2006 news releases

SaskTel Offers Tips as Saskatchewan Rallies to Support Rockglen's Tyler Lewis in the Canadian Idol Competition

July 10, 2006

Over the course of CTV’s Canadian Idol competition, SaskTel experiences significant call volumes throughout the voting window. Last Monday, SaskTel experienced over a 700% year-over-year increase in call volumes within the Moose Jaw District alone during the two hour voting window. SaskTel achieved a 99% call completion rate province-wide following the July 3, 2006 episode.

“SaskTel is very proud of the accomplishments of our past and present Saskatchewan competitors and we are also proud of our state-of-the-art network infrastructure,” Robert Watson, SaskTel President and CEO said. “We ask our customers to remain patient as we process as many calls as possible while still maintaining the integrity of our entire network.”

While SaskTel and other telecommunications companies’ networks are designed with extra capacity and redundancy built in, capacity is not infinite. Therefore, on occasions such as contests, when large numbers of customers attempt to call simultaneously, they may experience a delay in dial tone or a “fast busy” signal that indicates all telephone circuits are in use.

SaskTel recommends Canadian Idol fans follow these tips for voting:

1. Call during non-peak periods.  The highest call volumes occur within the first 30 minutes and people calling to vote during the first few minutes are most likely to get a busy signal or no dial tone altogether. Waiting for non-peak times before calling increases your chances of successfully voting.
   
   
2. Do not begin dialing until you hear a dial tone. If you do not hear a dial tone immediately, do not hang up as you have been placed in a queue that will keep your line ready for when the next dial tone becomes available. Waiting for dial tone will maintain your priority in the queue. If you do not hear a dial tone within 15 seconds, please hang up and try again.
   
   
3. Do not use automatic re-dialers. Most automatic re-dialers are not sophisticated enough to wait for a dial tone. Calls can only be processed if a dial tone is heard.

A detailed FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document on how to vote can be found on the Canadian Idol Web site at www.idol.ctv.ca.

Contact

Michelle Englot , SaskTel Corporate Affairs
Phone: (306) 777-4476
E-mail: michelle.englot@sasktel.sk.ca