC *really* needs my after hours,
    I'll come in here, where I can use my workstation instead of a terminal
    and modem and where my phone will be free in case someone important
    needs to get hold of me.  
    
    /Charlotte

    I had a second phone about 6 years ago that I paid for and DEC
    reimbursed. It was about $20.00 per month. Then DEC consolidated home
    phones and the bill went to $50 - $70 per month as it was considered a
    business line. So I dropped the line.
    
    I dial in a lot at night but this hasn't caused a problem yet. I
    suspect that it might as our kids get older though.
    
    michael

    Digital has NOT changed its policy on employee reimbursement for
    dial-in access to work.  It is certainly possible that local decisions
    have been made which prohibit 2nd phones and reimbursement of toll
    call charges, but Digital's policy still permits it...I checked.
    
    Dan

    This got me to think about how long I've really been working for DEC! I
    log about 40 hours a month extra from home so since that works out to
    12  40 hour weeks additional a year or I guess I'm coming up on my 10th
    year at DEc instead of 8! What an incredible deal DEC gets for some $24
    a month! Cancel the allowance for 2nd phone line? As George Bush used
    to say " Would'nt be prudent!"

    I used to dial into the local Digital supported lines and I billed it to 
    my AT&T card - $600-$800/month.  Our office is about 5 miles away from
    these Digital supported but is not a toll call from my home. 
    Therefore, I had some direct dial-in lines installed in my Lab office
    and I use these from home now.
    
    I installed two additional lines at home, for a total of three: one
    personal and two for business.  I run one as a terminal session, 365 
    days a year, 24 hours a day.  The other lines is used for a FAX, Async
    DECnet, or a Kermit connection.
    
    I'm always downloading something to my house so I don't have to drive
    into work.  My wife really appreciates this as I never work late or go
    into the office on Saturdays or Sundays, unless I want a hardcopy manual.
    
    Moreover, this allows me the flexibility to root around the net for 
    information at my leisure... My wife works at Digital and this allows
    us both access.
    
    I'd really miss this service and I would NOT supplement this by working
    longer, weekends, or after hours.
    
    Also, this only cost me about $12 per line or $24 per month.  I believe
    that Digital gets an additional 8 hours per day FREE labor from me. 
    But I remember when I use to drive to work to accomplish the same task.
    I'm actually less stressed giving the extra 8 hours.		
    
    	kam

    Of course, if someone in charge of telecommunications was smart, what
    we would do, would be similar to that done by soke of the guys in Palo
    Alto, who have full T1 circuits to their houses, for a very nominal
    sum. Why not get the Corporate ISDN folks to start some in house
    testing, rather than working the lowest common denominator of a 2400
    baud terminal line...
    
    q
    

re:.20
What the folks in Palo Alto have is not full T1 but 56 kbps.  This is
still pretty good, though.

I'm writing this reply using Pathworks-Conferencing from home over ISDN.
We are holding a trial now, in Massachusetts.  Note though that
"corporate" doesn't own site dial-in facilities.  We hope to issue
recommendations for ISDN equipment, and provide DTN 56 kbps dial-in
support as required.  Of course it takes a bit of cooperation from your
local phone company -- ISDN is available in only spotty parts of NYNEX
territory, though it's pretty easy to get in Bell Atlantic, Bell South,
Nippon Tel and France Telecom territory.  I think DBP and BT are getting
there too...  I'm also looking at an alternative, Switched 56, which is
available from American telcos in places that don't have ISDN. 

How to pay for this?  It's a local decision.  ISDN in Mass. is pretty
cheap if available locally -- about $15-30 above a single analog line,
depending on options.  And it's a residential rate tariff, so you can
make free local calls -- IF they're "speech".  If you tell the network
"data", it's measured local rate.  (But you can run 56 kbps over a
"speech" call, domestically.)  So an employee or Digital could choose to
pay this bill.  The equipment is the tricky part -- the Gandalf remote
ISDN bridge I'm using costs about $1700.  The price of ISDN gear is
falling, though; I expect some "deals" for PC card type stuff to fall
under the magic $1k limit this year.  Another catch -- the different
vendors' gear isn't generally compatible.  ISDN is so flexible you can
use it in many incompatible ways!  (Switched 56 is similar.)

Employees should note that lines in homes intended for dialing in
to the office (computer) are eligible for RESIDENTIAL tariff treatment.
The "1MB" (business line) at home is generally an unnecessary donation of
cash to your local telephone company.  But also note that in some places,
like Mass., there are MANY confusing options for lowering the cost of
toll calls.  Some are business, some residential tariffs.

The ISDN project has been mentioned in RUMOR::TELEWORK among other
places. 
    fred

    
    I can understand why 2nd phone lines might be eliminated for certain
    individuals that really don't need them. If you need to be dialed into
    a system and also talking to a customer or engineer, then you should
    have a 2nd phone line, and DEC should spring for it. If you have have
    to be on the phone for DEC business (voice) for extended periods of time,
    then DEC should pay for a 2nd line, or at least call waiting/threeway
    calling on your personal line.
    
    MTS
    

    Since I'm the one who authored the original note, I thought I'd add
    that I have not been able to find out if this is a local decision (ie,
    Digital Services, Southern Area Telecom, or a Corporate decision.)
    
    I'm still trying to find out, but I have been told by management, that
    expense vouchers are being returned to the field if they request
    reimbursement for 2nd telephone lines for business use only.
    
    I talked to the HOME program people.  They are stating that if you do
    not have a dedicated office, you will qualify for a 2nd telephone line
    (and possibly more).  If you do have an office to go to, their response
    was that you don't need the extra line.
    
    I find that this decision is remarkably shortsited.  As I find out
    details, I will post them here.  
    
    RE: .17 Who did you contact within Corporate that disputes this new
    policy?  I'd love to have ammo to salvo back to the bean counters....
    
    Keith R>

I can assure you that we haven't talked about this in Corporate
Telecom... We are actively trying to support work at home.

I do recall a private note from somebody in your region indicating
that a certain person in a telecom position in your Region happens
to think that people shouldn't work at home, and that's why there's
so little ISDN push there (where it's available).  But that's not
confirmed.  Said anti-home-phone person works for the region,
not country or Corporate.

Remember the Golden Rule applies at Digital:  He who has the gold
makes the rule.  Thus it's up to whoever pays the bill to decide
whether or not to pay it.  Your management pays.  It's not a 
centralized decision.

I've been with Digital just over 5 years.  In that time, I've worked from home 
an average of 2-4 hours per night on weeknights, and anywhere from 2-20 hours 
on weekends.

I have an office.  Am I required to work from home?  Not officially.  Why have 
I done this?  Sometimes I have had to dial into customer systems to support 
them (I'm in the field, not a CSC), and yes, it is very inconvenient and does 
not present a very professional image when you have to dial-in, logoff, call 
the customer, dial-in, ....  Sometimes, I've had questions from customers
during the day and in order to get them timely answers, I've researched the
questions in the evening.  In a number of instances, I have been working on
multiple projects and needed the ability to work from home in the evening. 
Other times I've been trying to educate myself through Notes on new products. 
I'm now working on a proposal with deadlines looming, so I worked most of this
past 3 day weekend. 

Until December, I used my home line to dial in.  I received approval in 
December to get a second line (for $9/month, Digital gets anywhere from 12-40
hours a week, sounds like a good buy to me).  Now I can use my phone when 
waiting for a search of a Notes conference, file transfers, etc.

My manager has heard nothing of this (I'm geographically in the Southern 
States Region, but I work for ADEG).  He is looking into the situation.  It 
sounds like a very short-sighted decision to me (gee, that sounds familiar).

If it becomes policy, I'll terminate the second line, turn my workstation in, 
and be at my desk 40/week.  My JEC says 40 hours per week, so they can't fire 
me for that.  Maybe instead of having all these silly meetings during the day, 
we can do real work, then have con-call meetings in the evenings.  I bet the 
meetings will become very concise and focused, which would please me no end.

    
    
    
    I AM SORRY IF I APPEAR TO BE SHOUTING BUT MY KEYBOARD DIED AND CAPS
    JUST WON'T GO AWAY.
    
    I AM PROBABLY ON THIN ICE HERE BUT CAN I ASK
    
    DO YOU GET PAID FOR THE EXTRA HOURS ?
    
    DOES THE CUSTOMER GET CHARGED ?
    
    ONE OF THE PROBLEMS I FACE IS WE ALL DO THINGS FOR NOTHING. I DO FOR MY
    COMPANY AND MY COMPANY DOES FOR ITS CUSTOMER HOWEVER THATS NOW PART OF
    THE PROBLEM. 
    
    THE CUSTOMER IS HAPPY WITH THIS, WE ALL LOOK CHEAPER. HOWEVER IT IS
    FALSE. IT GIVES A FALSE MESSAGE ABOUT COSTS. SOONER OR LATER YOU LEAVE,
    SOMEONE NOT WILLING TO WORK FOR NOTHING REPLACES YOU. MAYBE IN FACT IT
    REQUIRES MORE THAN ONE.
    
    THE COMPANY NOTICES THIS AND QUITE RIGHTLY WHATS TO CHARGE THE CUSTOMER.
    
    WELL GUESS WHO'S UNHAPPY NOW. YET HE SHOULD NOT BE. HE SHOULD BE RESIGNED TO
    THE FACT HE GOT IT FOR NOTHING BECAUSE YOU REQUIRED NOTHING TO DO IT.
    
    I OFTEN SEE PEOPLE ON PROJECT COST THEM, THEN WORK EXTRA TO PRODUCE
    THEM. THEY REALLY WORRY ME AS THEY REALLY SHOULD GET PAID THEIR WORTH
    AND DIGITAL SHOULD CHARGE THEIR WORTH FOR THEM.
    
    I AGREE THAT DIGITAL SHOULD PAY THE BILL IF IT GETS SOMETHING FROM IT.
    EITHER WE LEARN TO CHARGE THE HOURS AND/OR WE GET A POLICY THAT ALLOWS
    "HOME EDUCATION".
    
    IT SHOULD NOT BE A RIGHT. LIKE EVERY THING WE MUST GIVE A BUSINESS CASE
    FOR THESE THINGS AND MONITOR THEM. TO OFTEN I SEE THINGS THAT DON'T
    REFLECT THE WORLD OUTSIDE, SOME GOOD SOME BAD.
    
    IN MY REGION CAR PRICES HAVE FALLEN QUITE CONSIDERABLY DUE TO CHANGES
    IN TAX BUT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THE CAR POLICY REMAINS MUCH THE
    SAME. I SEE MORE BIGGER CARS NOW THAN BEFORE.
    
    BEFORE THE REST OF MY REGION JUMPS IN I AM NOT AWARE OF DIGITALS LOCAL
    POLICY AND ITS IN AND OUTS BUT OTHER COMPANIES I DEAL WITH SEEN TO
    IGNORE DECREASES (MAYBE THE STAFF ARE PROTECTING THEMSELVES) YET
    YELL LOUDLY AT INCREASES.
    
    I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE AFTER HOURS ACCESS BUT DON'T. IF I WANT IT (LIKE
    NOW) I MAKE A SPECIAL TRIP. NO I TO DON'T CHARGE BUT MAYBE I TO HAVE TO
    LEARN. AS A SERVICES PERSON ALL I HAVE IS MY TIME AND GIVING IT AWAY IS
    BAD NEWS. I LOSE, DIGITAL LOSES AND IN THE LONG RUN I SUSPECT THE
    CUSTOMER DOES TOO.                    

        Re: .25

> If it becomes policy, I'll terminate the second line, turn my workstation in, 
> and be at my desk 40/week.  My JEC says 40 hours per week, so they can't fire 
> me for that.

        They can't fire you for that, but they can lay you off.  If you
        stop working from home you will be working significantly fewer
        hours.  This will likely reduce the benefit of your work to
        Digital and therefore increase the probability that you will be
        laid off.  The fact that spending $9/month would make you more
        effective won't affect the lay-off decision.

        If you like your job, shouldn't automatically decide to stop
        dialing in just because Digital won't pay for a phone line.

        That said, I believe that Digital should pay for your second line.

        					B.J.

    re: .27 - If Digital, or any company, breaks it's honor in not going
    beyond the letter of it's obligation and yet accepts and expects it's
    employees to go beyond their written obligations, it will inherit all
    the joys of being on the negative side of the balance of payment
    ledger. We all know what that does to a country and it is an equally
    potent prescription for companies.  Treating others as you would like
    to be, needs to be the 1st rule of business in doing business with
    humans.

Well, I have a hardcopy memo from somebody named Ed Deary in Digital Services
that states (and I'm paraphrasing since I don't have the author's express 
permission to pass this along) that:

If an employee has an office to go to each day, then they do not need a 2nd 
telephone line.  He further states that if 10,000 individuals had their 
phones eliminated, DEC would (THEORETICALLY - my editorial comment) save $3M/yr.
Perhaps Mr. Deary doesn't realize how much money we are *saving* the company
by dialing in ON OUR OWN HOURS.

I promised those people that called me I would pass along all the info I knew.
For those people who want to call Mr. Deary he seems to be listed in ELF as:

              Name:  EDWARD DEARY
               DTN:  276-8535, 297-6839, Telephone: 508-467-6839
    DECnet address:  CARTUN::DEARY
Internal Mail Addr:  OGO1-2/M8
          Location:  MRO
          Org Unit:  DEC SYS INT & SUPP SERV

    I made it through five replies.  
    
    For the first couple of years through my young marriage this was a bone
    of contention between hubbie and I.  You see, he's a DECcie, too, an
    engineering type...{Hi, Honey} and was on the system ALL THE TIME.  I
    had friends and family give up on calling me.  The freezes on all kinds
    of things (purchasing, petty cash, etc.) were coming down, so there was
    no second line installed as we knew that approval wouldn't be granted. 
    To be honest with you, I got more angry at the entity - Digital - than I
    did with my husband (thank goodness).                               
    
    Now it's just a fact of life, and fortunately, with the purchase of our
    new PC, and the development he does these days, it's so much easier to
    work from home without tying up the telephone line.
    
    For the longest time though family and friends had to call me either
    very early morning, or try to get me at work.  That was the only way
    not to get a busy signal.
    
    I had some pretty weird emotions to deal with, like "Digital was
    getting alot out of me/us-- both personally, and professionally."  It's
    one of those things that you learn to live with.  Those of you who had
    your phone lines paid for... congratulations, and consider yourself
    lucky.  
                    
    Sorry if I sounded off.  This one bugged me for quite some time... 8-)
    
    Rgds,
    marcia  

    Maybe I didn't read through some replies here but...we're beginning to
    get all sorts of information about a H.O.M.E. program where the company
    wants us to set up a primary work place at home. Part of it is that
    two (additional) phone lines are installed that Digital pays for. The
    objective is to reduce (give up?) facilities.
    
    This is directed at Sales by the way.

    A friend of mine (ex DEC, and a technowiz), just bought a new house. He
    calls the telco, and asks for two phone lines. It seems that the 50
    pair cable running down that street is already used, and they don't
    want another. But, they say, we can offer this service. It's called
    ISDN... (Tell me more, he says, knowing more about ISDN than the TELCO
    weenie) Ah, but will this cost me any extra... No, says the phone
    person... Oh, all right, says my friend...   
    
    Now, if only I can find the same phone company person, before they get
    reprimanded for giving away services...
    
    q
    

re:.32
Where does this technowiz friend of yours live?

I wish it were so easy to find somebody in most Bell companies
who even knows what ISDN is.
   fred (via ISDN from home late at night)

PS - the "best" price that a home user can get for a phone line
that can call work will vary hugely with geography, even from town
to town depending on the work site.  And it is not likely that the
average user will be able to wade through all the  tariff options.

    Queensland, Australia...
    
    q

    Is there official word on this one?  I am here in New Hampshire and
    have heard nothing official.  I have been submitting vouchers for home
    phone expenses (2nd line etc) right along and have heard nothing to the
    contrary?!
    
    -sandy
    

re:.35
There is no Corporate policy against phone lines.  If you live in NH,
then you probably don't work for a field organization that has decided
that employees shouldn't work extra hours, or daytime (if they have a
cubicle), from home.

What we in Corporate Telecom are, in fact, doing is setting up a "pilot"
program with New England Telephone for ISDN to the home.  And maybe, for
those who can't get ISDN, Switched 56 kbps (less service for more money
but it covers more territory).  It is NOT our intention in CT to pay for
any of this.  We'll coordinate and provide technical assistance (that's
my day job -- I'm basically a network technology consultant).  We expect
that interested sites/CCs will pick up the tab. 

Now it's quite reasonable for some CCs to ask users if they'd be willing
to pick up the tab for the monthly phone line.  That's a CC option.  I
don't expect, this year, for the employee to buy the ISDN gear -- it's
too costly (though we hear rumblings of "under $1k" soon).

Don't all swamp me with mail on this; when it's time, I'll probably post
a note in RUMOR::TELEWORK or something.  (And this node, ISDNIP, doesn't
receive mail.)  But we wouldn't be doing this if there were some kind of
"Corporate" consensus that nobody should work at home if they had a
cubicle.

BTW, my department owns my ISDN kit, but it's my own PC.  Other users
take DEC-owned computers home.  Again, it's a local matter; there are
guidelines and policies on DEC-owned home PCs that I'm not touching.
   fred

Well, since I started the basenote, I thought I'd post an update in my quest for
answers to the 2nd telephone line controversy.

I spoke with Ed Deary and he said that he had made *recommendations* only and 
that these recommendations should include terminating 2nd telephone lines for 
all NON-REVENUE generating people ONLY.

That's all I have....

Keith R>

    well since i was "placed" into a new position that is generally
    regarded and "direct revenue generating" i have been working a lot from
    home. the downside, of course, is the line is tied up a lot. i shall
    ask for dec to pay for another. we shall see.

    Well,
    
    I also did not read All the replies.  In the Customer Support Center,
    it is VERY common for Specialists to have a 2nd phone line installed,
    paid for by Digital. 
    
    This is due to call response requirements for after hours and holiday
    coverage for standby.  This is much cheaper than staffing mids onsite.
    Oh... technically we are not "revenue generating", even though we do
    pay per call business and provice support for contract paying
    customers!!
    
    Steve Pitt

What's all the talk than about working from your house? If you work from
your house you should need a second telephone line, seems to me.

Another question, not really to do with this note, but what's the number
said in the US for people who have to leave in say the rest of the fiscal.
In Europe we only hear rumours but no real numbers yet.

What's TFSO means?

Ciao,

Michiel

                 (at least that's the non-scatological version)
    

    
    fine idea. but why do they have to wait for weeks?
    
    the PC order houses ship UPS as soon as the charge is
    rung up (against a credit card or other line of credit).
    
    wheres the sense of urgency about moving the goods out the
    door?

    Can any one provide some pointers on the corporate policy on extra 
    telephone line for dialing IN. I have had an extra telephone line for 
    nearly 6+ years. Digital has been getting atleast additional 20+ hours
    of work a week due to this extra $20 expense. This week we were told that 
    the new company policyis "No extra lines are allowed, unless one is from 
    feild sales and is under home office program". I caanot believe that
    Digital management has created a policy, making it difficult to do
    extra work from home.
    
    I donot seem to find anything in the orange book on this new policy.
    
    Jay
    
    PS: By the way, I would not use my personal line for doing official
    Digital work. If Digital think it is not important, then so be it. 
     
    
    

Digital stopped paying for my line last summer.

Bob

My management laughed when I asked about having DEC pay for my extra line -
this was several years ago.

				Steve

    I used to have a second phone line into my house paid for by Digital. 
    When I changed cost centers, my new CC would not pay for the second
    line and thus it went away.  (This was over 5 years ago.)
    
    Since then, I've added call waiting.  Now I can dial into work without
    fear of missing a call.  The LATs protect my session from being lost
    when a phone call interrupts my dial into work.  
    
                                        August

    Don't know for sure, but folks in SHR get their second line paid for.
    
    I used to when I worked in MK. The change in policy was that you needed
    to submit the actual bill with the expense voucher.
    this subject just came up in a staff meeting, and indications were that
    if it was to dial in from home, the second line would be paid for.
    
    I'll try it and let 'yall know!
    
    chet

    I've been paying for my second line, used principally for dial-in
    access, for the past 18 years. To me, it's well worth it for the
    flexibility it gives me (of course, having a couple of toll-free
    ways to dial into work helps; if I were paying toll charges I'd use
    it a lot less). And since it's *my* line, I don't feel obligated to
    use it only for work.

Hmm system managers and programmers here at ASO get them paid for.

If they're going away it's gonna be a real pain in my posterior...

dave

    I think what is happening is they are going to pay for the second line
    if you are on the HOME program. If your not in the program then come to 
    work to compute or pay your own telecommute.
    
    rick

It's like everything else in Digital ... Policies are "subject to local
management interpretation".

Bob