o       Welcome
o       v.90 and iiNet
o       New Payment Options
o       New Contact Phone Number
o       Feedback
o       iiNet's Modem Numbers
o       Web Page of Interest - V.90
o       Credits

Well, the end of the year's rapidly approaching, but we're not going to let the general chaos that seems to accompany the beginning of the school holidays get in the way of providing our customers with the best service and support around, so here's another newsletter. This issue has lots of information in it, including some new methods for paying your bills, new methods for contacting us, and even new methods of connecting your modem to ours! If anything, this newsletter can be called the "Shiny and New" edition.

As always, please note that we welcome suggestions from anyone reading these newsletters. Your input will help us to improve these newsletters, supplying you with the information you want and need to know. Don't hesitate to email us, at:

newsletter@iinet.net.au

We hope you find this newsletter - and the ones to come - informative and helpful. You can find previous editions of the iiNet newsletters at this web address:

V.90 and iiNet

Over the last few weeks, we have been trialling the new ratified 56k technology called V.90. After comparing the performances of V.90 and k56Flex, we have decided to move all our digital rotaries across to this new standard. If you start to experience any problems or difficulties over the next few weeks, please do not hesitate to contact our support team on 9214 2222.

If you have just about had enough of your old 28.8k modem or slower, and have finally decided to upgrade to a 56k modem, you should consider very carefully what brand of modem you should purchase as they are not all created the same. Generally, you get what you pay for, so that $99 modem is likely to cause you grief down the track. Our support officers (who deal with hundreds of clients a week) generally recommend the following as they have historically worked reliably with our equipment: Banksia Wave SP56 range, Netcomm Modems (particularly the Roadster II Ultra), and the Maestro range.

If you have any queries about modems, please contact our support staff either by phone or email before purchasing a modem which you may regret later.

New Payment Options

Over the past six months, iiNet has been negotiating with the major banks and Australia Post to provide you with a better, more efficient way of paying your iiNet bills. Very soon, iiNet account holders (with the exception of Discovery Accounts, which must be paid by Credit Card) will receive invoices in the post. It will look fairly similar to existing utility bills you receive, and have the BPAY and Australia Post payment options.

BPAY allows you to pay your bills over the phone through telephone banking. If you have not used BPAY before, you will need to contact your local bank for more information. If your invoice includes the "Pay at Post" symbol and a barcode, you will be able to present it at any of over four thousand post offices nationally, and they will provide a receipt much like your electricity and telephone bills. In both of these cases, we receive notification from either the bank or Australia Post the following business day, so if your invoice is overdue, please contact us to ensure that there is no discontinuity in service.

New Contact Phone Number

Due to the ever increasing number of clients and staff, we were beginning to reach the capacity of our old PABX system. However, with the installation of our new high-tech PABX, iiNet now has a new contact number. The new number is 9214 2222 (NOTE - not 9213 1000, our dialin rotary number). Please use this number from now on in order to contact us. The old numbers (9322-7770 and 9322-7773) will, of course, continue to work for the time being.

Feedback

Here at iiNet we are always interested in looking for new ways to provide a better service to our customers. If you have any suggestions or ideas about what we should be doing whether it be providing extra games servers, creating new accounts, or simply telling us what we are doing wrong, or alternatively doing right please email them to:

feedback@iinet.net.au

iiNet's Modem Numbers

Number             Physical Location    Current Lines
------             -----------------    -------------

08 9213-1000       Perth                840
08 9278-0999       Perth                900
08 9528-0200       Rockingham           90
08 9721-0700       Bunbury              120

Note that this list does not include our analogue rotaries of around 450 modems, as these lines will gradually be phased out. You can check if these numbers are a local call for you by calling Telstra on 1411-1222. If unsure of which number to dial, feel free to contact iiNet support, either by phone on 9214-2222 or by email at:

support@iinet.net.au

Web Page of Interest - V.90 Information

For those who've heard all about this V.90 thing and want to know more, check out the official V.90 web site, at:

http://www.v90.com/

Credits

This newsletter produced by Martin Livings, with contributions by Kim Davies, Paul Raj Khangure and (especially!) Glen Lewis. Copyright 1998 iiNet Technologies P/L. All Rights Reserved.