- MESSAGEBANK INTERSYSTEM SIGNALLING -
                         - Written by ®The Pick¯ -


      Most of you already know about this feature, but for you non-elite
   VoiceMail users (IS there such a thing?) 8) here is a quick  run down
   on the national  message  networking.  The basic idea is that you can
   send a message from any MessageBank  system in Australia to any other
   system on the  same network.  The state codes for the MessageBank VMB
   systems are:

      201 - Sydney MessageBank
      202 - Canberra/Newcastle/Sydney (CNS) MessageBank
      301 - Melbourne/Hobart MessageBank
      302 - Melbourne 2 MessageBank
      701 - Brisbane MessageBank
      702 - Gold Coast MessageBank (also known as Brisbane 2)
      801 - Adelaide MessageBank
      901 - Perth MessageBank

      Parramatta  Node 1 is not  available  on the network as of yet but
   will be code 200 when it goes up.  This  system will also be known as
   Sydney 2.  Melbourne 3 is not on the network  either and there are no
   indications to say that it will ever be connected to the network.
      So how do you use all of this?  I'm glad you asked (and yes I HAVE
   been watching too much Curiosity Show).  In general, you simply  type
   the three digit  state  code,  followed by star, then the VMB number,
   also followed by star. So for instance, if I wanted to send a message
   to the Sydney Telecom MessageBank system 1 system administrator's box
   you would type 201* 1008*.  At any rate, it's not very hard to figure
                  ÃÄÙ  ÀÄÄ´  out and  the  benifits  are  numerous.  For
   >ÄStateÄCodeÄ>ÄÙ  ÚÄÄÄÄÙ  instance, one of the nice things you can do
   >ÄBoxÄnumberÄ>ÄÄÄÄÙ  (if you know what you're doing)  is make a daisy
                       chain  (for lack of a better expression)  between
   all of your boxes.  That is,  have one box in Perth,  one in Brisbane
   and so on and have each box  forward all messages you receive to your
   main box,  say on the Melbourne / Hobart system which you could check
   every  day.  Another  benifit is that  you only  need one box  on one
   system to do all your messages.  No need for  dialups to other,  more
   elusive systems such as Gold Coast.
      Initial tests have shown  that the time taken  for a message to be
   delivered can be anywhere  between one and four  minutes for a normal
   message,  longer for  confidential and reply  requested  messages and
   slightly  shorter for urgent  messages,  although this  difference is
   extremely minor and may just be coincidental.  One other thing I have
   noticed is that  outgoing mail from the Melbourne/Hobart system takes
   a bit longer  (which is not entirely surprising considering it has to
   take care of Melbourne 2 and 3 as well).
      There is also talk of  international  networking  amongst  Telecom
   employees (a little birdie told me, OK?!?!) but at this stage,  there
   is not enough equipment to pull it all off.  Yet...
      Anyway,  here's a quick  update of  what box numbers  are valid on
   what systems.  Oh, and I didn't bother using proper names (Messaging,
   Answering etc.) because this is how Minnow and I had it to begin with
   on our Grand Australian VoiceMail Text (never to be released 8)).

   Canberra/Newcastle/Sydney (202)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Menu Systems
   2XXX - Menu Systems
   3XXX - Executive, Executive Fax and Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Normal Boxes
   5XXX - Menu System at 5001
   6000 - 6000 Only
   7XXX - Executive, Executive Fax and Normal Boxes
   8XXX - Only boxes 8000, 8001, 8003
   9XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes

   Melbourne/Hobart (301)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Executive Boxes
   2XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   6XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   7XXX - Infoline Boxes
   8XXX - Employees only

   Melbourne 2 (302)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   3XXX - Executive Boxes
   4XXX - Executive Boxes
   5XXX - Normal Boxes
   6XXX - Executive Boxes
   8XXX - Executive Boxes

   Melbourne 3 (No code)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Normal Boxes
   2XXX - Normal Boxes
   3XXX - Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Normal Boxes
   5XXX - Normal Boxes
   9XXX - Executive Boxes

   Brisbane (701)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   2XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   3XXX - Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   5XXX - Executive Boxes
   9XXX - 9110, 9111 Only (Executive)

   Goldcoast (702)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Normal Boxes
   6XXX - Executive Boxes
   7XXX - Executive Boxes
   8XXX - Normal Boxes
   9XXX - Executive Boxes

   Adelaide (801)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Executive Boxes
   2XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   3XXX - Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Normal Boxes
   5XXX - Normal Boxes

   Perth (901)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Executive Boxes
   2XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   3XXX - Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Normal Boxes

   Sydney (201)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Executive Boxes
   2XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes
   6XXX - Menu Systems
   7XXX - Executive Boxes

   Parramatta Node 1 (200)
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
   1XXX - Normal Boxes
   2XXX - Normal Boxes
   3XXX - Normal Boxes
   4XXX - Normal Boxes
   5XXX - Normal Boxes
   8XXX - Executive and Normal Boxes