Wireless PCS car wash

Mark Baker (markb@iosphere.net)
Wed, 4 Feb 1998 09:25:36 -0500 (EST)


http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980203S0010

A story about how PCS subscribers in Finland can order car washes via
their PCS phones. A couple comments;

> The GSM call is routed onto Telecom Finland's intelligent call-handling
> network, which activates the car wash by sending a return signal to a
> small terminal on site at the garage.

So what's wrong with replacing this terminal with a low power GSM
receiver (you're not going to order your wash from miles away - only feet
away, right?)? Well, if they do that, then they won't be switching the
call, will they? And if they don't switch the call, then they can't do
this;

> Customers are billed by Telecom Finland, which reimburses the service
> station operator periodically -- after taking a fee of 5 Finnish Marks
> (91 cents) per wash, of course.

Of course.

> The telephone company plans to give
> users the choice to be billed on their telephone bill or through their
> credit card account.

Model corporate citizens, those telcos.

MB

--
Mark Baker, Ottawa Ontario CANADA.                Java, CORBA, XML, Beans
http://www.iosphere.net/~markb               distobj@acm.org  ICQ:5100069

Will distribute business objects for food.