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NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 2.4

In this issue:

Online Account Administration

To make life easier for our users, Direct Connection have created an Online Account Administration section, which allows users to access a number of utilities using their userID and password.

Users can display billing details, find out how much time they've spent online, and change aspects of their accounts, such as password and userID.

V.90 capability

From Wednesday 22nd July, Direct Connection has offered V.90 capability on all our access numbers.

This is good news for people with V.90 ready modems, as they will be able to make use of the higher connection speeds.

If you are currently using an US Robotics modem with their proprietary X2 system, you should check out the availability of upgrades to V.90 at http://56k.3com.co.uk/pages/info.html so that you can benefit from the higher connection speeds.

If you are currently using a modem with K56Flex technology, then there's no need to dash out and upgrade. Our systems are capable of supporting both V.90 and K56Flex connections, with no need for configuration changes at your end. Our equipment vendor, Ascend Communications, doesn't plan to cease K56Flex support in the immediate future.

Of course, our equipment remains backward compatible with previously ratified ITU standards such as V.34.

User Web page search facility

The Direct Connection Member's web page area is now fully searchable. You can enter a keyword or keywords and search for pages that match all or any of your search criteria.

Introduction of limits on Videotron use

Whilst the vast majority of customers access via our 0845 national access number we have also maintained a special bank of modems on a Cable and Wireless number. These are just for use by a small number of customers of Cable and Wireless who benefit from the old "free cheap-rate calls" offer under an old Videotron tariff. Cable and Wireless no longer offer this tariff to anyone who has joined within the last 12+ months - so if you aren't on it unfortunately there is no way that you can join it now and the rest of this section does not apply to you.

We have always maintained these lines on a best efforts basis (outside our main 0845 access numbers) as a special facility to enable these customers to call in for free. Unfortunately Cable and Wireless are not interested in installing more lines on the Videotron number (we have been waiting over 8 months for our last order to be completed) and they are planning to significantly increase the rental charges on the existing lines as each contract comes up for renewal.

We should point out that we are delighted for people to access the 0845 number as much as they like - the rest of this message only applies to the special Videotron access number.

We want to continue to offer this useful facility for as long as possible but we do need to start looking at ways of sensibly limiting heavy users (as we cannot add additonal lines) to free up access for other users. A minority of customers, knowing the call is free, access for more than 150 hours per month (an average of 4.8 hours per day) which effectively ties up a port during peak usage hours, leaving the number of free lines limited at peak times. We even have some customers ringing-up 500 hours per month.

At this stage we would ask the heaviest Videotron users to review their usage patterns - it is unlikely that they are making active use of their accounts for the duration of these calls. We may soon have to introduce a 150 hours per month per user limit on the Videotron modems - we will contact those customers who are affected. If you wish to find out the amount of time that you have spent online, you can do so using our new Online Account Administration area.

Our 0845 number continues to be available for customers to use as much and as long as they like and the vast majority of customers on the Videotron number have completely reasonable usage patterns.

Direct Connection to collect UK domain registration fees

Nominet UK is the national Registry of all Internet Domain Names ending '.uk'. Each country needs a central Registry to store the unique names used on the Internet and their association numeric addresses.

In August 1996 Nominet UK took over the processing of new domains in the UK namespace. At that time they introduced a yearly Administration fee for Domain Registration which is paid 2 years in advanced.

In August 1998 the first renewal fees for Nominet UK are going to be issued. Nominet UK have informed us that they will collect these fees from us and it is our responsibility to collect payment from the owner of the domain.

When your domain name is up for renewal Direct Connection will pay the renewal fee on your behalf and add the renewal fee to your bill to be paid as normal to us. During the month before your domain is up for renewal we will contact you twice to inform you about this, once via Letter sent to the registered person and address we have in our Accounting system and once via email sent to 'postmaster@'. If you have closed your account with us by then then you will need to check with your new Internet Service Provider how you will be billed for this. If you've left the Internet altogether then you will be billed directly by Nominet UK for your domain.

If you no longer want your .uk domain name then you must contact Nominet UK and our Customer Services dept. as soon as possible to let us know.

If you're unsure if you have a domain which is affected by this then please contact our Customer Services team (accounts@dircon.net) who will be able to confirm your details for you.

New job vacancies at Direct Connection

If you are interested in employment with Direct Connection, check out the Jobs@dircon.net section of our Web pages. The available jobs are updated regularly, and currently include Senior Network Engineer and Technical Support Engineer positions.

Dial-in server upgrade

We have upgraded our dial-in servers to Max6000s. These are more powerful than the existing Max4000 servers, whilst using a similar well-proven architecture. These new servers will ensure a minimum of connection problems for Direct Connection users.

ETRN download of mail

A new mail facility exists for customers with Corporate SMTP accounts, or with Fixed IP address accounts where they collect their email by SMTP. If you have another type of account, you can ignore this section of the newsletter.

These users may now initiate their mail download using ETRN, in addition to the current method based on the 'finger' protocol. ETRN is a recent extension to the SMTP specification and is rapidly becoming the standard method of 'kicking' a mail queue. Many mail servers and gateways already support the use of it including Microsoft Exchange Server and Lotus Domino.

To use ETRN, configure your mail gateway to issue an ETRN to mailhost.dircon.co.uk with the nodename of your maildomain. This should not be an email address, but the actual domain-name (eg mydomain.co.uk).

Direct Connection Newsgroup changes

In order to make the Direct Connection specific newsgroups easier to find for new users, and to reorganise the existing hierarchy, the existing tdc. newsgroups are being replaced with a new hierarchy starting with dircon.

This will happen in the next few days, with advance warning being given in the existing tdc.announce group.

Initially the newsgroups will comprise of:

dircon.ads General advertisements from Direct Connection customers.
dircon.announce Important announcements from Direct Connection.
dircon.chat General newsgroup for users to chat about anything.
dircon.games Newsgroup dedicated to all games on the net.
dircon.tech Newsgroup for customers to discuss their technical problems.
dircon.telecoms Newsgroup for discussion about any aspect of the Telecommunications industry.
dircon.test Test newsgroup where Direct Connection customers can test out their newsreading software.

Further Information and useful contacts

We are constantly improving and updating our service. For the latest developments keep an eye on the "What's New" section of this Web site.

Here are the main contact email addresses and telephone numbers for Direct Connection. Please make sure you have your Account Code or userID to hand when you contact us:

Helpdesk (Technical Support)
Email: helpdesk@dircon.net

Please direct all queries to the email address above. The phone number below is only for problems relating to installing/connecting the software we supply and problems with your email.

Phone: 0870 166 6111 or Fax: 0181 463 9818 (9am-9pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat-Sun)

Customer Service (Billing and Account Enquiries)
Email: accounts@dircon.net
Phone: 0870 166 6000 or Fax: 0181 463 9816 (9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri)

Sales
Email: sales@dircon.net
Phone: 0800 072 0000 or Fax: 0181 463 9817 (9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat)

Useful Services
Web - http://www.dircon.net/status - Status page, shows details of any major service downtimes.

Web - http://www.dircon.net/new.html - Announcements of new facilities, services and other important information. Generally this information is repeated in the next newsletter.


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