🚀 go-pugleaf

Isn't the right answer having billing information available online.
There should simply be a protocol for my home phone system to ask the CO
what the charge for a given call will be (i.e., the rate) and what the
actual call costs.  One can then restrict a given instrument in a house
and limit its total spending or the rate or a combination.  Of course
there are issues of invasion of privacy but that is already true with
listings of toll calls.

The technology is here to design a protocol and start propogating the
implementation internationally.  Silly things like using 1+ to indicate
a toll call are pretty meaningless since that doesn't solve problems
with measured service or the multitude of other complexities.

In fact, there are many many services possible if we simply assume that
my home pbx is as smart as the telco CO.  In fact, it will soon be much
smarter since it can apply all of its limited intelligence to just my
phone usage and act on my behalf.

There is no fantasy here except maybe believing it possible for telco's
to actual be willing to consider a protocoled interface to the premises
system.  Last I heard, they woudn't even provide DTMF for DID (i.e,
Direct Inward Dialing used slow pulses to specify the extension number).

Anyone out there want to start a new phone network?