-[Elcotel's Grapevine Payphone]- 



-[By Magma]- 

	You may not have heard about the Grapevine telephone from Elcotel.
Elcotel has just begun it's installation on a national scale, so except much 
more info on these phones in the future. When this phone becomes more 
established there will be local news, sports, shock quotes and weather reports. 
There is also a desktop version of this telephone it has the same 
features it's just a smaller design for higher end hotel rooms and such. 
This isn't your regular run of the mill Millennium :-) this is an amazing
telephone, very well done Elcotel. 

If you are unsure what this payphone looks like go here: 
    
      http://internettrash.com/users/mtghu/grapevine.jpg 

-[Free Calls]- 

What make me rant and rave about this payphone you ask? Well, many things; 
for one Elcotel has plans in the work to make this payphone so draped in 
advertisements that local phone calls will be free in the near future. 
So what this means is that about 90% are just prompts on how to use the
phone and a few ads. In a year or so those prompts will be much shorter
and the ads much longer but the bright side of this is that you won't have
to listen to any boring ads. 

-[Buttons]- 

The Grapevine has speed-dial buttons that call a programmed number like a taxi 
service free of charge this is a feature found on the Eclipse model and some 
Millennium's like the ones at most universities which have the university 
police programmed in. 

Wait, more buttons; there are five buttons located right below the display of
the payphone these are called Softouch Buttons and as of today do not have
anything programmed in them. These buttons will also be used for "surfing the
web". 
If you are looking for surfing the web without buying a laptop or Palm Pilot 
device then look into the Public Internet Kiosk. 

-[Data Transfer]- 

Just like the Eclipse model the Grapevine has a phone just for you to hook 
your laptop to however you ISP must have a toll free number for you to call 
thus defending just plugging in a phone and making free calls. 

A feature the Eclipse doesn't have but the Grapevine does is Infrared
Data access or IrDA this means you can take your palm pilot (IR enabled) 
and transfer data such as email. 

-[Other Features]- 

- A 5-inch 1/4 VGA screen that displays information and advertising. 

- An insert-type card reader that accepts credit and smart cards, extending 
  the selection of payment options for the user. 

- A cashbox and coin slot calibrated to accept most North American coins. 

-[Downfalls]- 

There is just one thing that I do not like about this payphone in comparison 
to the Nortel Millennium. The way the handset/cord are built. The handset is 
very light (thin plastic) and not held together very well. This means that the 
handset can be damaged or torn off without too much effort. For now this isn't
that large of a problem but as the nation wide installation of this phone
continuous and moves out of hotels and higher class businesses the chase for 
vandalism will increase. 

-[Grapevine Locations]- 

The following is where you can find Grapevine telephones in Canada, I am aware
that there are more locations such as Montreal and Vancouver and more, so
if you find one of these please write down the payphone number and if possible 
the location. My email is at the bottom of this page, thanks. 

-[Cambridge, Ontario]- 
Holiday Inn - 200 holidayInn Dr. 

-[Kitchener, Ontario]- 
Holiday Inn - 30 Fairway * Grapevine Phone Number * - 519.893.3660 

-[Toronto, Ontario.]- 
The CN Tower - 301 Front Street West 
The Grand Hotel and Suites - 225 Jarvis Street 
AT&T Canada Head Office - 200 Wellington Street 
Holiday Inn, Yorkdale - 3450 Dufferin Street 
Stars on King - 266 - 68 King Street West 

-[Conclusion]- 

Well all in all this is great phone and will sure give Nortel a fun for
it's but don't expect this to happen over night, it will take some time. 
I am for one am happy to see this phone being integrated into the payphone
world.

-[How To Reach Me]- 

Email - Magma@SunOS.com
ICQ - 5652209
URL - go.to/GHU 

"The GrassHopper Unit is Prowlin" 

						
						Created: 08/18/00