No worry, TPSA has Y2K in hand
Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) has launched a last-minute information campaign aimed at easing fears about the Y2K computer problem.
The campaign entails a telephone hot line, a web page, and two television specials. All are intended to answer questions the public may have about the state of preparations and potential threats arising from the programming glitch that causes a computer to think the year 2000 is actually 1900.
TPSA has hired PR firm Laborpress to undertake the campaign, but would not say how much the campaign would cost the majority state-owned telephone monopolist.
The toll-free telephone hot line (0-800-2000-00) is staffed seven days a week and is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. But starting today (Monday, Dec. 6), the new hours will be 9 a.m. until midnight in response to the large number of calls, said Anna Apps, a PR specialist at Laborpress.
About 4,000 calls daily pour into the hot line that operates as a call center, Apps said. The most frequently asked questions, she said, are: Will my computer work after Dec. 31, 1999? What does Y2K mean? What are the most dangerous effects of Y2K?
TPSA is also sponsoring a web site devoted to responding to Y2K worries (www.2000pl.com), but the company is apparently taking the situation lightheartedly. In a section of the web site called "Half joking/Half serious," they publish a "top 10" list called "Unexpected results of the Y2K problem." It includes "The tax office will demand you pay taxes for the last 100 years," and "Using a computer adoption agency, Michael Jackson invites several 80-year-olds to his house."
