Wireless Caller ID, Message Waiting now in Washington State

SEATTLE -- October 23, 1995 -- AT&T Wireless Services in Washington state today unveiled two new features for digital cellular customers, Caller ID and Message Waiting Indicator. Caller ID allows digital cellular users to screen incoming calls. The service is available only on AT&T Wireless Services' digital phones. Customers can activate the feature by dialing 611 from their cellular phone and asking an AT&T Wireless Services Customer Care representative to place the feature on their phone.

In addition to displaying the telephone numbers of incoming calls on select models of digital cellular phones, Caller ID also has an automatic call back feature. This feature allows a customer to eliminate re-dialing by simply pressing the "send" key to return missed calls. In addition, customers can use Caller ID in conjunction with the "call waiting" feature to not only receive an audible indication of an incoming call, but to actually see the number of the incoming call as well. The cost for Caller ID is $4.99 per month.

The "message waiting indicator" notifies digital cellular customers when they have voicemail messages waiting for them, without having to dial their voicemail number. The number of messages that have not been heard will be displayed on the digital cellular telephone's screen. All current digital cellular customers with AT&T Wireless Services voicemail will automatically have this feature installed without charge. New digital customers signing up for cellular voicemail will also get this feature without charge.

Features of Message Waiting Indicator include:

• Indicator showing number of new unheard messages.
• Saves time spent checking voicemail when no messages are waiting.
• Allows quicker response time for retrieving important messages.

"This is going to be the first wave of a number of product enhancements that we will be adding to our digital cellular network here in the Pacific Northwest," said Robert H. Johnson, vice president and general manager of AT&T Wireless Services in Washington state. "In the next 12 months, we will also be offering features such as the ability to increase battery standby time on a digital phone. We're also developing a short messaging capability and an authentication process to reduce the chances of cellular fraud. Digital phones in the near future will also offer personal communication service (PCS) type applications such as local home and office dialing."

AT&T Wireless Services has had digital cellular service since July, 1993. There are estimates that by the end of 1995, there will be more than 1.5 million digital subscribers across the United States. AT&T Wireless Services uses a digital standard known as TDMA, or time division multiple access. Digital calls are priced lower than analog calls on AT&T Wireless Services' Pacific Northwest Digital Network. In addition, TDMA allows for enhanced voice privacy. TDMA digital is available in nearly all AT&T Wireless Services markets across the United States.

AT&T Wireless Services is a premier provider of cellular, messaging, aircraft communications and wireless data services in the United States. AT&T Wireless Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, the world's leading provider of communication services and products, as well as network equipment and business systems to businesses, consumers, communication services providers and government agencies.