MCI unveils plans for one-number call forwarding

Getting a head start on rival service providers, MCI Communications Corp. last week announced plans to launch DirectlineMCI, a national call-forwarding service for voice and fax calls.

Scheduled to go live the first week of December, DirectlineMCI will give all end users their own 800 numbers. Incoming calls will be routed to three numbers in sequence -- a user's office, cellular and home phones, for instance. Calls can be forwarded to both domestic and international numbers.

While the call makes its rounds, a caller on hold is updated about the call's progress. If a called party does not answer, the call can either go to voice mail or to an outside paging service.

The service also supports a fax store-and-forward function that allows a user to arrange for fax delivery to a remote machine. Callers can...