create vertices at intersection of polygons? (basic modeling)
 

hi, so i had two intersecting Polygon Cubes and i wanted to create vertices at the points of intersection
http://oi63.tinypic.com/14e00t4.jpg
so i made a Boolean Union and it did exactly what i wanted, new vertices were created at the points of intersection
the new vertices are connected to both Cubes geometry as they should be

but when i try the same procedure with Polygon Planes, it's not working (Maya 2016)
http://oi63.tinypic.com/et5jqt.jpg
the original geometry sets remain separate without anything getting connected (the highlighted vertices are not connected to the other Plane's vertices only their own Plane's)
and obviously no vertices are getting created at the intersections

what's the proposed method of doing this in Maya? i was told it can't be done but i must say i find that hard to believe, i mean i can't imagine modeling anything other than a billiard ball without this ability, it's pretty vital
thanks