Play Meter

Issue: 1986 January 15 - Vol 12 Num 1

bility after the Bell warranty runs out.
He thinks it is inevitable that the Bell
companies will want to get out of the
phone-maintenance and equipment
business and the union problems that
go with it. They have already, said
Haff, signed over booths and outdoor
pedestals to outside contractors.
Sheldon Katz of American Pay
Phone Systems of Woodland Hills,
Calif., agrees with Haff that California
is one of the more friendly environ-
ments for the industry. In fact, Pac Bell
has purchased American Pay Phone's
product, a retrofit kit made by Hibbing
Electronics for Northwestern Bell
Technologies.
The kit can provide the smarts for
either GTE or Western Electric sets.
"The private pay market has been
waiting for the technology to catch up
with the market," said Katz. "With the
Northwestern Bell Technologies
development of the retrofit kit , it has
brought tremendous credibility to the
private pay market."
The phones
Some manufacturers are assuming
there will be a two-tiered market, one
calling for the smartest of phones that
can handle the most complex tariff
restrictions while protecting owners
from losing money to credit-card and
long-distance calls, the other needing
a low-cost phone with no frills . An
example of this approach is Coin
Communicators' line. The company's
first phone, the Model 101 (not to be
Some manufacturers
are assuming there will
be a two-tiered market,
one calling for the
smartest of phones,
the other needing a
low-cost phone
with no frills.
confused with the Model 101 manu-
factured by American Pay Phone
Systems) , is a post-pay, quarters-only
rotary machine that requires no
access voltage. It sells for less than
$600. Its upscale model 2000W has
most of thoe frills-a visual display
(but no voice), GTE housing, down-
• • THE TICKET DISPENSER
• • - WITH EXPERIENCE.
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• • • DELTRONIC LABS, INC.
• • 215/362-9112 • Telex 317054

DELTRONIC LABS DL-1275 Ticket Dispenser Is now
available in kits-for quick and easy installation on existing
vi o, pinball and novelty games .
For more than 7 years, top amusement manufacturers
have relied on DEL TRONICS LABS for quality ticket dis-
spensers, backed by prompt and efficient service.
Now this time-tested dispenser is incorporated in kits for
the same dependable performance on your present games .
You can renew player interest with tickets for awards and
bonuses-and keep them playing again and again and again!
Eight & Maple A venue • Lansdale, PA 19446
PLAY METER. January 15, 1986
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loading capability, and pre-pay. It does
not take credit cards yet. It will be
interesting how this model competes
with the higher priced /ntellicall, which
the same company distributes in Indi-
ana under its model name R3000. Rick
Stephan of Coin Communications
believes the low-cost phone designed
for the "Betty's Beauty Shop" market
will make it easy for small operators to
buy and will appeal to Bell, which, he
believes, would like to get out of the
market and save the expense of route
runs to these out-of-the-way locations.
Tel-Com lnternational's Digitronics
line offers a lower-cost smart phone
with the basics required by the FCC
but no international long distance and
other luxuries. This phone can be
afforded by customers who cannot
buy an Intellicall, which Tel-Com also
distributes in Illinois. Tel Com has
added an interesting dimension to its
system-a central office with live
operators.
Another market consideration is
the attractiveness of a phone to
operators. Cointel's SuperCall phones
appeal to the market with claims of
superior security. The SuperCall has
a 12-gauge steel case and two locks on
the coin vault. It is made so that the
service person has no access to the
Brand New Look .
Rand New Phone .
That's right .
We've slipped our industry-leading Rand
of Phoenix Tele-Rand ' " pay telephone into some-
thing more comfortable .
A GTE Box .
For rugged, practical use .
For vandal and weather resistance .
For ease in service .
For the utmost in " User Friendly" design .
But there's more than meets the eye. Because we've
also updated and added to our sophisticated features
to meet your needs in the market place .
So take a good look .
At our brand new $7 million, 5 acre, 110,000
square loot manufacturing facility.
At volume production and immediate delivery .
At our in-house circuit board assembly subsidiary,
Hi-tech research laboratory, and FCC testing and
certification division .
At customer service and response teams stalled
with experts .
And much, much more.
We know you 'll agree that the Tele-Rand ' " is
The Only Choice!
Rand of Phoenix, Inc .
3402 West Cocopah
Phoenix, Arizona 85009
(800) 262-RAND
(602) 272-2000
11
coin box, and it has a true anti-stuffing
coin slot.
In the November 1, 1985, issue of
Play Meter, Frank Seninsky praised
the Marcom ST and Marcom XL
phones made by Advanced Tele-
systems. Kevin Tighe of Advanced
T elesystems believes the phones'
superior features , which include
touch-talk, electric protection against
lightning damage and speed-dial
deception, and human-voice answer
supervision, will make Advanced Tele-
systems' product one of only two or
three survivors in the business.
Intellicall , distributed by many
companies outside of its native Texas,
is spoken of with tremendous respect.
Marketed as the top of the line by
many companies, it is a talking phone
with central-office uploading and
downloading. It costs more than
$2 ,000, but apparently it will be among
the Cadillacs that will be around years
from now.
Network Paystations manufac-
tures a phone designed to meet all
state requirements . Its Vanguard
accepts nickels, dimes, and quarters
and has an elaborate vacuum-fluo-
rescent display. The company builds
its own housing, which looks just like
GTE's . Network Paystations' strategy
is to offer a phone that requires less
complicated servicing than the Intel-
licall. The company claims its modular-
chip technology and the absence of a
few extras, such as computerized
messages to the central office, will
make its product a good mid-priced
workhorse.
The Future
Keen attention to every detail
of your order with delivery
on time guaranteed.
• Overnight shipment on
Stock Tokens
• 3-4 week delivery on
Custom Orders
• Free design service
For sample, information or
to place an order,
call us Toll-Free.
- r Wllhams
Mint
R~~er
TM
Northwest Industrial Park
79 Walton Street
Attleboro, MA 02703
* In Mass., call (617) 226-3310
12
Within a year or two, predict
industry executives such as Cointel's
Gail Sherman and U.S. Telecommu-
nications Corp.'s Shirley Carson,
there will be a shake-out. "Right now
the market is so muddled," said
Carson, "it will take a couple of years
for the dust to settle. At that time, the
consumer will have a better product. "
Of the 50-odd manufacturers and
assemblers, only a handful will remain;
Charles Haff of Phone Master predicts
no more than 25 percent. Quality of
product will be the first criterion for
survival. Operators will not tolerate
complaints from their customers
about the equipment in their locations.
State PUCs will step in and reverse
permissions if there are continued
complaints.
Manufacturers who expected a
quick in-and-out profit venture will be
disappointed. Distributors and opera-
tors who commit themselves to
PLAY METER. January 15, 1986

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