Show J rl SIX BUSTLING POSITIONS Is all It took to handle calls to directory assistance In Salt Lake Lako back bock In 1908 1909 Today more than Mountain Bell employees In Utah are arb required to provide the service Directory assistance costs told by phone manager Back in 1908 when the Wasatch telephone building was completed in Salt Lake Information Information Information In formation consisted of six positions Things are a little different at Mountain Bell today according to Vernal Exchange Manager D. D Robert Olsen Now it takes employees statewide to handle directory assistance calls and we need to take a good look at the costs involved in providing the service service service ser ser- vice vs who is using the service ser ser- vice OLSEN STATED that on an average business day calls are placed to directory assistance costing telephone customers last year The name directory assistance is an accurate description of what our employees employees employees em em- should be doing aiding customers who are having difficulty finding a listing in the book hook or giving out new numbers Instead 78 percent of the numbers requested in Utah are already in the book Studies indicate that only 15 percent of the people make 50 percent of the calls Olsen said TilE THE AVERAGE customer who uses this service only occasionally occasionally occasionally oc oc- is placed in the position of having to subsidize those who call directory assistance frequently Wyoming and Colorado have filed rate plans with their regulatory commissions The basic features of the plan they submitted includes three free calls a month two number searches per call 20 per call after the free allowance to and 1 1212 universal information for home area only no charge for other area codes exclusion would include coin hospital and hotel guest phones and the handicapped Cincinnati Bell has had a similar charge for over a year Their experience shows 1 an anO 80 O percent reduction in calls to directory assistance and 2 only 5 percent of the customers are charged in any given month Olsen sized up the situation in Utah like this We have used advertising to encourage proper use of directory assistance given away personal personal personal per per- directories to record frequently called numbers and agreed to provide directories free from other cities when used for long distance calling All these measures have helped somewhat but were we're faced with ever increasing volumes of calls and the related costs If the current trend continues it would appear that thi fhe only equitable leway way JO to handle tic tl situation would be to charge those persons who are the heavy users of the service instead instead instead in in- stead of expecting everyone to equally share the cost |