AT&T stopped talking to me
Cryptophiles, I don't know if there is any signifigance to this or it is incompetence. I was in discussion with a rep for AT&T about their VSELP part and getting the firmware development software to add crypto to the part. (Don't even need hardware, the simulator is supposed to be so good.) This rep had put me in touch with the local AT&T marketing person for the part in order to handle some questions he couldn't. Things were going along pretty well until the AT&T fellow asked me what my application was. I was queasy about answering that question and rightfully so. I felt a sudden change of attitude from the guy when I told him it was to implement my voice crypto and I have gotten nowhere with them since. I asked for the complete datasheet for the part and received instead the same two page summary I already had. There is no way one could design in this part with the info in that marketing blurb so something else *must* exist. I cannot get them to even return a call any more. I left a message on the men's phone mail detailing that I was ready to purchase the development software and wanted to meet briefly to discuss that and explain the real design information I need for the part. I have been unable to get either to return my calls. In my last conversation with the AT&T guy he was trying to discourage me, telling me that to get any support for this firmware development required some kind of market study showing that the application would result in the sale of 100,000+ of the devices. I told him that I saw little problem with that number and anticipated potentially ten times that quantity or more over the life of the product. :-) I dunno, maybe it is coincidence but it sure seems to me that AT&T's willingness to sell to me and help support a product development vanished at the point when I mentioned crypto. Steve B., since you are with AT&T is there any policy that you know about regarding sales of devices for use in crypto? Peace, Bob -- Bob Cain rcain@netcom.com 408-354-8021 H 415-966-9549 W (10 am to 7 pm) "I used to be different. But now I'm the same." --------------PGP 1.0 or 2.0 public key available on request.------------------
This could be a simple case of AT&T being unwilling to foster competition against themselves. The only way to combat something like that would be from an anti-trust standpoint (highly unlikely here, probably). Is AT&T the only company that sells such a device? -- | GOOD TIME FOR MOVIE - GOING ||| Mike McNally <m5@tivoli.com> | | TAKE TWA TO CAIRO. ||| Tivoli Systems, Austin, TX: | | (actual fortune cookie) ||| "Like A Little Bit of Semi-Heaven" |
Mike McNally says:
This could be a simple case of AT&T being unwilling to foster competition against themselves. The only way to combat something like that would be from an anti-trust standpoint (highly unlikely here, probably).
Is AT&T the only company that sells such a device?
Qualcomm sells a chip that implements QCELP. .pm
I felt a sudden change of attitude from the guy when I told him it was to implement my voice crypto and I have gotten nowhere with them since.
If you ever get another phone line and wish to deal with them with a different company name and a personal pseudonym, you might tell them next time that you're working on a voice mail system with networking features. Eric
participants (4)
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hughes@ah.com -
m5@vail.tivoli.com -
Perry E. Metzger -
rcain@netcom.com