The Daily Times from Mamaroneck, New York • 64

4' 1. i i t-. Gannett Westchester NewspapersSunday, July 21, 1985 Section LONG WAY I From page HI How to shop for telephone service in post-Ma Bell era Tandy 1000 Tandy Corp.s computers are sold only at the companys Radio-Shack stores. At the Radio Shack in the Galleria in White Plains, the basic Tandy 1000, with one disk drive and no monitor, sells for 999. But add the second disk drive (1200), the monitor (1150) and the Tandy printer and the price is already at $1,949.

The only software that comes with, it is something called Deskmate, which includes a calendar, simple filing program and rudimentary word Wordstar costs $395 from Tandy. The processor), Type-It (a simple word processor), The Word Plus (a spelling checker), Mailmerge (personalises form letters), and less well-known data base, spreadsheet and communications programs. While not one of the stars of the computer industry, Kaypro has been around since the early days of microcomputers and survived recent shakeouts. However, while analyst Arnum says the Kaypro 2X is a good machine, he wonders whether the company will be around in five years. Also, software is limited 2X is not compatible with either Apple or IBM machines.

SMALL BUSINESS BY MARK STEVENS The breakup of Ma Bell long-heralded as a boon to telephone consumers has left small businesses wondering just where the benefits are. Faced with a proliferation of bills, services and competitive claims, companies are hopelessly confused, uncertain of how to proceed in a new era. The big change in the post-divestiture period can be summed up in a single word: choice, says Robert DeRosa, president of Bridging The Gap Through Communications, a consulting firm based in Blauvelt. With the local operating companies now split apart from and with a multitude of carriers now competing for what was once Ma Bells exclusive domain, companies find themselves having to choose between local carriers, long-distance carriers and equipment vendors. While this competition can mean opportunity for telephone consumers, they must first do their homework, calculating cumnt.

charges for each component of current service. Armed with this information, they can make intelligent comparisons of the various equipment and service vendors. Adds Joseph Quigley, a Philadelphia based tele-communications coordi- be filed with the phone companies. Companies first switching from rental to owned equipment will likely find immediate savings. firm that now rents for $1,000 per month, Quigley says, may be be able to buy a similar system for $750 a month financed, over seven years.

Once the system is paid for, the only remaining costs are for maintenance. The drawback is that the company must then live with the system it has purchased. If the business expands, or new Panasonic Senior Partner 'Sold at The Computer Factory's White, Plains strife, the Japanese-made Senior Partner comes in a $1,798 package similar to the Kaypro 2X. But it is missing one major component: the printer. A Panasonic Daisy Wheel.Printer adds another $569.

(A thermal printer is built into the Senior Partner, but the quality of printouts is very low.) The price includes two disk drives, each double-sided for more than twice the storage of the Kaypro or Apple models. The Senior Partner is also a luggable, with monitor included. And this machine comes with its own assortment of software: Wordstar, Visicalc (a spreadsheet), PFS File (a data base) and two other PFS programs, Report and Graph. Panasonic is a latecomer to the personal computer industry, but reviews of the Senior Partner by analysts and computer magazines have been highly favor- attraction of the Tandy 1000 is that it is virtually an exact duplicate of the IBM PC, and some reviewers have even given it high-er mar.ks than the PC on ease of expandability. It runs every program the PC can run, sometimes better.

For longevity, analyst Arnum puts Tandy on a level with Apple, above Kaypro and Panasonic. As for program availability, there is as great a selection as for the IBM PC, which does not quite match that of the Apple lie. Arnum adds that personal computer shoppers shouldnt forget about the IBM PCjr. The machine has been shunned by many computer stores since IBM discontinued its production in March, but that means that bargains abound. Arnum says he saw a PCjr at a Manhattan discount, dealer for $450.

At Computer Factory, a PCjr with color monitor costs $850. Thats with just one disk drive, and keep in mind that a second drive cant be added to the PCjr. But enough internal memory can be installed to partially makeup for the lost drive. Prices for identical computers rarely vary much from store to store, and most retailers say that its more important to buy a computer from someone you trust, rather than the one offering lowest prices. Companies seeking low-cost longdistance service should not rule out arm The nations biggest carrier has technology comes on stream, management may find itself saddled with inadequate hardware.

One safeguard is to buy a telephone system big and so-phisticated enough to satisfy future as well as current needs. taken off the kid gloves and Is now competing aggressively in many calling routes. nator for the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, are confused because they dont know' how to compare one vendor to another. Assume a longdistance carrier tells ABC Co. it can provide lower cost service than Never base purchase decisions on able.

the company's current carrier. How can ABC determine if this is true or Just another sales pitch? The trick is to break down all usage costs into charges per minute. Say the companys 10 hours of monthly calls from New York to Los Angeles cost $216 or 36 cents a minute. By asking other carriers to quote their New York to Los Angeles rates per minute, management can easily shop for the lowest-cost service. Experts offer the following post-divestiture checklist for telephone consumers: As with the Kaypro 2X, Arnum proclaimed the Senior Partner a good machine but questioned its longevity In the marketplace.

The plus of Senior Partner is that it is IBM compatible, which means it can run most any software written for the IBM PC line. price alone. Make certain the vendors service facilities; are top-notch and that maintenance personnel are on" call whenever your business is open. System downtime can easily wipe out initial purchase savings and can seriously damage customer relations. Companies seeking low-cost long-distance service should not rule out The nations biggest carrier has taken off the kid gloves and is now competing aggressively in many calling routes.

A few years ago, we used to direct virtually all of our clients to MCI, Sprint and SBS Skyline, De Rosa says. No longer. Increasingly, we find that Communications is a' viable choice in many markets. Theyve narrowed the price gap and have excellent transmission quality thoughout the nation. One approach is to use several different carriers, tapping those with the lowest rates for each of the company major calling routes.

A company with modest, long-distance calling to most areas of the country but heavy usage between New York and Houston may use as its primary carrier and a supplemental carrier with the lowest rates between the two key cities. By. trying to ignore the fact that change has occured in the telephone market, and by failing to compare alternative vendors, Quigley says, companies will pay more for telephone services and get less in return. BYTE From page HI Ask 'the local operating company and Information Systems for an itemized billing of all telephone equipment charged to your business. Because regular bills only summarize equipment charges, mistakes in the phone companys favor can easily evade detection.

Compare the itemized bill to the equipment on your premises. telltale sign of overbilling is on-premises wire charges for companies that have converted from equipment to another suppliers, De Rosa warns. "When private systems are installed, wires are removed but the local operating company may continue to charge for them. In another common error, companies are charged for phones they dont have. Credit claims for all such discrepancies should who give illegal discounts on computer products at greater than authorized amounts as a further impediment to profits.

Its hard to get rid of all the gray marketers, but theyre taking a lot of our business, he says. There are some who are giving 55 percent discounts on software. People were making only $10 per software package, Just to sell big volume. As a dealer, its hardly worth it with overhead, employee costs, etc. to make that kind of money, he says.

Why should I carry companies products when mail-order houses and the gray marketers sell so low? Garibello asks. But most of the retail stores are anticipating better sales this fall when schools reopen and students come back indoors to the world of learning. We do a lot of sales to schools and sell a lot of Apple lies. Hes and Macintoshes. We think the fall looks good, Johansen says.

have to really listen to the end user, be aggressive and meet their needs he says. Stuart Chenken, sales manager of Entre Computer Center in White Plains, says the discount phenomenon is hampering profits. Even though our sales have been holding and quite good both from corporate accounts and individuals, the 20 percent increase in unit sales over last year only amounts to about a 10 percent increase in dollars, he notes. Chenken says to get people to buy, his sales people have had to offer more service, more in-store training and seminars, more extensive product demonstrations and lots of time on the telephone answering buyers questions. Maurice Garibello, sales- manager at MicroAge in Greenwich, the gray market those Home banking stalled by drop in computer use Gannett News Service Despite all the hoopla and sales only 100,000 customers use electronic home-banking services, reports International Resource Development a Norwalk, research firm.

A major problem is disenchantment with home computers. IRD says the 12 million machines consumers have purchased, at least with a second mortgage from AMERICAN FUNDING LIMITED 7 million have been thrown away, broken or set on a dusty shelf. And less than 1 million machines are equipped with modems devices that link home computers to banks and other services via telephone lines. Though home banking will be limited to 10 percent to 20 percent of bank customers by 1995, those customers will account for more than 50 percent of banks consumer-related profits. dfl FIXED RATE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE FOR THE LIFE OF THE SECOND MORTGAGE SPECTRUM Communications of Dallas recently began shipping a cellular telephone modem that allows data transmission to and from moving The Bridge ($595 to $895, 300- or transmission rate) overcomes the problem of sending data while a user crosses from one cell or regional area to another.

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