With X-Streams recent entrance into the 0800 24/7 market a lot of things are likely to start happening. More users will join the ever growing Internet populous and slowly but surely it will be accepted into modern everyday life. X-Stream is just one of hundreds that are trying to bring that fantasy into a reality, the difference is they are actually doing it.

As the sun broke through the condensed pains of glass that separate our office from the cold and forbidding outside world, we decided that there could be no better way of spending the time freezing to death than by doing a little interview with X-Stream. Chris Sukornyk who is President & CTO at XS seemed like the ideal person to talk about 24/7 0800 access and the future of XS.

The Interview

Ques 1)
Who are you and what do you do at X-Stream?

I am the founder of X-Stream and currently serve as President and Chief Technology Officer.

I am currently involved in almost all aspects of X-Stream, however, I would say a lot of my time is dedicated to conceiving new ideas and delivering them to our users.

Ques 2)
X-Stream is the first ISP to TRULY offer 24/7 0800 access (even CallNet0800 wanted CC details), how did the decision to go ahead with it come about?

The idea had been floating around the X-Stream offices for a long time. 24/7 0800 access is a very attractive offer and the next logical step for Internet Service providers. However, we wrestled with negatives of providing 24x7 0800 access. We recognized the "engaged tone" problem and asked our users on our chat boards what they thought. Almost all of these users said that they would prefer the "option" of connecting for free even if there were a good chance the lines would be busy. The trail service was born out of this interaction with our users.

Ques 3)
Wouldn't it have been better to start the trial on a different number to the weekend 0800 so that weekend users could still get reasonable access?

X-Stream offers a guaranteed connection on our regular rate phone lines. This 24x7 0800 trail currently replaces our 0800 weekends. We felt having two separate 0800 offers would do nothing but confuse the marketplace.

Ques 4)
What kind of time-scale do you have for upgrading the network and terminals to cope with the new added traffic to the 0800 system? i.e. When can we expect it to be fully operational and what stages will you take to get it there.

Currently, our 0800 services is a trial and we will have to wait for results until we move beyond the trial phase.

Ques 5)
X-Stream is one of the biggest free ISPs in the UK; to what do you attribute this?

1) Innovation. X-Stream has a history of firsts. We were the first free ISP in the UK, we were the first to offer 0800 calling, we were the first to offer unified messaging. Our press releases speak for themselves.

2) Quality. X-Stream manages all of its own equipment, from the telecom switch right down to the modem racks. As a result, we can control quality directly rather than relying on a third party.

3) Understanding of Technology. X-Stream is a technology company, we don't outsource our core business, unlike most other ISP's in the UK. As a result, we can control quality and release new services quickly.

Ques 6)
One big problem with X-Stream is its lack of support for ISDN and the fact that your software doesn't appear to pickup modems or modem configs built into the ISDN cards. Will you ever support ISDN in the future?

We do support ISDN. With a little tweaking, our software will allow users to connect via ISDN. Unfortunately, Windows does not make this the most intuitive process. There are two ways users can connect via. ISDN:

1) X-Stream allows users to connect through Dial-Up Networking, provided they have our software installed. So if you are able to setup an ISDN modem through Dial-Up Networking, you simply connect to our numbers with your full x-stream username and password. The ad software will load once you have connected.

2) You can set-up a "virtual isdn" modem through the Windows control Panel. Simply set-up your ISDN device as you would a normal modem; windows should detect the device and display it as a windows modem. You can then set-up our software to use that "virtual modem".

Ques 7)
How do you foresee X-Stream expanding into the millennium other than its 0800 system, anything else up your sleeves?

We have MANY new things up our sleeves. Of course, there's been a history of following X-Stream's lead, so I had better keep quiet.

Ques 8)
Finally, do you have anything to say to our readers, good wishes, anything at all?

On behalf of X-Stream, I would like to thank all of our users for their support and dedication to X-Stream. I would encourage any users to email me directly with their comments or questions. Please email firth@x-stream.co.uk

Happy Holidays, X-Stream