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Message from discussion Need clarification of terms for noon and midnight using PM and AM
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The Old Bear  
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 More options Dec 22 2001, 1:23 am
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
From: oldb...@arctos.com (The Old Bear)
Date: 22 Dec 2001 01:21:02 -0500
Local: Sat, Dec 22 2001 1:21 am
Subject: Re: Need clarification of terms for noon and midnight using PM and AM
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"Gail M. Hall" <gmh...@apk.net> writes:

>From: "Gail M. Hall" <gmh...@apk.net>
>Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
>Subject: Need clarification of terms for noon and midnight using PM and AM
>Date: 21 Dec 2001 23:34:37 -0500

>This is really telecom related because I'm looking at what kind of usage
>"minutes" are called what and when.

>Is there a consistent definition of 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM in the telecom
>business?

>Technically there is no such thing as 12:00 AM or PM.  There is 12:00 noon
>and 12:00 midnight.  AM means before noon and PM means after noon, but
>right at noon, it is straight-up noon.

The convention is that 12:00AM is midnight and 12:00PM is noon.  As you
note, it's technically wrong because the meridians of noon and midnight
are neither AM nor PM.  However, logic has it that one minute after
midnight is 12:01AM and therefore midnight is 12:00AM.  Same logic applies
to noon being 12:00PM because one minute later is 12:01PM.

While confusing, this is less confusing that the alternative of calling
noon 12:00AM and the rest of the hour 12:01PM to 12:59PM.  Aaaaargh.

>It seems to me that it would be more clear if in the text defining times
>the 24-hour format could be used, just as weight is expressed in metric and
>US measures.  

Then one needs to determine whether the stroke of midnight is 24:00 hours
today or 0:00 hours tomorrow.  :)

>Here is a quote of the definition of night and weekend hours in a brochure
>that I got.

>  Night hours are 9:00 PM - 5:59 AM, Monday - Friday.
>  Weekend hours are 12:00 AM Saturday - 11:59 PM Sunday.
>  Peak hours are all other times except certain holidays.

>Does "12:00 AM" mean 12 noon or 12 midnight?

No one ever said that MBAs and marketing people know how to write clearly.  

> .  .  .

>I hope I'm not being overly paranoid when I think maybe there is a catch
>in the way they describe their times for weekend minutes and night minutes.

No, you're not being overly paranoid.  In the telecom industry, the
"gotcha" is the rule rather than the exception.  Pricing plans are designed
specifically to be confusing and to make comparisons between carriers all
but impossible.  This is known as free market competition.

You can ask for clarification -- but your sales person may be equally
confused and dispense the wrong answer.  You're best bet is to ask to see
a typical itemized billing statement to see how calls at various times
are noted (day, evening, weekend).

I wish you well.

Cheers,
The Old Bear
--
The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail
messages to edi...@telecom-digest.org.


 
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