AT&T Co is planning to soup up its US 900 number recorded message facility with a new US-wide interactive service called AT&T MultiQuest, which will enable companies to offer information on topics ranging from consumer product reports to stock quotes and have someone on the end of the phone to answer questions on anything from market tips to your personal horoscope: it will charge a flat rate from anywhere in the US, should start on January 5, and AT&T reckons it will be able to eliminate pornography because it sets the shareout of the proceeds by negotiation with the information provider, and can set the rate so low for the unsavoury that the game ain’t worth the candle; other ideas for the service include telephone ordering of goods using the push-button dial, and recording to cash pledges to political or charitable campaigns; the market for such services is put as high as $2,500m all told by 1992.
