Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28056; 1 Jan 92 22:44 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19513 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 1 Jan 1992 20:55:08 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31590 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 1 Jan 1992 20:54:51 -0600 Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 20:54:51 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201020254.AA31590@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: Telecom Archives Listing - January, 1992 Attached here is a listing of the files available in the Telecom Archives as of January 1, 1992. The main directory is itemized below, along with one of the sub-directories dealing with security issues. Other directories in the listing below include tables of country codes for international dialing; Canadian area code and prefix assignments, and other topics. The archives is accessible using anonymous ftp, or an email/ftp server. The archives are stored at lcs.mit.edu, and anonymous ftp works like this: ftp lcs.mit.edu login anonymous give name@site.domain as password cd telecom-archives Instructions for using email/ftp servers vary. Consult the administrator of each server for details. Here is the main directory: total 3719 drwxrwxr-x 15 telecom telecom 5632 Jan 1 03:59 ./ drwxrwxr-x 24 root wheel 1024 Jan 1 01:03 ../ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1981-86.volumes.1-5/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1987.volumes.6-7/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1988.volume.8/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Oct 27 02:43 1989.volume.9/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Oct 27 10:26 1990.volume.10/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Jan 1 03:34 1991.volume.11/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Jan 1 03:30 1992.volume.12/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 663 Jan 27 1991 READ.ME.FIRST -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 25799 Sep 12 1990 abernathy.internet.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68508 Mar 14 1991 aos-new.fcc.proposals -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68224 Nov 20 1990 aos-rules.procedures -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60505 Feb 24 1991 apple.data.pcs.petition -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18238 Nov 9 1990 area.214-903.split -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 34767 Nov 23 02:35 areacode.guide -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9861 Nov 23 02:34 areacode.program.in.c -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21348 Nov 23 02:35 areacode.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8734 Dec 13 21:19 att-reach.out-calculator -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 474 Feb 11 1990 att.service.outage.1-90 -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 18937 Aug 1 1989 auto.coin.collection -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4788 Jun 10 1990 books.about.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21206 Nov 18 20:37 breaux.bill.call.blocking -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 61504 Jul 30 1990 caller-id-legal-decision -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4569 Apr 14 1991 caller-id-specs.bellcore -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6807 Dec 13 21:20 caller.id.specs -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39449 Dec 14 1990 cellular.carrier.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16188 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.abernathy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2755 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.prevention -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17016 Aug 5 1990 cellular.phones-iridium -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24455 Feb 6 1991 cellular.program-motorola -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 15141 Aug 1 1989 cellular.sieve -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 298 May 31 1990 cellular.west.germany -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16292 Mar 18 1990 class.ss7.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15023 Sep 30 1990 cocot-in-violation-label -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38981 Oct 12 1990 cocot.complaint.sticker -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70477 Sep 5 1990 computer.bbs.and.the.law -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 23944 Aug 1 1989 computer.state dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Dec 27 02:32 country.codes/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11267 Feb 25 1990 cpid-ani.developments -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 436 Mar 16 1991 deaf.communicate.on.tdd -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15877 Sep 1 1990 dial.tone.monopoly -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28296 Sep 29 1990 dialup.access.in.uk -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 29980 Oct 29 23:51 docket.87-215 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13622 Aug 18 21:42 e-mail.system.survey -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16367 Sep 1 1990 e-series.recommendations -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3422 Jan 20 1990 early.digital.ESS -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 1 1989 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 4 1990 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39956 Jul 14 1990 elec.frontier.foundation -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5922 Feb 22 1991 email.middle-east.troops -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20660 Sep 5 1990 email.privacy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 enterprise-funny-numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8234 Sep 26 16:59 exploring.950-1288 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19836 Nov 20 1990 fax.products.for.pc -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24706 Oct 29 23:42 fcc.modem.tax.action -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 33239 Aug 1 1989 fcc.policy -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 19378 Aug 1 1989 fcc.threat -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 484 Jan 14 1990 fcc.vrs.aos-ruling -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9052 Aug 1 1989 find.pair -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 47203 Aug 1 1989 fire.in.chgo.5-88 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1998 Jan 27 1990 fire.in.st-louis.1-90 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 377 Jan 27 1990 fires.elsewhere.in.past -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1247 Feb 10 1990 first.issue.cover -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24825 Oct 13 16:39 frequently.asked.question -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14105 Nov 24 1990 genie.star-service -rw-r--r-- 1 map telecom 117273 Dec 31 16:17 glossary.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43101 Jan 27 1991 glossary.isdn.terms-kluge -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 42188 Jan 14 1990 glossary.phrack.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67113 Jan 14 1990 glossary.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68804 Feb 2 1990 hi.perf.computing.net -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5443 Nov 15 00:16 history.of.area.splits -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2337 Jan 27 1990 history.of.digest -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27984 Nov 23 04:30 history.of.teletype -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 53628 Dec 6 01:30 house.of.reps.bill.3515 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32625 Mar 29 1990 how.numbers.are.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31520 Aug 11 01:49 how.phones.work -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15302 Jan 20 1991 how.to.post.msgs.here -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 54041 Dec 13 21:21 hr.3515.federal.law -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1616 Nov 20 1990 index-canada.npa.files -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 411 Nov 20 1990 index-minitel.files -rw-rw-rw- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Jan 1 03:59 index-telecom.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1861 Sep 20 23:15 index-telecom.security -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 343 Jan 20 1991 index-tymnet.info -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 568541 Jan 1 03:42 index-vol.9-10-11.subj.Z -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 936 Mar 3 1991 intro.to.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12896 Nov 20 1990 isdn.pc.adapter-hayes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10590 Aug 11 01:50 lata.names-numbers.table -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4816 Aug 1 1989 lauren.song -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 801 Aug 1 1989 ldisc.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2271 Aug 1 1989 ldnotes.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 13675 Aug 1 1989 ldrates.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12961 Aug 18 21:42 lightning.surge.protect -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12260 Jan 20 1990 london.ac.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12069 Mar 5 1990 london.codes.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15604 Aug 1 1989 mass.lines -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 463 Aug 1 1989 measured-service drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Nov 20 1990 minitel.info/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 36641 Aug 1 1989 mnp.protocol -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2450 Jan 20 1990 modems.and.call-waiting -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 29973 Aug 11 01:58 monitor.soviet.xmissions -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 7597 Feb 10 1990 named.exchanges -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16590 Oct 21 1990 net.mail.guide -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3014 Jan 27 1990 newuser.letter -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32815 Mar 25 1990 nine.hundred.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 34805 Jul 30 00:57 npa.301-410.split -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2795 Aug 3 16:09 npa.510.sed.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45105 Mar 2 1991 npa.800-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30091 Jul 23 19:27 npa.800.carrier.list -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13779 Sep 19 1990 npa.800.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45109 Mar 2 1991 npa.800.revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35934 Dec 13 21:23 npa.809.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15488 Nov 20 1990 npa.900-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15099 Mar 8 1991 npa.900.how.assigned dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Dec 27 02:39 npa.exchange.list-canada/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16534 Feb 11 1990 nsa.original.charter-1952 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9886 Jan 23 1990 occ.10xxx.access.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6847 Mar 2 1991 occ.10xxx.list.updated -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 7714 Jul 23 19:26 occ.10xxx.new.revision -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8593 May 5 1990 occ.10xxx.notes.updates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14354 Aug 12 1990 octothorpe.gets.its.name -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 old.fashioned.coinphones -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2756 Jan 27 1990 old.hello.msg -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60707 Aug 18 21:44 pager.bin.uqx -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13079 Aug 22 01:34 pager.ixo.example -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70153 Aug 1 1989 pc.pursuit -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 5492 Aug 1 1989 pearl.harbor.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11489 Sep 29 20:07 phone.home-usa -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28922 Aug 11 01:49 phone.patches -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38772 Aug 1 1989 pizza.auto.nmbr.id -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14189 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11696 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8452 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17950 Jan 14 1990 rotenberg.privacy.speech -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4184 Jul 27 23:58 sprint.long-dist.rates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20526 Jun 11 1991 st.louis.phone.outage -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9764 Jan 20 1990 starline.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 46738 Jan 18 1990 starlink.vrs.pcp -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 103069 Apr 26 1990 sysops.libel.liability -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3857 Aug 1 1989 tat-8.fiber.optic -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27533 Feb 9 1990 telco.name.list.formatted -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31487 Jan 28 1990 telco.name.listing -rw-rw-r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Jan 1 03:34 telecom-recent -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 610 Sep 5 01:00 telecom-recent.read.first drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Sep 20 23:17 telecom.security.issues/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21831 Jan 20 1991 telsat-canada-report -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 11752 Aug 1 1989 telstar.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18138 Sep 29 19:58 toll-free.tolled.list drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Dec 10 1990 tymnet.information/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 26614 May 29 1990 unitel-canada.ld.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 427 Sep 20 22:59 usa.direct.service drwxrwxr-x 2 wais wais 512 Dec 9 14:59 wais/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 116 Oct 22 1990 white.pages -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37947 Aug 1 1989 wire-it-yourself -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4101 Aug 1 1989 wiring.diagram -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24541 Aug 1 1989 zum.debate Here is the directory for security-related files: total 1025 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Sep 20 23:15 ./ drwxrwxr-x 12 telecom telecom 5632 Sep 20 23:14 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24515 Sep 3 02:06 atm-bank.fraud -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6144 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.abernathy -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2755 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.prevention -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13343 Feb 25 1990 computer.fraud.abuse.act -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27395 Jun 23 1990 craig.neidorf.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9354 Jul 30 1990 craig.not.guilty -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67190 Jun 23 1990 crime.and.puzzlement -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 12 1990 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 12 1990 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21918 Dec 2 1990 illinois.computer.laws -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Sep 20 23:15 index-telecom.security -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28935 May 19 1990 jolnet-2600.magazine.art -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30751 Mar 7 1990 jolnet-attctc.crackers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43365 Jan 28 1990 kevin.polsen -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35612 Apr 1 1990 legion.of.doom -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20703 Aug 12 1990 len.rose-legion.of.doom -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2516 Jun 14 01:03 len.rose.in.prison -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 184494 Jun 22 22:04 len.rose.indictment-1 -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 192078 Jun 22 22:05 len.rose.indictment-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67099 Nov 4 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31995 Nov 20 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10833 Nov 20 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14821 Sep 12 1990 war.on.computer.crime Past issues of TELECOM Digest are located in the directories labled by year and volume number, and packed in groups of fifty issues within those directories. The most recent issues of the Digest are in the telecom-recent file where they are automatically uploaded each time an issue comes out. Every fiftieth issue, the telecom-recent file is moved into permanent storage in the directories mentioned above. The huge file in the main directory entitled 'index-vol.9-10-11.subj.Z' is a 24,939 line file containing the name of each article and its author which appeared in the Digest from April, 1989 through December, 1991. You should take this file back to your site and uncompress it (make sure you have *lots* of space and your sysadmin's okay). Then you use grep -i to search the file for authors, subjects and file group numbers. With this information at hand, you would then go back to the archives to pull the desired block of issues (groups of fifty). I am hoping -- but have no specific date yet -- to have the Telecom Archives available via a wais server within a month or two. More details when available. Enjoy brousing through the archives, and happy new year! Patrick Townson TELECOM Moderator   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa29413; 1 Jan 92 23:36 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23372 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 1 Jan 1992 21:43:29 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20290 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 1 Jan 1992 21:43:10 -0600 Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 21:43:10 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201020343.AA20290@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #1 TELECOM Digest Wed, 1 Jan 92 21:43:05 CST Volume 12 : Issue 1 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Digest Accelerated Index - Subjects and Authors (TELECOM Moderator) A Very Courteous SW Bell Rep (Stephanie da Silva) IBT and Caller-ID (Mark E. Anderson) Re: Modem Prices (Allyn Lai) Re: Phone Company Humor (John G. Dobnick) Re: Phone Company Humor (Peter da Silva) Re: Phone Company Humor (Steve Forrette) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Roy M. Silvernail) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Ed Greenberg) Re: How Do I Connect Two Lines Together at Home? (Steve Forrette) Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls from Bell Canada? (M Brader) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 03:45:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Digest Accelerated Index - Subjects and Authors The accelerated index for TELECOM Digest subjects and authors, volumes 9,10,11 is now ready. This index covers all issues of the Digest from about April, 1989 through the present time. All of Volume 11 has been updated into the index as of January 1. This index -- it is called an 'accelerated index' simply because it points to other index files in the telecom archives, is 24,939 lines long, and is stored in compressed format at the archives where you can obtain a copy. You will need to take a copy back to your site before you uncompress it ... don't uncompress it at the archives, heh! heh! It is huge. Over 24,000 subject headers and author names from the past three years of the Digest. Maybe someday I will get it finished up and it will include volumes 1 through 8 as well, but for now three year's worth ought to be adequate for most of you. You can search the index using 'grep -i' for subject strings, author names and volume/issue numbers (to see what all was within a block of fifty issues). For further help with the index itself, once you have it back at your site and uncompressed -- be sure you have LOTS of space on your disk for it! -- then read the helpful hints at the start of the file usings grep -i "Intro". Read the man pages for 'grep' to learn some sophisticated ways to search the index. Have fun with it, and enjoy! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) Subject: A Very Courteous SW Bell Rep Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 20:44:32 GMT And now for something completely different: a new topic. Actually, it was the thread on wrong numbers that made me decide to subscribe to a few CLASS features -- Call Return and Call Block. I called up my local Southwestern Bell representative and told her I wanted Call Return installed on our voice line. She was surprised that I requested it since it's only been available in this area for about a month now and asked me how I had heard about it. I told her I'd known about these features for a quite a while and then told her that what I really wanted was Caller*ID. That didn't faze her and she said that while SW Bell wasn't currently offering it, she could still see both sides of the controversy. We then got into a discussion of the various CLASS features and she told me about one I'd never heard of -- ComCall which turns all the phones and extensions in your house into an intercom system of sorts. I asked her to mail me some brochures which I've received -- they call the features "Star Power." (Woo!) The representative was also concerned if I was having problems with an abusive caller and I told her that I wasn't having any trouble currently, but I have had problems with such matters in the past which is why I wanted the features (and no, I'm not talking about the Allstate bozos). As we were about to end the conversation, she asked if I wanted the features turned on that afternoon. That took me aback, since I was expecting "a week from next Tuesday" sort of thing. I said "Fine", and sure enough, they were working as of 4 the next morning when I remembered to try them out (don't ask me what I was doing up so early!!) Just now, as I was typing in this letter, I received a long distance phone call from my father-in-law in Honolulu. While we were talking, I got Call Waited by a wrong number. This brings a couple of questions to mind. If I had used Call Return, what would have happened? Would I have gotten Honolulu (does it only work in my local calling area?) or would I have gotten the wrong number person, or none of the above? Stephanie da Silva Taronga Park * Houston, Texas arielle@taronga.com 568-0480 568-1032 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 15:58:18 EST From: mea@ihlpl.att.com (Mark E Anderson) Subject: IBT and Caller-ID Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories As of Monday December 30, I noticed that Illinois Bell has turned on caller ID. We have ISDN at work and I noticed that the outside numbers are now being displayed on my phone. It is a lot of fun suprising callers with "Hello " when I recognize their number. I haven't done any real testing but I know that we aren't receiving the numbers from everyone in our LATA as of now. A curious thing is happening at my home though. As of December 27, I have been receiving an abnormal amount of blank calls on my home answering machine. I received 3 on Friday December 27, 3 on Monday December 30, 3 on New Year's Eve, and so far one today. My machine time stamps these calls and they all occur about one hour apart within a three hour period during the day while I am at work. I was sick Monday and answered one of these calls. I heard nothing for about ten seconds and then dial tone. What I was wondering is it possible that IBT is generating these calls to get people to subscribe to Caller-ID? There is no way I would ever pay $6.50 a month for this service. I wonder if these blank calls will stop once I subscribe. Has anyone else experienced this? Mark Anderson [Moderator's Note: I don't think IBT needs to stoop to the 'marketing practices' you describe in order to sell Caller-ID. The latest word on this from IBT earlier this week was they had already signed up several thousand subscribers to Caller-ID within the first month of taking orders for the service. *67 has been working here since 12-1-91. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Allyn@cup.portal.com Subject: Re: Modem Prices Date: Tue, 31 Dec 91 22:00:38 PST > Would anyone happen to have a list of standard prices for all > varieties of modems? I'd like to buy a 9600 Baud modem, if the price > is right, else I'll live with an MNP and v.42 bis 2400. Also, what ^^^^ > have 1200 baud modems dropped to? And 300? > And what are the fastest modems going for? Thanks in advance.. I'm not sure where you live but out here in the San Francisco Bay Area you can get 2400 baud modems for as cheap as $38.95 (Fry's Electronics). I suppose it's still true that you get what you pay for but I am still amazed at the wide range of prices for modems. You can pay anywhere from $38.95 to $200 for a 2400 baud modem. I guess you get a few more features (e.g. MNP compression) and maybe better noise immunity (e.g. Mom picks up the extension, realizes you're online, quickly hangs up, you don't loose connection (-;). Any comments? Allyn Lai allyn@cup.portal.com [Moderator's Note: I don't think 300/1200 baud modems have any value at all any longer. I've given away a couple of each in the past few months. They're great, of course, for beginning/novice netters. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 00:14:10 -0600 From: John G Dobnick Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor After reading Andrew Green's article on Phone Company Humor, I scanned our white pages for such entries. Apparently Wisconsin Bell is much to serious to engage in such tomfoolery -- no entries, no cross references, no nothing, in the "red pages", the "white pages", or the "blue pages". (White listings are residential, red are commercial, and blue are government. A veritable rainbow of listings.) However, I did stumble upon an unusual listing. The following entry was in the red (commercial) section of our Milwaukee Metroplan directory (AC 414): Primal Center of Denver 323 S Pearl Denver Colo ........... 303 778-8105 Denver? Colorado? Are such out-of-area listings common in the "white pages"? John G Dobnick Computing Services Division @ University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee INTERNET: jgd@uwm.edu ATTnet: (414) 229-5727 UUCP: uunet!uwm!jgd [Moderator's Note: "Foreign directory listings" are very common. Any business can purchase a white (or yellow) pages listing in the directory of any city they want. We have a lot of those in the Chicago book. PAT] ------------------------------ From: peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Reply-To: peter@ficc (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 22:40:01 GMT In article acg@hermes.dlogics.com writes: > rumor had it at the time that no one at the > printers' had noticed any of it until the books hit the street. Since the Houston Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages had covers like that for several years running, I kind of doubt it. I wish now I'd kept those covers ... it never occurred to me they'd stop publishing them. Sigh. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Dec 91 21:40:06 pst From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Here's my message for the "telecom humor" thread. While not intended to be jokes, these tidbits are amusing as they fall into the "just how stupid can telco be" catagory. (I've mentioned some of these before, so please ignore if it's old news). 1. While trying to select PINs for unresricted and one-number calling cards, my US West rep suggested: "Why not make the PINs the same - that way they will be easier to remember!" 2. I was testing my calling card from home, dialing 0+ some number, and wasn't getting the ka-bong. When repair service found out that I was trying to use my own calling card from home, she said that "Well, that's the problem. Why would you want to bill to the calling card that's for the same line you're calling from?" I countered that I was just testing, and in any event it could not possibly know it was me, since I hadn't yet entered the card number. She said "It knows!" I again countered, and she agreed, that it would be perfectly valid for her to be at my house, and want to dial 0+ and enter her number, and she said "Well, that would work, since it wouldn't be billed to your line." Again, I said "But how can it know who's dialing the 0+, even before the ka-bong and calling card number is entered?" "It KNOWS sir!" 3. And the best one is from Cellular One of Sacramento, when asked why 10XXX dialing wasn't available for long distance carrier selection when calling from a cellular phone: "We use microwaves between the cell sites, and they are incompatible with 10XXX dialing." I challenge anyone to beat this one! Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits From: cybrspc!roy@cs.umn.edu (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Wed, 01 Jan 92 10:08:05 CST Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > In country music, from the late 50's, Don Gibson had a hit with > "Call me at Lonesome Number One". The lyric, which I can't quote > exactly, talked about: That's one of my dad's favorites ... "Had my number changed today, although I hated to But every time the phone would ring, they'd want to speak to you..." The hook line was "Just call LOnesome 7 7 203". Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Date: Wed, 01 Jan 92 23:15:07 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) "These are the days of miracle and wonder this is a Long Distance Call The way the camera follows us in slo-mo the way we look to us all" -Paul Simon Ed Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0184 | edg@netcom.com P. O. Box 28618 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95159 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | KM6CG (ex WB2GOH) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Dec 91 20:55:31 pst From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: How Do I Connect Two Lines Together at Home? In-Reply-To: Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article Steve Chafe writes: > Does anyone know how to connect two phone lines together so that I can > make a three way conversation using the two lines I have? Is there a > circuit I could build that would allow me to do this? What I used to do in high school was take my handy Radio Shack two-line switchbox and jam both buttons down at the same time until they locked. This was on the first model they came out with, before it had a "conference" feature built in. (I had actually discovered my first "undocumented feature!") The sound quality was not excellent -- I could hear both parties just fine, but the two remote parties sounded distant to each other. Since I had conference calling on both lines, I could amaze my friends by getting five of us on the line all at once. To release one of the calls, I first had to isolate that line by pressing the red HOLD button in the middle. That would place both lines on hold. Then, I would select the line I wanted by pressing its button, then flash to release one leg of that conference call, then jam the other line button down while holding the first one down. This was necessary since the first one would try to pop up when you selected the second, as the box was not designed to have both selected at once. You had to be quite careful at this, as if you did not do it right, both buttons would release when you let up on the pressure, and all legs of the call would be dropped! So, the trick was to hold the two line buttons down with approximately equal pressure using two fingers from one hand, and hold the HOLD button down with a finger from the other hand, then release the two line buttons. If they stayed down, then you were set. If you had done it wrong (unequal pressure), the line buttons would pop up, but both lines would be on hold since you had the hold button down as well. Then you were free to try it again. Real problems erupted when my friend jammed both lines down while both lines were idle. We were just on our way out, so my folks were left to fend for themselves. The workings (and existence) of the box in my room were unknown to them. Someone called my number, and my line rang normally, but theirs also rang, but with a slighly "sick" ring, as the full voltage was not getting through the box. When they answered, it would answer my line, but also cause their line to go off-hook, so they would hear dialtone, with my caller being connected as well, but through the "weak" link, so their voice could not be heard over the dialtone. Also, my caller would hear just a weak dialtone once the ringing stopped. So, my parents would get dialtone whenever they answered their ringing phone. They quite reasonably considered this an "out of order" condition, but of course knew just who to ask as to the cause. It didn't take me long to find the root of the problem, and of course I was instructed to do "experiments" only on my own line! Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 15:11:00 -0500 From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls from Bell Canada? Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada > Several of the one minute tolls are marked > "minimum charge" which suggests that Bell knows they didn't complete. No; Bell Canada simply has a minimum charge for long-distance calls. I remember when I lived in Waterloo some years ago and worked out that a one-minute call to Guelph, with the discounts for the cheapest time of day, would cost only six cents, or two cents less than it cost to mail a letter. But when I tried it, it showed up on the bill as a 15-cent minimum charge. Phooey. According to the directory issued in April 1991, the minimum charge is now at 34 cents. To see if it had gone up since then, I just phoned the Bell operator and asked what it is now; the operator didn't believe there was such a thing! So I named an exchange not far outside our local calling area, and she said the rate was 34 cents for the first two minutes and then nine cents a minute. Bell charges by the minute, so there is clearly a 34-cent minimum even if the operator doesn't know it! (And as I say, the directory confirms it.) Incidentally, this means that Bell Canada can now beat Canada Post on price, as domestic postage is just now going up to 42 cents. Even with 15% sales tax on the phone call and only 7% on the postage stamp, the minimum-charge phone call can win. Mark Brader SoftQuad Inc., Toronto utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #1 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa20054; 3 Jan 92 3:38 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14811 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 01:27:37 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10224 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 01:27:12 -0600 Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 01:27:12 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201030727.AA10224@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #2 TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Jan 92 01:26:53 CST Volume 12 : Issue 2 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Phone Company Humor (Barry Mishkind) Re: Phone Company Humor (James Hartman) Re: Phone Company Humor (drinnan@evax.gdc.com) Re: Phone Company Humor (Mark Walsh) Re: Phone Company Humor (Tony Harminc) Re: Phone Company Humor (Colin Tuttle) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (David E. A. Wilson) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Edward Floden) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Rob Slade) Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request (David G. Lewis) Re: A Very Courteous SW Bell Rep (Andy Sherman) Re: Life on Hold: Unhappy Inbound Campers (Jon Krueger) Re: Telecaroling (Carl Moore) Re: BWI Airport Payphones (Carl Moore) Re: Weird AT&T Rates (Scott Hinckley) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: barry@coyote.datalog.com (Barry Mishkind) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: Datalog Consulting, Tucson, AZ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 03:34:04 GMT acg@HERMES.DLOGICS.COM writes: > Well, as I type this, it's only New Year's Eve, but I'm submitting > this as a new topic for 1992. "Phone Company Humor" is NOT an > oxymoron; the (previously) monolithic phone company does have human > beings working for it, after all, and it looks like we could all use a One of my friends in England received a call from the ILR (Independent Local Radio) station asking what she had done to get the very first listing in the telephone directory. Janet didn't know what they were talking about, so they explained how everyone thought up these strange names to be first or last in the directory ( Mr. Z. ZZZZZZZyck, for example, or AAAAAAA-AAA-A Auto rentals). Well, my friend was still unable to understand the situation, but she did as asked, and opened the telephone book to find that she was, indeed, the _very_ first entry, "0'Neill, T.J." ...etc. And that was the way it stayed all year! Barry Mishkind barry@coyote.datalog.com [Modertor's Note: Your message arrived here with a zero (0) instead of the letter /O/ in O'Neill's name, and I assume the zero is the reason it sorted to the head of the list, even before the business known as 'A' or 'AAA', etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Phone Company Humor From: unkaphaed!phaedrus@moe.rice.edu (James Hartman, Sysop) Date: Thu, 02 Jan 92 00:11:22 GMT Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy acg@HERMES.DLOGICS.COM writes: [story about the humorous things added into the cover of the phone book] I recall the phone books from the late 70's (mostly the yellow pages) where the cover art had LOTS of little silly things drawn in -- including a rocket taking off, a guy on horseback, and aliens landing. These were on the Houston directories, and since Houston went to two books (A-L/M-Z), when the old books were about to be thrown away, you could have TWO copies of the art, one to keep and one to send to your favorite relative. They did this for a few years, as I recall, but the last one wasn't very well done, and it sort of ended. phaedrus@unkaphaed.UUCP (James Hartman, Sysop) Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, (713) 943-2728 ------------------------------ From: drinnan@evax.gdc.com Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Date: 2 Jan 92 10:58:07 GMT Organization: General DataComm, Middlebury CT In article , acg@HERMES.DLOGICS.COM writes: > Well, that's all I can come up with at the moment. Gee, I wonder if > there might be any other stories out there! :-) Back around 1984 or so when I lived in Tampa, FL, I came across what may've been the result of some telephone-book preparer's humor ... a page heading towards the back of the yellow pages read "WINE - WOMEN". Cute. :-) dw!d [Moderator's Note: Now and then people in a position to do so slip rude things into print, either for revenge or other reasons of their own. About fifteen years ago, a very disgruntled employee in the classified ads department of the {Chicago Tribune} saw a help-wanted ad come through from a former employer of his, and he used his computer access to append a little line at the bottom of the ad, where many employers put the little remark 'equal opportunity, m/f' or similar. He changed it to read 'equal opportunity, m/f and the m/f stands for mother fu---rs'. A teeny, tiny little ad in small print in the classifieds of the Sunday paper, buried among a couple thousand other ads. But the Tribune got a few hundred calls because of it, and of course they went back and audited every work station in the place, hunting down the errant ad-taker until they found him and fired him. I guess the company which ran the help wanted ad was a little shocked also. Naturally, since their ad had an 'error' in it, the paper ran it free the next day. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 13:44:58 PST From: optilink!walsh@uunet.UU.NET (Mark Walsh) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor A friend of mine went to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, and lived in a room which was in a big house in which many students lived. The house was owned and lived in by a nice lady who got tired of all of the racket on her phone, so she got a second phone line for the students. After a few hassles about who's name it was listed under, she had the listing changed to "OTHERS, THE." I could never forget it! Cheers -- Mark -- KC6RKZ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Jan 92 19:50:28 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Phone Company Humour My favourite funny thing in the Toronto Yellow Pages is in the index: under "Nuts and Bolts" it says "see Bolts and Nuts". Tony H. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Date: 2 Jan 92 18:29:10 CST (Thu) From: ctuttle@taronga.com (Colin Tuttle) This is in response to Andrew Green's posting about phone company humor. I remember quite well the humorous yellow pages covers in Houston during the early '70s. It was a drawing of Houston and as Mr. Green mentioned it had all sorts of strange things on it such as a cat and kittens crossing the freeway with all the cars stopping, a Spanish Galleon in the ship channel. There were tons of items in there. A popular topic of conversation was the yellow pages and all the strange things in the drawing. The humor was so subtle that most people didn't notice anything strange until it was pointed out to them. It wasn't well publicized until one of the television stations picked up on it and had the artist on TV talking about it. I remember the station made a big deal of the new phone books coming out, and how there would be more strange items. There was also a bit of an uproar when SW Bell stopped using the drawing and went with a large Bell logo on the cover. I don't recall the explanation or the reason, but then SW Bell never needed a reason for much of anything. I do remember after the humorous pictures ended we started receiving more phone book covers to put over the new ugly cover. ------------------------------ From: david@cs.uow.edu.au (David E A Wilson) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1992 06:10:52 GMT Two more songs from the last decade (give or take a few years): Ring Ring by De La Soul (I cannot recall the number they use) The Picture Phone by Rupert Hine (the problems a video phone can cause) David Wilson (042) 21 3802 voice, (042) 21 3262 fax Dept Comp Sci, Uni of Wollongong david@cs.uow.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 15:34:04 CST From: edward@pro-ren.cts.com (Edward Floden) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: The Get-a-Life Foundation for Chronic Trekism I know that you decreed an ending to this nonsense, but no one mentioned _my_ favorite telephone lyric: If the phone doesn't ring You'll know that it's me I'll be out in the eye of the storm If the phone doesn't ring You know that I'll be Where someone can make me feel warm -- Jimmy Buffett, "If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me", _Last Mango in Paris_, MCA Records, 1985. Internet: edward@pro-ren.cts.com | TechRen User Group UUCP: crash!pro-ren!edward | ProLine: edward@pro-ren ------------------------------ From: rslade@cue.bc.ca (Rob Slade) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: Computer Using Educators of B.C., Canada Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 05:31:32 GMT A few years ago, I was working for the Government Telecommunications Agency, which advises all (Canadian) Federal government offices on telephone and telecom matters, as well as coordinating the long distance net. Most federal offices in the greater Vancouver area are on the "666" exchange; no one else is. You can imagine the jokes we have to contend with. While I was there, the number "666-6666" was assigned. (I forget which office got it.) The number was immediately swamped with calls: so many that "nearby" numbers no longer functioned properly. (No, it was not an old electromagnetic switch: out of deference to the manufacturer I will not name it, but it was one of the most advanced at the time, and is now widely and happily used all over the world.) 666-6666 was immediately taken out of service. It is now listed in the "numbers" data base with a note saying that it is never to be assigned again. Vancouver p1@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@mtsg.sfu.ca Research into CyberStore User (Datapac 3020 8530 1030) Security Canada V7K 2G6 [Moderator's Note: A couple years ago we had a thread here in the Digest discussing the ignorance surrounding '666' and the various places the prefix was in use throughout the USA and Canada. We had an article about a man who was hounded to death by fanatics because his number ended in -0666. And here in Chicago, there are some people who flatly refuse to accept service on the MONroe exchange. Someone pointed out that in some major city, the Great Satan, the Internal Revenue Service had their centrex on the 666 exchange in that town. PAT] ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1992 14:23:29 GMT In article peter@ficc.ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes: >> New England Telephone has proposed a $35 installation fee and a >> monthly fee of $8 a month for the basic 960-character-per-second >> residential service. Users would also have to pay a fee each time they >> accessed the network, and there would be far higher charges to use a >> faster data system and other features of the network. > In other words, you'd have to pay a premium to actually use *less* > bandwidth on the phone system (that is, a 2400 baud POTS call uses a > 64 KB channel or a dedicated line (in the local area), where a 9600 > baud ISDN connection only uses a 9.6 KB channel. Sounds like Touch > Tone fees all over again. Not exactly. I believe the article is referring to 9.6kbps packet switched on the D channel in addition to the 64kbps B channel. In other words, you're getting the regular POTS equivalent service (B channel) plus the D channel packet for the $8/month plus connection charges. The second B channel would cost more. The 2400 baud POTS call (POTS w/modem) uses an analog line card. The 9.6kbps ISDN connection uses part of a protocol handler and leaves the ISDN line card available for other use. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!houxa!deej ISDN Evolution Planning ------------------------------ From: andys@ulysses.att.com Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 09:45:57 EST Subject: Re: A Very Courteous SW Bell Rep Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Murray Hill, NJ In article arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) writes: > Just now, as I was typing in this letter, I received a long distance > phone call from my father-in-law in Honolulu. While we were talking, > I got Call Waited by a wrong number. This brings a couple of > questions to mind. If I had used Call Return, what would have > happened? Would I have gotten Honolulu (does it only work in my local > calling area?) or would I have gotten the wrong number person, or none > of the above? CLASS features only work for intra-LATA calls from exchanges equipped with SS7. As for the call waiting call, I'm pretty sure it would be the last call received for purposes of Call Return, Call Block, or Call Trace. As for Caller ID, there is at this time no definitive standard as to how to get information to the CID modem when a call-waiting call comes in. An announcement of Northern Telecom's prototype appeared in the Digest last year, but Bellcore is still working out a standard from among the competing kludges. (I've been told it's an ugly problem with ugly solutions.) Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1991 21:22:49 -0800 Subject: Re: Life on Hold: Unhappy Inbound Campers Reply-To: jpk@Ingres.COM Organization: Ask Computer Systems Inc., Ingres Division, Alameda CA 94501 From: jpk@ingres.com (Jon Krueger) Doctor Math writes: > Since "they" generally get ANI delivered in real-time, > perhaps they should allow you to flag your account to only allow > certain transactions (if any at all) with the auto-attendant IF the > ANI information matches their database ... granted, it could be very > inconvenient, but it would be hard to beat for "privacy enhancement". And who would be responsible for my loss of privacy due to ANI spoofing? And what would my recourse be in such a case? It's simply bad design to trust a public network to authenticate private parties who connect to it via their own equipment. If you want to enhance privacy, there are plenty of ways around. Start with having "them" call you back at the trusted number. Claiming I'm calling from the number is one thing, answering the phone that rings when you call it is another. Jon Krueger jpk@ingres.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 10:29:00 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Telecaroling Unless you have a speaker setup, the caroling can only be heard by the person receiving the call, and little or none by others near the receiving end. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 10:35:24 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: BWI Airport Payphones Several years ago, I saw pay phones at BWI on: 850 and/or 859 for Baltimore metro service (that's the local exchange in the area which includes BWI, and is going into 410 area). 621 for Washington metro service (stays in area 301). ------------------------------ From: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com (Scott Hinckley) Subject: Re: Weird AT&T Rates Date: 2 Jan 92 19:19:21 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com In grout!mark@uunet.uu.net (Mark Oberg) writes: > In article ronnie@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Ron > Schnell) writes: >> I also found out that the rate to call Massachusetts is more expensive >> for the first minute than for each additional minute. I asked the rep > I assume that you meant to say "less expensive" from the > context of the paragraph. If so, the reason might be marketing rather > than any corporate sympathy for the plight of fax users. MCI has had > the very interesting habit of quoting first minute rates that are > lower than the additional minute rate for quite some time now. Mark, When have you been quoted lower first minute charges by MCI?. I have been using MCI for five years now and have never had a case where that was true. All my minutes cost the same (there was a time when the first minute was HIGHER, but that stopped a couple of years a go). I just called MCI customer service and was unable to find a case where the first minute was less expensive, so I asked for a supervisor. The supervisor was unaware of any such case. If there is such a case would you be so kind as to provide me with the area and prefix of the calling and called numbers so that I can pursue this with said supervisor? Thank you, scott@hsvaic.boeing.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #2 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21256; 3 Jan 92 4:03 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05295 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:08:43 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22280 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:08:15 -0600 Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:08:15 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201030808.AA22280@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #3 TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Jan 92 02:08:09 CST Volume 12 : Issue 3 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Telephone Number Format (Toby Nixon) Re: Telephone Number Format (Bob Denny) Re: Telephone Number Format (Carl Moore) Re: Telephone Company Employees (Mickey Ferguson) Re: Telephone Museums (Mickey Ferguson) Re: Rail Phone (William Moss) Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? (Scott Hinckley) Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? (Winston L. Sorfleet) Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls from Bell Canada? (P Sleggs) Re: Adjacent Area Codes (Carl Moore) Contel Service Isn't Bad Compared to Others (Rick Rodman) The Best and the Worst (John Higdon) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Telephone Number Format Date: 2 Jan 92 11:37:08 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article , lotus!rlaferla!robertl@ uunet.uu.net (Robert La Ferla) writes: > Can someone please explain what the new format for telephones is all > about? What implications does it have for foreign telephone numbers? > For example: > (800) 222-1212 > is now > +1 800 222-1212 First of all, you should never see an 800 number in this format, because 800 numbers are not generally dialable from overseas!! The "+" is the international standard syntax to indicate that what follows is the "country code". "1" is the country code for North America. See my phone numbers below. When specifying an international number, the standard (CCITT Recommendation E.123) says to start with the "+", append the country code, a space, the city code if any, a space, and then the local number, inserting spaces if necessary (hyphens may be used by national option). When specifying a national number (what people within the same country would call), you leave off the country code, and you may enclose the city code in parentheses (e.g., "(404) 840-9200") to indicate that that portion of the number is optional (if you're already within that area). Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | BBS +1-404-446-6336 AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon Fido 1:114/15 USA | Internet tnixon@hayes.com ------------------------------ From: denny@dakota.alisa.com (Bob Denny) Subject: Re: Telephone Number Format Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 22:44:41 GMT Organization: Alisa Systems, Inc. In lotus!rlaferla!robertl@uunet.uu.net (Robert La Ferla) writes: > Can someone please explain what the new format for telephones is all > about? What implications does it have for foreign telephone numbers? > For example: > (800) 222-1212 > is now > +1 800 222-1212 Is it? I have seen variations of this international number description format, depending on where the dashes are or are not. Where are dashes supposed to be? And what is the definitive reference for this format? Robert B. Denny voice: (818) 792-9474 Alisa Systems, Inc. fax: (818) 792-4068 Pasadena, CA (denny@alisa.com, ..uunet!alisa.com!denny) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 9:40:49 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Telephone Number Format I don't know what is "new" about the format "+1 xxx xxx-xxxx". That leading 1 is the country code for the U.S. and Canada and many points in the Caribbean Sea area, and the +1 should be included when giving a number to people from outside country code 1. It is just coincidence that the leading 1 is also used (within country code 1) to indicate either "toll call" or "what follows is an area code". Whether toll-free numbers can be reached from abroad is another matter; a business would normally give a local non-toll-free number for people to use when calling from abroad. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 14:47:39 PST From: fergusom@scrvm1.vnet.ibm.com (Mickey Ferguson) Subject: Re: Telephone Company Employees Organization: Rolm Systems Dave Levenson writes: > In article , john@zygot.ati.com (John > Higdon) writes: >> However, on those occasions when I must deal with the residence >> department (for my home) or the standard business office, a trick is >> used which has proven quite effective. Just select "0" at every >> prompt. Two or three "0"s later, you will either be speaking to a >> live person or will be comfortably waiting in an ACD queue. > What also works is to remain silent when prompted to enter touch tone > digits. These systems generally don't know whether the caller is > touch-tone-equipped or not. If the first prompt is met with silence, > it should be designed to assume that tone-dial equipment is not > available, and should attempt to connect you with a human. An interesting feature of J.C. Penney National Bank's credit card info number is that if you don't have tone-dial, it can still work for you. What it does is voice recognition. You speak the digit of your choice and it figures out which digit you said. I had tried exactly your suggestion of not entering anything, hoping to get connected to a real operator, and instead got this. (Though I was annoyed at the time, I thought it was a pretty good idea.) Mickey Ferguson Rolm Systems FergusoM@scrvm2.vnet.ibm.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 14:55:34 PST From: fergusom@scrvm1.vnet.ibm.com (Mickey Ferguson) Subject: Re: Telephone Museums Organization: Rolm Systems Nigel Allen writes: > If you are going to be in a different city around Christmas, you may > want to find out from the local telephone company, tourism bureau or > chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America whether there is a > telephone museum in the community that you are visiting. I will put in my plug for one of the finest museums in the world -- the Deutsches (spelling?) Museum in Munich, Germany. It has a very large display of the history of telecommunications. For that matter, it has excellent displays for LOTS of other technical topics. Truly one of the great museums! Mickey Ferguson Rolm Systems FergusoM@scrvm2.vnet.ibm.com ------------------------------ From: william@bnr.ca (William Moss) Subject: Re: Rail Phone Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1992 18:31:26 -0500 Organization: Bell-Northern Research I took a VIA train from Montreal to Ottawa a few years back, and every coach car had one cellular pay phone in it. I don't remember the rates (if they were even posted), but I do know that I used my Mastercard, and it never showed up on my bill. The carrier was CANTEL. The reception was fairly good (much better than an Airphone(tm)), but it did pass through some noisy pockets. The rail line from Ottawa to Montreal is never more than about ten miles from the expressway, which is fully covered, I believe, by both cellular carriers. That expressway (417), by the way, has solar powered emergency cellular phones every few miles along the road. I believe that Bell Cellular is the carrier for those. William G. Moss disclaimer: not the views of BNR or NT Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ottawa +1 613 763 8108 WILLIAM@BNR.CA ------------------------------ From: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com (Scott Hinckley) Subject: Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? Date: 2 Jan 92 17:21:42 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com Organization: I try not to In aboritz@harry.hourgls.fidonet.org (Alan Boritz) writes: > You won't see ISDN in the consumer market in your lifetime. > Unfortunately, though, you may not see wireless cable become a similar > contender in your lifetime, either. MMDS is not doing well these days > as conventional cable penetrates more markets. The MMDS industry may Wow, talk about pessimistic! ISDN is going into business use here in Huntsville, AL next month (actually, it is already in use, but that is when a big ISDN conference will let everyone know what they can use it for). According to the SCB employee I talked to (been there since mechanical switches), ISDN for home use should be available (though not advertised) within a few years at most. Wireless cable is doing quite well here. We have three(!) cable companies (Wireless, Cable Alabama, and Comcast). Due to the rate of new construction the wire-cable companies are quite a bit behind in their installations. I live up on Green 'Mountain' and neither of the wire based cable-companies have plans to run their cable there. (Currently about 100 homes up there, almost all of which are VERY nice homes) Everyone I know up there would subscribe if wire-cable were available, they are mostly new homes with built-in cable wireing. (I miss my CNN. The wireless cable company is in the process of raising their tower, and we will not be LOS until they have done so. We are on the back side of the crest of the mountain, the front side recieves just fine.) scott@hsvaic.boeing.com ------------------------------ From: Winston (W.L.) Sorfleet Subject: Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? Reply-To: sorflet@bnr.ca Organization: Bell-Northern Research Date: Thu 2 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT In article , aboritz@harry.hourgls. fidonet.org (A lan Boritz) writes: > In an article george@brooks.ICS.UCI. > EDU writes: >> I'm presently investigating investment in a wireless cable company. >> One of the drawbacks is I won't see any return on that investment for >> five or six years (FCC takes onee year to process application, takes a >> year to get a station on-line, and three or four to recoup costs). By >> that time I wonder if ISDN will be a long way off, and of course >> provide a superior conduit for video into the home. Anyone know, or >> have an idea as to find out? > You won't see ISDN in the consumer market in your lifetime. I don't agree with this statement. National ISDN-1, which is supposed to be deployed in February, establishes standards for BRI ISDN which the switch vendors (Northern Telecom, AT&T, etc.) and terminal equipment vendors all meet. For their part, the telcos have committed to making ISDN services available to customers. It is true that residential users probably cannot afford the $600 for the ISDN terminal + $150 for the Network Termination + $40 / month for the ISDN services, but these prices will hopefully decrease once the third-party manufacturers start to compete (ISDN line cards cost about $200 as opposed to $10 for POTS). Certainly, business customers can and do afford to pay the costs for ISDN in return for the high data bandwidth. Video into the home is probably a long way away for ISDN. BRI and PRI both provide only 64 Kbps channels, not nearly enough for anything but sampled video stills. ISDN cannot compete with cable video until they get broadband ISDN working, who knows when that will be. Winston Sorfleet Bell-Northern Research, Dept. 7D34 sorflet@bnr.ca Opinions expressed are purely personal and do not represent Northern Telecom or Bell-Northern Research in any way. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls from Bell Canada? From: peters@beltrix.guild.org (Peter Sleggs) Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1992 20:22:20 -0500 Organization: Bellatrix Systems Corp., Mississauga, ONT Canada Charlie.Mingo@p0.f70.n109.z1.FidoNet.Org (Charlie Mingo) writes: > My sister who lives in Toronto believes that Bell Canada has begun > charging tolls for incomplete call attempts (busy or no answer), as > numerous one minute charges have been appearing on her bill after no > call was completed. Several of the one minute tolls are marked > "minimum charge" which suggests that Bell knows they didn't complete. > (The calls are from Toronto to Ottawa, Kingston and Halifax.) > I had thought that any "legitimate" LD company would look for > answer supervision before starting the clock, and that such practices > were confined to sleazy AOS's. > Does anyone know if Bell Canada has started doing things like this? I dont believe so, as I have not seen this for my calls. The minimum charge is shown where there is a short call at a discount rate that falls BELOW the minimum charge Bell has set for that destination. I have many of these charges on the Fax line as most calls are < 1 minute. If Bell tried to do this I would expect the complaints to cause all hell to break loose when the CRTC hears of this. (not even considering the fuss that would be made by those who want alternative LD services!) peter peters@beltrix.guild.org or torag!beltrix!peters ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 11:09:16 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Adjacent Area Codes When 410 is fully cut over in Maryland, 301 will no longer touch 302, but 301 will still touch 304 (W.Va.). It touches one exchange in 412 at the northwestern corner of the state. But that part of Maryland stays in 301 instead of going into 410. In the archive file history.of.area.splits, I included the following because I noticed an N0X area code in a state or province having more than one area code; let me add some comments in parentheses: 704/919 North Carolina (notice that 704 does not now touch Virginia, which split from 703 to 703/804 in 1973). 402/308 Nebraska (I received messages suggesting that there was never such a split, and now you have called to my attention that 308 touches 307). ------------------------------ From: virtech!rickr@uunet.UU.NET (Rick Rodman) Subject: Contel Service Isn't Bad, Compared to Others Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 21:43:19 EST Well, Bob Woodruff called me from Contel/GTE and did understand 950, 10xxx and ISDN. It appears that the DC/Md access was fixed some time ago. Sure enough, you can dial 10xxx-1-301 ... or 10xxx-1-202 ... and it goes on the selected carrier. Also, 10333-0-301 + no longer connects me to AT&T as it did in 1988, but to Sprint as it should. I should have known that in this wonderful new telecom world of ours the only thing that doesn't change is the fact that everything is changing all the time. What's more, Contel/GTE is offering ISDN in the Dulles area, but demand for it in the Manassas area is weak. ("Weak"? "Demand" is too strong a term to use around ISDN. How about "request"? "Wondering"?) So, in sum, Contel/GTE isn't all that bad and does have some good people working for them. I shall count my blessings as John suggests that I don't have Pac*Bell. After all, we have direct dial and touch-tone out here. Contel installed a SuperNode last year, whereas Pac*Bell purchases retired equipment from Burkina Faso. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 19:16 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: The Best and the Worst I have come up with examples of what I believe to be the least responsive and the most responsive in the telecommunications field. Least Responsive: US Sprint and its billing department. Earlier last year, I had many hundreds of dollars in bogus calls on my bill. Since the amount was so high, I received threatening letters from Sprint telling me to pay immediately or else. After discussing the matter with Sprint's business office, I received subsequent bills with even more bogus charges and demands to pay the back charges. It took months to straighten this all out, including hours of my time on the phone with Sprint. Recently, out of the blue (but probably related to that Sprint T1 fiasco) I started being billed for an 800 number that did not exist. At first someone at the Sprint billing office tried to tell me that the fifty dollars was a "cancellation charge" and was due and payable. When I told her that hell would freeze first, she agreed to cancel the charge (how gracious!). The next month, I received another bill wanting both the previous charge AND another charge. This whole matter is still up in the air. Most Responsive: GTE Mobilnet. The other day, I replaced my truck phone with a newer model. I bought the phone, programmed it myself to my existing Mobilnet number and then faxed a request to have my ESN changed. The fax went out at 4:20 PM. Just for laughs, I tried my new phone at 4:38 PM. It worked (and the old one no longer did). Eighteen minutes (or possibly less) to register a brand new cellular phone is not too shabby. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: The temperature in Hell, Michigan was in the middle to upper twenties yesterday. Pay your bills, John! :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #3 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23260; 3 Jan 92 4:53 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08352 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:38:50 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24684 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:38:29 -0600 Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 02:38:29 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201030838.AA24684@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #4 TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Jan 92 02:38:17 CST Volume 12 : Issue 4 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Mail - Canadian Rates to Include Monthly Minimum Gouge (D. Leibold) Telemarketing (Suspicions Confirmed Dept.) (WSJ via Norm deCarteret) ITT3100 1.3 Problem (R. Patrick MacKinnon) Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? (Michael K. Minakami) Dialing Changes (was Area Code 206 Changes) (Carl Moore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 02 Jan 92 21:55:00 EST From: DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA Subject: AT&T Mail - Canadian Rates to Include Monthly Minimum Gouge I got this notice in the AT&T Mail tonight ... looks like monthly minimum mania has hit the north now, among other price "adjustments". Please note that the following refers to AT&T Mail based in Canada, and not elsewhere. ------- Date: Fri Jan 3 00:00:10 GMT 1992 From: CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE Phone: +1 800 567 4671 Fax-Phone: +1 416 490 3633 Subject: AT&T Mail Price Change Announcement To: David Leibold Content-Length: 8606 Dear Valued Customer, Several important changes to the rate structure for AT&T Mail will take effect on February 1, 1992. These changes will provide you with consistent global messaging pricing, clearly defined and value-oriented. This new structure will be especially effective in significantly reducing the cost of sending larger files while maintaining attractive rates for shorter messages. Furthermore, surcharges such as Gateway400 and COD will be eliminated. The information below details these price changes. If you have any questions, please contact your Account Representative or a Customer Assistance Representative at 1-800-567-4671. We value your business and are committed to serving your global messaging needs with quality service at the most economical rates possible. PRICE SCHEDULE - CANADA * Prices are effective February 1, 1992, exclusive of any taxes and subject to change without prior notification. * All prices are listed in Canadian Dollars. * All prices shown are per addressee. Addressing information is not counted as part of the message length. DELIVERY OPTIONS Electronic Delivery MESSAGE LENGTH: Price Up to 1000 character $ .58 Up to 2000 character $ .95 Up to 3000 character $ 1.10 Each additional 1000 characters (over 3000) $ .06 PAPER DELIVERY: STANDARD DELIVERY is first class mail delivery. Delivery is available to Canada, all 50 United States, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Message Length 1 - 2500 characters $ 2.60 each additional 2500 characters (over 2500) $ .58 PRIORITY DELIVERY is overnight delivery via courier. Message Length 1 - 2500 characters $ 8.60 each additional 2500 characters (over 2500) $ .58 URGENT DELIVERY is same day delivery via courier. Message Length 1 - 2500 characters $29.00 each additional 2500 characters (over 2500) $ .58 TELEX DELIVERY (No additional electronic delivery charges apply.) Canada $ 1.45 Canada (TWX) $ 1.54 International (Price varies by destination country) VARIABLE (No change from Jan. 1, 1991 prices) Collect on Delivery (Electronic) NO SURCHARGE MAIlFAX DELIVERY (No additional delivery charges apply.) Domestic Price First half page* $ .60 Additional half pages* $ .44 International (Price varies by destination country) VARIABLE (No change from Jan. 1, 1991 prices) Nonurgent 10% Discount (Nonurgent MailFAX messages will be delivered within 24hours.) OTHER DELIVERY OPTIONS Delivery Confirmation and Return Receipt Requests $ .30 MESSAGE CREATION Off-Line NO CHARGE (Users of AT&T Mail Access PLUS, PMX Software, UNIX, or X.400 Premises Systems.) On-Line** Up to 1000 characters $ .23 Up to 2000 characters $ .46 Up to 3000 characters $ .69 each additional 1000 characters (over 3000) $ .12 MESSAGE RETRIEVAL Electronic Message NO CHARGE MailTALK (Voice Retrieval) Outside the U.S. dial 303-368-2577 $ .58/minute (plus International Long Distance charges) In the U.S. dial 1-800-MAIL222 $ .58/minute SERVICE ACCESS Domestic Access NO CHARGE International Dial Access Charges and Packet Access Charges. VARIABLE INTERNATIONAL SURCHARGES*** Surcharges waived until further notice Up to 3000 characters To be determined Over 3000 characters To be determined * 1,500 characters to a half page. ** These fees are charged each time a message is created or edited on-line, or uploaded from a PC using a terminal emulation package, then sent from the on-line mode, regardless of the number of addresses. These charges are in addition to delivery charges. *** These charges will be in addition to the electronic delivery charges and will be assessed per addressee. GATEWAY400 SERVICE Gateway400 Service has no surcharges. Note that messages sent through Gateway400 are expanded based on X.400 Standards. The length of the message billed may be greater than what is indicated on the content-length line of the message. FORMS/FILES USER OPTION Price Forms/Files User Fee (Includes permanent $11.00 storage of 30 storage units**** Storage (Permanent storage is available only to Forms/Files Users) Additional Storage Units* $ .35/month (applies when average storage used is greater than the allowance provided with Forms/Files User Fee.) SHARED FOLDERS Users sending messages to Shared Folders are charged for electronic delivery. The owner may upload items to a Shared Folder at no charge. Access is the reading or handling of message text. Each user pays for items accessed unless the folder owner sponsors the shared folder and pays for all access. Message Length 1 - 401 characters $ .35 401 - 7500 characters $ .50 each additional 7500 characters (over 7500) $ .50 Shared Storage Units**** $ 1.75 (Applies to messages in a shared folder and shared address lists.) **** A Storage Unit is 7500 characters or less for each message saved in a folder and address list, based on the average number of units during the month. The folder itself counts as one storage unit. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Logos and Signatures (For paper and MailFAX deliveries. Fee charged per logo or signature scanned or modified. Limit of 3 per mailbox.) Price Logo Scanning Fee $230.00 Signature Scanning Fee $115.00 SUBSCRIBER FEES Service Fee, monthly (per mailbox) $ 3.45 Minimum Usage Billing, monthly (per invoice) $ 29.00 Directory Entry Fee, yearly $ 14.00 (Provides off-net user an entry in the on-line directory. Service fee does not apply.) SPECIAL BILLING Subaccount Attachment NO CHARGE (Summarizes UNIX Systems subaccount activity for the current billing period.) Project Code Attachment NO CHARGE (Charges are sorted and subtotalled by project codes which are supplied by customers.) Note: Any undeliverable messages, except TELEX messages, will be charged to users who set their accounts to auto-forward or set their incoming messages to MailFAX, Gateway400, or other surcharged delivery destinations. Auto-forwarding to a Mailbox or a UNIX system does not result in additional charges. DOCUMENTATION Price Service User's Guide $25.00 Additional Registration Form***** FREE MailTALK User's Kit***** $ 2.50 Command Card***** $ 2.50 3780/3770 Interface Guide $ 9.00 UNIX Administrator's $ 2.50 UNIX Reference Card****** $ 2.50 UNIX User's Guide****** $ 3.00 ***** These items are included in the Welcome Kit. ****** These items are included in the UNIX Kit. AT&T MAIL SOFTWARE AT&T Mail Access PLUS Ver. 2.04 $140.00 AT&T Mail Access PLUS Ver. 2.2 $225.00 AT&T Mail Access III Ver. 1.3.3 $140.00 AT&T Mail Access PLUS for Windows Ver. 2.2 $275.00 AT&T Mail Access PLUS Upgrade Ver. 2.04 - 2.2 $125.00 --------- dleibold@vm1.yorku.ca djcl@zooid.guild.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 08:11:46 EST From: Norm deCarteret Subject: Telemarketing (Suspicions Confirmed Dept.) Source: WSJ, 1/2/92, pg 1, Michael Miller Title: "That Sales Pitch Interrupting Dinner is by a Real Con Man" "Prisoners man the phones for telemarketing firms, and use their old skills" "Kim Britt, prisoner 38112 at the Omaha Correctional Center, has permission to make a phone call ... to ask Mark Parrish, a farm contractor in Ohio ... 'Mark, how you doing? How's the weather out there in Ohio? Mark, I was wondering, do you need any LaGrange 70 welding rods? Mark, this rod will make you a professional! Normally it would run about $156, but we have it on special tonight'. Mr. Britt was given 8 to 12 years for pushing drugs but his sales skills aren't getting rusty. For the past four years he has been selling hardware over the phone for a Nebraska telemarketing company. "Unbeknown to most consumers, a growing number of the disembodied voices who call during dinner with a sales spiel or survey are prisoners. Besides Nebraska, 15 other states have set up telemarketing centers where inmates dial or receive business calls" ... for organizations like: - Consumer Research Surveys & Super Value Stores (Shakopee MN womens prison) - Midwest Medical (medium security prison in Lino Lakes MN) - Trans World Airlines (CA reform school, take overload reservation calls) - Best Western & Super 8 Motels (in AZ and SD, also reservation overload?) - TGS Marketing Inc (SD; they've hired 2 dozen inmates after their release) The article mentions the flap about a former inmate who ran up thousands in charges on other peoples credit cards while working for TWA. TGS' Jim Braun said TGS screens inmates to eliminate those convicted of fraud but otherwise doesn't care what they were in prison for. TGS pays inmates the same 17.5% commission other telemarketers get. The prison gets $1.25/hour from the inmates, plus 5% of their wages for a state fund for crime victims. "It doesn't really make any difference to me", says Mr. Parrish. He was surprised to learn that TGS employs prisoners but not particularly upset. "Telemarketers are aggravating", he says. "It's no worse if they're in prison." ------------------------------ From: rpmackin@student.business.uwo.ca (R. Patrick MacKinnon) Subject: ITT3100 1.3 Problem Date: 2 Jan 92 14:09:39 GMT Organization: University of Western Ontario I have a very strange problem with an ITT3100 1.3 that has escaped all attempts to rectify it. A person on a call on B2 (DIB EXT257 INTR PRIM) that was transferred from a SUB20 with DSS used as an attendant position. The call itself is from the outside, coming in as a ground start equiv, on a dual port trunk i/f card. While on the call, the lamp on B2 will extinguish, and the lamp on B1 (FEAT HOLD) will come on, but the call will still be intact. However, the attendant, seeing her X257 appearance on the DSS extinguish, now sends another call to the set, which rings, even though the user has no way of holding the first call to get to the second, without hanging up completely, and re-answering. (This of course drops the initial call.) This is happening to two sets, both SUB10s, on different shelves. I have never seen it happen, but have no reason to doubt the users. The power supplies both check out as do all levels in the control shelf as well as in all three station/trunk modules. The common services csard was replaced on spec., but with no success. A cold start didn't help either, and the diagnostics show no anomolies in the system. If you have experience on an ITT3100, helpful suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks. rpmackin@student.business.uwo.ca (R. Patrick MacKinnon) The Western Business School BBS -- London, Ontario ------------------------------ From: minakami@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Michael K. Minakami) Subject: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Ca , USA Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 04:57:52 GMT I have some 8khz mulaw sound samples that I got off of a Sun SparcStation and have been trying to play them over a T1 line through a voice response unit. When I listen to it over a phone, voice sounds nasal and music sounds equally distorted. The most interesting phenomenon I've come across so far is that a sample of Yaz's "I before E except after C", which should say "You can see the difference," comes out as "You can sue the difference." (There's one for the legal dept. :) Whether or not /i/ turn into /u/ seems to depend on context, as it happens quite often but not all the time (though for a given sample it will consistently happen in the same place.) I've tried playing the samples when both connected to an Ameritech Central Office Simulator and when connected to a live T1 line, and both yied the same strange results. I also had a brief chance to play with a telephony card hooked up to an analog line, and it worked fine. This leads me to suspect some digital filtering, or maybe a difference in D/A conversion, but so far I haven't been able to isolate the problem. Any suggestions as to what's going on would be greatly appreciated! Michael Minakami ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 10:12:15 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Dialing Changes (was Area Code 206 Changes) The elimination of 1-xxx-xxxx in some areas and the addition (in some other areas) of leading 1 (just before area code) has been done where the distinction between area code and prefix is being lost. (0+ calls within such areas are now permitted or required to use 0 + area code + seven digits.) So far, this has been done in areas which were running out of prefixes, so that the prefixes in such areas could generalize from NNX to NXX; the alternative is to split such areas immediately. Such new dialing instructions can also accommodate area codes of form NXX (not just N0X/N1X). When such dialing instructions start appearing solely for the coming of NXX area codes, I'd appreciate hearing about it; when that starts happening, what happens to the policy of "no N0X/N1X prefixes unless NNX runs out"? (Notice that the first batch of NNX area codes will be of form NN0, raising the possibility that some areas could keep 1-xxx-xxxx by disallowing prefixes of form NN0; but this would not be possible if the Mexican numbers became reachable as 52x-xxx-xxxx.) > In the past, all area codes were of the form N0X or N1X, and all > prefixes were of the form NXX. The comment about area codes is still current (for the next 3 1/2 years at most?), but the comment about prefixes should have used NNX instead of NXX. If you notice the "history.of.area.splits" file in the archives, the first programming for N0X/N1X prefixes was in area 213 in 1973. That file also has the direct-dialing instructions for those areas which have programmed for N0X/N1X prefixes: either use 7D for all intra-NPA calls or use 1+NPA+7D for all toll calls. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #4 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13974; 5 Jan 92 0:29 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10695 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 4 Jan 1992 22:41:04 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05925 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 4 Jan 1992 22:40:49 -0600 Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 22:40:49 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201050440.AA05925@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #5 TELECOM Digest Sat, 4 Jan 92 22:40:46 CST Volume 12 : Issue 5 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Western Union Camp Car Outfits (Jim Haynes) Something Nice From GTE! (Rob Hansen) 5ESS Question - (Dr. Art St. George) Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Douglas W. Martin) Searching For Cordless Telephone II (ctII) Information (Harn-Jier Lin) Answering Machines With Video Cameras (David Niebuhr) 0 + NPA + 7D Did Not Work (Carl Moore) Tariffs For 900 Service (Jim Leone) One Plus Dialing on 800 Calls (David Niebuhr) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim Haynes Subject: Western Union Camp Car Outfits Date: 3 Jan 92 06:11:56 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz The following article appeared in {Western Union Technical Review} for October, 1961, Volume 15, Number 4, Copyright 1961 by the Western Union Telegraph Company, which was formerly in the telegraph business. The End of an Era by W. E. Crippen, Division Supervisor of Lines, Oakland Area "Editorial Note" - While there are no Western Union Camp Car complete outfits remaining in the United States there are some material cars still in service. There is, however, one camp car complete outfit north of the Border in the Canadian Maritime provinces where Western union maintains pole lines along the Canadian National R.R. Here the country is sparsely settled and suitable boarding accommodations difficult to find. In 1960 the last of the Western Union owned railway camp car outfits in the United States was sold by the Pacific Division to a junk dealer in Portland, Oregon. Thus an era covering almost half a century came to an end, the era of the Western union owned railway camp car outfits. The very important part these outfits played in the growth of The Western Union Telegraph Company is little known today. Only the "graybeards" who regarded them as a way of life during the era just passed are familiar with the contribution camp car outfits have made, and whenever they get together they recall the interesting events and incidents that had their origin in and around these outfits. Prior to 1914, "line gangs," as they were called, were housed either in hotels or in railroad owned boxcar outfits that were equipped with such bare necessities as double-deck bunks, pot-bellied stoves, wash bowls, oil lamps, and other appointments in keeping with the time. By 1914, many of the original pole lines were in need of repair because of deterioration or because the ever increasing wire load had become too great for the old pole lines to carry. Thus was undertaken the beginning of a heavy reconstruction program that was to last until the latter part of the 1920's and the start of the depression. The program reached its peak between 1925 and 1930. At the start of this program, The Western Union Telegraph Company foresaw the benefits that could be derived from having the line gangs housed in outfits that could be set out at any location at any time or that could be moved to emergency areas quickly, at a much lower cost than if they were housed in hotels, some of which might be long distances from the jobsites. It was decided to place many of these outfits in operation and, by purchasing the necessary cars where available and equipping them in railroad shops, to place them in operation as fast as they could be made available. This arrangement proved to be neither practical nor economical. In order to correct this situation, a camp car shop was established at Chattanooga, Tennessee as a headquarters for all outfit remodeling, maintenance, and supplies. This shop flourished and was busy continually until about 1930, when it entered upon a decline in activity that continued until a few years ago when the servicing of outfits was no longer required. (The camp car shop was then converted into a shop for manufacturing and assembling equipment to meet other and present day requirements.) By the end of 1914, twelve such outfits had been placed in service. These represented a great improvement over the earlier railroad bunk cars. They were lighted with individual Coleman gasoline lamps and were equipped with hot water and shower bath facilities. A hand- operated pressure pump, located behind the kitchen stove, supplied the water pressure for the wash basins, shower baths, and kitchen. (The first rule of the water system in those days was that anyone desiring a shower must first pump the water pressure up to sixty pounds. As the cooks were required to pump their own water for kitchen use, they were the ones who saw to it that everyone pumped his own water.) As the processing of these outfit units progressed, many improvements were made in equipment. For example, the individual Coleman gasoline lamps were replaced with a series of lights that had their fuel supplied from a centralized pressure tank. [Photograph, titled "Pullman Coach", shows exterior of a car sitting on railroad tracks. Lettering above the windows reads "Western Union Telegraph Co." Lettering below the windows reads "Camp Car" and something else I can't make out.] At the peak of the heavy reconstruction period, between 1925 and 1930, there were about 120 of these outfits scattered throughout the United States. By that time, the type of railroad cars used and the arrangement of the associated equipment had been fairly well standardized. These later models consisted of two Pullman cars about seventy feet in length (one sleeping car and one dining car), two boxcars (one tool car and one material car), and a steel tank car (water car). In fact, No. 10 recently sold at Portland consisted of two Pullman coaches, two boxcars, one tank car, and associated equipment. [Photograph, titled "Sleeping Quarters", taken down the center aisle of a sleeping car, shows upper and lower bunks on both sides.] The sleeping car was partitioned into three sections or rooms. The foreman had small private quarters at the end of the car, equipped with bed, lockers, chairs, desk, and wash basin. Adjacent to this room was the men's dormitory, which was equipped with two rows of double-deck bunks that would accommodate sixteen men. These two sections covered a little more than half the coach. The remaining section was used as the men's recreation room and for locker space. [Photograph, titled "Dining Room", shows a long table with six chairs on each side (and probably more too close to the camera to show). Handwritten on the photo is "The Western Union Telegraph Co. Chattanooga Works Dining Room of 18 Man Camp Car Outfit" There are steam radiators under the windows on both sides.] The second coach or dining car had living quarters to accommodate the man and his wife who were the cooks, a shower room and wash room for the men, and the dining room and kitchen. [Photograph, titled "Tool Car" shows a box car, lettered "Western Union Telegraph Co. W.U.T.X. 3550; and "Tool Car" near the door.] The tool car housed the tools, Delco light plant and battery bank, coal bin, icebox, and storage space for vegetables. The Delco plant furnished power for the operation of all lights. The electrical system was 32 volts d-c. The automatic water pressure pump supplied water pressure for the dining car only. The tank car (water car) which carried the water supply was adjacent to the tool car. Water was carried from the tank to two auxiliary "possum belly" tanks located under the dining car; from these it was pumped out by the automatic pump as required. [Photograph, titled "Tank Car" shows a tank car with lettering "Western Union W.U.T.X. 4416 Water Car"] In the early days, the outfit cooks consisted of two men, a "Bull Cook" and a "Flunky." This arrangement was not a reliable one, especially if the outfit happened to be located near a bootlegger or a saloon and the cooks happened to be fond of drink. By 1918 a more dependable arrangement had been found; and man and his wife were being hired as cooks for each outfit. By 1943, Republic Pictures rented one of these outfits at Cedar City, Utah for use in portraying an early-day passenger train. It "starred" in the film "in Old Oklahoma" and "co-starred" John Wayne and Martha Scott. The studio repainted the exterior of the coaches with water colors for the filming and paid the expenses of the Western Union crew at a local hotel while the cars were in use. The is one of the favorite reminiscences of the men who used to work in the gangs, along with other such highly personal remembrances as the time a gang foreman tried to make homemade elderberry wine secretly and it foamed out of his locker because he did not allow for expansion in the container during fermentation. There were several contributing factors that forced the discon- tinuance of the use of this last representative outfit of the camp car era. The reduction in the size of line crews from the original sixteen men to an average of about eight made the operation of an outfit more expensive than hotel accommodations would have been. Because western railroads had discontinued the use of their own camp car outfits wherever possible and had removed storage tracks in a majority of the small towns, it became necessary for Western Union to construct temporary spur tracks for the outfit at a cost of about $700.00 per location. Also, the repair parts for the Delco lighting, the water pressure system, the Arcola heating system, and the coal-burning cook stove were no longer available from any source. At the end, the outfit was kept in operation for several years for the sole purpose of handling projects located in the mountain and desert regions of the Pacific Division where hotel accommodations are few. With the sale of outfit No. 10, the graybeards mourn the passing of an era that began in the days when the line gangs were paid their earnings in gold coins sent to the foreman by way of American Railway Express and has ended in these days when line crews are paid by machine-punched checks. ---------------- haynes@cats.ucsc.edu haynes@cats.bitnet [Moderator's Note: Bravo! ... and thank you for sending along this wonderful bit of nostalgia. And from an old magazine which is a piece of nostalgia in itself. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hansen@inference.com (Rob Hansen) Subject: Something Nice From GTE! Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 23:09:20 PDT I never expected to think a positive thought about GTE in my life! I lived under their tyrannical rule for six years, escaping three years ago into the not-much-better-but-hey-at-least-it's-not-GTE world of Pacific Bell. Well, about two months ago, I got a piece of what looked like junk mail from GTE California. It was not a customized/tailored letter; rather it appeared to be a mass mailing to pseudo random addresses. The letter said, effectively, "If you were ever a lifeline customer, you may be eligible for a refund of $8 or more. Call us if you want." So I called. They took my old GTE number, my new address, and said they'd research it and mail me a check if warranted. In today's mail was a check from GTE for $115.27 !!! No letter, just the check and the stub. Since I haven't been a customer of theirs for three + years, you can imagine my surprise. Merry Christmas from GTE of all the unlikely colourless bureaucracies ... Rob hansen@inference.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1992 14:46 MST From: "DOV - DR. ART ST. GEORGE" Subject: 5ESS Question Has anyone upgraded from a 5ESS switch release #5 to #7? If so, what costs (other than the obvious bucks) and tradeoffs are there in doing so? What advice do you have? Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 12:17:07 PST From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. To avoid stupid flames, let me first say that although discussing obscenity, I find the concept of telephone pornography disgusting. When you don't know who will be calling, arguments regarding "freedom of speech" are, in my opinion, out the window. Anyway, now to my questions: It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then disconnected due to prank calls. How large is the list of numbers which are unassigned because of what they spell? On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with phone sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges. Are these exchanges assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover a particular geographic area, or what? Also, does anyone know what is the most expensive minimum charge for a (900) call? The most expensive call I've heard about is: "Talk to two (description omitted) girls at the same time! It's only $5.00 per minute with a little ten-minute minimum!". Are there any numbers costing more than $50? Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil ------------------------------ From: Harn-Jier Lin Subject: Searching For Cordless Telephone II (ctII) Information Organization: Illinois Institute of Technology / Academic Computing Center Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 22:18:50 GMT I was thinking to buy a cordless telephone II which apply digital transmission technology. But my problem is I have no idea who manufacture this kind of product in the U.S. and what's the function in the product. I appreciate any information and if I somebody also insterested in this and I have sufficient information. I would to send the information to whoever also insterested. Thanks in advance. Harn-Jier Lin Please reply me by e-mail at demohjl@iitmax.iit.edu. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 08:17:33 -0500 From: niebuhr@bnlux1.bnl.gov (david niebuhr) Subject: Answering Machines With Video Cameras There was an article on the radio this morning that said that AT&T is coming out with an answering machine with a color screen and minature video camera and will sell for just under $2,000. Does anyone know anything about this? Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 10:17:18 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: 0 + NPA + 7D Did Not Work I am just back from Ohio, where I made some calls from pay phones to the time of day service back in Philadelphia at 215-846-1212. >From some UTS phones (United Telephone System?), I could not get 0-215-846-1212 to work, and I had to use 10288 in front of this (to call via AT&T). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 14:24:02 EST From: jim@canisius.edu (Jim Leone) Subject: Tariffs For 900 Service Patrick, Besides the local library (here in Buffalo), is there any on-line source which gives the FCC 900 tariffs? I have never seen it and my local NY Telephone representative says it's a large 25 volume set. Is this information available with anonymous ftp? Thanks. Jim Leone Internet: leone@klaatu.cs.canisius.edu Bitnet: leone@canisius ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 08:23:21 -0500 From: niebuhr@bnlux1.bnl.gov (david niebuhr) Subject: One Plus Dialing I've noticed in my telephone book that whenever an 800 number is given the directions are to "Dial 1+" then 800-XXX-XXXX. My area code (516) doesn't require 1+800 for anything and shouldn't for quite some time so I'm curious as to why these instructions are given in the first place. Could it be that it's to get subscribers conditioned for that far-off day when 1+ will be necessary? Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #5 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17901; 5 Jan 92 2:18 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05734 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 00:31:36 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08863 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 00:31:19 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 00:31:19 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201050631.AA08863@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #6 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 00:31:12 CST Volume 12 : Issue 6 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet (Alan Toscano) Compression Bridges Ethernet-Ethernet (John Stigall) Who Picked Exchange Names? (Douglas W. Martin) Questions About Calling Remote Areas (Douglas W. Martin) I Want to Locate a Magazine: "Telecom Gear" (Gary Sarff) American Express and ANI (John Higdon) AT&T Mail "Monthly Usage Minimum" Suspended (Fred Linton) USADirect and Poland Update: Now There IS a Number) (Fred Linton) Is the NYC Phonebook Online Somewhere? (Florian Gutzwiller) AT&T VoiceMark Service (Steve M. Kile) Problem With PAC*TEL Cordless Phone (drollinger@elde.epfl.ch) Help With Novatel PTR800a Handheld Programming (Douglas Scott Reuben) Jolson on the Phone (was Telecom's Greatest Hits) (Bill Higgins) Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as Second Digit? (Gary Deol) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wu/O=ALAN_TOSCANO/DD.ELN=62306750@mhs.attmail.com Date: Fri Jan 3 15:51:56 GMT 1992 Subject: Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet AT&T EasyLink Services operates two public electronic mail services. The larger of the two, EasyLink Instant Mail Service (IMS), was acquired about a year ago from Western Union Corporation. The other is the AT&T Mail Service. While these systems will likely be merged together sometime in the future, they remain distinct for now, connected via an X.400 link. Through this link, and some rather bizarre syntax, I believe it is generally possible for Internet users to address mail to EasyLink IMS mailboxes, and for IMS users to address Internet users. (Undoubtedly, there will be some mailers which choke on the necessary syntax.) EasyLink mailboxes are assigned an eight-digit EasyLink Number (ELN) which always begins with the digits "62." For example, my IMS mailbox's ELN is 62-306-750. To address an EasyLink IMS mailbox: To: wu/O=RECIPIENT_NAME/DD.ELN=62nnnnnn@mhs.attmail.com In this example, RECIPIENT_NAME would be replaced with an appropriate name. Use underscore ("_") characters in place of spaces. The value of the "/O=" (organization) entry will be used by IMS for an attention line. It is required, but is not significant in message routing. Rather, the required /DD.ELN specification will determine the routing on the IMS system. In a real-life example, my mailbox may be addressed as: To: wu/O=ALAN_TOSCANO/DD.ELN=62306750@mhs.attmail.com Note: All IMS mailboxes have an associated ELN, but *not all* ELNs have associated IMS mailboxes. Sometimes they represent mailboxes on other systems linked to IMS via X.400. In this special case, you will probably be unable to successfully address the ELN from the Internet. Addressing the Internet from EasyLink IMS is somewhat more complicated. Owing to its Telex heritage, EasyLink converts all alphabetic characters in addresses to uppercase -- unless they're preceded by a bang ("!"). To include an actual bang in an address, you must type it twice. Here's the address format which I used to submit this article from EasyLink IMS to : PTS IPM SUBJECT EMAIL BETWEEN AT&T EASYLINK AND THE INTERNET PRIMARY COUNTRY US ADMD ATTMAIL ORG UUCP DDA ID-INTERNET!!EECS.NWU.EDU!!!T!E!L!E!C!O!M END+ (Modify the SUBJECT and DDA lines as appropriate for each message.) While IMS has on-line documentation for X.400 addressing in general, there is NO ON-LINE DOCUMENTATION for sending mail specifically to the Internet. Therefore, I would suggest that Internet users provide an appropriate return address, formatted as above, within the body of their letter, whenever they first write to an IMS user. If an IMS user will be writing to a particular Internet address frequently, the recipient's X.400 address may be stored on-line as a Redilist. A Alan Toscano Voice: +1 713 236 6616 AT&T Mail: atoscano CIS: 73300,217 ELN: 62306750 ------------------------------ From: stigall@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (john stigall) Subject: Compression Bridges Ethernet-Ethernet Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 21:11:37 GMT Hello, I need help finding info on compression bridges for a link to a far remote site via four-wire modems. What I have found so far is the Cryptall 3000 series compression bridge for $7900 list each. Has anyone had experience with these bridges? I am looking for other alternatives as well ... we want to run multiple protocols over the link and hopefully compression will give us greater throughput than routers. Ideas? Thanks in advance. The opinions expressed are entirely my own, not my employers. John Stigall - Indiana University Computing Services Network stigall@ucs.indiana.edu > Ham Radio: N9LKL@K9IU.IN.USA.NOAM < ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 14:02:53 PST From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: Who Picked Exchange Names? When telephone exchanges had names, who was given the responsibility or honor of picking the names? I grew up in Cleveland, Oh, where a few names made sense, but most did not. In the downtown area we had: Tower (originally assigned to offices in the Terminal Tower, Cleveland's tallest building), Prospect, Superior, and Main: named after streets, etc. However, most exchange names meant nothing; e.g. Evergreen, Cherry, Redwood, Henderson, etc. If your number was in the 382 exchange, why not use Evergreen? But who assigned the names to the various prefixes? And who was "Henderson" named after? In Cleveland, we also had Utah and Tuxedo (both 88x) I am using Cleveland exchanges only because they are familiar to me, but my question is general: who had the authority to assign the names? Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil [Moderator's Note: Since in those days AT&T was the parent of all the Bell Companies and coordinated everything else they did, I assume some person or department at AT&T thought them up ... whoever it was, they had a vivid imagination! :) Consider these from Chicago's past: INTerocean, PALisaides, OPEra, AVEnue, FINancial, HAymarket-1, UPTown, EDGewater, LOngbeach-1, MIDway, NORmal and MUseum-4, to name a few I liked. Then there was also INDependence, HYDe Park and ROGers Park; DANube, VICtory, CANal, and CALumet. And maybe a couple dozen more. In the thirty-two years I've had phone service, I went from my first number which was EAStgate to GRAceland to ESTebrook to WHItehall to RAVenswood to HYDe Park to DElaware-7 to SUPerior to LAKeview, to the number I've had for fifteen years on the SHEldrake exchange. (When I was young, and in my prime I used to change telephone numbers all the time -- and apartments.) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 16:45:03 PST From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: Questions About Calling Remote Areas I am looking for information about calling remote areas of the US and Canada. Several months ago, there was some discussion in this digest about new area codes such as (820) which would be used for places that are now undialable. Where are the undialable points in the US and Canada? Are these operated as toll stations or something else? I would be interested in compiling a list of toll stations and undialable points that are still around. On a related topic, there must be large, remote areas served by a single CO, or even a single exchange. Does anyone know what COs serve the largest geographic area, e.g. central Nevada, Eastern Alaska, etc? When I was last in Alaska, I remember a forty-fifty-page phone book that covered almost the whole length of the Richardson Highway, from neer Greeley or Delta, all the way south to Valdez. As I recall, there weren't many exchanges for this whole region. Any information about similar large areas served by a single CO or a single exchange would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil [Moderator's Note: There are still hundreds of toll stations around. About two years ago, John Covert favored us with an article here listing several of the more unusually-named ones. Perhaps he will write us again soon. The manual exchanges are all gone -- I guess! -- but the last time a newspaper reported 'the final one cut over' (I think it was Bryant Pond), it was only a few months and another one was found which was being converted. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gsarff@control.Spies.COM (Gary Sarff) Subject: I Want to Locate a Magazine: "Telecom Gear" Organization: Spies in the wire, (408) 867-7400 Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 15:42:46 -0800 I had a question regarding equipment and was referred to a publication called "Telecom Gear". I am not familiar with this publication and would like to know any information regarding contacting them, address or phone number, just city and state, whatever anyone has. Thanks. [Moderator's Note: I believe Telecom Gear is part of Harry Newton's organization in New York City. Try 1-800-LIBRARY. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 10:47 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: American Express and ANI I have finally unravelled a minor mystery. After a recent extended trip, American Express was apparently having recession jitters and became concerned that my payment was a week late. Never mind that I have been a good account for years and years. Anyway, the "collector" called my mother (!?!) and asked to speak to me. For various reasons, I have requested that my mother not act as a directory service and to simply tell people that are looking for me that they have reached the wrong number. It is not as if I am hiding; my number is listed. But I do not feel that idiots going down the phone listings need to be given any special help. The collector became very annoyed and said that this was the number that I had given to them and demanded to know how I could be reached. She told him that my number was listed and he could look it up. He responded that he was calling from (some out-of-state city; I forget which) and he would appreciate being given my number. Mom's answer: "I'm not directory assistance", and hung up. Apparently, Amex sprung for the fifty cents because a message was left on my machine. When I finally talked to someone, I was told that my mother's number was the one they had on their records. We corrected that and I gave them a piece of my mind over their collection tactics. Yesterday, I got a call from Amex over another matter (charge dispute). The call came in on my private line. Then it hit me: Amex apparently enters the number you are calling from as your official phone of record when the rep sees fit. Yes, I had called Amex from my mother's phone some months before to complain about some bogus Compu$erve charges. And when I returned "Mr. Collector's" call last month, I used my private line. So here is a word to the wise: if you call American Express, be sure to make it clear that the phone you are using is NOT your personal telephone if such is the case. Otherwise your girl/boy friend, employer, barber, or modem may receive calls meant for you. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: fejlinton@attmail.com Date: Sat Jan 4 14:34:10 EST 1992 Subject: AT&T Mail "Monthly Usage Minimum" Suspended From my latest AT&T Mail bill: PLEASE NOTE, IN RESPONSE TO FEEDBACK FROM OUR CUSTOMERS WE HAVE DECIDED TO SUSPEND THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED NEW MONTHLY MINIMUM CHARGES ON AT&T MAIL. LOOK FOR AN UPCOMING ANNOUNCEMENT ON NEW BILLING CHOICES NEXT MONTH. Fred ------------------------------ From: fejlinton@attmail.com Date: Sat Jan 4 14:43:44 EST 1992 Subject: USADirect and Poland Update: Now There IS a Number The USADirect situation from Poland has changed since my report of December. According to a USADirect ad in the inflight magazine my recent trip to New Mexico showed me, one can now reach USADirect by dialing 010 480 0111 from selected phones in Warsaw, and 0 [new dial tone] 010 480 0111 outside Warsaw. Fred ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 20:51:38 GMT+0100 From: flog@pizza.open.ch (Florian Gutzwiller) Subject: Is the NYC Phonebook Online Somewhere? I am seeking a way to find out a postal address of somebody in NYC that has a secret phone number only. The Swiss operator no longer gets address information from the NYC operator. Is there a way accessing an electronic edition of the NYC phone book, or could anybody look someone up for me in the printed one ;-). Thanks, Florian ------------------------------ From: Steve_M_Kile@cup.portal.com Subject: AT&T VoiceMark Service Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 07:49:16 PST Several weeks ago I was able to use the AT&T VoiceMark service from my home (612-888-XXXX) however today I was not able to do so. Has the number changed (800-576-MARK) or has the service been discontinued? Do any other carriers offer a similar service? Thanks. Steve Kile steve_m_kile@cup.portal.com stevek@netcom.com steve@biomed.vware.mn.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 16:24:48 +0000 From: DROLLINGER@elde.epfl.ch Subject: Problem With PAC*TEL Cordless Phone Dear TD readers! On my last visit to the United States, I bought a GREAT Technologies (Model CS8001) cordless phone (Manufactured for PAC*TEL Products by GREAT Technologies). I used it once in a motel and it worked. It uses an AC 120V/60Hz/4W --> DC 9V 200mA power converter. Back in Switzerland, I had to buy a new power converter, because we operate on 220V/50Hz. Although the phone works well, it produces an annoying buzzer-like sound which is more or less loud depending on the location. I tried it out with three different power converters, yes, I even tried it with a 9V E-Block-type battery and on different locations, but it always sounds like an amplified power-converter- sound, even without the phone-line connected to it. Does anybody know where this sound comes from, as there should really be no noise when operated with a battery (at least this sounds logical) or has anybody else had problems with this particular cordless phone? The noise is really that loud that normal operation is impossible. There is a help-line (1-800-426-2372), but 800 numbers can not be dialed from outside the US of course. Thanks for any help and suggestions. ------------------------------ Date: 4-JAN-1992 06:32:43.40 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Help With Novatel PTR800a Handheld Programming Just got myself a Novatel PTR800A handheld ... NICE phone (and a great price of only $98!), but it doesn't seem to conform to the standard Novatel programming methods which the bag phones use, ie, FUNC + LOCK + 1, then #259 to enter program mode. Anyhow, anyone know how to enter the programming mode in this one? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance, Doug ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 8:31:29 -0600 (CST) From: HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) Subject: Jolson on the Phone (was Telecom's Greatest Hits) Patrick, I can't *believe* the vast and erudite readership of TELECOM Digest failed to mention "Hello, My Baby," a big hit for Al Jolson in the Twenties. It's purely about telephony. I can only recall the chorus. Hello, my baby, hello, my honey Hello, my ragtime gal Send me a kiss by wire Honey, my heart's on fire If you refuse me, honey, you'll lose me Then you'll be left alone So, honey, telephone And tell me I'm your own ... It's a good song for practicing your Jolson imitation in the shower ... take it from me ... though nothing can really beat "Toot-Toot-Tootsie, Goodbye." Bill Higgins (have ukulele, will travel) Internet: HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Bitnet: HIGGINS@FNALB.BITNET ------------------------------ Subject: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? From: garyd@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Gary Deol) Date: Fri, 03 Jan 92 17:05:34 MST Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems, Edmonton, AB, Canada Does anybody know why the middle number in a area-code is always a zero or one? Things that make you say Hmmmmmmmm :^) Gary Deol garyd@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca Edmonton Remote Systems: Serving Northern Alberta since 1982 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #6 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa20669; 5 Jan 92 3:12 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31615 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 01:28:23 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22278 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 01:28:08 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 01:28:08 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201050728.AA22278@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #7 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 01:28:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 7 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Son of Telesphere Pays 21.4 Million to Chairman (WSJ via John Nagle) Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana (John R. Levine) GTE Sells Their Share in Sprint to United Telecom (John R. Levine) Motorola Transportable Information Wanted (TELECOM Moderator) Question Not Answered by 800/900 Thread (Thomas Lapp) USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number (Jack Decker) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: nagle@netcom.COM (John Nagle) Subject: Son of Telesphere Pays $21.4 Million to Chairman Date: 4 Jan 92 19:31:05 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) [Moderator's Note: This was posted in comp.org.eff.talk and I thought you might be interested. PAT] ------------------- Remember Telesphere, the defunct AOS from hell? Well, they're back, in a new incarnation. And it doesn't look good. {Wall Street Journal} article, Jan 3, p. A8, starts off with "New Credit Line is used for Payment to Chairman". "International Telecharge Inc. of Dallas said it lined up a new, $21.4 million credit line, backed by accounts receivable, and drew down all of it partly to make a payment to its chairman." "The provider of long-distance services said the financing is backed by its accounts and former accounts of Telesphere Communications, Inc., whose assets it bought last year." International Telecharge is headed by Ronald J. Haan of Haan Ventures, Inc. He gets a royalty of 10% of the net operating revenue from Telesphere's customer base, says the WSJ, with a minimum of $500,000 a month. The credit line was used to make a $17.4 million prepayment on these royalties. If you're a creditor of Telesphere, having your lawyers take a very close look at these transactions might be worthwhile. John Nagle ------------------------------ Subject: Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 0:29:15 EST From: John R. Levine On Dec 31, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission unanimously rejected an Indiana Bell Proposal for Caller-ID, citing privacy concerns. Bell proposed an unblockable offering at $7.50/month. They suggested Bell offer Call Trace and implied that they would approve C-ID so long as it was provided with free per-line blocking. Bell said they were disappointed, claimed that C-ID would not be valuable if blockable, and wasn't sure whether they'd submit a modified proposal. On Friday, state Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven, submitted a bill to override the IURC decision, making the familiar referencs to obscene phone calls, and saying: "Just because I own a phone does not mean that I should be a target for unsolicited sales pitches. Those who would pay to install the Caller ID feature on their phone lines are probably the ones who are receiving these nuisance phone calls." Her bill would forbid per-line and maybe per-call C-ID. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Subject: GTE Sells Their Share in Sprint to United Telecom Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 0:37:36 EST From: John R. Levine United Telecom will finally buy the last 19.9% of Sprint from GTE for $530M on January 31, barring unexpected regulatory snags. United will pay $250M then, the rest on July 1, and will borrow money to finance the sale. Once the sale is complete, United will change their name to Sprint. The sale was planned for quite a while but the price and terms hadn't been set. United already operates Sprint, so no day-to-day changes are expected. GTE is also selling their Sylvania unit to concentrate on cellular and local exchange service. GTE is now the largest local exchange carrier in the country, bigger than any of the baby bells. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 23:34:29 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Motorola Transportable Information Wanted I now have an older (1987) Motorola transportable cellular phone to replace the bag phone I had which expired on me the day before New Year's Eve. I got this phone second hand from someone who replaced it with a new phone in his car. He had very scanty information about it -- no user manual, etc -- but he was able to get a couple pages of basic programming details; how to put in your number, your carrier identification code, etc. I got the phone working and assigned to my account on Cellular One to replace the bag phone, but I sure would like some additional details. For example: What values should be in the 'station class mark', the access overload class', and the 'group ID'? The 'group ID' should not be confused with the Carrier ID, which for Cellular One/Chicago is 00001. The person who aided me in getting the phone programmed said for the time being to use '6 or 14 for portable/personal, and 12 for standalone mobile'. I am not sure of the difference. He said 'use zero and the last digit of the phone number for the access overload class', so I put in 04, but I am not sure what it means or why I put it there. For the group ID he had me put in 10, yet on my Radio Shack handheld and on the old bag phone this had a value of 15. What is the difference, and which should I use now? Does this have to do with using all 832 channels? In fact, *does* this unit get all 832 channels? For the 'initial paging channel' I put in 333 because it is my understanding the 'B' carriers start at 334 and work up while the 'A' carriers start at 333 and work down. Right or wrong? Then there was one with no documentation whatsoever: Program item 10 gets set for 'options' (unexplained) and the binary amount 011100 was there by factory default, so I left it. But what does it mean? What are the options available? The little documentation I got also had program item 11 which called for 'factory setting of 000', and someone had written on the docs to make this 110 instead ... but I don't even get item 11 on this phone; it cycles from 10 back around to 1. Any ideas on items 10-11 and the 'options' allowed in each would be appreciated, particularly why I cannot get 11. Next, I'd like to know about the pin out which connects the battery and the radio. It is a 25 pin connector, just like on a modem or terminal, but I am sure the pins are not for the same purpose. Is there any way to read what's in the radio via my terminal/modem? Finally, and this is perhaps the most important of all, this radio is the type that after X programming attempts, it locks up until it gets completely reset. Since you can't (as far as I know) do that from the keyboard in the head, I assume you have to do something to the pins which connect the battery and the radio. For example, in the Radio Shack CT-301 handheld, shorting one of the pins to ground allows a keyboard entry called 'Local / Test Mode' not available when the battery is installed normally (without the pin shorted to ground). This local, or test mode allows all sorts of changes including zeroing out the counters, etc. Is this possible on the Motorola so I don't have to send it away for help? The handset says this model is TLN-2777-A and the user-programmable features are done by , 0, security code twice, *. 'Control' is the black button on the side which also regulates the volume. The phone was originally a promotional item from GTE Mobilenet apparently since it says that on the handset, although the main unit says it is a Motorola. Any help appreciated. A spare technical manual and user manual sent to me would be very nice. Patrick Townson PO Box 1570 Chicago, IL 60690-1570 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 91 17:29:21 EST From: Thomas Lapp Subject: Question Not Answered by 800/900 Thread I've read all the postings with interest on the 800/900 free/not free thread, but could not find anything related to the one question which came to mind while reading. In earlier Digests, I have learned that 900 service can be purchased by anyone wanting to pay the fees for setup, minimum use, etc. The 900 folks charge me $xxx/minute, and I advertise $xxx+profit/minute rate so I make some money. The question that I would have is that since a switch error was made for the {USA Today} number, does that mean that the newspaper was still charged the same rate for those calls that came in via 800, or is that just billable profit to the newspaper? Since 800 service is a lot cheaper to get than 900 service (as an IP, not a user), it would seem that if that was the case, then the idea of direct billing for use of IP would result in much lower costs than the rates advertised even if AT&T billed the newspaper at daytime inward WATS rates. The actual story of how the billing was done and who was charged what would certainly make an interesting story to read. In answer to a possible question, yes, I did call the number with the expectation that it MIGHT not be billed to me, but probably would be. I used the services, and expect to pay for it. tom internet : thomas%mvac23@udel.edu Location : Newark, DE, USA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jan 92 22:36:29 CST From: Jack Decker Subject: USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number Pat, it's apparent to me that you are not swayed by public opinion, and indeed there may be some justification for the thought that those who kept repeatedly dialing the {USA Today} number should be charged for it, except that this nagging thought keeps hitting me. If one has phone service and takes all possible precautions to prevent dialing of extra-charge numbers, why should a charge be allowed simply because a technical mistake is made? You're looking at just one side of the picture, which is that those who kept taking advantage of a technical flaw to get something that they knew full well they should have been paying for should have in fact been required to pay. I suggest that perhaps you should consider the other side of this. Forget for a moment the person who knows full well that he made the calls from his home phone, in the hope that he would not get charged. Let's consider the owner of a phone (be it residential, business, COCOT or whatever) who has taken the reasonable and prudent steps to make sure that "900" number charges are not billed to his phone ... in particular, he has had 900 number blocking placed on his phone line. Now a charge for a 900 call shows up on his bill. I get the feeling that under such circumstances you'd have no sympathy, you'd say he should pay it and go after whoever made the call. I don't buy it. If the phone company undertakes to offer a 900 blocking service, and a 900 call gets through anyway, and it cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the OWNER of the phone knowingly took some action to circumvent the call blocking, then he or she should be off the hook. In other words ... let's say that I am having a party and I don't quite trust some of my friends. So, I put my valuables in a safe deposit box, lock up the good silverware, and call the phone company to have 900/976 blocking put on my phone. I may even pay a "service order" charge to have this done in some areas. Now, the point is that by accepting my order, the phone company has undertaken to provide a certain service ... namely, to prevent certain types of extraordinarily expensive calls from being made from my phone. Now a TELECOM Digest reader happens to attend my party and, unknown to me, amuses himself by calling {USA Today's} 800 number, after which I get a bill for 900 number calls. Since I have (in this hypothetical situation) 900 blocking, I really cannot by any stretch of the imagination see where I should be responsible for such a call. What strikes me as really screwy about this is that you have the telephone companies and AT&T, who have millions of dollars worth of computerized equipment that SHOULD be able to correctly route and bill calls, and you're telling the guy who may have nothing more than a $9.95 cheapie phone that HE has to keep track of every single number dialed because the phone company might be charging for calls to an 800 number. I don't buy it. Personally, I don't think any phone company should EVER be allowed to charge for calls to an 800 number for ANY reason, because just about everybody in North America associates "800" with "free call." And the fact that it took someone a month to find and fix the problem is absurd. Pat, suppose you left home for a month's vacation, and after a day or two you got a call from a neighbor saying "You must have left your front door unlocked. I see people going in and walking off with your property from time to time." And you basically said "well, I'm gone for a month, I'll take care of it when I get back." And in the meantime, someone spread the word that someone at your home was giving things away to the poor, all they needed to do was come and take whatever they needed ... so that some who took from you were aware that they were taking something they shouldn't, but others were not (remember that some were saying the {USA Today} number was a demo line). Now if I were the police captain called (after you got back) to sort out the mess, I'd first of all want to know why on earth you didn't take some action to protect your property before the month was up! And I certainly wouldn't bring charges against those who took your property thinking that it was being given away, especially if they brought it back. The problem in this scenario is that there's no police captian to demand to know why AT&T (or whoever was responsible for this fiasco) didn't do something about it before a month went by ... in effect, the phone companies get to play judge and jury here, and that's wrong. And in the second place, those folks who are getting billed have nothing to give back. And besides all of that, I have to agree with the person who said that you were abusing your authority as Moderator by saying you'd send letters to AT&T and {USA Today}. I don't know ... either you've never been victimized by having calls appear on your bill with no idea where they came from, or you have but for some reason you don't empathize with others who might be suffering through that. The bottom line: I agree that those who called the {USA Today} number knowing full well that they were taking something they should be paying for did something they shouldn't have. But as the old saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right. It is also wrong, and dangerous precedent in my opinion, to allow a telephone company to take a call that was dialed as a "free" call, using an access code known throughout North America and firmly planted in many minds, computers, PBX's, COCOT's, toll restrictors and other equipment as being the code for a "free" call, and then convert it to toll after the fact ... and then to allow the situation to continue unabated for a month or more. By the way, I'm not arguing this because I got stuck for a call ... I sort of figured something like this might happen and since fighting with the phone company over a billing dispute is NOT one of my favorite things to do, I didn't try the number. But you know, I have to wonder ... if the phone companies are so incompetent that they can't fix something like this in less than a month, why do those readers who favor local measured service seem to think that the phone companies are capable of always producing an accurate bill for local calls, particularly when they're not required to itemize them, and the customer therefore has no way of checking them? Well, Pat, I don't know if I've convinced you of anything (I doubt it) but please at least add my voice to those who feel that these calls should be written off. I won't lose a penny if they aren't, but I think we may all lose if whoever allowed this to happen gets away with collecting for it and profiting from their mistake. Jack Decker : jack@myamiga.mixcom.com : FidoNet 1:154/8 [Moderator's Note: There you go, Jack. As you requested, I've added your voice to the discussion. The thread *really does* have to be closed now. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #7 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa22945; 5 Jan 92 4:06 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22071 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 02:21:30 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06338 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 02:21:16 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 02:21:16 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201050821.AA06338@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #8 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 02:21:10 CST Volume 12 : Issue 8 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Lawsuit Claims SW Bell Operated Unauthorized Repair Center (Colin Tuttle) Open Systems Forum Announcement (Wayne McDilda) CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) (Dell Ellison) Re: Call 1-900-SOMEONE (Carl Moore) Re: Telephone Company Employees (Andy Brager) Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request (Peter da Silva) Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: The Best and The Worst (Bill Berbenich) Re: ANI in NJ (Chuck H. Chapman) Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System (Ron Newman) Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Lawsuit Claims SW Bell Operated Unauthorized Repair Center Date: 3 Jan 92 21:28:02 CST (Fri) From: ctuttle@taronga.com (Colin Tuttle) There was an article in the Friday January 3, 1992 {Daily Oklahoman}, page 11 entitled "Texas Firm Sues Bell" written by staff writer Bob Vandewater. The story is about a firm who is suing Southwestern Bell for $60 million. Here is a transcription of part of the article: (Dodds is Chuck Dodds, president Circuit Repair Technology Inc. of Brownwood, TX) Dodds said the suit stems from his firm's 1989 purchase from the phone company of telecommunications circuit repair equipment that was among the assets of Integrated Circuit Technologies, Inc., an alleged former Bell affiliate in Oklahoma City during the mid 1980's. "As an inducement to purchase the equipment, Circuit Repair Technology alleges it was promised substantial repair business from Southwestern Bell by high-ranking Southwestern Bell officials in Oklahoma," he said. "We purchased equipment from Southwestern Bell in good faith and were promised that we would have the business that the internal group planned to handle, and we didn't get it." Dodds said. "It appears we may have been the unwitting participant in a possible Southwestern Bell coverup." he said. Dodds said Bell in late 1986 asked the federal judge who presided over the 1984 breakup of the AT&T/Bell System to lift a restriction against the company becoming involved in the electronic repair business. But he said, "This waiver request was made nearly a full year after the Oklahoma City Southwestern Bell repair facility was in operation." "The waiver request was never approved," he said. However, "in early 1987 the Oklahoma City repair organization was secretly disbanded and all of its assets stored," including those later sold to Circuit Repair, Dodds said. "I'm not saying Southwestern Bell violated provisions" and restrictions of the AT&T/Bell System breakup order, he said. But he said, "there is no doubt in my mind that Southwestern Bell had some very strong incentives to dispose of that Oklahoma City operation." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 23:49 CST From: "Wayne McDilda Subject: Open Systems Forum Announcement Announcing.... == OPEN SYSTEMS FORUM == January 14-16, 1992 Stouffer Arboretum Hotel, Austin Texas Exhibits $10 (Complimentary Tickets Available) 1-Day Conference $75 3-Day Conference $150 (includes lunch, special events) Some topics to be addressed: POSIX Electronic Benefits Transfer X.400 GNMP Client Server Computer X.500 IGOSS Security ISDN OSI Transition Planning SONET LANs & WANs Email & Directory Services ASN.1 FIPS OSE Components X/Open For registration information call Debi Christenbury @ (512) 475-4725 Department of Information Resources FAX (512) 475-4759 The purpose of the forum is to present and examine Open Systems topics of interest to managers and technical staff, and to present the Texas phased plan for migration to Open Systems. Topics to be covered include: open system technologies, strategic planning, the business case for open systems and benefits, application and data migration strategies, training issues, distributed architectures, local and wide area networking, ISDN, SONET, messaging handling systems, directory services, open system environment standards to include: Applications Portability Profile, Industry Government Open Systems Specification, Government Network Management Profile and Federal Information Processing Standards; X/Open Portability Guide and Common Applications Environment; Open Management Interoperability Point, multimedia systems. Each morning there will be a joint session for all attendees, in the afternoons separate seminar sessions (Management / Computing Environment / Database and Transaction Processing / Local & Wide Area Networking) will be available, and on Tuesday and Wednesday nights special events are scheduled. The three day registration fee is $150.00. One day is $75.00. Several payments methods are available. Please call Debi Christenbury @ (512) 475-4725 to register or ask for a registration form to be FAXed to your location. The forum is from Tuesday January 14 through Thursday January 16, at the Stouffer's Hotel in Austin, Texas. Stouffer's phone is (512) 343-2626 and it is located at the intersection of US Hwy 183 and the Capitol of Texas Hwy (Loop 360). As an added bonus the OMNICOM Training Week has been moved to Austin to coincide with the DIR forum. Please call 1-800-OMNICOM for information or registration. Special prices have been prearranged for state employees. ------------------------------ From: ellisond@rtsg.mot.com (Dell H. Ellison) Subject: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 16:37:08 GMT andys@ulysses.att.com writes: > CLASS features only work for intra-LATA calls from exchanges equipped > with SS7. As for the call waiting call, I'm pretty sure it would be > ... Are you sure? I think the CLASS features will work for inter-LATA calls as long as they have SS7 all the way along the path. Besides, I would think that all the switch would need, so that it could do the Call Return, would be the phone number. And it definitely should have that. Dell H. Ellison ...!uunet!mcdchg!motcid!ellisond Motorola, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 10:41:03 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Call 1-900-SOMEONE The AT&T Voicemark system (800-562-MARK --> 800-562-6275) only makes it optional to provide your name when sending messages. You get billed for the calls (on bank statement if Visa or Master Card is used) or on your phone bill. Please don't use this information to make unwelcome calls. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 08:34:14 GMT From: andyb@wndrsvr.UCSD.EDU (Andy Brager) Subject: Re: Telephone Company Employees Organization: Wonder Server - Public Access for SoCal In article dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: > [ regarding automated-attendants at telco customer-service numbers] > What also works is to remain silent when prompted to enter touch tone > digits. These systems generally don't know whether the caller is > touch-tone-equipped or not. If the first prompt is met with silence, > it should be designed to assume that tone-dial equipment is not > available, and should attempt to connect you with a human. That no longer works with my bank's 24 hour service. If you stay silent, they connect you to another system which will accept voice input. You find yourself yelling ZERO ZERO ZERO at the phone ... Andy cerritos.edu!wndrsvr!andyb <=========> andyb@stb.info.com ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 15:00:49 GMT deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) writes: > Not exactly. I believe the article is referring to 9.6kbps packet > switched on the D channel in addition to the 64kbps B channel. Why can't you use the B channel for data? > In other words, you're getting the regular POTS equivalent service (B > channel) plus the D channel packet for the $8/month plus connection > charges. Yeah, but you're still paying more for using less hardware and bandwidth when you pay those connection charges. > The second B channel would cost more. So you're getting 50% (approx) of an ISDN as well. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request Date: 3 Jan 92 22:03:21 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , peter@ficc.ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes ... > In other words, you'd have to pay a premium to actually use *less* > bandwidth on the phone system (that is, a 2400 baud POTS call uses a > 64 KB channel or a dedicated line (in the local area), where a 9600 > baud ISDN connection only uses a 9.6 KB channel. Sounds like Touch > Tone fees all over again. Here's what they asked for: You pay $5/month to make your line digital (ISDN) instead of analog. Then if you want D-channel packet (9.6 nominal throughput), it's another monthly charge (around $8.50) plus per-packet usage (about $.60/kilosegment). That's not unreasonable, since it is an additional service (access to X.25), and X.25 without ISDN is pathetically expensive in the US. BUT what goes wrong is the circuit-mode charge. They want to charge 8c/minute for calls WITHIN the same switch, 16c/minute outside the switch, for the 64 kbps data service. That's because you specified a data bearer service for the call. And you pay over $20/month for the right to make/receive such calls. The trick -- which I advise everyone to use -- is to make the call while your TE or TA says "bearer service = 3.1 kHz audio" but then actually send data. Since the network is all 64 kbps digital anyway, it'll work! But you lose the low-order bit (due to bit-robbed signaling and no B8ZS on voice T1) so you get only 56 kbps throughput, using 7/8 coding. (That's also called V.110/56kbps rate adaptation.) Some of us have spoken to NET in quite clear terms about our opinion of their tariff, and we're going to keep talking. Their proposed rates are preposterous, aimed only at Centrex users (who don't pay any usage charges for intra-Centrex calls). >> The phone company also notes that ISDN data converters >> cost $700 or more and are incompatible with existing answering >> machines and other phones. > The network has to be in place for the economy of scale to exist for > cheap convertors. There is no reason an ISDN convertor should cost any > more than a 2400 baud modem (currently, about $70 external) given the > existing chip sets and reasonable FAB run sizes. The telco has no say here; ISDN terminal equipment and adapters are competitively-provided. They're quite costly today as low-volume items. That'll limit ISDN to people who really can use it. But if you have a workstation (or high-powered PC) at home and want to do serious remote computing (say, using X Window System), ISDN is a good bet even now. (So long as you don't pay the 16c/minute!) PS -- "ISDN In Perspective" is just now in print, so the Moderator's review copy should be showing up one of these weeks. Fred R. Goldstein voice: +1 508 486 7388 goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The Best and The Worst Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 12:05:22 GMT From: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu (Bill Berbenich) Reply-To: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu In article John Higdon wrote about least and most responsive telcom organizations. John, for all the bad experiences that I have personally had with the BOC PacBell and all of the tales of horror that you have told about Pac*Tel management policy, from your view of someone who has to deal with PacBell on a regular basis, I thought I'd submit MY entry for Most Responsive. It's really a paradox. I can't figure it out. Most Responsive: PacTel Cellular in Atlanta. There hasn't been a single occasion where I have called either the business office or my major accounts rep and NOT hung up the phone satisfied and happy. Every dealing I have had with these folks has been of the highest quality. They have even bent the rules for me a few times, but in all fairness to PacTel here, I won't say how or why they bent the rules. I don't want them to get swamped with calls from TC Digest readers wanting the same thing. :-) They have removed roaming charges on my bill when those roaming charges were simply the result of me activating the Transparent Call Forwarding in a roamer city -- no calls, just the *31-SEND (I think it's *31, I may be wrong off-hand). My impression is that PacTel just swallowed the charges on these. Good staff and good management, IMHO. Maybe it's a left-coast, right- coast thing? BTW, four months and counting until the 404/706 split on May 3. There will be a four-month permissive dialing period, which ends on August 3. A telecom-oriented friend and I were speculating not that long ago about how many new 706'ers will get wrong numbers intended for Mexico. Which brings to mind the question: when was 706 last used as an area code for part of Mexico? Hasta la vista, Bill ------------------------------ From: cchapman@matd.gatech.edu (Chuck H. Chapman) Subject: Re: ANI in NJ Date: 3 Jan 92 17:53:58 GMT In donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) writes: > Dialing 958 in the 619 area produces nothing but silence. In the 404 area code it gives the "We're sorry. You're number can't be completed as dialed" message. Charles H. Chapman (GTRI/MATD) (404) 528-7588 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,ut-ngp}!gatech!matd!cchapman Internet: cchapman@matd.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc. Subject: Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System Date: Fri, 03 Jan 92 18:00:24 EST From: Ron Newman In article , spencer@phoenix. Princeton.EDU (S. Spencer Sun) writes: > The phone system here at P.U. is a Centrex (at least I suppose so, > that's what everybody calls our phone book, "The Centrex" so it sounds > plausible. I'm ignorant when it comes to phone systems) ... from what > I've been able to figure out from reading the learned opinions > expressed here, whether an area code can be dialed or not depends on > whether the people responsible for maintaining our phone system have > programmed the system to accept it. I've never understood this ... why is it necessary for a PBX or Centrex to know anything at all about valid and invalid area codes and office codes? Why can't they just pass everything on to the phone company and let them screen out invalid numbers? Ron Newman rnewman@bbn.com [Moderator's Note: The reason is because what telco considers valid might still be unwanted by the system proprietor, ie 900 calls; the use of certain long distance carriers, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 19:14:54 -0600 From: "Gil Kloepfer Jr." Subject: Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? Organization: Southwest Systems Development Labs, Houston, TX In article minakami@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Michael K. Minakami) writes: > I have some 8khz mulaw sound samples that I got off of a Sun > SparcStation and have been trying to play them over a T1 line through > a voice response unit. When I listen to it over a phone, voice sounds > nasal and music sounds equally distorted. If you look at the data sheet for the Am79C30A (it's a ISDN Digital Subscriber Controller chip by AMD, and is used in the SPARCstation to do the sound), there is a programmable filter register which is probably set to some non-standard values in the SUN driver. Since I haven't gotten the chip yet to play with, I don't know too much about the effects of setting the filter to different values, but this register's setting sounds like it could be the problem. Gil Kloepfer, Jr. gil@limbic.ssdl.com ...!ames!limbic!gil Southwest Systems Development Labs (Div of ICUS) Houston, Texas ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #8 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25049; 5 Jan 92 5:04 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25610 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 03:10:28 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32161 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 03:10:12 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 03:10:12 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201050910.AA32161@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #9 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 03:09:16 CST Volume 12 : Issue 9 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Phone Company Humor (Kath Mullholand) Re: Phone Company Humor (Joel Lessenberry) Re: Phone Company Humor (David W. Barts) Re: Phone Company Humor (Barry Mishkind) Re: Phone Company Humor (Doug Faunt) Re: Phone Company Humor (Jack Decker) Re: Phone Company Humor (Charlie Lear) National Lampoon Subscription Ad (was Phone Company Humor) (Rich Greenberg) Phone Book Trivia (was Phone Company Humor) (Bill Berbenich) Intercept Recordings (was Phone Company Humor) (Jon Cereghino) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Bob Miller) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Steve Dillinger) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 8:31:14 -0500 (EST) From: K_MULLHOLAND@UNHH.UNH.EDU (Kath Mullholand, UNH Telecom, 862-1031) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor In the Jan 3 issue, ctuttle@taronga.com (Colin Tuttle) writes: > There was also a bit of an uproar when SW Bell stopped using the > drawing and went with a large Bell logo on the cover. I don't recall > the explanation or the reason, ... I remember when New England Telephone used to have very scenic or creative covers as well -- not as clever as the ones described, but one that stands out in my mind was Norman Rockwell's (I think!) telephone "chain", which shows one pair of people talking, then to the right of them, a member of the first pair and a new person, and so one for about forty pictures, until eventually the last person is talking to the "other half" of the first pair. The paintings showed people in a wide variety of dress and using many different types of phones. The reason New England Telephone dropped these covers was divestiture. They felt that their subscribers were confused about the breakup, and saw the phone book as one way to clearly associate themselves with NYNEX and as a Bell Company. Until this year, each book has had the NYNEX logo and some very boring graphics. This year, they're using the cover to advertise the yellow pages, using category headings that look like they've been torn out of the book, and on top of all these scraps of paper are three torn pieces of yellow cardboard containing the logos of NYNEX, New England Telephone, and the area covered by the book. The independent phone companies don't seem to have the same identity problems. The GTE and TDS books I've seen still have local scenery on the covers. Kath Mullholand UNH, Durham, NH ------------------------------ From: joel@cfctech.cfc.com (Joel Lessenberry) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: Chrysler Financial Corp., Southfield, MI Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 13:55:01 GMT In article unkaphaed!phaedrus@moe. rice.edu (James Hartman, Sysop) writes: > acg@HERMES.DLOGICS.COM writes: [story about the humorous things added into the cover of the phone book] The phone book here in Macomb Co. (Yellow Pages) has a listing of "LOVE" Yes you find everything else in the yellow pages, why not LOVE?" The next entry, interestingly enough, is for lubricants ... Joel Lessenberry, Distributed Systems | +1 313 948 3342 joel@cfctech.UUCP | Chrysler Financial Corp. joel%cfctech.uucp@mailgw.cc.umich.edu | MIS, Technical Services {sharkey|mailrus}!cfctech!joel | 2777 Franklin, Sfld, MI [Moderator's Note: Now watch it ... this is not the alt.telecom.sex forum, you know. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 10:20:41 -0800 From: David W. Barts Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor In Telecom Digest Volume 12, Issue 2, Message 5 of 15, TONY@MCGILL1. BITNET (Tony Harminc) writes: > My favourite funny thing in the Toronto Yellow Pages is in the index: > under "Nuts and Bolts" it says "see Bolts and Nuts". It says the same thing in the Seattle Yellow Pages Index. Either this is an unintentional result of software (or phone company policy), or perhaps the same wiseguy is somehow involved in producing the Yellow Pages in many North American cities. In the category of "most stupid cross reference," we have the following: XANTH COMPUTER CORP ----------- See Xanth Corporation And the very next line is -- you guessed it: XANTH CORPORATION 14100 NE 20th Bellevue -- 643-9697 David Barts N5JRN UW Civil Engineering, FX-10 davidb@zeus.ce.washington.edu Seattle, WA 98195 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor From: barry@coyote.datalog.com (Barry Mishkind) Date: Fri, 03 Jan 92 15:44:55 MST Organization: Datalog Consulting, Tucson, AZ At one radio station, I installed a transmitter phone, a not uncommon action. However, I found out that the telco would charge us not to list "XXXX Transmitter" in the phone book. And, the last thing I needed when dealing with an outage was a bunch of kids calling and asking when their favorite rock song would be on the air. Eventually, I had it listed under "STATION, R." ... and very few calls ever came in ! > [Moderator's Note: Your message arrived here with a zero (0) instead of > the letter /O/ in O'Neill's name, and I assume the zero is the reason > it sorted to the head of the list, even before the business known as > 'A' or 'AAA', etc. PAT] Yes, that is exactly correct. Sorry I didn't point it out more clearly. Barry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 15:38:34 -0800 From: Doug Faunt N6TQS 415-688-8269 Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor There was an Hewlett Packard corporate telephone book a few years back that got pulled the day after it was released because there was a bogus obscene entry. I don't know if I still have my copy, but they sure tried to get them back from everyone. Also, I was working at KPFA the other afternoon, and got a call from someone who didn't know that he'd called the studio line, or what the station was or where it was. He'd called from Massachusetts because he'd gotten a record for Christmas by "Negativeland" and it had the 'phone number on it somewhere. doug ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 11:46:16 CST From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor In a message dated 1 Jan 92 06:14:10 GMT, jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (John G Dobnick) writes: > However, I did stumble upon an unusual listing. The following entry > was in the red (commercial) section of our Milwaukee Metroplan > directory (AC 414): > Primal Center of Denver > 323 S Pearl Denver Colo ........... 303 778-8105 > Denver? Colorado? > Are such out-of-area listings common in the "white pages"? As the Moderator notes, this may be a legitimate listing. However, as I've mentioned before in the Digest, I know the guy who owns what may be the nation's smallest telephone company, the Northern Telephone Company of Wawina, Minnesota. Their white pages (actually, I should say PAGE, since the listing for the entire exchange only occupies about half a page) are included in the US West phone book for Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Anyway, when the July, 1991 directory came out, the following listing was found right in the middle of the Wawina listings: DDPL EMPLOYEES' CREDIT UNION ------------ 303 337-8493 Since my friend had no knowledge of where this listing came from or why it was in the middle of the listings for his phone exchange, he contacted U.S. West and was informed that they routinely include bogus listings in the directory so that anyone who copies the listings from the directory can be prosecuted for copyright violation. The header of the Wawina section does bear a small print notice that states "(C) U S West Direct 1991" (There is really a small c in a circle but I can't show that here so I used (C) instead). All of this had my friend a bit miffed, since I don't think he had ever assigned a copyright on his listings to U S West, and in any case he wasn't real excited about seeing an area code 303 listing (and a bogus one at that) in the middle of his local exchange lists. In case anyone is wondering, there are only 38 separate numbers that begin with the Wawina 488- prefix listed in the white pages (I did not check for duplicates listed under more than one name, so there may be fewer unique numbers) and three of those are for the Northern Telephone Company. Also, one is the post office which has since been shut down. I'm also aware that there's one pay phone on the exchange, located inside the Township Hall. I realize there are smaller EXCHANGES around (we have a couple here in Northern Michigan that only have around 20 customers) but all of them are owned by phone companies that have more than one exchange. Northern Telephone Company operates ONLY the Wawina exchange, and apparently the rates are lower than those of the surrounding U S West communities, but the exchange is still step-by-step (no long distance access to anyone other than AT&T unless you dial using 1+950 or 0+950 to reach a carrier's 950 access number, or use a 1-800 access number). If the owner is ever required to modernize the exchange, I'm not sure if he could do it, although knowing him he'd probably find a small used ESS somewhere and put it in. He also collects old phone equipment and has a veritable museum of old phones in the basement of his home, many of which are connected to a working step-by-step exchange in his basement (that one is his "toy", it's not connected to the one that serves Wawina). It's a very interesting system up there in the North Woods of Minnesota! Jack Decker : jack@myamiga.mixcom.com : FidoNet 1:154/8 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: The Cave MegaBBS, Public Access Usenet, Wellington, NZ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 17:02:21 +1300 From: clear@cavebbs.gen.nz (Charlie Lear) In article Mark Walsh writes: > students. After a few hassles about who's name it was listed under, > she had the listing changed to "OTHERS, THE." Pat Cain, who posts here frequently, had a major hassle when getting a dedicated line for his bulletin board. They wouldn't accept Sideways BBS as a valid residential listing. So now he gets billed as Mr. B.B.S. Sideways. Oh, and the directory listing? "Sideways B.B.S.", of course... Charlie "The Bear" Lear | clear@cavebbs.gen.nz | Kawasaki Z750GT DoD#0221 Fax +64 4 564-5307 The Cave MegaBBS +64 4 5643429 V22b | PO Box 2009, Wellington, New Zealand ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Jan 92 10:11:20 PST From: RICHG@SMAUG.LA.LOCUS.COM Subject: National Lampoon Subscription Ad (was Phone Company Humor) Here is a subscription ad from National Lampoon Magazine's 2/92 issue that I thought the Digest readers would get a chuckle out of. (Typos probably mine.) Headline (large type): Subscribe to the National Lampoon and call anywhere in the U.S. for FREE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ Picture of a college phone-booth stuffing stunt on left, Block of text on right, Text: Reach out and touch someone. It's not just a slick ad slogan, its the foundation for a healthy emotional life. And we at the National Lampoon realize that life in America in what's almost the twenty-first century can get a mite lonely sometimes. That's why we are making this unprecedented subscription offer. It works like this. Subscribe to the National Lampoon, America's favorite humor magazine for one, two, or three years. After you subscribe and we verify your order, you'll be able to make a free call anywhere in the U.S. Just clip the mailing label off the magazine and have your account number at hand. Lift up your phone receiver and dial 1-800 followed by seven numbers of your choice. If you get a recording telling you that number is not in service at this time, don't dispair. Just dial 1-800 again and try another seven digits. Odds are in a few short seconds you'll be enjoying your free call. Footing in large type: National Lampoon. We'll help you reach out - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How you touch is your own business. Disclaimer: The above writings are the ramblings of one human being and have nothing what-so-ever to do with Locus Computing Corp. Rich Greenberg, richg@locus.com Tinseltown, USA 310-337-5904 Located in Inglewood, CA which is a small city completely contained within Los Angeles. ------------------------------ Subject: Phone Book Trivia (was Phone Company Humor) Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 17:40:47 GMT From: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu (Bill Berbenich) Reply-To: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu It's Friday, it's after 5:00, and traffic is snarled up pretty bad where I am headed on this misty, rainy evening. So I figured I'd look into the new Atlanta phone books, released last month, and see what kind of inane trivia I could come up with. From the business book - First: A ------------------------------------------------ 872-xxxx Last: ZYOTIC ZOOM A FINESSE EXECUTIVE REFERRAL SERVICE 200 26th St NW ----------- 876-xxxx [Trivia note: Both companies served by same central office!] Residential book - First: A Craig Senft DC 12 Executive Park Dr NE --------- 633-xxxx also - A Herbert Rivers atty - (at three locations) [Apparently these men both have the first initial of 'A', but their listings are made as though 'A' is the last name.] Last: Zzapp L C 2733 Woodland Ter SE Smyr -------------- 434-xxxx Total pages of listings: Residential - 2121; Business (including government listings) - 663 (632 business, 31 government). The books are dated December 1991, are correct through August 13, 1991 and are copyrighted by BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation, 1992. They come out in two volumes, one business and the other the residential listings. There are two Yellow Pages volumes published concurrently by BAPCO, divided alphabetically there is the A-L book and the M-Z book. The yellow pages are officially known as _The_Real_ Yellow_Pages_ (tm). Bill Berbenich, School of EE, DSP Lab Georgia Tech, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{backbones}!gatech!eedsp!bill Internet: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 00:05:29 PST From: cereghin@netcom.com (Jon Cereghino) Subject: Intercept Recordings (was Phone Company Humor) Several years ago, I misdialed a call through a local Number 5 Crossbar (5XB) and got an intercept recording that qualifies for telco humor: "We're sorry, but we have a problem." "We're sorry, but we have a problem." "We're sorry, but we have a problem..." A few weeks later the recording added the phrase "completing your call as dialed ..." (etc.) Jon Cereghino cereghin@netcom.com "The trouble on your circuit is leaving our central office just fine." C-Message Weighting BBS (408) 377-7441 2400 8N1 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 12:25:18 PST From: Bob Miller Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits I expected someone else to post the following, but have not noticed it. Echo Valley Two Six Eight Oh Nine I used to call that number all the time ... Maybe someone can put a title and artist to the song. Bob Miller - Digital Equipment of Canada - Toronto ------------------------------ From: dill@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Slave Driver) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 04:41:27 GMT Back several years ago a friend of mine put the telephone call section of 'The Wall' through a decoder and found the tones were MF. I remember them being KP, the country code for England and then START (there should be something else in there, no? like an inward #?) You can also hear the 2600 wink. We recorded these tones and played them over a line we stumbled on to and they worked. My nomination for 'best' has to be Frank and the Phunny Phone Call, by far. If you haven't heard it, it is some guy named Frank Blue Boxing around the US to various operators and others with some very funny results ... (yeah, yeah, I know it's illegal, loosen up...) Steve Dillinger :: ramoth.cso.uiuc.edu University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign ------------------------------ From: The Unknown User Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Date: 5 Jan 92 07:48:09 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing I must have missed part of this discussion. Surely someone has mentioned 867-5309? unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #9 ****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07060; 5 Jan 92 14:19 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19980 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 12:32:53 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06145 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 12:32:38 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 12:32:38 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201051832.AA06145@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #10 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 12:32:07 CST Volume 12 : Issue 10 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (John Higdon) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Floyd Davidson) Re: IBT and Caller-ID (Jim Castleberry) Re: IBT and Caller-ID (Earl R. Hall) Re: Call Trace on Usage Basis in Florida (Andy Brager) Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls from Bell Canada? (J Decker) Re: Weird AT&T Rates (Mark Oberg) Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request (Peter da Silva) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 23:48 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with > phone sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges. Yes and no. The three Pac*Bell 900 exchanges are 303 ("harmful matter"), 844 (recorded general audience), and 505 (live talk, general audience). If you are hearing "porn" on 844, it is a violation of Pac*Bell policies and eventually the operator of the service will get busted. Pac*Bell regularly polices the services by calling them (and actually paying for the call!) and checking out the program. > Are these exchanges assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover > a particular geographic area, or what? 900 prefixes are assigned to carriers and are 'area non-specific'. In other words, for carriers other than Pac*Bell, you have no way of knowing where the machine is that is handling your call. There are service centers in major cities all over the country. Pac*Bell 900 numbers terminate in certain wire centers in each California LATA. For instance, in the San Francisco LATA, all Pac*Bell 900 services are located in the general area of the financial district (served out of the Bush/Pine CO). > Also, does anyone know what is the most > expensive minimum charge for a (900) call? The most expensive call > I've heard about is: "Talk to two (description omitted) girls at the > same time! It's only $5.00 per minute with a little ten-minute > minimum!". Are there any numbers costing more than $50? With other carriers, the sky is the limit. With Pac*Bell, there is a MAXIMUM charge of $20 per call. This means that if the caller is on past the time where he has run up a $20 cost, it is to the IPs benefit to cut him off; Pac*Bell will not remit more than $20 for the call. Bash 900 while you can. Many of the avant garde are looking to escape the tyranny of 900 regulations and enter the brave new world of "direct billing". While many of you believe that the only sleaze is on the part of the providers themselves, the truth is that carriers, including Pac*Bell, have not hesitated to rip off providers. The Telesphere case is legendary and there are others, including the almighty AT&T who are playing games aplenty with providers. AT&T has actually claimed to one provider that his calls for one month were 100% uncollectable! When this service was placed on an alternative billing system, uncollectables ran less than 15%. Most carriers pull this nonsense and then offer the provider nothing in terms of accounting or detail. Many legitimate providers have had it up to here with the ultra-sleazy tactics of the most-holy telephone carriers and will soon take their business elsewhere. The end of 900 service may not be far off. But its disappearance will not be the result of government edicts, IEC righteousness, or even public pressure. It will go away because the information industry is tired of being taken to the cleaners by the nation's telephone companies. If those companies want to get into the information business, then they can have the 900 numbers all to themselves. The REAL information industry will have moved on. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: John, I believe that 900-999 is used for the really raunchy sex stuff from Telesphere. Is that correct? PAT] ------------------------------ From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 06:52:21 GMT In article martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > To avoid stupid flames, let me first say that although discussing > obscenity, I find the concept of telephone pornography disgusting. > When you don't know who will be calling, arguments regarding "freedom > of speech" are, in my opinion, out the window. Anyway, now to my > questions: > It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter > obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has > somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will "The phone company" does not exist as any single entity. There are many many of them, and all are different. > not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then > disconnected due to prank calls. How large is the list of numbers > which are unassigned because of what they spell? My only experience in this area came about just the other day. And it would suggest that the list is very very small. At least in this one case. I offer no opinion on this, just the facts ... (grins and giggles ...) Alascom just recently installed an earth station at some kind of a new community that I understand is more or less a religious commune, named Dry Creek. (Located half way from Fairbanks to the Canadian border.) There is no way to tell just how long this will last, but at the moment the telephone number for the Alascom ES in Dry Creek, AK is ... 907-323-3825. I'm not sure who the local phone company there is. Floyd L. Davidson floyd@ims.alaska.edu Salcha, Alaska ------------------------------ From: jc@joker.mil.ufl.edu (Jim Castleberry) Subject: Re: IBT and Caller-ID Organization: Machine Intelligence Lab, University of Florida Date: Fri, 3 Jan 92 04:42:59 GMT In article mea@ihlpl.att.com (Mark E Anderson) writes: > As of Monday December 30, I noticed that Illinois Bell has turned on > caller ID. > A curious thing is happening at my home though. As of December 27, I > have been receiving an abnormal amount of blank calls on my home > answering machine. > What I was wondering is it possible that IBT is generating these calls > to get people to subscribe to Caller-ID? There is no way I would ever > pay $6.50 a month for this service. I wonder if these blank calls > will stop once I subscribe. Has anyone else experienced this? Yes. A few months ago Southern Bell started pre-selling the fancy services, just before they were actually available, and ran a barrage of TV ads. At the same time I started getting at least one or two such calls every day. When the ads stopped a couple of weeks later so did the calls. I'm not much for conspiracy theory so I dismissed it at the time. Maybe overzealous sales staff working on commission? > [Moderator's Note: I don't think IBT needs to stoop to the 'marketing > practices' you describe in order to sell Caller-ID. The latest word on > this from IBT earlier this week was they had already signed up several > thousand subscribers to Caller-ID within the first month of taking > orders for the service. *67 has been working here since 12-1-91. PAT] What does *67 sound like? We're supposed to have it here, but when I tried it the dial tone just beeped three times and went back to the constant tone. Then (without hanging) up I dialed that alarm company's 800 CID number that was posted a while back and they still knew my number. Sounds like it didn't work, huh? Jim Castleberry [Moderator's Note: That is exactly what *67 is supposed to do: Beep three times and go back to the dial tone. This indicates that for that one call, your ID is blocked from the called party. It is NOT blocked from either your CO or the called CO ... merely the end subscriber. It sounds just like the three beeps you get when you prepend *70 to cancel call-waiting for the duration of the call, and like *70, you need not wait for the beeps and fresh dial tone to continue dialing; you need not put in a pause with auto-dialers, etc ... just shove all the digits out; the switch will keep up with them. For folks with a default condition of blocking, the same works in reverse. But with either blocking by default or blocking call by call, you can NOT block your ID on a call to an 800 number (called party pays charges, thus gets billing detail), nor on calls to 911 or various administrative lines at the telco, and there are other exceptions. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 00:13:57 PST From: Earl R. Hall Subject: Re: IBT and Caller-ID mea@ihlpl.att.com (Mark E Anderson) writes: > A curious thing is happening at my home though. As of December 27, I > have been receiving an abnormal amount of blank calls on my home > answering machine. I received 3 on Friday December 27, 3 on Monday > December 30, 3 on New Year's Eve, and so far one today. I also experienced about the same thing. I don't have the exact number and times, but got a number of blank calls during the evenings near the end of December. I wonder if it means they're working on turning on Caller-ID on my local switch (Chicago-Kildare). It doesn't seem to be on yet, since I get a recording if I try to disable it with a *67. And that brings up another point. I think it's pretty stupid that I get a recording ("When dialing a long-distance number, ...") if I punch in *67. You'd think that they'd at least have the courtesy to give me another dial tone! I'm going to soon grow tired of the message, and stop trying to use it. Then, when the feature is finally turned on, they'll start transmitting my phone number when I don't want them to. Ah, progress! Earl Hall | +1 312 685 9735 (home) | via PeaceNet: | GEnie: ERHALL Chicago IL | +1 708 437 9300 (work) | erhall@igc.org | CIS: 72746,3244 [Moderator's Note: There is definitly a programming error there somewhere. CO-wise, I am 'next door' to you in Rogers Park. We are now equipped coming and going, both ways with Caller-ID and blocking. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1992 08:13:14 GMT From: andyb%wndrsvr@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Andy Brager) Subject: Re: Call Trace on Usage Basis in Florida Organization: Wonder Server - Public Access for SoCal Dave.Leibold@f524.n250.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) writes: >> ... ANI provides the billing number of the calling line. Whenever >> you dial a 440- or 930- number, your telephone number is provided >> to the >> business you have called. This service is not Caller ID >> Service and therefore the Caller ID blocking codes will not apply >> in these instances. I'd like to know what happens if I call one of those numbers from here in Southern California (GTE). Do they get my number or not? Andy cerritos.edu!wndrsvr!andyb andyb@stb.info.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 11:46:47 CST From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: "Minimum Charge" for Unsuccessful LD Calls From Bell Canada? In a message dated 1 Jan 92 20:11:00 GMT, msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) writes: > Incidentally, this means that Bell Canada can now beat Canada Post on > price, as domestic postage is just now going up to 42 cents. Even > with 15% sales tax on the phone call and only 7% on the postage > stamp, the minimum-charge phone call can win. Since you mentioned this minimum charge, I have to ask this ... a couple of years ago I read that Unitel in Canada was offering what amounted to alternate long distance service similar to what U.S. carriers used to offer (that is, you dial a local access number, then wait for a second tone and key in an account number and number you wish to call), except that at the time it couldn't be used for voice transmissions because Bell Canada and the other Canadian telephone companies have a legal monopoly on voice long distance service. So they actually had to install equipment to break the connection if it appeared that a voice connection were taking place (I think it broke the connection after 60 seconds of no carrier tone, but I'm not sure about that). Obviously, it was used for low-cost FAX connections (that is how they promoted it, as a FAX network) and computer modem connections (and probably also for the occasional _short_ voice call, even though that was supposedly illegal). Rates were something like 30% lower than Bell Canada, and I suspect that there was no "minimum charge", since FAX transmissions are typically short-duration. I'm just curious as to whether that service is still offered, and whether the legal monopoly on Canadian voice traffic still exists. Jack Decker : jack@myamiga.mixcom.com : FidoNet 1:154/8 ------------------------------ From: grout!mark@uunet.uu.net (Mark Oberg) Subject: Re: Weird AT&T Rates Date: 4 Jan 92 18:15:46 GMT Organization: Grout, Beltsville, MD In article scott@hsvaic.boeing.com writes: > In grout!mark@uunet.uu.net (Mark > Oberg) writes: >> [....] the reason might be marketing rather >> than any corporate sympathy for the plight of fax users. MCI has had >> the very interesting habit of quoting first minute rates that are >> lower than the additional minute rate for quite some time now. > When have you been quoted lower first minute charges by MCI?. I > have been using MCI for five years now and have never had a case where > that was true. All my minutes cost the same (there was a time when the > first minute was HIGHER, but that stopped a couple of years a go). > I just called MCI customer service and was unable to find a case > where the first minute was less expensive, so I asked for a > supervisor. The supervisor was unaware of any such case. > If there is such a case would you be so kind as to provide me with > the area and prefix of the calling and called numbers so that I can > pursue this with said supervisor? I replied to your email in more detail, but will also reply here for the benefit of others who may be curious as to the answer. In March 1991, I did a telephone survey of long distance carriers in which I asked for rate information by mileage band, first minute charge and additional minute charge for calls originating in the Baltimore, MD LATA and billed at "standard" Dial-1 rates. MCI's rate quoted at that time was lower for the first minute and higher for additional minutes. All of the carriers called initially insisted on quoting a rate for a specific call between two NPA/NXX's or quoting on the basis of some "special dialing plan", but I was interested in the Standard rate by mileage bands and my observation is based on the information given to me at that time. Rates and rate structures may have changed since that time. It was not my intent to quote other carriers rates in my original reply but rather to illustrate the possibility of a low first minute rate being used for marketing reasons rather than to benefit a certain class of users (fax users, in the case presented). Disclaimer: These observations and opinions are my own. I do not speak for NATel, Inc. Mark Oberg NATel, Inc. | UUCP: wb3ffv!grout!mark Voice: (410)964-0505 | Internet: mark%grout@wb3ffv.ampr.org BBS: (301)596-6450 | Fidonet: 1:109/506 ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 16:03:27 GMT You're still paying more for using less resources than a TB3000 and POTS. You're also getting less service (I've run PEP up to 14000 bps before compression, and the theoretical limit over POTS is 21204 bps (512 channels at 7 bauds with 6 bits/baud less the 300 baud back channel), though the most I've heard of in practice is around 18000). As for the economy of scale argument: it's the phone company's actions that are keeping the demand for the ISDN hardware down... they can't abrogate all responsibility. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #10 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08455; 5 Jan 92 15:10 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14538 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 13:26:19 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14413 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 13:26:05 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 13:26:05 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201051926.AA14413@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #11 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 13:25:56 CST Volume 12 : Issue 11 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Administrivia: Special Issue; New Archives File (TELECOM Moderator) Re: Jolson on the Phone (was Telecom's Greatest Hits) (Peter da Silva) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Dave Levenson) Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) (D. Lewis) Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System (John Higdon) Re: Questions About Calling Remote Areas (Floyd Davidson) 10th Anniversary of the MFJ (David Gast) Contacting Other MINITEL Users (mainly US) (D Parsons) First Transatlantic Telephone Call (Newsday via Dave Niebuhr) Book Review: ISDN In Perspective (Bob Frankston) Re: American Express and ANI (Randy Jarrett) Re: Phone Company Humor (Stephanie da Silva) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 12:44:22 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Administriva: Special Issue; New Archives File Jim Haynes sent along a really nice article from the {Western Union Technical Review} of April, 1961 on the history of the stock ticker. It is too long for a regular issue of the Digest, and will be coming to you as a special mailing this afternoon. I think you will enjoy it. David Leibold has prepared a file for the Telecom Archives detailing the 404/706 area code split in Georgia. This will be available in the Telecom Archives sometime Sunday evening or early Monday. You may wish to pick up a copy for your files. Corrections and comments should be directed to Dave. The Telecom Archives is accessible using anonymous ftp: lcs.mit.edu. PAT ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: Jolson on the Phone (was Telecom's Greatest Hits) Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 16:25:06 GMT HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) writes: > Patrick, I can't *believe* the vast and erudite readership of TELECOM > Digest failed to mention "Hello, My Baby," a big hit for Al Jolson in > the Twenties. Also found in the Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection: A Salute to Chuck Jones from Warner Home Video. In "One Froggy Evening" we meet a frog who sings such hits of the period ... but only under certain circumstances. A cartoon classic. For more cartoon telephony, there's always the wonderful service Bugs gets from phone- and mail-order services. You see him talking on the phone and 30 seconds later a female Tasmanian Devil is delivered by plane. And anyone catch the number for ACME? Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Date: 5 Jan 92 14:14:48 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA Does anybody remember 'Ring-Ring' by ABBA (probably from about ten years ago)? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 17:43:46 GMT In article ellisond@rtsg.mot.com (Dell H. Ellison) writes: > andys@ulysses.att.com writes: >> CLASS features only work for intra-LATA calls from exchanges equipped >> with SS7.... > Are you sure? I think the CLASS features will work for inter-LATA > calls as long as they have SS7 all the way along the path. Presumably, but considering there is nowhere in North America where any inter-LATA call will have SS7 all the way along the path (except for some trials), we can't say for sure, now can we? The missing link is the LEC-IXC interconnection. Specifications exist for SS7 carrier interconnection, tariffs have been drawn up, and trials are underway, but it's not in commercial deployment anywhere yet. > Besides, I would think that all the switch would need, so that it > could do the Call Return, would be the phone number. And it > definitely should have that. Only if SS7 connectivity exists. With MF signaling connectivity between the LEC and IXC, the calling party number stops at the LEC side of the LEC-IXC interface. Billing number is sent across, but this is not necessarily the same number as calling party number (and is handled differently in SS7). Neither billing number nor calling party number is sent out of the IXC network to the LEC via MF signaling. So the terminating switch will only have the calling party number if the call is carried SS7 all the way. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 09:44 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System Ron Newman writes: > I've never understood this ... why is it necessary for a PBX or > Centrex to know anything at all about valid and invalid area codes and > office codes? Why can't they just pass everything on to the phone > company and let them screen out invalid numbers? Here is the explanation. A PBX with ARS (automatic route selection) looks at the area code and prefix to decide which route to take. Many routes can be available: local, intraLATA WATS, intrastate WATS, various flavors of international, FX circuits, etc. Here in 408, we have two LATAs. As yet there are many unassigned prefixes which end up getting assigned constantly. If the prefix ends up being local, it goes on a local trunk. If toll within the LATA it would go on intraLATA WATS; and if out of the LATA, it would go on a dedicated IEC trunk. I do not know where the prefix will end up until it appears on a regularly supplied list from Pac*Bell, shows up in the front of the directory, or is actually assigned (surprise!). I cannot just "pass it on to the phone company" as you suggest, since there are three possible routes for it to go. Hence, any prefix that is unknown to the PBX in question will not be processed. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) Subject: Re: Questions About Calling Remote Areas Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 07:36:50 GMT In article martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > On a related topic, there must be large, remote areas served by a > single CO, or even a single exchange. Does anyone know what COs serve > the largest geographic area, e.g. central Nevada, Eastern Alaska, etc? > When I was last in Alaska, I remember a forty-fifty-page phone book > that covered almost the whole length of the Richardson Highway, from > near Greeley or Delta, all the way south to Valdez. As I recall, > there weren't many exchanges for this whole region. Any information > about similar large areas served by a single CO or a single exchange > would be appreciated. Hmmm. Perhaps you got the wrong impression, or you last traveled the Rich Highway a long time ago. There are relatively few exchanges along that route, but each community is served by one single unique exchange. There are exactly as many "CO's" as there are communities. The majority of them are owned by two separate companies: Copper Valley Telco (I think it is called) and what used to be Telephone Utilities and is now PTI Communications (owned by Pacific Telecom). (My home is at Mile Post 326 on the Richardson Highway, and the original Richardson Trail is in the back yard. At one time there was an open wire pole line using "O" carrier going down the road here, but it was on the opposite side of the current road way. I do have some of the wire and a few not very unique glass insulators from that pole line.) Floyd L. Davidson floyd@ims.alaska.edu Salcha, Alaska ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 00:34:52 -0800 From: gast@CS.UCLA.EDU (David Gast) Subject: 10th Anniversary of the MFJ Before all the wrong information starts flying again, I thought I would take a moment to mention a few facts. 1. The MFJ stands for Modified Final Judgement. 2. The (unmodified) Final Judgement was the 1956 consent which AT&T settled with the Justice Department in 1956. (Many DoJ lawyers felt that the settlement was a political payoff by Ike. They were extremely happy when the anti-trust suit was filed.) 3. Judge Green did not listen to all the evidence and then make a ruling. 4. The DoJ and AT&T settled out of court and presented their settlement to Judge Green for approval. That is, the basic terms of the settle- ment were negotiated out of court and Judge Greene approved them. In particular, AT&T did not have to divest itself of Western Electric or Bell Labs, one of the original goals of the 1956 case and this case. 5. At the same time the DoJ attornies and the AT&T attornies were in several different courts, filing all sorts of papers at the same time. For exmple, the judge who approved the FJ had to hand jurisdiction for the MFJ to Judge Greene. 6. This decision was announced the same day that the DoJ dropped the anti-trust case against IBM. There is lots of interesting information about the participants and the ploys that went on before this decision was announced. The FCC had also made some decisions independently of the DoJ anti-trust suit. One book which I found interesting (and cheap, it only cost $1.98 as a close out) was The Deal of Century. So please, before the flame wars erupt, don't blame or praise Judge Greene for what he did not do. For example, don't say "Judge Greene broke up AT&T", say "Judge Greene approved the negotiated settlement." David Gast P.S. Wanna bet the Justice Thomas never discussed this either? ------------------------------ From: dfp10@csc.albany.edu (D Parsons) Subject: Contacting Other MINITEL Users (Mainly US) Organization: State University of New York at Albany Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 11:23:58 GMT I have just started to use the US software for MINITEL and am having some trouble locating addresses in France. I would like to reach Philippe Garnerin, head of computer services for the French Communicable Disease Network run by the Ministry of Health and INSERM, Paris. I would like to hook onto this disease reporting system and watch it in operation. I cannot even contact my daughter (Clare Parsons, (1) 40 67 79 05 who is apparantly using the terminal at 5 r Chalgrin 16e, 75 PARIS)!! Help will be appreciated (I do not find the New York office helpful!) Thanks, Don ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 12:19:25 -0500 (EST) From: NIEBUHR@BNLCL6.BNL.GOV (Dave Niebuhr, BNL CCD, 516-282-3093) Subject: First Transatlantic Telephone Call I read an article in today's {Newsday} (Jan. 5, 1992) concerning transatlantic telephone communications and thought I'd pass it on to the readers of the Digest. "It had always been an occasion when His Honor, the mayor of New York spoke with his conferee, the lord mayor of London. But the occasion 65 years ago Tuesday was special. For the first time, each was in his own city when they talked. That day, Jan. 7, 1927, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company inaugurated transatlantic telephone service. The mayour of New York, the popular, dapper but crooked Jimmy Walker, offered the "compliments of the City of New York to you and to the people of London." Later, he commented that it was "just like talking to Albany." From New York, a call went via wire to Rocky Point, Long Island, where a short-wave station sent it to a receiving station at Wroughton, England, for forwarding by wire to London. The reverse route used a transmitter at Rugby, England, and a receiver at Houghton, Me. Of the 31 calls made during the 9 1/2 hours the circuit operated the first day, several dealt with business, including one transferring a million pounds. In 1956, a telephone cable supplemented the radio transmissions, and today satellites help handle the half million transatlantic calls made on an average business day." Another receiving site (but owned by RCA) was established at Riverhead, New York about 15 miles east of Rocky Point and is now abandoned even though a few of the old towers are still standing. Today, part of the Rocky Point site is owned by New York State and the other part was owned by the defunct Peerless Photo Company. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ From: Subject: Book Review: ISDN In Perspective Date: 5 Jan 1992 10:19 -0400 My purchased copy arrived Friday. It should be required reading for participating in ISDN discussions. Or at least highly recommended. It is a very good example of a book that makes a complex technical topic accessible to those who are technical but not specialists in a given area. In particular, it is a good source of information for computer people attempting to understand the telecommunication systems as it attempts to come to terms with the transition from POTS to computers. I'm about 2/3 of the way through at the moment and will digest it a bit before making more detailed comments on ISDN. There are some nice capabilities in ISDN but, as the book points out, lots of political decisions and compromises for history. Focusing on rate is a key for starting to taking advantage of ISDN as a WAN (Wide Area Network). It is not clear, however, whether ISDN is the infrastructure for the WANs of the future. Thanks to Fred for writing the book. Now about the garish covers and what seems to be laser printer typography that gives the book the quaint look of a newspaper from the 1800's ... ------------------------------ From: wa4mei!rsj@gatech.edu (Randy Jarrett) Subject: Re: American Express and ANI Organization: Amateur Radio Gateway WA4MEI, Chamblee, GA Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 18:49:38 GMT In john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > Yesterday, I got a call from Amex over another matter (charge > dispute). The call came in on my private line. Then it hit me: Amex > apparently enters the number you are calling from as your official > phone of record when the rep sees fit. Yes, I had called Amex from my > mother's phone some months before to complain about some bogus > Compu$erve charges. And when I returned "Mr. Collector's" call last > month, I used my private line. > So here is a word to the wise: if you call American Express, be sure > to make it clear that the phone you are using is NOT your personal > telephone if such is the case. Otherwise your girl/boy friend, > employer, barber, or modem may receive calls meant for you. AMEX has been using ANI for years to keep track of the number that you call them from. Several years ago they used this information to answer the phone with your name ( Hello Mr. xx ..) and because this upset so many people they discontinued answering the phone this way but your account information still pops up when you call from a number that they have marked as yours. There are many other companies that use this information the same way. Some of them keep a history of the numbers that you call from and others only keep the one that you give them as your residence and the last one that you called from. Partial change of subject. It is amazing the amount of interest that various "public protection groups" have in the use of CID for residences without seeming to have any knowledge of ANI in the business place. It couldn't be that these groups are somehow guided by business or others to be quiet about their use of this information could it? Randy Jarrett WA4MEI UUCP ...!{emory,gatech}!wa4mei!rsj | MAIL: P.O. Box 941217 PHONE +1 404 822 4073 | Atlanta, GA 30341-0217 ------------------------------ From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 18:44:52 GMT In article , clear@cavebbs.gen.nz (Charlie Lear) writes: > They wouldn't accept Sideways BBS as a valid residential listing. > So now he gets billed as Mr. B.B.S. Sideways. > Oh, and the directory listing? "Sideways B.B.S.", of course... One of our BBS lines is listed in the directory as "Taronga da Silva." I wanted it listed as "Igor Stravinsky," but Peter was talking to the people at the phone company at the time, so logic prevailed that time ... Stephanie da Silva Taronga Park * Houston, Texas arielle@taronga.com 568-0480 568-1032 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #11 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10852; 5 Jan 92 16:26 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA03147 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 14:41:41 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30068 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 14:41:27 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 14:41:27 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201052041.AA30068@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: Western Union History of the Stock Ticker This piece was sent to the Digest over the weekend by Jim Haynes and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. PAT From: Jim Haynes Subject: Stock Ticker History Date: 4 Jan 92 06:59:46 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz The following article was originally printed in {The Western Union Technical Review}, April, 1961, Vol 15, No. 2. Copyright 1961 by The Western Union Telegraph Company, formerly a leading manufacturer of chads. Telegraph History Some Early Days of Western Union's Stock Ticker Service 1871-1910 by Charles R. Tilghman [noted as deceased as of the time of publication] The Western Union Telegraph Company had been established only 15 years when Charlie Tilghman was a "stock" messenger in Cincinnati, Ohio. The story, as he tells it briefly, of early developments in Western Union's ticker service is a story also of his own resourceful rise to the position of General Superintendent of Ticker Services. -------------- About 1871 or '72 when I was a stock messenger in the Cincinnati office, the Gold and Stock quotations were received by Morse from New York and copied on manifold sheets and each boy had ten or twelve subscribers to deliver reports to every fifteen minutes. Gold was at a premium and was bought and sold like stocks, so we had the name of Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. [Photo of etching titled "E. A. Calahan's 1867 stock ticker introduced by the Gold and Stock Telegraph Co. required three line wires."] One day, our 'boss' told us boys that they would not need us any more as they were going to send out the reports on electric printing machines. In a few days the equipment for a small ticker plant was received, including a dial transmitter with letters and numerals in a circle, an arrow or pointer pivoting in the center. The turning of a small crank operated a make-and-break contact point and also revolved the arrow, stopping it directly over the character desired. The operator pressed a telegraph key with his left hand to close the press circuit and print the character. Six tickers were received. They were Edison's invention with type and press magnets of six ohms and required a large amount of current to work them. There was a ratchet wheel on the type wheel shaft. An arm, extending from the type magnet and working perpendicularly into this ratchet wheel revolved the type shaft and the two type wheels at the end of it. I took a great interest in the machine, helped to set one up on a short circuit in our office and commenced to practice working the transmitter. In a short time, one machine was put in the First National Bank and two wires were run from our office to connect it. The bankers, brokers, and business men were invited to see the new wonder of printing by electricity. A crowd came and I operated the transmitter, sending out stock quotations. It created quite a lot of excitement and talk. Soon the Company had several subscribers signed up and a ticker plant started -- I was the operator. This Edison ticker became known as the Universal ticker. We operated these tickers ten years before we ever had a voltmeter or an ammeter or anything to tell us how much current was on our lines. When we added tickers, we added a few more cells and took them off when we cut out tickers. We had to judge the adjustments of relays and ticker by feeling the pull with our fingers. Bunsen and Callaud Batteries This was the start of ticker service in Ohio, and Cincinnati was the only town that had them. We used bichromate of potash and sulphuric acid solution in a porous cup set inside a circular zinc and a stick of carbon immersed in the solution. The zinc and porous cup were put in a glass of water diluted with a small amount of acid. This made a strong battery of very low internal resistance but expensive to maintain. The company was using Callaud or blue vitriol batteries on the Morse wire and had twelve thousand cells in Cincinnati. The officials at Chicago were urging me to use the Callaud for ticker service, but I objected, saying it was too slow and had too much internal resistance for ticker work. The fight went on for some time. We did not have any dynamos or motors of any kind in the Cincinnati office at that time and had no more room for Callaud batteries. Finally, I got the idea I could use Edison light current to operate the tickers. I went to the Edison company, explained what I wanted to do, and asked them to run a special wire into our office and let me see what I could do with it. They ran in a single wire from their positive side of a three-wire system. We had no resistance lamps so I used Edison light bulbs and the small resistance boxes we had. The Edison current worked the tickers fine and, to make a long story short, I worked the entire ticker plant, local and main circuits, with this current. This was in 1880. When I started the first long distance ticker circuit, Cincinnati to Columbus, Ohio, 125 miles away, I required both polarities to operate the polar relay in Columbus; therefore the Edison company ran in a negative lead with no additional charge. I also used Edison current to work self-winding clock circuits. Later I put it on the main switchboard in the Cincinnati operating room and worked about fifty single lines and several duplex. To do this it was necessary to buy Edison lamps and make a lamp board above the switchboard. As I could spend five dollars without additional authority, my city foreman made the boards and I bought five dollars worth of lamps and receptacles at a time. It was necessary to take off two copper battery strips that ran across back of the board and then run wires from the lamp receptacles to the small disks. After this was completed and a reserve lead from Edison company secured, we eliminated three thousand cells of Callaud batteries and the acid ticker batteries, making a saving of over $3000 per annum. The Edison company had taken out their meter and given us a flat rate of twenty-five dollars per month. I wrote to Mr. G. B. Scott, Superintendent at New York, and asked him to have a piano key transmitter made with a motor to work on 110-volt D.C. After a lot of correspondence, they sent me a transmitter and motor for 110 D.C. and told me to be very careful not to let it burn up and be sure to let him know how it worked as it was the first one ever made to use Edison current. Self-Winding Tickers The self-winding ticker was invented by Mr. George B. Scott, Superintendent of the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company in New York, and Mr. W. P. Phelps of the Philadelphia Local Telegraph Company. Mr. Phelps invented the automatic shift from letters to figures and vice versa by changing the polarity on the second or winding wire. This was a great improvement over all other styles of printer at that time. They were first called the Scott-Phelps ticker. In 1903, Mr. J. C. Barclay, then Assistant General Manager, wanted to change the ticker and make it smaller. He called Mr. Jay R. Page from Chicago to New York for suggestions on the change; and, with Mr. Scott, they decided to put the escapement magnet and adjustment screws inside the ticker frame. After this change the ticker was called the Scott-Phelps- Barclay-Page ticker. My first experience with these tickers came when Mr. Barclay transferred me from Cincinnati, where I was Assistant Superintendent of the seventh district of the Central Division by appointment of Col. Clowry, to New York, May 1, 1904, [Photo titled "Later model of Calahan ticker now in Western Union Museum, New York."] and made me general inspector of ticker service in all divisions. Up to this time, I had never even seen these tickers working for they had not been put into service in the west, and I knew not a thing about them. Yet the very first thing Mr. Barclay asked me to do was to make these two-wire tickers with four pairs of magnets in them work a long distance on one wire. A single underground wire from the ticker plant under the stock exchange to the repair shop in the Supply Department on Franklin Street was assigned for the test. I started to connect up the relays and tickers and then go down and make the connections on the ticker panel at Broad Street. At the end of the third day, when I went down to our office and told Mr. Barclay that I had the tickers working on one wire but not completed, he said in a very cross voice, "Oh, what takes you so long; hurry up." I later learned that electricians and ticker men had worked for two months and spent two thousand dollars trying to work the tickers from New York to Boston and had given up, saying it was impossible. Long Distance Service I understood the quadruplex and that night I thought of using the quad neutral relay to work the repeat and next morning I connected one up before market opened and received the full market all day O.K. on my fourth day of testing. I took the day's tape down to Mr. Barclay, who looked it over and said, "Let's go in and show President Clowry." Mr. Barclay told the president, "Now we have a one-wire long distance ticker and we can put tickers all over the country." That was the start. The next week, Mr. Barclay said, "Now, Tilghman, put up a long distance stock ticker in Philadelphia." When I went over to Philadelphia, the other inventor of the ticker, Mr. Phelps, said, "Mr. Tilghman, I will do everything I can to help you and would like to see it work, but it cannot be done. The ticker that will work from New York to Philadelphia does not exist; there is no such machine." It was much harder to work over the ninety miles to Philadelphia because of the induction from other wires. I found that when the operator in New York would strike the repeat key thus taking the current off the line for a fraction of a second, the induction from other lines would cause the polar relay in Philadelphia to jump ahead two or three characters. I went back to New York and bridged the break of the repeat relay with adjustable rheostat, leaving just enough current on the line to hold the polar and type wheel on the character the operator was holding; then adjusted my neutral relay in Philadelphia so that it would break away over the light current and repeat the character. Finally, we got it to work so that the keyboard operator in Philadelphia sent from tape of the New York ticker. [Photo titled "Thomas A. Edison's two-wire "Universal" ticker, much improved, was used for many years."] [This appears identical, as well as I remember, to a ticker I saw in operation in a Western Union office, circa 1950.] Then Barclay said, "Now go on to Baltimore and Washington." This was some task and required repeaters in the line. The installation took time and Mr. Barclay sent Mr. William Finn over to help me in order to hurry up the job. Mr. Finn certainly was a very fine man to work with and gave me some good advice about the use of condensers. It was finally accomplished and we worked to Washington, later extending the circuit to Richmond, Virginia. And so the long distance service spread. In 1905, I went all over New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana securing subscribers for stocks and baseball. One year, I secured $29,000 worth of service before baseball opened. In February 1910, Mr. Barclay left the company and Mr. Atherton, a splendid man with a very kind disposition and big heart, took his place. I was transferred from General Inspector to Mr. Atherton's staff. That summer, Mr. Kitton and I had our first vacation. I had been in the service forty one years. Mr. Atherton died the next year and I went into the office of Mr. Yorke, a perfectly splendid man to work for; fair, and just to all. I was with him all during the war; and, while in his office, was given charge of the ticker repair shop. One day, Mr. Yorke spoke of the "alphabet ticker", meaning the Scott-Phelps-Barclay-Page ticker, and wanted to know if I couldn't give it a shorter name. He didn't like all those names. I replied, "Yes, we can call it the self-winding ticker". He said to do it and drop all those names. So it has been the self-winding ticker ever since. Mr. Yorke changed my title to General Supervisor of Ticker Service. I remained with him until Mr. Titley came and was made Vice President of the Plant Department, when I was transferred to his office. He was another grand man and it was a great pleasure and honor to be associated with him. The Western Union Co. had thousands of Burry tickers for which they were paying the Stock Quotation Tel. Co. $3.00 per month rental which totalled approximately $35,000 per annum. These tickers cost $32.00 each to manufacture. At the same time Western Union had a large stock of their own tickers in the Supply Department and the Superintendent of Supplies asked for authority to sell or destroy them. He said they would never be used and took up too much room. Later he asked if he could get rid of 100 a month until they were all gone. I said, no, we would use them to replace the Burry tickers and save the rental. The Burrys were not so fast as the self-winding tickers and would get way behind on active markets. The first town I changed was Washington, then Baltimore, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and many more. Boston was using 350 Burry tickers and Chicago 750. They also used the Worisching ticker that was owned by the Stock Quotation Co. It was years before we got all these rental tickers out of our service. Superintendent Scott used two polar relays to work each self-winding ticker circuit. He said we could not possibly work with one on account of the spark on the points. These relays were 135 ohms each. This made a great load on the transmitter and great retardation in the local circuit; also created lots of sparking on the break wheel of transmitter which was revolved in oil to keep from sparking and burning. I told Mr. Scott I had put in new self-winding plant in Washington using only one polar relay on each circuit and it was working all right. There was no sparking on relay points. [Photo titled "Messrs. Scott, Phelps, Barclay and Page all contributed to "Self-Winding" ticker design." shows a ticker under a glass bell jar, and printing on the base "Quotation furnished by Western Union Telegraph apply to local manager"] The Big Blow Out The old stock ticker plant in the basement of the stock exchange was operated from a storage battery plant of 150 ampere hours cells and 350 volts, positive and negative. From these batteries there were two large size copper wires run around three sides of the ticker room. Smaller wires were connected with the larger wires and run direct to the points of the polar relays on the ticker circuit panels. The only fuse was one connected in each battery wire in the battery room. One day in September 1910 there was a short circuit on one of the stock circuits that blew out the fuse, splitting the fuse block in pieces. This cut off the entire stock ticker service in New York and all over the country for the Morse operators in the Western Union operating room were sending in all directions from the ticker tape. This blow out made some blow up! General Manager Brooks came hurrying into Mr. Athern's office and asked him to send me down to Broad Street to see what was the matter. Up to this time I had nothing to do with this New York plant as Supt. George B. Scott was in direct charge of it. I went down, investigated, came right back and made my report. Mr. Athern and Mr. Brooks both said for me to go back and take charge; do anything, order anything you need, only fix it so it will never happen again. I ordered material and started the work with six or ten men immediately after market closed each day, and worked till 9:00 or 10:00 P.M. I had a fuse put in each battery wire and through a resistance lamp to every ticker circuit panel. I found every circuit in the plant had positive pole connected to unison so the entire load of about 75 or 80 amperes was on one battery lead. When I asked why they did not put half the load on negative, they said "Why you must be crazy, the tickers would not work." Well, I had it done nevertheless -- and the tickers operated just as before. -------------- haynes@cats.ucsc.edu haynes@cats.bitnet   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14012; 5 Jan 92 18:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17353 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 16:31:17 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20279 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 5 Jan 1992 16:31:02 -0600 Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 16:31:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201052231.AA20279@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #12 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Jan 92 16:30:41 CST Volume 12 : Issue 12 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson The Original North American Numbering Plan (David Leibold) Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System (Andy Sherman) Re: Call Trace on Usage Basis in Florida (John Higdon) Re: AT&T VoiceMark Service (Alan Toscano) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (David Lesher) Re: AT&T Echo to the UK (Really Satellite Circuits) (David Lesher) Re: USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number (Peter da Silva) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (David Leibold) Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) (A Sherman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 05 Jan 92 15:11:24 EST From: DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA Subject: The Original North American Numbering Plan In the {Bell System Technical Journal} in 1952, the original numbering plan for area codes in North America was described. Many codes have been assigned since that time, but here is what the Bell System started with. Area codes with a middle digit of 0 were originally assigned when the area code would cover an entire state or province. Area codes with a middle digit of 1 were used when two or more area codes were required within a state or province. This was intended to help out long distance operators when working with area codes and states/provinces. That rule had to be broken by the mid-50s as new area codes were required, ie. when it was no longer possible to follow this rule. Facts of note: * The BSTJ article describing the numbering plan and its implentation was written by W.H.Nunn. * Operator toll dialing was the predecessor to customer-dialed calls; some tricky dialing seqeuences were involved in some calls, although the numbering plan areas began to take effect in the system, simplifying call completion for operators and eventually provided the customer with an easily-understood dialing method. * The first customer-dialed long distance call in the U.S. was completed 10 November 1951 by Mayor M Leslie Denning of Morristown, NJ to Mayor Frank P Osborn of Alameda, CA. It was reported that the call was dialed with ten digits (area code + number, presumably) and that the connection was made in eighteen seconds. * In 1943, the first #4 toll crossbar switching system was placed into service. Without further ado ... here is the original area code setup from 1952: 201 New Jersey (Newark, entire state) 202 Washington DC 203 Connecticut (New Haven) 204 Manitoba (Winnipeg) 205 Alabama (Mobile, Birmingham, Montgomery) 206 Washington (state) 207 Maine (Bangor, Portland) 208 Idaho (Boise) 212 New York City 213 Los Angeles area 214 Northeast Texas (Dallas, Waco) 215 Philadelphia area 216 Northeast Ohio (Cleveland, Canton) 217 Central Illinois (Peoria, Champaign, Springfield) 218 North and West Minnesota (St Cloud, Duluth) 219 North Indiana (South Bend) 301 Maryland (Baltimore) 302 Delaware 303 Colorado (Denver) 304 West Virginia (Charleston, Huntington, Clarksburg) 305 Florida (Miami, Jacksonville) 306 Saskatchewan (Regina, Saskatoon) 307 Wyoming (Casper, Cheyenne) 312 Chicago area 313 Detroit area 314 East Missouri (St Louis, Moberly, Cape Girardeau) 315 Central New York (Syracuse, Elmira) 316 Southern Kansas (Wichita, Dodge City) 317 Central Indiana (Indianapolis, Terre Haute) 319 East Idaho (Waterloo) 401 Rhode Island (Providence) 402 Nebraska (entire state) 403 Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton) 404 Georgia (Atlanta, Augusta) 405 Oklahoma (Tulsa, Oklahoma City) 406 Montana (Helena) 412 Pittsburgh area 413 Massacheusetts except Boston area (Springfield) 414 Southeast Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton) 415 Northwest California (San Francisco, Oakland) 416 Central and southwest Ontario (Toronto, Hamilton, London, Windsor) 417 Southwest Missouri (Joplin) 418 Eastern Quebec (Quebec City) 419 Northwest Ohio (Toledo, Mansfield) 501 Arkansas (Little Rock) 502 Kentucky (Lexington, Louisville) 503 Oregon (Portland) 504 Louisiana (New Orleans) 505 New Mexico (Albuquerque, Roswell) 512 South Texas (San Angelo, San Antonio, Austin) 513 Southwest Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton) 514 Western Quebec (Montreal) 515 Central Iowa (Des Moines, Ottumwa, Fort Dodge, Mason City) 516 Long Island, NY 517 Northeast Michigan (Saginaw, Lansing) 518 East New York (Albany, Kingston) 601 Mississippi (Jackson) 602 Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson) 603 New Hampshire (Concord) 604 British Columbia (Vancouver) 605 South Dakota (Pierre) 612 Southeast Minnesota (Minneapolis, Mankato) 613 Northern and eastern Ontario (Ottawa) 614 Southeast Ohio (Columbus) 616 Western & Peninsula Michigan (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Petoskey, Escanaba) 617 Boston area 618 South Illinois (Centralia) 701 North Dakota (Fargo, Bismarck) 702 Nevada (Reno) 703 Virginia (Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk) 704 North Carolina (Charlotte) 712 West Iowa 713 Southeast Texas (Houston) 714 Southeast California (San Diego) 715 North Wisconsin (Stevens Point) 716 West New York (Buffalo, Rochester) 717 East Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Scranton) 801 Utah (Salt Lake City) 802 Vermont (White River Junction) 803 South Carolina (Columbia) 812 South Indiana (Evansville) 814 West Pennsylvania (Altoona, Kane) 815 North and West Illinois (Rockford) 816 Northwest Missouri (Kansas City) 901 Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville) 902 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia 913 Northern Kansas (Hays, Salina) 914 South New York (Monticello) 915 Northwest Texas (Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Cisco, El Paso) 916 Northeast California (Sacramento, Redding) [Moderator's Note: Astute readers will notice the absence of Hawaii (808) and Alaska (907) as well as the Carribean area (809). The United States territories of Hawaii and Alaska did not acquire statehood for several more years. And David did not mention a couple other early rules for area codes: They were to never end with two zeroes, nor were there to be two one's, ie 711, 811, etc. 'Area codes' of the style X10 were reserved for AT&T's Typewriter Exchange (TWX) service. Also, prefixes were rarely duplicated in adjoining area codes. This was to be avoided in order to allow 'convenience dialing' between communities nearby one another, but in different area codes; ie. prefixes used in 312 would not show up in 815 or 219. PAT] ------------------------------ From: andys@ulysses.att.com Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 14:17:18 EST Subject: Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Murray Hill, NJ In article rnewman@BBN.COM (Ron Newman) writes: > In article , spencer@phoenix. > I've never understood this ... why is it necessary for a PBX or > Centrex to know anything at all about valid and invalid area codes and > office codes? Why can't they just pass everything on to the phone > company and let them screen out invalid numbers? > [Moderator's Note: The reason is because what telco considers valid > might still be unwanted by the system proprietor, ie 900 calls; the > use of certain long distance carriers, etc. PAT] There is also the matter of least-cost routing features. You might use different carriers or different trunk groups depending upon the area code being called. Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 12:27 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Call Trace on Usage Basis in Florida andyb%wndrsvr@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Andy Brager) writes: > I'd like to know what happens if I call one of those numbers from here > in Southern California (GTE). Do they get my number or not? They get the number from any FGD-compliant office. For all practical purposes, the state of California is 100% FGD-compliant. Ergo, the answer to your question is, yes, they get your number. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: atoscano@taronga.com (Alan Toscano) Subject: Re: AT&T VoiceMark Service Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 20:40:23 GMT In article Steve_M_Kile@cup.portal.com writes: > Several weeks ago I was able to use the AT&T VoiceMark service from my > home (612-888-XXXX) however today I was not able to do so. Has the > number changed (800-576-MARK) or has the service been discontinued? > Do any other carriers offer a similar service? Thanks. The correct number is 800 562-6275 (-MARK). The service was renamed a few months ago. It's now called AT&T Message Service. I'm told that people were confusing AT&T VoiceMark with AT&T Voice Mail Service. You may call 800 662-2588 to request a wallet card with the service's phone number. A Alan Toscano Internet/Taronga Park BBS: atoscano@taronga.com P O Box 741982 AT&T Mail: atoscano ELN: 62306750 Houston, TX CIS: 73300,217 Telex: +23 156232556 772741982 USA Work: +1 713 236 6616 Home: +1 713 993 9560 ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 16:20:57 EST Reply-To: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has > somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that > will ... Strange you should mention that. For many years, the owner of a classical music station in a major market had one of those numbers. He was not known for his pleasant demeanor and the staff would sometimes mutter about how appropriate the assignment was. The chief engineer of another classical station elsewhere had "TWINKLE" for a home phone. Signs in the station said things like: This is the FM OFF THE AIR alarm. Pushing this button silences the alarm. It does NOT restore the transmitter to the air. This outrage must NOT be allowed to continue. If you can not get it up - TWINKLE ASAP! Luckily, I got someone in the know to explain it to me ;_] wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: AT&T Echo to the UK (Really Satellite Circuits) Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 16:33:13 EST Reply-To: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex > And, yes, *every* carrier still has satellite circuits for international > calling and places like Alaska and Hawaii. (Floyd from Alascom can > correct me if I'm wrong about Alaska. I believe that Alascom is the > only IXC there.) There are some places where a satellite is the only > way to get there. Well, to Georgetown Guyana there are 12 or maybe 24 circuits to the rest of the hemisphere. These are via an old Cable & Wireless tropo-scatter system that sounds like Floyd's White Alice. It goes up to Port of Spain, and then {I guess} hops up the island chain from there. Note that along that route are some places in the 809, and others in their own country codes. So if you call from the US, whose switch decides how to get your call there? A Martinque to Georgetown call might be interesting. I hear that all traffic from Fort de France goes via Paris! Georgetown also has an earth station that I was told goes to Britain. There is no cable anywhere. (Overland? - forget it....) wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 13:30:50 CST From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) The Moderator brought up the question of mislabelled goods. The law states that if you offer a product at some price you have to sell it at that price, even if it was a mistake in labelling. This is intended to prevent bait-and-switch tactics. Yes, this means if a company advertises a $5.00 item in the paper for $.50 they have to honor that advertisement. I don't know the legal status of a separate disclaimer (such as a notice posted in the store that the $.50 price was an error), but I suspect that in that case you'd be pushing your luck to get the $.50 price. On the other hand, if you find a $80 handbag in a 50% off bin with a $60 sale tag, you can get it for $40 (as I did on one occasion ... they didn't give me 50% off the sale price, though, and they immediately removed the bogus 50% off label). In this case, I think it unreasonable for the newspaper to suffer a loss due to AT&T's programming error. I think it unreasonable for people to benefit from AT&T's error, either ... they were told that this was a mistake (that is, there was a notice). On the other hand, I think that AT&T is making a mistake to go after them: in the long term making the status of 800 numbers questionable has the potential of losing them a lot of business. It doesn't look like it's hurt them, this time, but it was a poor decision: the potential downside was *way* more than any benefit they accrued. This was an honest mistake, but it sets the precedent for a whole new category of bait-and-switch type operations. And some of the people running 800 services are less than ethical themselves. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Jan 92 15:06:38 EST From: DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits One obscure candidate for phone songs would be one by a group called Toronto; this band was active in the early 1980's and had a lead vocalist named Holly Woods (weird but true). One of their early songs belted out the refrain "please call 272-5035". I don't know if this was actually tied to a band promotion or not (416-272 was an exchange in Mississauga, Cooksville to be exact). dleibold@vm1.yorku.ca djcl@zooid.guild.org ------------------------------ From: andys@ulysses.att.com Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 14:07:20 EST Subject: Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Murray Hill, NJ In article ellisond@rtsg.mot.com (Dell H. Ellison) writes: > That I wrote: >> CLASS features only work for intra-LATA calls from exchanges equipped >> with SS7. As for the call waiting call, I'm pretty sure it would be > Are you sure? I think the CLASS features will work for inter-LATA > calls as long as they have SS7 all the way along the path. There is no standard and, more importantly, no tariff or regulatory enablement for the delivery of CLASS related data through and inter-LATA connection. Yes, duelling SS7 handoffs *could* do it, but it is not yet allowed. I should know. I have an ISDN phone on my desk with a pretty LCD display that gives CNID. I *only* get CID from numbers in SS7 end offices in my New Jersey LATA. All other calls come in as incoming call. > Besides, I would think that all the switch would need, so that it > could do the Call Return, would be the phone number. And it > definitely should have that. I believe that the calling phone number is not routinely delivered to the terminating switch on an inter-LATA call. Since the information is not needed there to complete the call, and is not needed there to rate and bill the call (which is done either by the IXC or the originating end office), then it is not passed across the IXC network. Calling numbers are only routinely delivered to terminating offices for interLATA calls. ANI to 800/900 numbers is a different story. That is a special feature of the particular service being offered by the IXC, and I think it may require a special connection between the IXC's POP and the end customer. Inter-LATA CLASS features have received some discussion, but will require action by both the FCC and Bellcore to implement. Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #12 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17884; 7 Jan 92 1:44 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05035 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 6 Jan 1992 23:54:33 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29488 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 6 Jan 1992 23:54:17 -0600 Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 23:54:17 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201070554.AA29488@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #13 TELECOM Digest Mon, 6 Jan 92 23:54:11 CST Volume 12 : Issue 13 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: IBT and Caller-ID (Ed Greenberg) Re: IBT and Caller-ID (Steve Forrette) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Ed Greenberg) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Chip Olson) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Toby Nixon) Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. (Stan Brown) Re: Phone Company Humor (Andrew M. Dunn) Re: Phone Company Humor (Allen Gwinn) Re: Phone Company Humor (Mikel Manitius) Re: Phone Company Humor (Susan B Huntsman ) Re: American Express and ANI (Ed Greenberg) Re: American Express and ANI (Michael Nolan) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Jeff Sicherman) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Tom Perrine) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Maxime Taksar) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 15:52:19 PST From: edg@netcom.netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: IBT and Caller-ID Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) In article is written: > constant tone. Then (without hanging) up I dialed that alarm > company's 800 CID number that was posted a while back and they still > knew my number. Sounds like it didn't work, huh? The 800 number receives ANI, which is transmitted despite your *67. ANI is not Caller ID. Ed Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0184 | edg@netcom.com P. O. Box 28618 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95159 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | KM6CG (ex WB2GOH) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 07:24:05 pst From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: IBT and Caller-ID Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA > [Moderator's Note: That is exactly what *67 is supposed to do: Beep > three times and go back to the dial tone. It sounds just like the > three beeps you get when you prepend *70 to cancel call-waiting for > the duration of the call, and like *70, you need not wait for the > beeps and fresh dial tone to continue dialing; you need not put in a > pause with auto-dialers, etc ... just shove all the digits out; the > switch will keep up with them. This brings up a complaint I have with DMS-100's: It has been my experience that you cannot dial over the stuttering on a DMS-100 (it works fine on 1AESS and 5ESS). Also, the stuttering is the busy-signal tone pair, not the dialtone sound that the ESS switches use. When dialing with a modem and using *70, you definately must put in a comma, or the first digits of the phone number will be lost. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: Another little thing to watch for is when using both features -- number ID blocking and suspend call waiting -- on the same call, do *67 first. We've found you can insert either one first and the other second getting three beeps after each, but I'm told the way it is programmed in some exchanges requires *67 to be first if you expect it to work properly. Make some test calls to see how it works on your switch before doing any 'serious calling'. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. Date: Mon, 06 Jan 92 00:00:11 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) In article martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter > obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has Perhaps your telco did something with the 5000 group in the 382 area, but who really knows for sure. Etak, Inc., in Menlo Park CA has a main number that is 328-ETAK. Never mind that it also spells FAT-ETAK, and perhaps fat something else. It was amusing once, but no longer. > On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with phone > sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges. Are these exchanges > assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover a particular > geographic area, or what? 900-303 and 844 numbers belong to Pacific > Bell and are indeed reserved for adult programming. 900-303 and 844 numbers belong to Pacific Bell and are indeed reserved for adult programming. Ed Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0184 | edg@netcom.com P. O. Box 28618 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95159 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | KM6CG (ex WB2GOH) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. From: olson1@husc8.harvard.edu (Chip Olson) Date: 6 Jan 92 10:20:42 EST Organization: Spam-On-A-Rope Inc. In the immortal words of martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) in comp.dcom.telecom: > It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter > obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has > somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will > not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then > disconnected due to prank calls. Well, a friend of mine awhile back requested, and got, the number 739-9636. When I mentioned what his number spelled to a mutual friend, she got this evil look in her eye, dialed his number and said in a stereotypically ditzy voice, "Do you know your phone number spells SEXY MEN? " and hung up. Chip Olson olson1@husc.harvard.edu | ceolson@ldbvax.lotus.com | ceo@gnu.ai.mit.edu ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. Date: 6 Jan 92 16:01:19 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article , martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter > obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. Just out of curiousity, I decided to try both of these numbers, in the 404 area code. They both rang through to real human beings! I asked them to excuse the ring (as though I had called a wrong number); they didn't get upset or anything. I wonder if these folks even know what their numbers spell? Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | BBS +1-404-446-6336 AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon Fido 1:114/15 USA | Internet tnixon@hayes.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 10:51:30 -0500 From: brown@NCoast.ORG (Stan Brown) Subject: Re: Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc. Organization: Oak Road Systems, Cleveland Ohio USA In article martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter > obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings. > Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. Here in Cleveland, a member of a club I used to belong to had the phone number xxx-3825. He used to tell people that his phone number was xxx-(youknowtheword). I don't know whether he was assigned that number at random or asked for it. Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cleveland, Ohio, USA brown@ncoast.org ------------------------------ From: mongrel!amdunn@uunet.uu.net (Andrew M. Dunn) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Canada Date: Sun, 05 Jan 1992 23:16:24 GMT In article Doug Faunt N6TQS 415-688-8269 writes: > There was an Hewlett Packard corporate telephone book a few years back > that got pulled the day after it was released because there was a > bogus obscene entry. I don't know if I still have my copy, but they > sure tried to get them back from everyone. Back when I used to work for Northern Telecom, we had that problem all the time with the internal phone directory. See, all you had to do to put in an entry was fill in the blue card in the front of the directory book, fake a manager's initial on it, and send it in through the internal mail. It then got published in the book. (what, me? no, of _course_ I never sent any in) :-> There were some good entries in the book, too. Folks like Dueck, Dahf E. Hunt, Mike Nasium, Jim Poo, Winnie T. Rahbeet, Rodger Street, E. C. and, of course, many people under their nickname as well as their real name (often, they wouldn't believe us ... we'd have to show them the directory). Last I checked, some of these things had been in there for years, and I'm told are still there. Nobody gets removed from the book unless they quit, are fired or get laid off ... and these "people" will never be in _that_ category! Andy Dunn (amdunn@mongrel.uucp) ({uunet...}!xenitec!mongrel!amdunn) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 07:56 CST From: allen@sulaco.lonestar.org (Allen Gwinn) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Back in the early 80's, a "friend" of mine was dating a girl whose mother worked for Southwestern Bell. He managed to get a residential entry into the phonebook as "PHUCHURSELV, MAHBELLE". There was also a guy that lived out in Irving (a suburb of Dallas, kinda like Ft. Worth) with the following name: Wolfeschlagelsteinhausenberger-Haupfsted, Herbert. I forget whether it took two or three lines to list him. His telephone number was xxx-3825, so we assumed that it was a joke. [Moderator's Note: Check out the entries for various labor unions and you'll see several two and three line things such as 'Amalgamated Union of Blah, Blah and Blah-de-dah, Local X, Y and Z.' PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 14:02:34 EST From: mikel@aaahq05.aaa.com (Mikel Manitius) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: American Automobile Association, Heathrow, FL > [...] he contacted U.S. West and was informed that they routinely > include bogus listings in the directory so that anyone who copies the > listings from the directory can be prosecuted for copyright violation. An old cartographer's trick is to add or rename insignificant landmarks on a map to keep track of copyright violations ... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 16:43:00 -0700 From: nha2308@dsachg1.dsac.dla.mil (Susan B Huntsman ) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor There were in this country two very large monopolies. The larger of the two had the following record: The Vietnam War, Watergate, double-digit inflation, fuel and energy shortages, bankrupt airlines and the 8-cent postcard. The second was responsible for such things as the transistor, the solar cell, lasers, synthetic crystals, high fidelity stereo recording, sound motion pictures, radio astronomy, negative feedback, magnetic tape, magnetic "bubbles", electronic switching systems microwave radio and TV relay systems, information theory, the first electrical digital computer, and the first communications satellite. Guess which one got to tell the other how to run the telephone business? Susan Huntsman, DSAC-H Ogden (801) 399-6517 AV 790-0517 nha2308@dsachg1.dsac.dla.mil [Moderator's Note: Very clever, Susan ... but you are forgetting that federal judges always know what's best for us, the unwashed masses, as they set about the business of saving us from ourselves. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: American Express and ANI Date: Mon, 06 Jan 92 00:17:40 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) I noticed that calling American Express from a phone other than my own would invariably result in the question "is your home number still ..." where the number specified was the number I had placed in their records. Seems like a reasonable way to handle the information. Ed Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0184 | edg@netcom.com P. O. Box 28618 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95159 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | KM6CG (ex WB2GOH) ------------------------------ From: nolan@tssi.com (Michael Nolan) Subject: Re: American Express and ANI Reply-To: nolan@tssi.com Organization: Tailored Software Services, Inc. Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 16:51:38 GMT wa4mei!rsj@gatech.edu (Randy Jarrett) writes: > In john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) > writes: >> So here is a word to the wise: if you call American Express, be sure >> to make it clear that the phone you are using is NOT your personal >> telephone if such is the case. Otherwise your girl/boy friend, >> employer, barber, or modem may receive calls meant for you. Doesn't bother me, because an answering machine is the only thing that answers inbound calls on my private business line. If Amex wants to listen to a five minute message on where to play chess in Nebraska, that's OK by me. > Partial change of subject. It is amazing the amount of interest that > various "public protection groups" have in the use of CID for > residences without seeming to have any knowledge of ANI in the > business place. It couldn't be that these groups are somehow guided > by business or others to be quiet about their use of this information > could it? Seems to me like there is a fundamental difference here, in that ANI (as I understand it) is on 800 numbers, where the paying party generally will find out the phone number eventually, so it's mostly a matter of timing. I suspect mostly what's happening is that the 'public protection groups' have discovered that they can't bamboozle the business world as easily as they can the typical non-technologically competent person. As much as I value my own privacy, I find that most of the arguments against CID are specious or can be overcome with minor changes to the way it works. Any business with more than one line knows that CID won't be much help as a marketing tool to businesses, because you don't necessarily want to call the number that a call came from, and in some cases either you can't or (as above) it won't do you any good. Michael Nolan, nolan@tssi.com Tailored Software Services, Inc. Lincoln, Nebraska (402) 423-1490 manager of the huskers mailing list: huskers-request@tssi.com for details ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 12:33:24 -0800 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: Cal State Long Beach It's hard to believe that Spike Jones didn't do *something* on this subject (how could he resist using the phone as a musical instrument?). Any fanatics out there that could check his 'catalog' ? Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ From: tep@tots.Logicon.COM (Tom Perrine) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Date: 6 Jan 92 20:58:57 GMT Organization: Logicon, Inc., San Diego, California In article wdp@gagme.chi.il.us (Bill Pfeiffer) writes: > Mojo Nixon had a song last year in which he implored Elvis to call him > at 619-239-KING. When I called, it was usually busy (of course), but > when I did get through, it was an answering machine asking if I was > Elvis, or had seen Elvis. I got a 30 second chance to leave a > message. I don't know if it is still up and running, though. 239-KING is now (this morning) a recording of "Happy Birthday" to Elvis. It repeats once, then hangs up. Tom Perrine (tep) |Internet: tep@tots.Logicon.COM |Voice: +1 619 597 7221 Logicon - T&TSD | UUCP: sun!suntan!tots!tep | or : +1 619 455 1330 P.O. Box 85158 |GENIE: T.PERRINE | FAX: +1 619 552 0729 San Diego CA 92138 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 07:18:02 -0800 From: mmt@latour.berkeley.edu (Maxime Taksar) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits In article , wdp@gagme.chi.il.us (Bill Pfeiffer) writes: > Mojo Nixon had a song last year in which he implored Elvis to call him > at 619-239-KING. When I called, it was usually busy (of course), but > when I did get through, it was an answering machine asking if I was > Elvis, or had seen Elvis. I got a 30 second chance to leave a > message. I don't know if it is still up and running, though. It *is* indeed still running. Probably gives him really good publicity, as it's been modernized to accept fax as well as voice messages. (Doesn't seem to be very busy, so possibly it's no longer just an answering machine on a POTS line). Maxime Taksar KC6ZPS mmt@Berkeley.EDU ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #13 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa09956; 7 Jan 92 23:13 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06047 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 21:10:59 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18012 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 21:10:22 -0600 Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 21:10:22 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201080310.AA18012@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #14 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Jan 92 21:10:11 CST Volume 12 : Issue 14 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) (D. Lewis) Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (Macy Hallock) Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? (Fred Goldstein) Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System (Bob Frankston) Adjacent Area Codes Off by a Digit (Carl Moore) Re: The Original North American Numbering Plan (Ron Newman) Re: USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number (David Lesher) Re: Problem With PAC*TEL Cordless Phone (Bjorn Ahlen) Re: The Best and The Worst (Bob Denny) Re: Compression Bridges Ethernet-Ethernet (Barton F. Bruce) Re: AT&T VoiceMark Service (Carl Moore) Re: Book Review: ISDN In Perspective (Bob Frankston) Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: 10th Anniversary of the MFJ (Bruce Klopfenstein) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls (was Very Courteous Rep) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 18:05:34 GMT To amplify and clarify Andy's and my earlier comments ... In article andys@ulysses.att.com writes: > There is no standard and, more importantly, no tariff or regulatory > enablement for the delivery of CLASS related data through and > inter-LATA connection. Yes, duelling SS7 handoffs *could* do it, but > it is not yet allowed. Actually, there are tariffs (I believe BellSouth and Southwestern Bell have filed tariffs) and standards (Bellcore TR-905, TA-962, and probably some others, as well as ANSI Committee T1 standards of which the numbers currently escape me); however, technically things are still being trialed and from a legal, regulatory, and business standpoint there are still open issues to be resolved. > I believe that the calling phone number is not routinely delivered to > the terminating switch on an inter-LATA call. Since the information > is not needed there to complete the call, and is not needed there to > rate and bill the call (which is done either by the IXC or the > originating end office), then it is not passed across the IXC network. In some cases it is passed across the IXC network, but is not passed out of the IXC network. The Committee T1 SS7 specification allows the Calling Party Number parameter in SS7 to be labeled "Calling Party Number" or "Billing Number". The IXC can presumably carry the billing number (received via EAMF signaling from the originating LEC) across the network, but not pass it out of the network. > Calling numbers are only routinely delivered to terminating offices > for interLATA calls. Add "with SS7 signaling". > ANI to 800/900 numbers is a different story. That is a special > feature of the particular service being offered by the IXC, and I > think it may require a special connection between the IXC's POP and > the end customer. It requires a direct connection of one form or another. The AT&T INFO-2 (TM) service uses an ISDN PRI connection. MCI and US Sprint also offer the service over PRI, and one or the other make it available via some sort of in-band signaling on a non-ISDN direct connect T1. > Inter-LATA CLASS features have received some discussion, but will > require action by both the FCC and Bellcore to implement. And by ANSI T1, although I believe these standards have been published. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!houxa!deej ISDN Evolution Planning > What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! Ditto. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 22:48 EST From: fmsys!macy@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu (Macy Hallock) Subject: Re: CLASS Features on Inter-LATA Calls In article Andy Sherman writes: > I believe that the calling phone number is not routinely delivered to > the terminating switch on an inter-LATA call. That's true for most existing systems. With the advent of the newest pre-SS7 schemes, there was a provision for the delivery of the calling number to the distant switch. The missing key here is the supplemental information. SS7 provides for more that calling number info, there is class of service information, too e.g. blocking information. SS7 machines always receive the calling number, if the distant switch can provide it. Whether the number is delivered to ISDN or CNID subscribers is a function of the Class of Service on both the orginating and terminating lines. My points here are: - There are many central office signalling schemes that make calling number info available to the terminating switch. That does not mean that a subscriber's services will be given that info. - SS7 has provisions to control who and when the calling number information will be presented to a subscriber's terminal. These provisions were not found in previous central office signalling systems, since the calling number was provided for telco internal call processing purposes, not subscriber use. Perhaps someone more familiar with SS7 will elaborate. > ANI to 800/900 numbers is a different story. That is a special > feature of the particular service being offered by the IXC, and I > think it may require a special connection between the IXC's POP and > the end customer. Not really. Generally speaking, a customer with any real volume of IXC business will have a T1 type connection to the IXC. Depending on the IXC, calling number info can be delivered by conventional MF ANI tone sending, ISDN type common channel signalling or even in band DTMF!! At least one IXC is working on using CNID type signalling. Not quite sure what they have in mind, though. AT&T is perhaps the least flexible in this. In their INFO-2 service, they will only use ISDN (done the AT&T way, BTW) for this purpose. Works great, though ... once you get it installed. Regards, Macy M Hallock Jr N8OBG 216.725.4764 macy@fmsystm.uucp macy@fmsystm.ncoast.org [No disclaimer, but I have no real idea what I'm saying or why I'm telling you] ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? Date: 6 Jan 92 21:44:07 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , garyd@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Gary Deol) writes ... > Does anybody know why the middle number in a area-code is always a > zero or one? Things that make you say Hmmmmmmmm :^) Simple. Because in the 1950's era numbering plan, that was the way to tell an area code (ten digit call) from a local prefix (seven digit call). And that era is already half over; the other half (area codes without a 1/0 in the middle) will be over in about three years. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388 ------------------------------ From: Subject: Re: Area Code Splits and our Phone System Date: 5 Jan 1992 18:33 -0400 Of course, it would be nice if there were a way the PBX could automatically interrogate a remote database when it was confused. But that would require that the PBX act like a computer. And even IBM gave up doing that. But considering how often it takes years to update the PBX tables and how cheap it would be for a PBX supplier to provide the data remotely and even charge for it (and not involve the local Telco at all!), I'll chalk it up to one more example of technological intertia. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 12:16:50 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Adjacent Area Codes Off by a Digit There are some pairs of area codes which are adjacent and off by just one digit. I have already discussed 301/302 (to go away when 410 is fully cut over), 308/307, and 704/703 (gone before I was old enough to remember, if it ever existed). Others I have come up with: These are off by just one click: 602 (Arizona) / 702 (Nevada) 501 (Arkansas) / 601 (Mississippi) Went away in 1965 split of 305/904: 305 (Florida) / 205 (Alabama) 405 (Oklahoma) / 505 (New Mexico); I listed 405/918 as a possible early split, and notice that 918 does NOT touch 505. 217 (Illinois) / 317 (Indiana) Off by more than one click: 309 (Illinois) / 319 (Iowa) 601 (Mississippi) / 901 (Tennessee); if there was a 901/615 split, it did not take this border away. 704 (North Carolina) / 404 (Georgia); if there was a 704/919 split, it did not take this border away, but the 404/706 split would apparently set up a 706/704 border. 503 (Oregon) / 509 (Washington state) 219 (Indiana) / 419 (Ohio) 308 (Nebraska) / 303 (Colorado); apparently part or all of this border remains after 303/719 split I do NOT believe these touch: 812 (Indiana) / 815 (Illinois) 717 (Pennsylvania) / 716 (New York) 608 (Wisconsin) / 708 (Illinois) ------------------------------ Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc. Subject: Re: The Original North American Numbering Plan Date: Mon, 06 Jan 92 22:27:47 EST From: Ron Newman In article , DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA writes: > Without further ado ... here is the original area code setup from 1952: > 319 East Idaho (Waterloo) That should be "East Iowa" ! > 515 Central Iowa (Des Moines, Ottumwa, Fort Dodge, Mason City) > 712 West Iowa Any idea why a sparsely populated rural place like Iowa rated three area codes? I've never understood how Iowa got three when much bigger places like Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, and Arizona still need only one each. Ron Newman rnewman@bbn.com ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: USA Today's 800 Turned 900 Number Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 19:39:59 EST Reply-To: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex I have a separate question about this mess. Given that it can't be that difficult to prove that you dialed 800, not 900 [two methods come to mind at once -- beat on the local LEC to pull their call detail records, and/or refer the LEC to someone with active 900 blocking getting charged] number; does AT&T have an FCC tariff in place to charge for making an 800 call? If not, won't they [even in this anti-regulation adminstration] have a hard time collecting? wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu ------------------------------ From: bjorn@eab.retix.com (Bjorn Ahlen) Subject: Re: Problem With PAC*TEL Cordless Phone Organization: Retix, Santa Monica CA Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 04:06:32 GMT In article DROLLINGER@elde.epfl.ch writes: > On my last visit to the United States, I bought a GREAT Technologies > (Model CS8001) cordless phone (Manufactured for PAC*TEL Products by > GREAT Technologies). I used it once in a motel and it worked. It uses > Although the phone works well, it produces an > annoying buzzer-like sound which is more or less loud depending on the > location. I tried it out with three different power converters, yes, I > even tried it with a 9V E-Block-type battery and on different > locations, but it always sounds like an amplified power-converter- > sound, even without the phone-line connected to it. > Does anybody know where this sound comes from, as there should really > be no noise when operated with a battery (at least this sounds > logical) or has anybody else had problems with this particular > cordless phone? The noise is really that loud that normal operation is > impossible. I had the same problem in my house with a SW Bell top-rated FF1725. Two things helped significantly: 1. A ferrite core on the cable to the phone jack. I used a cheap Radio Shack snap-on ferrite which is normally used to stop RF noise on power cables. My humble speculation is that much of the noise comes in via the phone lines, a phenomenal antenna for the 49 MHz used by most cordless phones. 2. Reorienting the base unit antenna. After much experimenting I found that for my setup a horizontal East-West orientation worked best, this in spite of usually holding the handset vertically. Bjorn Ahlen bjorn@eab.retix.com ------------------------------ From: denny@dakota.alisa.com (Bob Denny) Subject: Re: The Best and The Worst Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 05:27:30 GMT Organization: Alisa Systems, Inc. In bill@eedsp.gatech.edu (Bill Berbenich) wrote about liking Pac*Tel Cellular in Atlanta. I use LA Cellular, the A system in LA, and Pac*Tel is the B system. In Atlanta, Pac*Tel is the A system. So if you are an A system subscriber, you lose in Atlanta if you want to roam. At least this was the situation a year or so ago. Dumb. Robert B. Denny voice: (818) 792-9474 Alisa Systems, Inc. fax: (818) 792-4068 Pasadena, CA (denny@alisa.com, ..uunet!alisa.com!denny) ------------------------------ From: bruce@camb.com (Barton F. Bruce) Subject: Re: Compression Bridges Ethernet-Ethernet Date: 6 Jan 92 05:40:54 EST Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article , stigall@bronze.ucs. indiana.edu (john stigall) writes: > I need help finding info on compression bridges for a link to a far > remote site via four-wire modems. What I have found so far is the > Cryptall 3000 series compression bridge for $7900 list each. Has Microcom also makes compression bridges, and the cost less. The Cryptall ones will compress even on a full T1 line. The Microcom ones don't have enough steam to compress as much at T1 as they can at lower speeds. Microcom sells that software and cards and you can supply some ratty old PC to use them in. They have a 2x and a 4x compression card (its the serial line card), and a bridge can be made that is 1 enet to several remote sites -- you just add more of the compressing serial line cards. BUT, why are you using four-wire modems in this day and age? If it is FAR, it probably is interlata, and virtually ALL interlata circuits are actually DIGITAL. Only the tail circuits change. In many areas DDS-II or more generically BDS type 56kb tail ckts (or occasionally even 64kb ones!) can be had at about the same price as an analog one. No modem needed. Just a CSU/DSU. If all you were planning on was 4 x compression on 9.6, go digital and use the really inexpensive NAT bridges that don't compress but that do cost less than $2000 per end. Used at 56kb, that will be better than a 4 x compression running 9.6. Of course 4 x on 56kb is even nicer. A good CSU/DSU (many are NOT good ...) and NAT will cost *LESS* than the Microcom compressing bridge kit with no PC. Add the PC and the Microcom costs even MORE. I better not elaborate more or this won't get published ... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 10:12:08 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: AT&T VoiceMark Service 800-576-MARK? I had 800-562-6275 (MARK) for AT&T VoiceMark. ------------------------------ From: Subject: Re: Book Review: ISDN In Perspective Date: 6 Jan 1992 10:57 -0400 I forget to include the ISBN info: 0-201-50016-7 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Ponders ISDN Request Date: 6 Jan 92 21:55:05 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes: > You're still paying more for using less resources than a TB3000 and > POTS. You're also getting less service (I've run PEP up to 14000 bps > before compression, and the theoretical limit over POTS is 21204 bps > (512 channels at 7 bauds with 6 bits/baud less the 300 baud back > channel), though the most I've heard of in practice is around 18000). Huh? 18000 is less than 64000. How is ISDN's 64000 bps less than POTS? ISDN's D-channel packet data service _is_ slower than a 'blazer, but it is available 24 hours a day without tying up a channel. It lets your host be "on line" for things like receiving mail, or low-speed (backgroun) ftps. D channel packet is no speed demon for interactive use, but that's where the B channel comes in. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice:+1 508 952 3274 Standard Disclaimer: Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: bgsuvax!klopfens@cis.ohio-state.edu (Bruce Klopfenstein) Subject: Re: 10th Anniversary of the MFJ Date: 6 Jan 92 22:28:42 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. I still have not found a copy of Judge Greene's July 1991 forced decision allowing telcos into information services. Where can I get a copy? ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #14 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13394; 8 Jan 92 0:39 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11154 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 22:26:03 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32026 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 22:25:26 -0600 Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 22:25:26 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201080425.AA32026@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #15 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Jan 92 22:25:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 15 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet (H. Peter Anvin) Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? (Michael Salmon) Re: American Express and ANI (Mike Neary) Re: Rate Table For 900 Numbers (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? (Dell Ellison) Re: Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana (Bill Nickless) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Jim Rees) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Jerry K. Wagner) Re: Voice Mail and TDD: Rolm (Mickey Ferguson) Re: Phone Company Humor (Tad Cook) Re: Phone Company Humor (Jeff Sicherman) Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? (Doug Faunt) NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language (Douglas W. Martin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hpa@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) Subject: Re: Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 02:25:49 GMT In article of comp.dcom.telecom, wu/O=ALAN_TOSCANO/DD.ELN=62306750@mhs.attmail.com writes: > Addressing the Internet from EasyLink IMS is somewhat more > complicated. Owing to its Telex heritage, EasyLink converts all > alphabetic characters in addresses to uppercase -- unless they're > preceded by a bang ("!"). To include an actual bang in an address, you > must type it twice. Here's the address format which I used to submit > this article from EasyLink IMS to : [...extracted line...] > DDA ID-INTERNET!!EECS.NWU.EDU!!!T!E!L!E!C!O!M This is really not necessary. According to the appropriate RFC's, the Internet and all other system using RFC-compliant addressing should ignore case in the address. There are some non-compliant systems (notably IBM RS/6000 machines -- funny since IBM mainframes are the biggest of the troublemakers that forced this rule), but delta.eecs.nwu.edu is not. Sending mail to HPA@EECS.NWU.EDU reached my account there (hpa@eecs.nwu.edu) fine. Therefore you could simplify this to: DDA ID-INTERNET!!EECS.NWU.EDU!!TELECOM ... without any loss. hpa INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu TALK: hpa@casbah.acns.nwu.edu BITNET: HPA@NUACC HAM RADIO: N9ITP, SM4TKN FIDONET: 1:115/989.4 NeXTMAIL: hpa@lenny.acns.nwu.edu IRC: Xorbon X.400: /BAD=FATAL_ERROR/ERR=LINE_OVERFLOW ------------------------------ From: etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se (Michael Salmon) Subject: Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? Reply-To: etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se (Michael Salmon) Organization: Ericsson Telecom AB Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 12:11:01 GMT In article , Michael K. Minakami writes: > I have some 8khz mulaw sound samples that I got off of a Sun > SparcStation and have been trying to play them over a T1 line through > a voice response unit. When I listen to it over a phone, voice sounds > nasal and music sounds equally distorted. The most interesting > phenomenon I've come across so far is that a sample of Yaz's "I before > E except after C", which should say "You can see the difference," > comes out as "You can sue the difference." (There's one for the legal > dept. :) Whether or not /i/ turn into /u/ seems to depend on context, > as it happens quite often but not all the time (though for a given > sample it will consistently happen in the same place.) I am not very familiar with the U.S. system so perhaps you can consider this just my $.01's worth, however I thought that you used A-law rather than mu-law; I don't remember the details of the differences but I think that they are both logarithmic laws but with different slopes. Perhaps someone else can give more expert information. Michael Salmon #include Ericsson Telecom AB Stockholm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 09:58:15 PST From: MNeary.El_Segundo@xerox.com Subject: Re: American Express and ANI Reply-To: MNeary.El_Segundo@xerox.com No need to give your name ... I always howl with laughter whenever the crime-solver shows on TV give out their tip hotline number (800 or 900 of course) with the reassurance that there's "no need to give your name". It's carefully worded *not* to actually say that the call is anonymous. Friends think I've gone bonkers until I explain. "Can they afford to trace every call? That must be expensive!" Mike ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Rate Table For 900 Numbers Date: 7 Jan 92 14:29:13 EST (Tue) From: unhtel!paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services In article GC.SUL@Forsythe.Stanford. EDU (Sullivan) writes: > Is there a vendor that keeps track of rates for 900 number service? > If others are interested, let me know, in the absence of a canned > ready-made rate table perhaps one could be built. I wish it were that simple. At first, they seemed to be priced by "exchange", but now each number can have a different rate, so such a table would be large, to start with. As far as I know, the rates can also change at any time, so such a table would have to carry effective dates, and be updated frequently. Also, the billed duration often does not match the SMDR duration (and our PBX, like many, does not receive/make use of answer supervision) so we wait for the LEC billing tapes and rebill these calls. This is one case where the caller often has a better idea of the cost of a call than they do for "normal" calls, so billing an "average" price per minute or per call, although recovering our costs, would not be fair and would not go undetected. As you said, if anyone has a better way, many of us would be interested. Maybe a special "time and charges" data link ...? Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - paul@unhtel.unh.edu Telecommunications and Network Services - VOX: +1 603 862 3262 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 - FAX: +1 603 862 2030 ------------------------------ From: ellisond@rtsg.mot.com (Dell H. Ellison) Subject: Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 22:11:59 GMT garyd@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Gary Deol) writes: > Does anybody know why the middle number in a area-code is always a > zero or one? Things that make you say Hmmmmmmmm :^) Yes. To differentiate between the area-code and the office code. (The office code is the first three digits of a seven digit number.) The office codes used to have the middle number be any number, EXCEPT zero or one. That way the switch could easily tell the difference. This is not true anymore. You now see office codes that are not restricted in this way. Dell H. Ellison ...!uunet!mcdchg!motcid!ellisond Motorola, Inc. ------------------------------ From: nickless@antares.mcs.anl.gov (Bill Nickless) Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 18:13:42 -0600 Subject: Re: Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana Quoting John R. Levine: > Bell said they were dissapointed; claimed that C-ID would not be > valuable if blockable, and wasn't sure whether they'd submit a > modified proposal. I find it quite strange that Illinois Bell and Michigan Bell found the service valuable enough to offer, but somehow another Ameritech subsidiary in a neighboring state doesn't. But, of course, Ill. Bell and Mi. Bell also weren't sure if blockable CID would be valuable either. Hmmmm ... Bill Nickless +1 708 972 7390 ------------------------------ From: rees@dabo.citi.umich.edu () Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Reply-To: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 17:27:17 GMT In article , tep@tots.Logicon.COM (Tom Perrine) writes: > 239-KING is now (this morning) a recording of "Happy Birthday" to > Elvis. It repeats once, then hangs up. Right now it's a series of beeps that sound almost like a busy signal, followed by some very slow modem tones (300 baud?). If anyone can decode them, I'd be curious to know what it is. That number is +1 619 239 5464. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 09:15:54 -0500 Reply-To: jkw@Kodak.COM From: jkw@Kodak.COM (Jerry K. Wagner) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits In TELECOM Digest V12 #13, Jeff Sicherman writes: > It's hard to believe that Spike Jones didn't do *something* on this > subject (how could he resist using the phone as a musical instrument?). > Any fanatics out there that could check his 'catalog' ? Spike Jones did a recording called (something like) "My New Year's Resolution." One verse of it contains the following by Doodles Weaver: "I resolve not to tell a corny joke." Ring-Ring (phone ringing in time with the music) "Hello! What's that? The church burned down? Holy Smoke!" Also, in the song "Chloe," the phone rings at least twice and one side of the conversation can be heard on the recording. Person who answered phone: "Hello! You don't say! You don't say!" Other person listening: "Who was that?" Person who answered phone: "He didn't say!" Jerry Wagner ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 16:35:24 PST From: fergusom@scrvm1.vnet.ibm.com (Mickey Ferguson) Subject: Re: Voice Mail and TDD: Rolm Organization: Rolm Systems In TELECOM Digest V11 #1026 Item 4, Curtis E. Reid writes: > Recently last month, Rolm announced that it is provided TDD capability > to its Voice Mail system. > Who is the best source of contact at Rolm to inquire about the Voice > Mail and the TDD capability? Anyone with any questions about this should contact Mark Bonine of Rolm Company at (408) 764-8050. He should be able to handle any questions one might have. (He doesn't have Internet mail access right now, so if you want to ask via e-mail, feel free to send your questions to me and I will forward them on to him.) Mickey Ferguson Rolm Systems FergusoM@scrvm2.vnet.ibm.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor From: tad@ssc.wa.com (Tad Cook) Date: 6 Jan 92 01:21:40 GMT In article Mark Walsh writes: > After a few hassles about who's name it was listed under, > she had the listing changed to "OTHERS, THE." The Seattle phone book has a listing for "WART, THE". This belongs to my longtime friend Andrew Friedman. When we were about 13, for some reason Andy told his friends that from then on he wanted to be addressed as "The Wart." He even had business cards printed that said nothing but "The Wart." He took great joy in ceremoniously presenting these to people, saying nothing, and then walking away. The name stuck, and annually for the past 27 years we have looked forward to his yearly party, "The Wart Feast." Barry Mishkind (barry@coyote.datalog.com) writes: > Well, my friend was still unable to understand the situation, but she > did as asked, and opened the telephone book to find that she was, > indeed, the _very_ first entry, "0'Neill, T.J." ...etc. And that was > the way it stayed all year! A couple of years ago I convinced US West to list my ham radio call letters in the residential listings. It wasn't easy. I had to convince them that I had a roommate named KT7H. I thought it would be funny to see it listed between the commercial broadcast stations KSTW and KTZZ. The telco was very suspicious that I was trying to get a business listing on a residential line. When the phone book came out though, it was the first year (1990) that the Seattle directory had separate residential and business listings in the white pages. So KT7H showed up between IGNAC KSHENSKY and CHU SHANE KU instead. Later that year US West called me and told me that there had been an administrative decision not to allow numbers to be mixed with names in the residential listings. I guess they had some standard software that used a limited character set for the residential listings, although businesses could still get listings such as AAAAAAAA-1 INSURANCE. They said they had a similar problem with a guy who wanted his name listed with an exclamation point. I kept looking for any exceptions that they had made for anyone else, but they would not budge on this. One thing that occurred to me was that there is a tribe in Africa that uses the exclamation point in the English written form of their names, to note the 'click' sound common in their language. Alas, I could not find anyone listed like this in the Seattle directory. Otherwise I would have used this as an example where they were making an exception, so why couldn't I have my listing too? Since the numerical characters were not part of the range of permissible characters in their system, this presented special problems for directory assistance. I know that when my out of town ham friends tried to find the number for KT7H, they couldn't. Yet it was right there in the directory for one year. I know this seems weird, and it is. But hams are funny about their calls. Tad Cook | Phone: 206-527-4089 | MCI Mail: 3288544 Seattle, WA | Packet: KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 3288544@mcimail.com | USENET: tad@ssc.wa.com or...sumax!ole!ssc!tad ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 23:29:16 -0800 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: Cal State Long Beach In article nha2308@dsachg1.dsac.dla.mil (Susan B Huntsman ) writes: > There were in this country two very large monopolies. The larger of > the two had the following record: The Vietnam War, Watergate, > double-digit inflation, fuel and energy shortages, bankrupt airlines > and the 8-cent postcard. > The second was responsible for such things as the transistor, the > solar cell, lasers, synthetic crystals, high fidelity stereo > recording, sound motion pictures, radio astronomy, negative feedback, > magnetic tape, magnetic "bubbles", electronic switching systems > microwave radio and TV relay systems, information theory, the first > electrical digital computer, and the first communications satellite. > Guess which one got to tell the other how to run the telephone > business? > [Moderator's Note: Very clever, Susan ... but you are forgetting that > federal judges always know what's best for us, the unwashed masses, as > they set about the business of saving us from ourselves. :) PAT] You (and others) are welcome to your political opinions, whether I agree with them or not. I'm even willing to listen to them, sometimes ad nauseum, when there is at least a peripheral relationship to an aspect of telecom. Personally, I think when you start passing through posts like this that you are starting to abrogate your responsibilities as Moderator and turn the Digest into a soapbox for one political philosophy or another with no light shed on aspects of telecom. There are plenty of other forums on the nets for this kind of stuff. Get back to your job, PAT, please, or take a leave of absence and reflect on what the job ought to be. Jeff Sicherman [Moderator's Note: I take it you didn't like the joke. Maybe you are correct. Perhaps I'll just cease publication for awhile, allowing the readers to spend the time reading more Socially Responsible newsgroups and Digests instead of this little journal. I'll have you know if I sold the Digest at the checkout line in supermarkets I could get 75 cents per issue easily. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 09:10:43 -0800 From: Doug Faunt Subject: Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? Has anyone built a file of exchange names? I din't see anything in the archives that was obviously that. In Columbia, SC, our telephone number was 36765, and then it was ALpine3-6765. The "new" exchange in town was POplar. This was in the 50's. We also had a two-party line, shared with my grandmother, who lived next door, and that must have lasted into the 60's. [Moderator's Note: We do not have such a file in the archives. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 07:27:25 PST From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language By now my fascination with intercept recordings and with calling remote places is well documented. On a whim I called Baker Lake, NWT 819-793-1234 and got an intercept recording in some Eskimo language. I've kept it for possible future use on my answering machine. Does anyone know any even more isolated places with interesting recordings? Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #15 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14957; 8 Jan 92 1:29 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10437 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 23:37:38 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05843 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 7 Jan 1992 23:37:13 -0600 Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 23:37:13 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201080537.AA05843@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #16 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Jan 92 23:37:11 CST Volume 12 : Issue 16 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Panasonic TP-500 Information Wanted (Bob Denny) Device Wanted to Screen Junk Calls (Hoyt A. Stearns Jr.) Device Wanted to Bridge ISDN Interface Pair (Hoyt A. Stearns Jr.) Party Lines: Two, Four, Eight-Party Semi-Selective Ringing (J. Cereghino) I Wasn't Billed For USA Today 800 Call, Were You? (David Ptasnik) Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers (Loran N. Yourk) HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line (Don Maslin) Where Can I Find 1-2V 25kohm Amplified Speaker For Modem Card? (S Hinckley) PBS Documentary "Empire of the Air" (Allen Pellnat) How Do I Hook Up a Starset? (Scott Hinckley) Re: T1 on Fiber? (Alan Boritz) GSM and SPC Voice Compression (Mike Weal) Job Opening in Telecom (FRASER@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: denny@dakota.alisa.com (Bob Denny) Subject: Panasonic TP-500 Information Wanted Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 05:35:34 GMT Organization: Alisa Systems, Inc. I have a Panasonic TP-500 cell-tel phone. On the whole, I like it a lot, especially for the price I paid and the 3W on battery (great for LA power wars). I have a couple of questions: (1) How can I program it? The store reps said that it requires an external box. Is this true? If so, it's the first "modern" phone I have heard of needs a box. (2) How can I attach a hands-free microphone without buying an entire fixed mount kit? (3) From day one, the phone has had an annoying habit of going BZZZZT in your ear during a conversation. It occurs far more often in the crowded LA area than in rural areas. The person on the other end hears a 1/2 s. interruption but no buzz or other noise. I can hear the T/R relay in it click at the tail end of the buzz burst. What is this? Is it a design flaw or can it be adjusted out? If you have any answers, please email me at denny@alisa.com. If anyone else wants to have these answers, let me know by email as well. Thanks in advance. Robert B. Denny voice: (818) 792-9474 Alisa Systems, Inc. fax: (818) 792-4068 Pasadena, CA (denny@alisa.com, ..uunet!alisa.com!denny) ------------------------------ From: isus!hoyt@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Hoyt A. Stearns jr.) Subject: Device Wanted to Screen Junk Calls Organization: International Society of Unified Science Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 00:27:44 GMT I would like a cheap device that connects to the phone line that answers with "If this is a junk call, please press 1, Personal, 2 etc. Use your imagination about what happens if you press 1 :-). Hoyt A. Stearns jr.| hoyt@isus.org 4131 E. Cannon Dr. | Phoenix, AZ. 85028 | voice _______USA_________|_602_996_1717__ ------------------------------ From: isus!hoyt@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Hoyt A. Stearns jr.) Subject: Device Wanted to Bridge ISDN Interface Pair Organization: International Society of Unified Science Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 00:25:02 GMT Is there a commercial device available which can bridge an ISDN U interface pair (2B1Q), and separate out the two signal directions (and possibly analyze the data)? If not, I have sketched out some designs -- is there much of a market for such a thing? (I sure could have used one whilst working at GTE, but couldn't find one.) Hoyt A. Stearns jr.| hoyt@isus.org 4131 E. Cannon Dr. | Phoenix, AZ. 85028 | voice _______USA_________|_602_996_1717__ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 01:17:37 PST From: cereghin@netcom.netcom.com (Jon Cereghino) Subject: Party Lines: Two, Four, and Eight-Party Semi-Selective Ringing rlatham@mailbox.frwdc.rtsg.mot.com asked about how party lines work. I'm going to give an explanation as I understand. My intent is to explain things at a level most everyone can follow. Don't be insulted. There are three types of party lines in the former Bell System: two-party, four-party, and eight-party semi-selective ringing. Two-party lines have customers attached to the central office (C.O.) as if they are extensions of the same number. Both parties are connected to, and dial calls from, the same physical pair. Ringers, however, are wired differently. The two parties are called tip-party and ring-party. The ring party, for example, is sent ringing battery by the central office across the ring conductor and the central office ground. A local ground must be run from the telephone company protector to the telephone set to complete the circuit. So, party lines require three-conductor inside wire if the bell is to ring. With two-party service, it's possible to have automatic number identification (ANI). A high resistance to ground is added to one party's phone and the C.O. bills that party whenever it "sees" that ground while a billable call is being dialed. How can you tell if your exchange has ANI? If an operator asks what number you're calling from after you dial long distance, it doesn't. Most of us have single-party service which uses bridged ringing: the bells are connected across the tip and ring conductors and no ground is required at the phone. Four-party takes this scheme and builds on it. There are two tip- and two ring-parties. Two different ringing battery frequencies are produced by the C.O. for each side of the pair. I don't recall frequencies, but say one tip-party is on the tip side at 30 hertz ringing and the other at 60 hertz. The ringers are frequency- selective and only ring for "their" correct frequency. If everything works right, bells only ring at the dialed location. Eight-party semi-selective is just as it sounds. Take a four party and double the number of tip and ring parties. There are four tip- and four ring-parties. Now, for every ringing frequency we send out from the C.O., we ring two customers' bells. In order for customers to tell who the call is for, the C.O. sends short rings or long rings to identify which party the call is for. That's where the name semi-selective comes from! It has a funny effect on people: they stop everything for a few seconds when the phone rings until they can identify whether the ring is short or long. Jon Cereghino cereghin@netcom.com C-Message Weighting BBS (408) 377-7441 2400 8N1 via PSTN... ------------------------------ From: David Ptasnik Subject: I Wasn't Billed For USA Today 800 Call, Were You? Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 9:05:24 PDT I thoroughly searched my November and December bills, and I as not billed for several calls to the {USA Today} number on any of the lines from which I tried it. I don't believe I've read of anyone else who made the calls but did not get billed. Did anyone else in US West or greater Seattle territory also dodge this bullet? I do not have AT&T as my primary carrier, perhaps this made the difference. Makes one suspect that AT&T *asked* local Bells to bill 800 calls as 900's and that some did not comply. Also, has anyone yet been told that the charges would not be removed? Without arguing the merits of the actions of our Moderator, has anyone been told by AT&T or a local telco that "We are aware of your scheming ways, and we will never credit you for these calls!!!!!!" I have not seen or heard an official pronouncement yet from AT&T or a regional. Has there been one put out that I missed, or are they chosing to deal with the issue on a case by case basis? Enquiring minds want to know. Dave davep@u.washington.edu [Moderator's Note: I can state with assurance -- unfortunatly! -- that Illinois Bell charged for the calls. They appeared in Section 2 (Long Distance Calls) of my December bill entitled '700/900 Calls'. I got by for only a few dollars, which I paid. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 12:12:11 EST From: lyourk@ihlpm.att.com (Loran N Yourk) Subject: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Now that I can subscribe to CID, I would like to find a stand alone (or even one built into a phone) CID box which would store numbers and have buttons which would dial the currently displayed number. The only units I have seen are the three AT&T models which store numbers along with date and time called. AT&T also has a phone which has the CID box built in along with buttons dedicated to the various CLASS features but it doesn't allow the automatic dialing of any number on the display. Are there any other units which will allow the automatic dialing of stored numbers? What other boxes are available and what features do they have? With all the various interpretations of the NANP dialing plan (1 + prefix/no prefix or dial area code/don't dial area code) the box might have to be flexible to accommodate for the variations. Loran Yourk lyourk@ihlpm.att.com Disclaimer: These are not the opinions of AT&T [Moderator's Note: Is there any truth to the rumor that customers who subscribe both to Caller-ID and telco voicemail (by whatever name) will someday soon get the calling number 'voice-stamped' on messages in their mailbox along with the time and date as at present? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 22:45:50 PST From: donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) Subject: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line Many of the newer residential use telephones, being sold by AT&T Phone Store and others, are now coming equipped with a HOLD button which functions in the same manner as on multi-line instruments. Recollection suggests that stand-alone HOLD devices were marketed several years ago which were actuated by going on-hook momentarily and then hanging up, and the device was released when any instrument went off-hook (or some similar mode of actuation and release.) Does recollection serve me correctly? If so, are such devices presently available? From whom, and at what price? Thanks for the help. UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!donm ARPA: crash!pnet01!donm@nosc.mil INET: donm@pnet01.cts.com [Moderator's Note: I think Radio Shack has what you are seeking. PAT] ------------------------------ From: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com (Scott Hinckley) Subject: Where Can I Find 1-2V 25kohm Amplified Speaker For Modem Card? Date: 6 Jan 92 19:29:07 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com The subject line pretty much says it all. I need a speaker capable of handling 1-2V high impedance (25kohm) input that has an internal amplifier. This is what my voice-mail card needs for me to monitor call and modem progress. scott@hsvaic.boeing.com ------------------------------ From: agp@cci632.cci.com (Allen Pellnat) Subject: PBS Documentary "Empire of the Air" Organization: Computer Consoles Incorporated Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1992 18:22:36 GMT There will be an airing of a PBS documentary that should be of interest to many readers of comp.dcom.telecom and the various amateur radio groups. It is titled "Empire of the Air". Subtitled: "The Men Who Made Radio". It is a biographical study of Lee DeForest, E.H. Armstrong and David Sarnoff and how they developed "wireless telegraph" into the broadcasting and electronics industies we know today. I am presently about a third of the way through the companion book of the same title by Tom Lewis, published by Harper Collins Publishers at $25.00. One of the most fascinating personal and corporate biographies I've ever read. It touches on the involvement of government in R&D and the lone inventor versus the R&D sweatshop as well as the personalities of the three and how they influenced each other and the fledgling industry. Locally here in Rochester it is scheduled for 9:00 PM, January 29th on WXXI, Channel 21. Look for it in your local listings. While I'm at it I'll drum once for my own local tie-in to this book and documentary, the Antique Wireless Association. The dust cover of the book is a reproduction of the cover of December 1926 "Radio Broadcast" magazine and several of the photos included in the book are from the AWA collection. Many of the equipment pieces that will be shown in the TV version are from the AWA collection. If any readers are interested in more information about the AWA, (a bargain at $10.00 per year membership), they may drop me an e-mail response to this posting. ------------------------------ From: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com (Scott Hinckley) Subject: How Do I Hook up a Starset? Date: 6 Jan 92 21:38:47 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com I have inherited (with a box of misc-elctronic junk a friend gave me) a hands-free headset called a Starset. This consits of a small unit that clips over your ear which has an earpiece and a speaking tube. There is a wire coming out of it that ends in a 2-prong (tip/sleeve on each prong) plug. What do I need to plug it into to make it work? scott@hscaic.boeing.com ------------------------------ Date: 06 Jan 92 19:26:21 EST From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: T1 on Fiber? grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray) writes: > In article S_ZIEGLER@iravcl.ira.uka.de > writes: >> Recently I talked with an AT&T rep (for T1 service) about T1. Somehow >> we were talking about the 'wire'. And he mentioned that the wire would >> be FIBER. Well, 1.5Mbps and FIBER that does not sound reasonable, >> because fiber is very EXPENSIVE. > Fibre is not EXPENSIVE. > Fibre is CHEAP - to repeat - FIBRE IS CHEAP. But it's INFERIOR service. The City of New York got into a battle with New York Telephone on that issue in '87. A bunch of circuits were ordered for a City-owned building in lower Manhattan. NY Tel couldn't (or wouldn't) locate pairs (or duct space for a new service entrance), so they pulled in fiber. NY Tel asked where to plug in the power for their mux, and my former boss politely told them where to put the plug. :) >> So, is this true? Do they install some type of 'NETWORK TERMINATOR' at >> the customers premises, or how do they handle this? > They install a fibre transceiver at the customer premises in the same > way that they would have installed a transciever for copper cable. > The only real difference is that the fibre transceiver is CHEAPER than > the copper transceiver Conventional telephone service on copper facilities are self-powered, so there is no need for a power supply at the subscriber's drop. Providing continuous power for mux equipment isn't cheap, so a customer who wants the same reliable service as one served by copper facilities has to spend more to get the same thing that everyone else gets as part of the basic service. So the tariff'd services telco provides on fiber facilities SHOULD be cheaper for its customers, since it's something of LESSER value than what customers are provided with COPPER facilities. Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Subject: GSM and SPC Voice Compression From: mweal@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Mike Weal) Date: Mon, 06 Jan 92 23:04:39 PST Organization: Questor - Free Internet/Usenet*Vancouver*BC::+1 604 681 0670 I have been looking for information on realtime voice compression, in particular GSM and SPC. My understanding is that SPC is a European standard, and GSM is a compression technique used by AT&T. Could anyone help find a full description of these compression techniques. Thanks, Mike Weal (mweal@questor.wimsey.bc.ca) The QUESTOR Project: Free Public Access to Usenet & Internet in Vancouver, BC, Canada. BBS: +1 604 681 0670 FAX: +1 604 682 6659 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 09:17 EDT From: FRASER@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu Subject: Job Opening in Telecom Job opening: Director, International Center for Telecommunications Management ICTM at the University of Nebraska at Omaha has begun a national search for a new director. The ideal candidate will have experience in international telecommunications management, economics, or policy with expertise in one or more geographic ares, i.e., Asia-Pacific Rim, Africa, Europe, etc. Position requires a doctorate for tenure track faculty appointment in one of the departments of the College of Business Administration. Ideal candidate will possess a broad knowledge of the telecommunications industry with experience in research, obtaining funding for research, administering research projects, and outstanding administrative and interpersonal skills. Initial closing date: January 15, 1991. Send resume/cv to Mr. Tom Livingston, Asst. Dean, College of Business Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182. Telephone: 402/554-2675 Telefax: 402/554-3747 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #16 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21751; 9 Jan 92 2:23 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09515 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 9 Jan 1992 00:25:38 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01036 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 9 Jan 1992 00:25:16 -0600 Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 00:25:16 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201090625.AA01036@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #17 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Jan 92 00:25:09 CST Volume 12 : Issue 17 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (Don Kimberlin via Alan Boritz) America's Future (John Higdon) Are 950 Numbers Dying Off? (Emmanuel Goldstein) Sprint Along the Towpath (Gordon Grant) Autodialing a Digital Phone (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) Digital Cellular Telephony (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) Information Age Media Bites (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton) Dialed as 800, Billed For 900 (Paul S. Sawyer) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 06 Jan 92 19:27:23 EST From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago I thought TELECOM Digest readers might like this entertaining piece about Western Union's time service, from the FidoNet FCC conference (not distributed as a newsgroup), submitted by Don Kimberlin. Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com The year: 1962 The place: Fort Lauderdale, FL - a time when "Miami" was still a separate market, and people listened to local radio. However, no network affiliates in Ft. Lauderdale, only Miami. The prelude: I was CE of a 10 kW AM and a 33 kW FM in Ft. Lauderdale. I'd be bothered when I drove to Miami and ran out of range of my own station, finding my watch was a couple of minutes off, and have to set it. Then, I'd get back to Ft. Lauderdale and have to set it again. But, nothing ever clicked. The scene: We used WUTCo clocks, but never really joined a network program, so the jocks never griped about the clocks. One day, I get a "pink letter" in the mail from the FCC Monitoring Station about 12 miles west of Ft. Lauderdale, citing us for violating Section 73-whatever-it-is - "Transmitting False Signals," stating they had observed our announcements of time that was two minutes off. I of course tune in WWV, and by golly our WUTCO clocks _are_ two minutes off. Now, the mystery of my watch comes clear! The action: I call WUTCo at Ft. Lauderdale. That's a whole `nother story. Suffice it to day WUTCo's rules for people that answered the phone seemed to require they did not answer for 189 rings, then be 125 years old and be totally uncommunicative. The Dialogue: (after 189 rings for 20 minutes): "Hullo?" "Is that Western Union?" "Yup." "My clocks seem to be two minutes slow here." "You'll have to talk to the Wire Chief." (long silence) "Well, may I speak to the Wire Chief, please?" "He's not here." "When will he be back?" "Never." (To reduce the time for this typically painful exchange with WUTCo, I'll revert to summary mode.) It finally ensued that I learned the magic of WUTCo clocks was that each local area had a "Master Clock" that ran like an old schoolhouse clock with a punched paper tape to ring the bells -- except that a WUTCo local master clock had only one set of holes at the top of the hour. When it ran past the holes, it send a two-second pulse down a local telegraph loop that had all the clocks wired in series like teleprinters. Receiving this current pulse would operate the solenoid in the clocks that pulled their second and minute hands up to the top of the hour, in some models illuminating a red light while the pulse was on. The operation was that in each local area, it was the distinct "job" of the Wire Chief to be there at noon daily, to get a "click" on the sounder of one national wire, and set their local Master Clock to the once-a-day time from the national "click." At Fort Lauderdale, the Wire Chief had been promoted out of town _two_years_ previously, so it was nobody's job to set the local Master Clock. Well, I had my answer for the FCC. "Dear FCC: I have investigated the source of false signals you observed and found they were caused by erroneous information supplied by the Western Union Telegraph Company's failure to maintain its tariffed Clock Service. Since Western Union personnel have told me they do not intend to correct the error in their tariffed service, we have instituted measures to obtain correct time from WWV. There should not be a recurrence of the false signals." Well, it took about two days for the phone calls to start -- from inside every crack and crevice of Western Union, from Upper Saddle River to Hudson Street to Washington to Atlanta to Jacksonville to Miami. A hundred or so insects came out of the WUTCo woodwork: "Mr. Kimberlin? This is ______ from Western Union. Why didn'tn you call me about the problem with your clocks?" "Where did you emerge from? Who are you? How the h--- would I ever even know you existed?" "Well, that's all beside the point now. I want you to know that _I_ have taken personal steps to see that your clocks will function perfectly from now on. If you _ever_ have _any_ problem with _anything_ at Western Union, I want you to call me personally. Here's my unlisted direct in-dial number at my desk." I collected a huge list of names and numbers, and it seemed from that day on that I never failed to get responsive service from WUTCo after that. The story actually has a point: It doesn't matter if it's telegraph, phone, electric, gas, water, sewer or bus company. If you take the time to find out what they are really selling, and you can couch your complaint in the terms of that tariffed deal with the public, you can make it stick if you have to ... and from then on, you'll have a whole different relationship with them. They _will_ know your name and they'll _want_ to make you happy the next time you call ... kinda like the famous joke about the Quaker with the mule! (I have only used this trick three times in 34 years -- on WUTCo, Southern Bell, and GTE of Florida -- buit it sure works! If some BBS users and sysops would learn enough to use it, they'd find a whole new relation with the Phoneco. They're doing a bit of that in Missouri now, and finding out how easy it is to overcome the stonewalls most people scream at and lose to. -!- WM v2.00/91-0073 ! Origin: AET BBS - (704) 545-7076, 84,000+ Files (6300 megs)(1:379/16) [Moderator's Note: We had WU clock service for many years. Fortunatly, I was able to grab two clocks when they discontinued the service in the middle sixties; and I have both clocks running in my house, without the setting circuit, of course. I knew where there were a dozen more, but within days of WUTCO discontinuing the service the clocks were ripped off by collectors (like me!) ... (: I'll mention more about this in a couple days if someone reminds me. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 22:46 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: America's Future From an organization that calls itself the "United States Telephone Association" comes, on a national scale, the old blather about "America's future is too important to be put on hold". On KGO today during the afternoon drive was a spot that told a heart-warming story about how a deaf woman could "talk" daily with her son on the telephone with the aid of [what I assume was] TDD equipment. "This service could be offered by your local phone company, but there are some in Congress ... [blah, blah, blah]" Now it appears that the RBOCs have banded together to spread the gospel of "Total Telco Control" by taking a page from Pacific Telesis and spreading the garbage nationwide. The spot made sure that we, the listeners, were left with the impression that only the telcos could provide the service mentioned in this touching story and that meanies in the Congress were standing in the way. It also concluded with that stupid line about the spot NOT being paid for by ratepayer money. (Why do I have such a hard time believing that money is taken out of stockholder dividends for this campaign?) The telcos are going for the gold, and they mean business! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us (Emmanuel Goldstein) Subject: Are 950 Numbers Dying Off? Date: 7 Jan 92 08:38:41 GMT One of the better deals offered by long distance companies over the years has been the 950 service. This allows customers to use a long distance company of their choice from any touch tone phone as if they were calling from their homes, i.e. no surcharges. Over time, however, I've noticed that it's becoming increasingly difficult to get such services and that those that do exist seem to be dying off. Just yesterday, I talked to a US Sprint representative who told me that instead of using my seven digit authorization code with no surcharge, I would now have to use a 14 digit code and pay a 75 cent surcharge for every call! My days with Sprint have reached an end. Does anyone know why this is happening and what can be done to stop it? 950 service could be quite a money-maker if the idiots only marketed it properly. I was making a great deal of LOCAL calls over Sprint and actually saving over the New York Telephone rate from payphones. Instead of dropping a quarter into a phone to tell a friend I was meeting them someplace or to check messages on my voice mail, I would dial 950-1033, enter my code, dial the number, and pay about 13 cents for a one minute call. Not to mention all of the long distance calls I was also able to make. Now I'm expected to pay a huge surcharge for the same service. What is the rationalization for a surcharge when you're not doing anything above or beyond what the service is designed for in the first place? I'd be interested to know how many companies still actively offer 950 service. I know that MCI discontinued their 950-1986 service a while ago and that their 950-1022 number carries a surcharge. Allnet's 950-1044 didn't have a surcharge last I checked but their rates seemed much higher than other 950 numbers. Cable and Wireless still offers a good deal at 950-0223 and Metromedia (formerly ITT) has the only 950 number that allows you to use the same code from anywhere in the country at 950-0488. However, with each of those two companies, you have to put up quite a fight to get the service. I let Sprint know exactly why I wasn't doing business with them anymore and I intend to spend lots of money on those companies that still offer 950 service. Perhaps more of us can do the same. emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us ------------------------------ From: gg@jet.uk (gordon grant) Subject: Sprint Along The Towpath Message-ID: <1992Jan7.090636.18812@jet.uk> Organization: Joint European Torus Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 09:06:36 GMT On BBC radio last night the programme 'The Financial World Tonight' reported that US Telecommunication company Sprint had signed a deal with British Waterways the organisation which controls the canal system in the UK. The agreemant will allow Sprint the lay underground cables along the towpaths besides all the canals in the UK. A spokesman for Sprint said that the towpaths were a friendly enviroment for cables. He went on to say that in the US Sprint had installed 23000 miles of cable and had challenged AT&T Dominance of the market by providing a superior service and being responsive to customers needs. It would do the same in the UK with this investment of 200 million UKP. gg@jet.uk Gordon Grant Jet Abingdon OX14 3EA UK Voice +44 235 528822 x4822 Fax +44 235 464404 Disclaimer: Please note that the above is a personal view and should not be construed as an official comment from the JET project. ------------------------------ From: msa3b!kevin@gatech.edu (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) Subject: Autodialing a Digital Phone Date: 7 Jan 92 15:17:49 GMT Organization: Dun and Bradstreet Software, Inc., Atlanta, GA We've got an AT&T System 85 PBX. We've got digital phone sets hooked to it. We've got hundreds of customer service reps who need to call our clients. We'd like to have either their PC or a central computer autodial the call. If we had analog phone sets, I'd just plug the phone set into a cheap autodial modem, and plug the modem into the wall. AT&T can sell us a new digital phone set, with a modem built into it, but the cost is prohibitive. I thought of building a Y connector, to have a rep's handset and a modem wired in parallel, and then plug that into the phone (since the handset HAS to be analog). I don't know if this would work due to voltage, current, etc. I though of having one modem on a central computer, dial the call and transfer the call to the rep's extension. This is unreliable because the time to place a call (before it can be transferred) is variable, I can't get enough feedback from the modem, and it is possible for someone ELSE to call the rep before I can get the call transferred. Since we're talking about hundreds of reps, I'd like to find a way to have a modem (or a few modems) do the dialing, instead of a modem for each rep, so I'd like to find some way to make this work. Any suggestions? Kevin Kleinfelter @ DBS, Inc (404) 239-2347 ...gatech!nanovx!msa3b!kevin Dun&Bradstreet Software, 3445 Peachtree Rd, NE, Atlanta GA 30326-1276 WARNING: I have been advised that email to kevin@msa3b.UUCP may bounce. It looks like email will have to go via 'gatech' because that is well-known. ------------------------------ From: dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) Subject: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY Date: 7 Jan 92 18:08:34 GMT I read somewhere that in most large cities cellular carriers are switching to digital systems due to saturation of existing cells. I couldn't tell what the advantages of this would be: With analog transmission, each equipment would need 4 KHz. while with 8 bit PCM, 64 Kbps would be needed, which would surely translate to a higher frequency than 8 KHz. This definitely does not free up any bandwidth. Are these carriers using source coding? Won't that make the cellular phones more expensive/bulky? I am not a telecom person and maybe I am missing the point here. Could someone explain the advantages of digital over analog (other than improvement in voice quality, if any) in cellular systems? Thanks in advance. Aninda DasGupta (aninda@networks.ecse.rpi.edu) ------------------------------ Subject: Information Age Media Bites From: stapleton@misvax.mis.arizona.edu (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton) Date: 7 Jan 1992 11:39 MST Organization: University of Arizona MIS Department I'll be teaching a course this coming semester on "Issues for the Information Age," and I am looking for interesting media bites (in the range of a minute or two) to use as conversation starters in the various segments of the course. The course will cover issues like privacy, mass-marketing databases, government and other surveillance, national security, man-machine "relations," etc. Ideas thus far include: * "Wopper" in "War Games" (on technological dependence & risk) * Robert Redford playing with the Bell System in "Three Days of the Condor" * HAL and Dave Bowman in "2001" * Doomsday device from "Dr. Strangelove" (and the "Doomsday gap!") I'd greatly appreciate other suggestions from this forum, bearing in mind that the Information Age is so much a telecommunications issue -- the ideal "bite" would be short and sweet, and ideally humorous ... something to spark the imagination (and this would include very dated clips ... I really want to use a scene from Spencer & Tracy's "Desk Set," with the giant computer with the acre of blinking lights and spinning tapes ... too fun!). Thanks for your help! Ross stapleton@mis.arizona.edu, stapleton@arizmis.bitnet ------------------------------ Subject: Dialed as 800, Billed For 900 Date: 7 Jan 92 14:48:25 EST (Tue) From: unhtel!paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Well, we just got hit with it ... our LEC bill "as a service to AT&T" is billing us for calls (back to October) to 900-555-5555 (USA Today). While we do NOT block 900- calls, the SMDR records clearly show the calls to have been dialed as 800-555-5555. Since we do not require authorization codes on 800- (once thought to be "free") calls, we cannot really bill individuals for these ... Should we send a flyer to campus saying: "Since AT&T is now converting some calls dialed as 800- calls to 900- calls and billing for them, we now will have to request an authorization code on 800- calls, and will bill you accordingly. We suggest you listen carefully to all 800- calls you make to catch any hints of charges."? (1/2 :-) Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - paul@unhtel.unh.edu Telecommunications and Network Services - VOX: +1 603 862 3262 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 - FAX: +1 603 862 2030 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #17 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24970; 9 Jan 92 3:34 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04247 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 9 Jan 1992 01:33:00 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05806 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 9 Jan 1992 01:32:13 -0600 Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 01:32:13 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201090732.AA05806@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #18 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Jan 92 01:32:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 18 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Kurt Guntheroth) Canadian Caller-ID Specs (Bob Fillmore) 'Mother-in-Law' Field (was Caller-ID Chip Spec Sheet Humor) (Ralph Hyre) Re: Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana (Peter da Silva) Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers (Bob Miller) Name Stamped Voice Mail (David Ptasnik) CCITT Recommendation E.124 (Nigel Roberts) Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? (Clifton Koch) Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? (David Lemson) Re: T1 on Fiber? (David G. Lewis) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) Subject: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Reply-To: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1992 16:27:54 GMT I now understand that ANI is not Caller ID, and that 'blocking' caller ID may not have the desired effect when you call a business. Would someone in the know please concisely explain: * What, exactly, is "Caller ID", as technical people describe it? * What, exactly, is ANI? * What are the differences between these two things that determine whether or not a properly equipped receiver can get your phone number, especially in places that (1) don't currently offer Caller ID (2) offer blocking of one kind or another? * Does the answer vary depending on exchange, and is there a way I can find out how my exchange is configured? ------------------------------ From: fillmore@emr1.emr.ca (Bob Fillmore 992-2832) Subject: Canadian Caller-ID Specs Organization: Dept. of Energy, Mines, and Resources, Ottawa Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 21:05:28 GMT I have been following the progress of the Caller-ID feature, and recently I bought a demodulator device (from Rochelle) and started writing a program to process the Caller-ID data. I compared a hex dump of the data to the spec published in the Bellcore documents and posted to this group recently. The message formats are quite different, with the only the preamble (hex 55) and checksum appearing to be the same. I am now assuming that there is a different standard in Canada for the Caller-ID message format. Does anyone have documentation, or know where to get it, for the Canadian spec? Any help is much appreciated. Bob Fillmore, Systems Software & Communications email: fillmore@emr.ca Information Technology Branch, BIX: bfillmore Energy, Mines, & Resources Canada Voice: (613) 992-2832 588 Booth St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E4 FAX: (613) 996-2953 ------------------------------ From: rhyre@cinoss1.ATT.COM (Ralph W. Hyre) Subject: 'Mother-in-Law' Field (was Caller-ID Chip Spec Sheet Humor) Date: 7 Jan 92 21:34:57 GMT Reply-To: rhyre@cinoss1.ATT.COM (Ralph W. Hyre) Organization: AT&T OSS Development, Cincinnati In article peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 1051, Message 12 of 12 > lauren@vortex.COM (Lauren Weinstein) writes: >> But when you look at the sample data message shown for the extra 109 bits >> ... because it says "MOTHER IN LAW"! [Isn't this a data field description? MOTHER IN LAW is 14 bytes in ASCII. A dialed number (234) 567 8901 is 10 characters, which is easier to fit, even at 10 bits/char.] > ... It could be the CB/vanity plate craze of > the 21st century. With only 109 bits (why 109? What's the character > set?), you'll have to think carefully: "IN 4 THE MONEY", ... My impression was that these bits were for delivery of the CALLED number. With Ringmate/Distinctive Ring and other features, the you can have many different numbers terminating on one line. 'Mother in law' describes a typical application perfectly: Imagine you are fulfulling the 'husband' role in your home: Call for: 555-1313 (your mother in law, who is staying with you for a few days.) From: 555-1212 (your wife, who is calling from work to check on her) [this suggests that you don't want to answer it, as the call is not for you.] disclaimer: I haven't looked at the REAL CLID spec from Bellcore, but I do have the Motorola data sheet. This is all a WAG, but if I have come up with a new service idea, please let me know :-! Ralph W. Hyre, Jr. E-mail: rhyre@cinoss1.att.com Snail: Box 85, Milford OH 45150-0085 Phone: +1 513 629 7288 Radio: N3FGW ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: Caller-ID Rejected in Indiana Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 09:54:07 GMT > Bell said they were dissapointed; claimed that C-ID would not be > valuable if blockable, and wasn't sure whether they'd submit a > modified proposal. As a would-be customer of CLID, I would *prefer* a CLID system that offered blocking and block-blocking to one with no blocking. But, of course, Ma Bell still hasn't learned to listen to her customers. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers Date: 8 Jan 92 16:44:50 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Is there any truth to the rumor that customers who > subscribe both to Caller-ID and telco voicemail (by whatever name) > will someday soon get the calling number 'voice-stamped' on messages > in their mailbox along with the time and date as at present? PAT] We have our own 5ESS and an Octel voice mail system. All messages from internal phones are stamped with the number of the caller. All others are stamped "from an outside caller". If you block the number when calling (*67), you still get a stamp of "from an outside caller", even though it isn't. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: oberman1@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 07:38:36 PST From: Bob Miller Subject: Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers Loran N. Yourk writes: > Now that I can subscribe to CID, I would like to find a stand alone > (or even one built into a phone) CID box which would store numberrs and > have buttons which would dial the currently displayed number. Northern Telecom has a 'Maestro' phone which stores the numbers that have called and allows you to redial them. They are also have a new phone which will display the name of the caller when that service becomes available (I assume this is the contents of the 109 bit field which was discussed here a short while back), I don't remember off hand what this phone is called. Both phones are on sale in phone stores in Toronto, with 'Communications Canada' stickers on them, I don't know if they are FCC approved of if Northern intends to market them in the U.S. What I would like to see in a phone: - Associate a phone number with a name (and set of attributes) - Have a relay on the ringer to disable the 1'st ring - Attributes include: My name for caller - eg. first name of friend, MOM, Teleslease Action to take on incoming call - Close relay and enable ring (this would be for close friends and mom who would only call if there was an emergency late at night) - Close relay if in accept mode - Ignore call - let ring - Pass call to answering machine Alternate phone numbers for same person - Optional integration with answering machine, possible costomized message on answering machine depending on caller - Accept/Deny call mode. This would be activated by a button with visual indicator when in deny mode. Mode would also automatically be set depending on time of day, etc. What do you want to bet that Japan Inc. will beat North America by mass marketing at a reasonable price point a real phone? P.S. I forgot to mention a serious flaw in the Maestro phone if you have an answering machine or answer the call on another phone. It will not record the number of a called party if the call was answered. I think that this is corrected in their new phone. Bob Miller / Digital Equipment of Canada Ltd. Views expressed are mine, Digital rarely listens to me. ------------------------------ From: David Ptasnik Subject: Name Stamped Voice Mail Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 8:39:39 PDT > [Moderator's Note: Is there any truth to the rumor that customers who > subscribe both to Caller-ID and telco voicemail (by whatever name) > will someday soon get the calling number 'voice-stamped' on messages > in their mailbox along with the time and date as at present? PAT] I suspect that the rumor is true. The University of Washington is primarily a Centrex environment. We have our own Octel voice mail system. US West passes the calling party number as well as the called party number to our voice mail system. It then tells the recipient of a message the name of the person leaving the message, if the person leaving the message has voice mail and is using their personal line. As Centrex is essentially just a microcosm of the telco, I feel very confident in saying that they could do the same thing if they wanted to. Particularly when you consider that US West uses an Octel system for their voice mail. If they think it will make more money, they will almost certainly implement it. One real advantage to this feature is the ability to record messages and replies to messages and have them delivered directly into a person's voice mail box. Often I don't need to talk to someone to reply to their questions, leaving a message is sufficient. By sending a recording straight to their box I avoid having to deal with their receptionists, or even the ring delay before their box answers. Dave davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 04:25:11 PST From: Nigel Roberts 08-Jan-1992 1322 Subject: CCITT Recommendation E.124 I recently obtained copies of the CCITT E series Recommendations (Blue Book) in order to do some research into a complaint I have about the British cellular telephone systems, Cellnet and Vodafone. (Regular readers of the Digest may remember my original posting). At this point I'd like to offer a big thank-you to the Telecom readers who put me on the right track, and I will report back if I have any success or if there are any further developments. However, while reading through the Recommendations (light bed-time reading :-) I came across E.124 and I thought it would be of interest to a number of readers: "Recommendation E.124 DISCOURAGEMENT OF FRIVOLOUS INTERNATIONAL CALLING TO UNASSIGNED OR VACANT NUMBERS ANSWERED BY RECORDED ANNOUNCEMENTS WITHOUT CHARGE. 1. Preamble It sometimes happens that there is a severe outbreak of international calling to telephone numbers that answer with recorded announcements without charge. It seems that some subscribers make such calls merely for free amusement. Frivoulous calling can occur unnoticed by an Administration unless it is deliberately looked for, and serious degradation of quality of service can result. This Recommendation concerns prevention and abatement of frivolous international calling " (Sections 2, 3 and 4 go on to deal with Monitoring, Prevention and Abatement). Now I wonder who'd do such a thing? Nigel Roberts +44 206 396610 / +49 69 6672-1018 FAX +44 206 393148 ------------------------------ From: koch@rtsg.mot.com (Clifton Koch) Subject: Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 23:57:11 GMT minakami@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Michael K. Minakami) writes: > I have some 8khz mulaw sound samples that I got off of a Sun > SparcStation and have been trying to play them over a T1 line through > a voice response unit. When I listen to it over a phone, voice sounds > nasal and music sounds equally distorted. The most interesting I'm not sure what you mean by a voice response unit. Are you sure it is expanding the Mu-law companded data before the D-A conversion? It sounds as though it is trying to reproduce the companded information directly. CVK .. [uunet | mcdchg | gatech]!motcid!koch ------------------------------ From: lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (David Lemson) Subject: Re: Playing Digitized Sound Over T1 == Distorted Sound? Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 05:57:25 GMT etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se (Michael Salmon) writes: > I am not very familiar with the U.S. system so perhaps you can > consider this just my $.01's worth, however I thought that you used > A-law rather than mu-law; I don't remember the details of the > differences but I think that they are both logarithmic laws but with > different slopes. Perhaps someone else can give more expert > information. In the U.S. we do definitely use mu-law. You use A-law in most European countries. David Lemson (217) 244-1205 University of Illinois NeXT Campus Consultant / CCSO NeXT Lab System Admin Internet : lemson@uiuc.edu UUCP :...!uiucuxc!uiucux1!lemson NeXTMail accepted (but use ASCII for quicker response) BITNET : LEMSON@UIUCVMD ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: T1 on Fiber? Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 13:59:20 GMT In article 72446.461@CompuServe.COM (Alan Boritz) writes: > grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray) writes: >> In article S_ZIEGLER@iravcl.ira.uka.de >> writes: >>> Recently I talked with an AT&T rep (for T1 service) about T1. Somehow >>> we were talking about the 'wire'. And he mentioned that the wire would >>> be FIBER. Well, 1.5Mbps and FIBER that does not sound reasonable, >>> because fiber is very EXPENSIVE. >> Fibre is not EXPENSIVE. >> Fibre is CHEAP - to repeat - FIBRE IS CHEAP. > But it's INFERIOR service. The City of New York got into a battle > with New York Telephone on that issue in '87. A bunch of circuits > were ordered for a City-owned building in lower Manhattan. NY Tel > couldn't (or wouldn't) locate pairs (or duct space for a new service > entrance), so they pulled in fiber. NY Tel asked where to plug in the > power for their mux, and my former boss politely told them where to > put the plug. :) > Conventional telephone service on copper facilities are self-powered, > so there is no need for a power supply at the subscriber's drop. > Providing continuous power for mux equipment isn't cheap, so a > customer who wants the same reliable service as one served by copper > facilities has to spend more to get the same thing that everyone else > gets as part of the basic service. So the tariff'd services telco > provides on fiber facilities SHOULD be cheaper for its customers, > since it's something of LESSER value than what customers are provided > with COPPER facilities. If, however, you look at the entire range of parameters that make up "quality of service" instead of just whether the telco or the subscriber provides the power, you might get a different answer. For example: fiber has bit error rates in the range of 10^-11, compared to between 10^-3 and 10^-7 for copper. Fiber supports automatic protection switching (although most LECs don't, particularly if they're putting a single DS1 on fiber, which they wouldn't do anyway...), copper doesn't. Teleport Communications Group (disclaimer: where I used to work) cites BERs of 10^-11 and availability of 99.999+% for its customers, all of whom are provided service via fiber. I believe the standards for copper T1s are 10^-6 BER and availability of 99.9%. The TCG availability figures include loss of customer-provided power (although it was a contractual arrangement between TCG and the customer for the customer to provide UPS power, and in particularly critical arrangements, TCG would provide battery backup). Overall, I would strongly question the blanket statement that "services provided on fiber facilities ... are of lesser value than (those) provided on copper facilities." I would restate it to sat say something more like "services provided on fiber facilities may require a different commitment to support the service on the part of the customer, which the customer may be unwilling to support if the benefits of fiber are not sufficient." David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!houxa!deej ISDN Evolution Planning ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #18 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa18952; 10 Jan 92 2:49 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29276 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 10 Jan 1992 00:48:25 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01500 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 10 Jan 1992 00:47:56 -0600 Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 00:47:56 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201100647.AA01500@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #19 TELECOM Digest Fri, 10 Jan 92 00:47:51 CST Volume 12 : Issue 19 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Honda 800 Line Flooded by Caller (Sanford Sherizen, RISKS via Thomas Lapp) Rotary Callers Go Home! (Larry Rachman) GTE Sells its Last Part of Sprint (Dave Leibold) Cellular Prices Go Up (Dave Leibold) AT&T Drops The Ball? (John Higdon) Interesting Advertisement (John R. Levine) Repeat Dialing Question (Doug Thackery) Trying to Locate "PCN/PCS" Expert Russel Neuman (J. Butz) Need NPA Exchange Lists for 216 and 619 (Douglas W. Martin) Emulation Software Wanted for IBM-PC (cmdsold@usachvm1.bitnet) Help Identify This Network (Rick Honaker) PC Based PBX (Ken Jongsma) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 19:14:57 EST From: Thomas Lapp Subject: Honda 800 Line Flooded by Caller [Moderator's Note: Thanks also to Dave Leibold and others for submitting this to the Digest. PAT] -------------- Sanford Sherizen, in a recent issue of the RISKS Digest, discusses a {Boston Globe} report of a disgruntled Honda owner flooding several 800 phone lines. I have his permission to repost this along with a followup that he is also submitting to the RISKS Digest. He would be interested in answers to the questions he poses. +++++ begin forwarded text ++++++ Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 21:57 GMT From: Sanford Sherizen <0003965782@mcimail.com> Subject: Customer Clogs Honda 800 number {The Boston Globe} (December 30, 1991) reported that a disgruntled Honda owner called its "Better Business Bureau Information Line" toll-free customer relations number so many times that he clogged the line. He did the same to other 800 numbers used primarily by Honda employees and dealers. In both cases, he presumably used an automatic redialing mechanism (Daemon Dialer). He then began tying up a Honda facsimile number by transmitting muti-page letters during a four-day period. American Honda Motor Co. says that it was forced to ask AT&T to step in and block the calls which allegedly came from a Holliston, Mass. home. However, AT&T security said that it also had to block any calls to the Honda numbers for the entire 508 area code, which covers west and north of Boston. Attempts to reach the Holliston complainer was not possible since his phone is unlisted! I seem to remember that a televangelist's number was tied up in a similar fashion a few years ago and there has been rumours of political candidates' phones being plugged by their competition. How common is this form of destructive behavior? It will be interesting to see whether AT&T does some form of call or line blocking on this individual. How can phones be made open except for certain parties who overstep bounds? When are there too many calls and when is the line crossed into harassment? Is this a case where caller ID would have "proven" harassment? Under what conditions is someone no longer allowed "phone rights?" Was the Los Angeles judge's denial of telephone use by Ian Mitnick to prevent him from connecting to a computer in any way related in a legal sense to this present incident? Good story to end 1991. The year of ousted regimes, stalled economies, and phone disorders. Sort of an updated version of Sex, Lies, and Videotapes, to be called Lex, Slides, and Telegaps. Sanford Sherizen, Data Security Systems, Inc., Natick, MA 01760 +++++++++++ End of Forwarded Text ++++++ I told Sanford that since it was an 800 number, it was certainly possible for the people owning the 800 number to determine the caller's phone number through ANI. Sanford also suggested that I send along the following followup to his original posting. +++++++++++ Begin Forwarded Text +++++++++ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 01:56 GMT From: Sanford Sherizen <0003965782@mcimail.com> Subject: Customer Clogs Honda 800 Number (Cont.) There is more about this incident. According to the TAB, a very good local newspaper in this area, Daniel Gregory has been charged with telephone harassment after he made at least 100 phone calls in one day and faxed a 14-foot computer banner saying "Dan Gregory is unhappy with his Honda." Gregory admitted making the calls. "It could have been as many as 100 in one day," he said last week. "MAYBE I OVERDID IT. BUT EVEN IF THAT WAS THE CASE, SO LA DE DA." (Emphasis added by me to highlight why the U.S. is in decline) He made a comment about the long fax. "A roll of fax paper is $12 at Staples (office store). We're talking about a multi-million dollar company getting mad because I use a lot of fax paper?" While this story has received some coverage around the U.S., it has been treated as if it is a funny story. Some form of man-bites-Honda. The fact is, however, that this incident shows a vulnerability of technology. Is this phone clogging almost a virus-type phenomenon? Can it be possible on a larger scale? Say someone doesn't like their boss, the Internal Revenue, their ex-spouse, a political candidate, a computer network, or some other party. Then "la-de-da" is the right response. For all we know, Gregory may run for national office on the La De Da Platform. Oops, sorry, I think that political platform is already taken by at least one other candidate for president. Sanford Sherizen, Data Security Systems, Inc., Natick, MA 01760 USA ++++++ End of forwarded text ++++++ tom internet : mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu (home) : 4398613@mcimail.com (work) OSI : C=US/A=MCI/S=LAPP/D=ID=4398613 uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas Location : Newark, DE, USA ------------------------------ Date: 07 Jan 92 19:57:04 EST From: Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Rotary Callers Go Home! Well, it was bound to happen eventually. I called Casio, at 800-762-1241, and got the following recording: "Thank you for calling the Casio Referral Hotline. If you are calling from a touchtone telephone, press one now. If you are calling from a rotary dial telephone, please call back on a touchtone telephone. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ And if you don't have one, tough luck! (I guess). Larry Rachman, WA2BUX reply to 1644801@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 22:50:57 -0500 From: Dave.Leibold@f126.n480.z89.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: GTE Sells Its Last Part of Sprint GTE until now held onto a 19.9% share of US Sprint, the number three long distance carrier. That 19.9% has now been sold to United Telecommunications for $530 million, with expected closing of the first $250 million 31st January 1992 and the balance in cash 1st July 1992. United Telecom will then adopt Sprint's name. In the USA, GTE remains as the largest non-RBOC local telco while being the number two cellular service provider. Dave Leibold - via FidoNet node 1:250/98 INTERNET: Dave.Leibold@f126.n480.z89.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 22:43:53 -0500 From: Dave.Leibold@f126.n480.z89.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) Subject: Cellular Prices Go Up Bell Canada and Cantel will be raising their cellular rates soon. The average increase will be on the order of 7-9% according to {The Toronto Star}. Some customers will reportedly experience a 20% increase. The increases generally affect the access rates such as Bell's $24.95 to $124.95 (increasing to $29.95 to $139.95) or Cantel's $24.95 access rate (going to $29.95). Bell has a "Lifeline" rate of $9.95 which will not be changed (though this might involve higher connect time charges). Both cellular carriers are offering long-term contracts which would allow customers to keep the current rates, but the catches with these are three-year contract periods and high cancellation penalties (up to $400 reported). Bell Cellular's price hike takes effect 1st Feb 1992; Cantel raises its rates on 1st March 1992. Dave Leibold - via FidoNet node 1:250/98 INTERNET: Dave.Leibold@f126.n480.z89.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 16:56 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: AT&T Drops The Ball? Early today I complained to AT&T about the abysmal connections to the Hawaiian islands. As has been discussed here before, there is a delay that is variable even during the same call; there are varying levels of background hiss; the audio is distorted; and below a certain threshold, the audio is actually chopped off. What finally set me off was that I happened to have occasion to use a client's ComSystems (it never occurred to me to use my own for calls to the islands!) service. Each and every call of about ten was clear, noiseless, without annoying transmission delays, etc., etc. Sure enough, using my own account with ComSystems, the calls are perfect. So far, AT&T has not seen fit to respond to my complaints. Fortunately, I have ComSystems to fall back on. But it is really sad when the quality leader is aced by a second-string industry player. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Subject: Interesting Advertisement Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 21:23:11 EST From: John R. Levine I noticed this quarter-page display ad in the {Air Travel Journal}, a free newspaper distributed at Logan airport in Boston. Roughly reproduced: Caribbean Bound? Cellular telephone service is available on St. Maarten, St. Barths, Anguilla, etc. --- on land or sea! Bring your own and dial "0" for instant "credit card" roaming. Phones available for rent or purchase. If you would like to receive our rates and terms by mail or fax, call 617-566-8613. E. CARIBBEAN CELLULAR ST. MAARTEN, 011 5995-22100 I'll call them in the morning and have them fax me the info, you never know when it might be useful. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: thackery@rtsg.mot.com (Doug Thackery) Subject: Repeat Dialing Question Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 16:53:31 GMT My question is, does repeat dialing allow people to "camp on" a dialed number and stack up in the order that they dialed, causing people without it to be blocked from ever seizing that line? I guess radio contests would be a possible application, but in my case it has been trying to access the number of a Cineplex Odeon theater to get shows and times. I used to be able to get through by manually dialing. It might have taken eight times or so but at least I was usually able to get through. Now I can't at all. Is it possible that people with repeat dialing are stacked up on this number thus making it impossible for me to get through? Currently repeat dialing is not available in my area so if this proves to be the case then I am s.o.l. until it becomes available. doug [Moderator's Note: I think it only checks every few seconds to see if the called line has become available (especially if the called party is on another switch somewhere) as opposed to instantly knowing the status of the called line. Therefore, a 'free lance' dialer -- someone manually trying to get in -- could catch the line during a period of a few seconds when it is free and seize control. I don't think the service is truly 'camp-on' in a technical sense, but rather, just a Demon Dialer like thing in the CO. People with repeat dial, try this experiment: Dial yourself, and of course, get a busy signal. Pass it all to *66 or whatever repeat dial is in your exchange. The system will respond saying 'the line is busy, if it is free in the next 30 minutes you will be notified with a special ring ...' Hang up. In a few seconds, you'll get the special ring, but when you pick up, after a few seconds of silence, you'll get the message 'the number you were trying to call *was* free, but it has become busy again ... ' Well of course it became busy again in that short interval, since you picked up to answer the ringback! This will continue for thirty minutes, or until you use *86 to cancel your 'repeat dialing request'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jbutz@homxa.att.com Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 08:39 EST Subject: Trying to Locate "PCN/PCS" Expert Russel Neuman I read with great interest a commentary from the Sunday {New York Times}, Week in Review section on PCN/PCS. The article mentions W. Russel Neuman, from MIT, who presented his visions of personal communications networks to the FCC. Does anyone know if he can be reached on the net, also might anyone know if a transcript of the FCC hearing is available (in particular W. Russel Neuman's talk)? J. Butz jbutz@homxa.att.com 908 949 5302 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 11:53:51 PST From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: Need NPA Exchange Lists For 216 and 619 About a year ago, there was a mention in this Digest that in addition to exchange lists for NPA-809 and the Canadian area codes, lists were available for U.S. area codes. I need lists for area code 216 (Cleveland Oh) and 619 (San Diego Ca). How might I obtain these lists? Thanks, Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil [Moderator's Note: These lists are not in the Archives simply because there are so many, and space is somewhat limited. I'm turning your request over to Dave Leibold and Carl Moore, both of whom have very extensive lists of area codes and associated prefixes. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue Jan 7 16:59:24 1992 From: CMDSOLD@USACHVM1.BITNET Reply-To: CMDSOLD@USACHVM1.BITNET Subject: Emulation Software Wanted for IBM-PC I am finding information about a emulation software for the IBM-PC. I need a resident software lower than 120 Kb in RAM memory for SDLC remote communication between a IBM-PC and a HOST IBM 4381. Do you have any information about this? Do you have where I can find it? Please send me electronic mail to: CMDSOLD@USACHVM1.BITNET. (I'm not in this list) Thanks in advance. Luis R. Valdivia P. ------------------------------ From: rickh@gnh-starport.cts.com (Rick Honaker) Date: Tue, 07 Jan 92 05:43:41 (EST) Subject: Help Identify This Network When I dial the system (the phone number escapes me, I am calling from work) answers and offers no identification at all, nor does it prompt for a logon. I have used Telenet and Tymnet before and this doesn't look (to me) like either. It's command prompt is a * (instead of the familiar Telenet @). It reacts to commands like, SET (to set different parameters, i.e. SET 1,1 would set parameter 1 to the value of 1), PAR will show the value of all the parameters (I think there are 12-15 of them) CALL will attempt a connect of some sort but I have no clue as to the address snytax. STA will return the current status of the particular node. All of these examples are just my theories, if anyone has seen a system resembling one like this please lend a hand. Please! Rick Honaker InterNet : rickh@gnh-starport.cts.com UUCP : crash!gnh-starport!rickh ARPA : crash!gnh-starport!rickh@nosc.mil [Moderator's Note: It sounds suspiciously like some dialect of whatever Sprintnet/Telenet uses. Your local telco's net, perhaps? Illinois Bell has a packet network with the same characteristics you are describing. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: PC Based PBX Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 20:55:04 EST From: Ken Jongsma It seems to me that several people have asked about PC based PBX systems. I just came across the following in {Communications Week} and thought it might be of interest: Start-up PCBX Systems Inc. has developed what it is calling the first PBX to run on a personal computer. The PCBX is a PC card that can give any telephone set full PBX functionality, said the Woodland Hills, California company. The card can be plugged into any IBM compatible PC and handle up to 16 trunks and 48 lines. The system can choose long distance carriers, provide Direct Inward Dial service, specify calling restrictions and provide full call management. Each board, which supports 4 trunks and 12 lines, costs $1800. The system, which can support four boards, is available now. I know nothing more about this ... Ken Jongsma ken@wybbs.mi.org Smiths Industries jongsma@benzie.si.com Grand Rapids, Michigan 73115,1041@compuserve.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #19 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10530; 11 Jan 92 2:37 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17861 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 10 Jan 1992 23:51:35 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20467 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 10 Jan 1992 23:50:58 -0600 Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 23:50:58 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201110550.AA20467@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #20 TELECOM Digest Fri, 10 Jan 92 23:50:54 CST Volume 12 : Issue 20 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Those Are REAL Phone Numbers! (Jack Winslade) RFC822 Address Case Sensitivity (Stephen B. Kutzer) Unidentified Telecom Equipment (Scott Dorsey) 900 Number Advertisements and Charges (Michael Rosen) MCI Calling Card from Canada (David Ash) Need Phone Service (Michael J. Logsdon) Inexpensive Voicemail System Needed For 100 + Users (Sissy Kelly) VME Fax Modem Hardware? (Dean Neumann-Grant) Part 68 FAQ (kiser@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil) Baby Bells Hit New Low (David Niebuhr) Mu-Law Versus A-Law (Joseph Chiu) Modem/Fax/Voicemail/Sound Blaster Wanted (Saad Husain) Data-Under-Voice Hardware Wanted (Jean Renard Ward) Re: Telecom Humor (Gary Segal) Selling TELECOM Digest (was Phone Humor) (Robert L. McMillin) I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex (was Phone Humor) (Michael Nolan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 06 Jan 92 16:21:38 cst From: Jack.Winslade@ivgate.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Those Are REAL Phone Numbers! Reply-To: jack.winslade@drbbs.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha I've been following the various messages about 555-xxxx and Klondike-5 and all of that, but this morning I was thumbing through the December 1991 issue of the {National Lampoon} (yeah, I admit to being a regular reader and an infrequent contributor for 20 years ;-) and I noticed what appear to be real numbers in one of their comic strips. One panel of Kyle Baker's _Petty_And_Vindictive_Funnies_ contains a panel showing four faces with the caption 'Four people who deserve to get laid and their phone numbers' and four phone numbers, one in 818 AC and the others in 212 AC. 'Dana 212-673-xxxx, Bill 212-976-xxxx, Bob 212-645-xxxx, Marcia 818-954-xxxx' I am assuming 212-976 is an 'information' prefix, but I KNOW that 645 is a real Midtown Manhattan prefix with real dialable numbers and I believe 673 is as well. I dunno about the 818-954 prefix. Now I know NatLamp has done some borderline stuff, but I am very curious as to where those numbers came from. ;-) (Not curious enough to dial them, though.) Remember that this is not the world's straightest publication. I can ALMOST see them publishing some real numbers just to see who will call them. (Remember, these are the guys who published a parody of the famous floating Volkswagen ad that featured Ted Kennedy.) Good day! JSW Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.13 r.5 DRBBS, Omaha. Farewell to Admiral Grace (200:5010/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Jan 92 13:39:16 EST From: "Stephen B. Kutzer" Subject: RFC822 Address Case Sensitivity In TELECOM Digest V12 #15 hpa@nwu.edu wrote: > This is really not necessary. According to the appropriate RFC's, the > Internet and all other system using RFC-compliant addressing should > ignore case in the address ... This is not quite true. According to RFC822, the userid portion should maintain case sensitivity, while the hostid portion is case insensitive. Most systems won't care one way or the other, but the odd gateway (such as the SoftSwitch SMTP gateway) might, so it's best to preserve the case to the left of the '@' synmbol. >From RFC822 section 3.4.7: 3.4.7. CASE INDEPENDENCE Except as noted, alphabetic strings may be represented in any combination of upper and lower case. The only syntactic units which requires preservation of case information are: - text - qtext - dtext - ctext - quoted-pair *----emphasis---> - local-part, except "Postmaster" When matching any other syntactic unit, case is to be ignored. For example, the field-names "From", "FROM", "from", and even "FroM" are semantically equal and should all be treated ident- ically. When generating these units, any mix of upper and lower case alphabetic characters may be used. The case shown in this specification is suggested for message-creating processes. Note: The reserved local-part address unit, "Postmaster", is an exception. When the value "Postmaster" is being interpreted, it must be accepted in any mixture of case, including "POSTMASTER", and "postmaster". Stephen B. Kutzer 703-769-2900 I-NET, Inc. cotrcsbk@sea04vm.navsea.navy.mil ------------------------------ From: kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Unidentified Telecom Equipment Organization: NASA Langley Research Center Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 00:07:29 GMT I find myself the proud possessor of an _Atlantic Research Corporation_ brand "control signal generator." It's a small box whose cover opens to expose a dial, provision for a handset, and various switches to place it on-hook, select two or four-wire line, lights marked E and M, and three buttons. I presume this is used to simulate an exchange on a trunk line for testing. I got it to tear the hybrid out, but upon investigating it I find that it's not that great a hybrid, and it looks like it might make an interesting telephone. Does anyone have any documentation on such a device? scott ------------------------------ From: Michael.Rosen@samba.acs.unc.edu (Michael Rosen) Subject: 900 Number Advertisements and Charges Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 01:00:31 GMT Seeing as I was sitting in front of the TV today (I got my wisdom teeth out today ..:( ), I happened upon Geraldo on the tube. At one point in the show, possibly the end, a 900 number was put up on the screen for the show that stated that the call cost "only $1 dollar." It did not say $1 per minute, just $1 dollar. Is this deceptive advertisting? Surely they are not going to charge only $1 dollar for this call. Years ago, when I was a kid, I called a 900 number that let you listen in on the NASA astronauts communications that had been announced as being a .50 cent call on the local tv news. I told this to a friend and he went ahead and made the call, leaving the phone off the hook for a long time ... after all, it was supposed to be .50, let's get the most out of it -- that was our thinking. Of course, the bill came later ... Mike ------------------------------ From: ash@sumex-aim.stanford.edu (David Ash) Subject: MCI Calling Card From Canada Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Ca , USA Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 02:26:21 GMT When using my MCI calling card from Canada to the U.S. recently for an evening call, the call was identified on my bill as being from "Originating City, North America". i.e. the billing system appeared not to know it was from Canada. When the charge for use of the calling card was deducted, it appears to reflect this -- the charge was about 15 cents a minute, a typical domestic U.S. rate. However, I have also used the calling card from Canada to the U.S. and had the call billed as being from "Ontario, Canada". In this case the billing system apparently knew the call was from Canada and charged the appropriately higher international rate of about 40 cents a minute. Obviously there's a big difference between 15 and 40 cents a minute for the exact same service. Does anyone know what gives here? 40 cents a minute is the standard evening rate for U.S.-Canada traffic, so I have no "right" to the lower rate, but all the same it would be nice to know if there's any way to tap into the 15 cent rate. Does the originating Canadian city matter? David W. Ash ash@sumex-aim.stanford.edu HOME: (415) 497-1629 WORK: (415) 725-3859 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 23:51:31 -0500 From: am339@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael J. Logsdon) Subject: Need Phone Service Reply-To: am339@cleveland.Freenet.Edu Here in Ohio Bell-land, our building manager is being denied residence telephone service. It seems that his roommate moved out with a $200 balance on the roommate's bill, which was in the roommate's name. Our manager cannot get service because he lived there and had access to the phone. Now, we can't reach him in case of a building breakdown. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how, as his employer, we can help resolve this problem for a VERY GOOD employee? Mike Logsdon am339@cleveland.freenet.edu 216-831-2213 [Moderator's Note: Perhaps telco would accept your personal guarentee in lieu of a deposit. Or, what about simply paying off the old bill, with the understanding telco will no longer associate the former poor payment record with the present manager and his account? PAT] ------------------------------ From: sissy_k@npri6.npri.com (Sissy Kelly) Subject: Inexpensive Voicemail System Needed for 100 + Users Date: 9 Jan 92 16:49:28 GMT Organization: NPRI, Alexandria VA I am looking for an inexpensive voice mail system that would support at least 100 users. We currently have a Meridian SL-1 system. I am open to all suggestions. Please send me any information you have. Thank you. Sissy sissy_k@npri.com ------------------------------ From: dean@tgivan.wimsey.bc.ca (Dean Neumann-Grant) Subject: VME Fax Modem Hardware Wanted Date: 9 Jan 92 18:14:45 GMT Reply-To: dean@tgivan.wimsey.bc.ca Organization: TGI Technologies Ltd. I'm looking for information on VME based modems and/or fax hardware and would appreciate ANY input, even just a company name, on where I might find these. Can anyone give me any leads? Thanks. Dean Neumann-Grant TGI Technologies Ltd Vancouver, British Columbia Canada ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 01:11:11 EST From: kiser@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil Subject: Part 68 FAQ I hope this isn't too FAQ, but ... Is there a copy of Part 68 lying around (anon ftp) somewhere? Has anyone gone through Part 68 in a small business environment? Is it a big deal? I'd like to approve a small device (handful of parts) for attachment to Mama Belle (from Fr. for "beautiful mother") and wonder what I might look forward to without a big gun attorney and a Part 68 Department. I'll summarize e-mails, or post here if you think we'd all like to know. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 07:24:09 -0500 From: niebuhr@bnlux1.bnl.gov (david niebuhr) Subject: Baby Bells Hit New Low The Baby Bells and the United States Telephone Association have descended to the pits with an ad in yesterday's papers. The ad set a scenario of a group of doctors in Upstate New York operating on a little child for a rare blood disease. The doctors were supervised by a physician in New York City, over a hundred miles away. The thrust was for letting the Baby Bells and USTA into the information providing services and that lives could be lost if they aren't allowed to enter that arena. The ad urged readers to contact their Representatives and Senators and demand that they approve legislation letting them into the information services. I always knew that the BB's were low-lifes but this is going too far. It's o.k. to try to generate demand for something but to go about it in this way s***s. Dave [Moderator's Note: Is the United States Telephone Association the same as (or what used to be called) the United States Independent Telephone Association? (Sometimes known as USITA). ^^^^^^^^^^^ PAT] ------------------------------ From: josephc@cco.caltech.edu (Joseph Chiu) Subject: Mu-Law Versus A-Law Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 05:17:57 GMT etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se (Michael Salmon) writes: > I am not very familiar with the U.S. system so perhaps you can > consider this just my $.01's worth, however I thought that you used > A-law rather than mu-law; I don't remember the details of the > differences but I think that they are both logarithmic laws but with > different slopes. Perhaps someone else can give more expert > information. > From Transmission Systems for Communications, 5th ed. (Bell Labs, 1982): While the mu-law has found acceptance in the North American and Japanese digital networks, the standard compression law in Europe (CEPT) is the A-law... While we're on the topic of mu-law, can someone send me the conversion table between "raw" value and it's mu-law value in binary? I still have not figured out how the binary representation works. Joseph Chiu, Dept. of Computer Science, P-NP non-equivalence project, Caltech. 1-57 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91126. (818) 449-5457 ------------------------------ From: husain@rtsg.mot.com (Saad Husain) Subject: Modem/Fax/Voicemail/Sound Blaster Wanted Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 19:07:40 GMT I am in the market for a Voicemail and Soundblaster Pro. I would also like to upgrade my modem into a fax(s/r). The ideal solution would be if there was one card which support all of the obove options. Has anyone developed a card with these features and (if not why not! ;-))? Is it possible to hook up the soundblaster to the modem to answer/decode/digitize and playback? Am I presenting my questions properly? Thanks. Motorola Inc, N349 | Saad Husain (708) 632-3259 1501 West Shure Drive | Electronic: saad.husain@seg12.rtsg.mot.com Arlington Hghts, IL 60004 | Disclaimer: The above is all mine. ------------------------------ From: Jean_Renard_Ward@frankston.std.com Date: Thu 9 Jan 1992 10:51 -0500 Subject: Data-Under-Voice Hardware Wanted Who is aware of hardware products (and related software products) that support simultaneous transmission of data and voice on either a dial-up telephone line, or on a low-data-rate (the lower the better) communications line that I could connect to the serial port on a PC? Any help would be appreciated. Jean Renard Ward ------------------------------ From: segal@rtsg.mot.com (Gary Segal) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humor Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 00:04:14 GMT The Moderator appends: > [Moderator's Note: I take it you didn't like the joke. Maybe you are > correct. Perhaps I'll just cease publication for awhile, allowing the > readers to spend the time reading more Socially Responsible newsgroups > and Digests instead of this little journal. I'll have you know if I > sold the Digest at the checkout line in supermarkets I could get 75 > cents per issue easily. PAT] But only if you had headlines like "AT&T employes aliens as operators!" or "Navy discovers ways to use telephone to cure cancer!" or even "Dialing for dollars: how your phone number can be used to win the lottery!" :-) Gary Segal Motorola Inc. segal@oscar.rtsg.mot.com Cellular Infrastructure Division ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 02:46:58 PST From: rlm@ms_aspen.hac.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Selling TELECOM Digest (was Phone Company Humor) Our Fearless Moderator writes: > I'll have you know if I sold the Digest at the checkout line in > supermarkets I could get 75 cents per issue easily. True, but you'd have to change the lead story to "I Called Elvis Direct -- And You Can Too!", along with "ISDN: Network of the Future or Tool of the Devil?", "Your Exchange Number Rules Your Fate", and "Joan Collins' Telephone Diet -- Lose 10 Pounds In A Week". Robert L. McMillin | Voice: (310) 568-3555 Hughes Aircraft/Hughes Training, Inc. | Fax: (310) 568-3574 Los Angeles, CA | Internet: rlm@ms_aspen.hac.com ------------------------------ From: nolan@tssi.com (Michael Nolan) Subject: I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex (was: Phone Company Humor) Reply-To: nolan@tssi.com Organization: Tailored Software Services, Inc. Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 15:36:16 GMT ... but only if you had headlines like: I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex 911 Staffed by Monsters 106 Year Old Woman Runs 1-900 Sex Phone for Seniors Lose 10 Pounds in a Week By Phone 5 Cent Pay Phone Located in Manhattan Do Cellular Phones Cause Cancer? But seriously folks, let's not reactive the 'I Hate PAT' fan club. I didn't read the original post (comparing the two monopolies), but enjoyed it when I read it in the followup. There, now my secret is out -- I don't read EVERY post in comp.dcom.telecom. (I'm *so* ashamed!) Everybody take a deep breath, then lighten up, OK? Michael Nolan, nolan@tssi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #20 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10648; 11 Jan 92 2:39 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27015 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 00:44:49 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13265 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 00:44:11 -0600 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 00:44:11 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201110644.AA13265@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #21 TELECOM Digest Sat, 11 Jan 92 00:44:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 21 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Rolf Meier) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Ron Dippold) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Dan J. Declerck) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (John McHarry) Re: How Do I Connect Two Lines Together at Home? (Richard Tilley) Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language (Floyd Davidson) Re: Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet (William J. Carpenter) Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line (Don Maslin) Re: T1 on Fiber? (Peter da Silva) Re: America's Future (Allen Gwinn) Re: America's Future (John R. Levine) Re: AT&T Drops the Ball (Eric Florack) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: meier@Software.Mitel.COM (Rolf Meier) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 12:11:03 -0500 Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. In article dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) writes: > With analog transmission, each equipment would need 4 KHz. while with > 8 bit PCM, 64 Kbps would be needed, which would surely translate to a > higher frequency than 8 KHz. This definitely does not free up any > bandwidth. Are these carriers using source coding? Won't that make > the cellular phones more expensive/bulky? > I am not a telecom person and maybe I am missing the point here. > Could someone explain the advantages of digital over analog (other > than improvement in voice quality, if any) in cellular systems? You raise a good question. The simple answer is that there probably won't be any improvements in audio quality with digital cellular, and the improvement in spectral efficiency is only due to some special compression techniques. First, the existing analog cellular system (AMPS) has assigned 30 kHz of bandwidth per voice channel. This is somewhat more than necessary, and in fact Motorola has proposed a Narrowband version of AMPS that would be spectrally more efficient by a factor of three, with little compromise in voice quality. The main proposal for digital cellular, also known as IS-54, also claims an improvement of three times in spectral efficiency. However, this is achieved mostly through low bit rate voice encoding at 8 kb/sec. This will result in poorer voice quality than standard 64 kb/sec PCM, as well as echo problems due to the extra delay of an 8 kb codec. In the long term, digital phones should be cheaper and lighter, however, as VLSI components are employed. Rolf Meier Mitel Corporation ------------------------------ From: rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 19:26:43 GMT dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) writes: > I read somewhere that in most large cities cellular carriers are > switching to digital systems due to saturation of existing cells. They're moving towards it, as fast as they can. > I couldn't tell what the advantages of this would be: > With analog transmission, each equipment would need 4 KHz. while with > 8 bit PCM, 64 Kbps would be needed, which would surely translate to a > higher frequency than 8 KHz. This definitely does not free up any > bandwidth. Are these carriers using source coding? Won't that make > the cellular phones more expensive/bulky? Okay, you're assuming that the analog phone is much more efficient in bandwidth than it actually is. In actuality, each phone completely occupies a 30 KHz channel, and each phone is transmitting at thre watts for marginal quality. And it still sounds bad. With digital encoding done correctly (so you can use Viterbi decoding), you need much less power to get your data through (you're just looking for on-off instead of a FM sound waveform). In addition, if you're using CDMA, CDMA doesn't require that you divide up your bandwidth into bandwith wasting 30 KHz chunks. Intead, each phone uses exactly as much bandwidth as it needs. More phones just mean more "noise" (not noise heard by the user, but as in signal to noise ...) For example, if you had 50 users that needed computers, then the analog analagous way to do it would be to buy two mainframes, and let only one user at a time use each computer, even if all they needed to do was simple word processing. The CDMA way would be to buy one computer that was 20 times more powerful and give each user a terminal, so they only use as much of the computer power as they need, and everyone can use it at once. Even better, we use active power control (something we can do because it's digital). The mobile and cell channel elements transmit with only as much power they need. If you're close to the cell, you don't need much power. As you get farther away, it slowly boosts power. Finally, with digital we can (and do) use a variable rate vocoder. In this way CDMA makes use of the Voice Activity Factor of conversation: either of the parties involved is not saying something about 60% of the time. (Interestingly, even when we force the vocodoer to use a maximum rate of half its top rate, it still sounds better than my analog phone). What it works out to is that while an analog phone transmits at three watts, and the cell-site power requirements are truly horrible, CDMA phones transmit in the milliwatt range, and the entire cell site transmits with only as much power as a couple of the radios in the analog cell. Bottom line: We have an officially capacity tested (tests observed by the major companies in the industry) CDMA system in the field that gives a capacity improvement of 10 to 30 times (depending on conditions) over an AMPS system, with better voice quality, better handoffs, and less dropped calls. Efficient use of resources is the key (plus a lot of geniuses in the theory department, and then ignoring those who claimed we couldn't do it). One further advantage: The digital medium is a lot more flexible. When an AMPS phone has to transmit control information, the voice blanks out. With CDMA, we can just vocode at half the normal rate and send the control information in the other half of the frame. Result: undetectable loss of voice quality instead of complete loss of voice. In addition, we can divide the channel between different data sources, so you could send voice and data (from a modem, perhaps) on the same channel. What we can do is limited only by the messages we can think up to send back and forth. Another voice quality advantage: because it's a digital vocoder, rather than sending the analog waveform out, we can more easily do a lot more filtering on it. For example, continuous background noises (such as a car engine or the wind) can be severely reduced. There are further advantages, but that should be enough. ------------------------------ From: motcid!declrckd@uunet.uu.net (Dan J. Declerck) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 20:25:17 GMT The modulation techniques are not PCM, for European Digital Cellular (known as GSM) it is GMSK. This standard allows for up to 8 users to share a single channel by Time Division Multiplex (TDM) methods. Each channel is 200 KHz wide. For DAMPS (The U.S. standard) I believe it's QPSK. This standard is also TDM and has 3 timeslots. Each channel is the same width as analog. > I am not a telecom person and maybe I am missing the point here. > Could someone explain the advantages of digital over analog (other > than improvement in voice quality, if any) in cellular systems? When you fit more users on one channel, you get more call density per given (allocated) spectrum, thus more potential revenues. Also, there are added features with digital cellular, easier to do encryption, expanded services like short message pages, limited ISDN (European) services, high speed fax, etc ... The drawbacks are the cost of the subscriber equipment. Digital Cellular usually requires Power Amplifiers with short ramp-up and ramp-down times, DSP's or Custom IC's to do channel and speech encoding, etc. As with any technology, over time, the costs reduce, and the size goes down. The first Radio telephones and Cellular phones were briefcases, now they are less than 8 oz and fit in your pocket. Where do you think we'll be in five years? Dan DeClerck dand%isdgsm@rtsg.mot.com ------------------------------ From: m21198%mwunix@linus.mitre.org (John McHarry) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: The MITRE Corporation Date: 9 Jan 92 14:45:54 GMT There are competing digital systems, but they all use low bit rate encoding, like vocoders. What really makes the phones more expensive/bulky is that the digital phones must all be dual-mode. Conversion will come cell by cell and system by system, so you will still have to speak AMPS for many years to come. John McHarry (McHarry@MITRE.org) ------------------------------ From: tilley@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Richard Tilley) Subject: Re: How Do I Connect Two Lines Together at Home? Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 06:38:40 GMT A suitable bookstore would have a book with the circut. I think a 1:1 transformer is the main ingredient. Less hassle to get a two line phone with the "Conference feature". Most will have it. Around $100. ------------------------------ From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) Subject: Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 06:50:42 GMT In article martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) writes: > By now my fascination with intercept recordings and with calling > remote places is well documented. On a whim I called Baker Lake, NWT > 819-793-1234 and got an intercept recording in some Eskimo language. > I've kept it for possible future use on my answering machine. Does > anyone know any even more isolated places with interesting recordings? That seems to be a very strange recording! Some of us here have our own translators for such things as Yupik or Inupiat. My cohort at at work tonight got his translator on line (she is from Tuktoyaktuk in the Canadian Arctic) and called that line a couple times to listen to it. His translator says that sounds like "Eastern Arctic", which would be a variation of Inupiat Eskimo. But she also says it doesn't have anything to do with the telephone, but sounds like a snip of something intended to be part of a news broadcast on the radio! Floyd L. Davidson floyd@ims.alaska.edu Salcha, Alaska ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 23:55:51 GMT From: news@cbnewsh.att.com Subject: Re: Email Between AT&T Easylink and the Internet Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories >> DDA ID-INTERNET!!EECS.NWU.EDU!!!T!E!L!E!C!O!M > This is really not necessary. According to the appropriate > RFC's, the Internet and all other system using RFC-compliant > addressing should ignore case in the address. Almost true. RFC-822 says to ignore case in the address, except for the "local-part"; ie, "TELECOM" in the above example. Although many system go the extra step of providing case-independence for the whole address for received mail, it is not guaranteed. (There's another exception: if the local-part is "postmaster", case isn't significant.) Bill William_J_Carpenter@ATT.COM or (908) 576-2932 attmail!bill or att!pegasus!billc AT&T Bell Labs / AT&T EasyLink Services LZ 1E-207 ------------------------------ From: donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) Subject: Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line Organization: People-Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1992 20:16:04 GMT donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) writes: > Recollection suggests that stand-alone HOLD devices were marketed > several years ago which were actuated by going on-hook momentarily and > then hanging up, and the device was released when any instrument went > off-hook (or some similar mode of actuation and release.) > Does recollection serve me correctly? If so, are such devices > presently available? From whom, and at what price? > [Moderator's Note: I think Radio Shack has what you are seeking. PAT] I thought so also until I checked. ;-> UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!donm ARPA: crash!pnet01!donm@nosc.mil INET: donm@pnet01.cts.com [Moderator's Note: Our local RS has (or had) a thing like the two-line controller they used to sell but with one of the keys for holding either or both lines. I thought they were still available. PAT] ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: T1 on Fiber? Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 13:06:14 GMT You missed another point in favor of fibre: Fibre doesn't conduct electricity. Cuts down the sources of surges from lightning strikes. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ From: allen@sulaco.Lonestar.ORG (Allen Gwinn) Subject: Re: America's Future Organization: sulaco Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 13:01:09 GMT In article John Higdon writes: > This service could be offered by your local phone company, but there > are some in Congress ... [blah, blah, blah]" Now it appears that the > RBOCs have banded together to spread the gospel of "Total Telco > Control" by taking a page from Pacific Telesis and spreading the > garbage nationwide. I've seen the same thing somewhere (I think it was in Dallas). Yes, this is a real interesting chain of events. I don't know what kind of chance they have at affecting any real change doing this (probably not too good). But if enough people write newspapers and television stations and attach evidence of inaccuracies in their claims, then the whole thing is liable to backfire on them. Don't you think? Allen Gwinn (allen@sulaco.lonestar.org) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: America's Future Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 9 Jan 92 11:16:08 EST (Thu) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) In yesterday's {Boston Globe} there is a full page back of the section ad in the same disinformation campaign. This one shows a sick baby in a house in a remote area, and tells lies about how remote diagnosis would be possible except the congress wants to make it illegal. It looks like it's time to make the RBOCs divest their telephone business; they're clearly not fit to run it themselves. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 06:57:58 PST From: Eric_Florack.Wbst311@xerox.com Subject: Re: AT&T Drops The Ball In-Reply-To: <199201100647.AA01500@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> John Higdon in #19: > As has been discussed here before, there is a delay > that is variable even during the same call; there are varying levels > of background hiss; the audio is distorted; and below a certain > threshold, the audio is actually chopped off. Not unusual of late. Now, imagine trying to run 2400 or 9600 baud through that connection. :-p > So far, AT&T has not seen fit to respond to my complaints. Fortunately, > I have ComSystems to fall back on. But it is really sad when the > quality leader is aced by a second-string industry player.<< That's been that way for some time ... particularly to the Islands, though I've noted similar problems to the UK, as well as stateside connections. Our POTS hookups with several GT-NET nodes out there have been running via other carriers for some months because of this problem with AT&T lack of quality and seeming lack of concern over the problem. Your comments show quite clearly that quality is a perception thing, as much as it is a tangable. Given the outages of service we've all seen with AT&T, and the high-handed manner they deal with their customers in, even AFTER deregulation, not to mention the wet-string connections we've been seeing all over the planet of late ... your calling AT&T a quality leader is a subjective comment at best. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #21 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13173; 11 Jan 92 3:16 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07925 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 01:24:01 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29202 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 01:23:22 -0600 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 01:23:22 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201110723.AA29202@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #22 TELECOM Digest Sat, 11 Jan 92 01:23:13 CST Volume 12 : Issue 22 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (William Sohl) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Lars Poulsen) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Joe Konstan) Re: ANI in NJ (and Other Telco Test Lines) (William Clare Stewart) International ANI is Here? (Peter Clitherow) Re: Canadian Caller*ID Specs (Tony Harminc) Re: Canadian Caller-ID Specs (Derek Andrew) Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers (Dave Levenson) Bell Canada Tests New Forwarding, Voice Caller ID Options ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: whs70@taichi.cc.bellcore.com (24411-sohl) Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 14:40:24 GMT Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Reply-To: whs70@taichi.cc.bellcore.com (24411-sohl,william h) Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ In article kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) writes: > I now understand that ANI is not Caller ID, and that 'blocking' caller > ID may not have the desired effect when you call a business. > Would someone in the know please concisely explain: > * What, exactly, is "Caller ID", as technical people describe it? Caller ID is a telephone service whereby the called customer (the one who's phone is ringing) has a display device that displays the telephone number of the telephone where the call is originating from. Caller ID requires ANI (Automatic Number Identification) to be able to deliver the calling party's number to the called party's display device. > * What, exactly, is ANI? Automatic Number Identification is the inclusion of the calling party's telephone number in the routing and call setup messaging which takes place in order for the call to be established. If a "caller ID blocking" is invoked by the calling party, then (I believe) the calling party's number (using ANI) is still sent, but the additional info that the calling party does NOT want his/her number displayed to the called party is also included in the call setup messageing. The end office (the telephone switching office) of the called party then recognizes that caller ID blocking is in effect for that call and the calling party's number is NOT then displayed to the called party. I'm not 100% certain, but I belive that call blocking is ONLY involved in Intra-LATA (possibly Intra-State) calls. That is because (In my understanding) that state regulations of caller ID services do NOT apply to Interstate nor possibly Intra-state (but Inter-LATA) calls. Those situations (tariffs) are controlled by the FCC which I belive has not prohibited any aspect of caller ID. > * Does the answer vary depending on exchange, and is there a way I > can find out how my exchange is configured? Caller ID services require an end-to-end capability using an electronic signaling network and protocol called Signaling System 7 (SS7). If either the originating or the terminating office does NOT have that capability, then there is no way for the ANI information to be passed from the originating end to the terminating end. I'd say that the simplest way to determine if your local exchange has caller ID capability would be to ask the telephone company if the service is currently available to you at your current telephone number. Standard Disclaimer - Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's. Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.) Morristown, NJ email via UUCP bcr!taichi!whs70 201-829-2879 Weekdays email via Internet whs70@taichi.cc.bellcore.com ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Organization: CMC (a Rockwell Company), Santa Barbara, California, USA Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 18:20:44 GMT Caller ID is a tarrifed service from the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) which delivers the "calling number" in-band on the audio path between the first two rings (using FSK "modem" encoding). The number provided is defined to be the directory number of the station originating the call. ANI, as used in this context, refers to the delivery of the billing number associated with a call passed from an LEC to an InterExchange Carrier (IEC or "Long Distance Carrier"). This number is sometimes provided in-band using MF ("touch tone") signalling, but usually passed out-of-band on the common carrier signalling system (SS#6 or SS#7). Some IECs have tarriffed on-line delivery of this service to the receiving customer by various means for those large customers that have private ("bypass") access facilities to the IEC. For most residential service, the directory number and the billing number will be the same. Even when they are not, it is common for the Central Office switch (CO) to be misconfigured to deliver the directory number instead of the billing number. (Example: I have two lines to my home, which are billed together. I still had to ask MCI to consolidate the bills.) For business service of more than a couple lines, it is in the interest of both the customer and the LEC that the billing number be correctly configured for each line, and any errors will likely be corrected soon. For customers with an PBX equipped for automatic route selection, the directory number "should" be the number leading to the main switchboard, while the billing number is likely to be the number of an outbound-only trunk group. As the subscriber interfaces go digital, I would expect PBXs to increasingly be attached to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) Primary Rate Interface (PRI - the ISDN version of "T1" lines carry 23 voice channels and one X25-like data channel) which will allow the PBX to identify the actual calling station in the directory number field of the call request record. The LEC is obligated to provide the billing number to the IEC; otherwise the IEC would be unable to get paid for the call. Since there has not in the past been any regulation prohibiting the delivery of this information to bypass customers, they have started selling it. If anyone tried to stop that now, they would complain loudly about interference with their business. The LECs are subject to local regulation, and when regulators tell them to block delivery of the number, they must block it, even if they have it and COULD deliver it. When a caller requests Caller-ID blocking, the information is still delivered from the calling CO to the receiving CO, but it is tagged with a flag that informs the receiving CO that blocking was requested. It is conceivable that an interstate call might be delivered to a state that does not allow or require blocking, and the number might be displayed despite the blocking request. The fact that this is unresolved is one of the reasons that C-ID currently may not be delivered across LATA boundaries. The relationship between LEC subscriber loop pair, directory number and billing number is programmed on a per-line basis. All COs deliver billing number to IECs. The capability to deliver calling directory number to the destination CO along with the billing number depends on the software features of the CO. It is fairly certain that any CO that offers "custom calling features" can be configured to deliver both numbers. The capability to deliver calling numbers to the called subscriber requires FSK modulators on the subscriber line cards; such hardware is unlikely to be installed in switches more than two years old, unless and until the LEC is ready to start selling C-ID service. Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 13:55:59 PST From: konstan@elmer-fudd.cs.berkeley.edu (Joe Konstan) Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Caller ID is a service by which the phone number of a caller is delivered to the recipient (presently between the first and second rings) if: a) the recipient is a subscriber to the service b) the caller, recipient, and path in-between support passing this information (i.e. Signalling System 7). This is currently not available for long distance carried over IXC's. c) the caller does not (or is unable to) block display of the number. It is often referred to as Calling Line ID or Calling Number ID since it never identifies the CALLER, only the phone (or trunk) used to place the call. Automatic Number Identification is a service that all local phone companies provide to the long distance services where the billing number for a phone call is passed along with the requested destination. Nominally, this is to allow the IXC to bill you for the calls. Many (all?) long distance carriers sell this information (in real-time or delayed in billing statements) to their 800 and 900 customers. Our Moderator consistently maintains that 800-number customers have a right to this information since they are paying for the call. Personally, I don't see that as being the case -- indeed when other companies pay for you to get information about their product (either with business reply mail, free shuttle busses, etc.) they are not provided with any specific information about you unless you provide it. The argument is even less compelling for 900-number customers who generally do not pay for the call. Nonetheless, you should assume that any 800 or 900 number you call gets your calling number passed to them. If your area (entire local phone company area) doesn't provide caller-ID then nobody will get caller ID from your phone. If your local switch is not running SS#7 then nobody will get caller ID from your phone. The only time you can prevent ANI is if you are on a service without direct distance dialing (i.e., all long distance calls must be made by going through operators) and I don't think we have to worry about that. Caller ID blocking never affects ANI, 911 service, etc. Joe Konstan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 14:10:10 EST From: wcs@erebus.att.com (William Clare Stewart) Subject: Re: ANI in NJ (and Other Telco Test Lines) In article Dave Levenson writes: > Dial 958 in Northern New Jersey. You get a verbal readback of the > number you're calling from. This did not work a few months ago; does > anybody know exactly when NJ Bell turned this on? This works in 908 (Central/Western NJ) - interesting. I haven't been able to try it in 201, since our Centrex wants a 1 + 10-digits to dial numbers with area codes, and 1-201-958-1000 and 1-201-958-# both failed. My normal method here at work is to dial the NJ Bell operator, and say "Telephone repair - which extension am I dialing from?" Works every time :-) Bill Stewart +1-908-949-0705 erebus.att.com!wcs AT&T Bell Labs 4M312 Holmdel NJ ------------------------------ From: pc@ALEX.ims.bellcore.com (Peter Clitherow) Subject: International ANI is Here? Reply-To: Organization: Bellcore - IMS, Morristown, NJ Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 19:31:01 GMT An article in today's {New York Times} said: "...a small start-up company, International Discount Telecomm- unications, has found a way to allow callers abroad to telephone the United States at the same low rates Americans pay to call overseas. When a customer calls the company, he lets the phone ring once and hangs up. The black box is programmed to call back the customer's number and patch in the second American telephone line. The customer now has an American dial tone, ..." This implies that ANI can be delievered internationally, does it not? I never heard anything announced about this. Are there CCITT specs for this? peter clitherow, pc@bellcore.com, (201) 829-5162, DQID: H07692 bellcore, 445 south street, room 2f-085, morristown, nj 07962 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 01:22:45 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Canadian Caller*ID Specs > Does anyone have documentation, or know where to get it, for the > Canadian spec? I guess it's time for the semi-annual post on this (actually last posted on April 30 91): Here is the official place to get Bell Canada's version of Call Display technical disclosure information: Bell Canada Director - Switched Network Services 220 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3J4 +1 613 781-3655 The document is "Call Management Service (CMS) Terminal-to-Network Interface", Interface Disclosure ID - 0001, November 1989. (The document number may give you a clue as to how long this service has been running :-)) I was not charged for this document, but Bell does reserve the right to charge for it in future. It is only 18 pages so it seems unlikely they would charge a lot. They are required to disclose this information to anyone, so any charge would be administrative only -- i.e. they cannot sell the information. Phone and find out. Please note that it is incorrect to call this "the Canadian Caller*ID standard". This document describes only what is being implemented by Bell Canada in its service areas. Other Canadian telephone companies may well implement something quite different, though it isn't too likely. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: andrew@jester.USask.ca (Derek Andrew) Subject: Re: Canadian Caller-ID Specs Reply-To: andrew@jester.USask.ca Organization: University of Saskatchewan Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 00:28:56 -0700 In the wee hours of Thursday morning, a change was made to the way Call Display is delivered. A call to repair service has suggested that this change was Canada-wide to bring us into line with the way that other phone companies deliver the data. Prior to the change, there was a string of digits like 010203043065551212 where: 01 is the month 02 is the day 03 is the hour 04 is the minute 306 is the area code 5551212 is the number. After the change, for numbers within the city, I see a string of digits like 01020304 followed by hex 3 and 7, the followed by the seven digit number. Phones such as the Maestro and other call display displayers used to provide the area code but now do not. Since Canada does not yet have Call Display delivered across provincial borders, I have no news on out of area code numbers. Derek Andrew, Manager of Computer Network & Technical Services University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Saskachewan, Canada, S7N 0W0 Andrew@Sask.USask.CA, +1-306-966-4808, 52 11 23N 106 48 48W ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Caller ID Device Wanted That Dials Back to Callers Date: 9 Jan 92 18:48:26 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , lyourk@ihlpm.att.com (Loran N Yourk) writes: > Now that I can subscribe to CID, I would like to find a stand alone > (or even one built into a phone) CID box which would store numbers and > have buttons which would dial the currently displayed number. Northern Telecom offers a telephone set called Maestro. It has a built-in Caller*ID display, and a 'return call' button that does exactly what you want. I haven't tried using this phone, so I don't know how it handles dialing the home area code when it is displayed as part of the calling number. The phone also has a 'call in absence' indicator that lights when it rings, and is extinguished when it is answered. If the light is lit, a call came while you were out. If the call was intra-Lata, you may have got the calling number, and a single button will return the call. I've seen this set offered ratail for about $150 in a high-priced electronics shop in Short Hills, NJ. It was also in the Hello Direct catalog, I think. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 [Moderator's Note: Thanks also to andrew@jester.USask.ca (Derek Andrew) for providing almost identical information. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Jan 92 18:36:57 EST From: DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA Subject: Bell Canada Tests New Forwarding, Voice Caller ID Options Bell Canada is starting an eight-month trial of new local service features as reported by the {Toronto Star}. Currently it is undergoing a technical trial; if successful, a marketing trial will begin in the fall. The new features include: * Find-Me: with a single phone number, you can be reached at up to three different locations. A Personal Communications Services operator will maintain a schedule of where to direct calls during certain hours (say, work, home or another location). * Follow-Me: calls can be diverted from your normal line to the line you are currently at; this can be used if there is a disruption in the Find-Me calling schedule. * Call Message: used as an answering service. * Caller Announce: a voice caller ID service; when a call is answered, the central office will send along a voice callout of the number calling. This is a Caller ID service without the need for add-on displays. While there is a trial of 1000 residential and business subscribers, such features will have to be approved by the CRTC before it is made available to the general populace. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #22 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12868; 11 Jan 92 21:34 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31788 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 19:50:39 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26983 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 19:50:20 -0600 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 19:50:20 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201120150.AA26983@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #23 TELECOM Digest Sat, 11 Jan 92 19:50:16 CST Volume 12 : Issue 23 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Craig Ibbotson) Re: Honda 800 Line Flooded by Caller (Michael Ho) Re: Repeat Dialing Question (Arnette P. Baker) Re: Device Wanted to Screen Junk Calls (David Ptasnik) Re: PC Based PBX (Stephen Friedl) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Alan L. Varney) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ibbotson@rtsg.mot.com (Craig Ibbotson) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 21:23:47 GMT dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) writes: > I read somewhere that in most large cities cellular carriers are > switching to digital systems due to saturation of existing cells. I > couldn't tell what the advantages of this would be: > With analog transmission, each equipment would need 4 KHz. while with > 8 bit PCM, 64 Kbps would be needed, which would surely translate to a > higher frequency than 8 KHz. This definitely does not free up any > bandwidth. Are these carriers using source coding? Won't that make > the cellular phones more expensive/bulky? > I am not a telecom person and maybe I am missing the point here. > Could someone explain the advantages of digital over analog (other > than improvement in voice quality, if any) in cellular systems? There are currently two digital cellular proposals. One is TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and the other is CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). TDMA divides the existing 30kHz radio channels into six time slots, yielding three equivalent voice channels. TDMA proponents say this will offer a 3.7 time capacity of existing analog systems. CDMA is a spread-spectrum technology which calls for a channel bandwidth of 1.25 MHz. The entire bandwidth is reused in every cell site, and is shared by a number of customers with different codes. Proponents say it will offer a 20X capacity increase. The main advantages of digital cellular (regardless of technology) are capacity increase and the introduction of data services. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens in the digital cellular market. TDMA was the initial technology of choice, picked over FDMA after lengthy trials here in the US. After TDMA was chosen, however, a company called Qualcomm met with some of the larger cellular vendors and convinced them that CDMA could greatly increase their capacity and provide some additional features. Both technologies are in market trials now, and the initial indications are that both work. The problem here is that different vendors are aligning themselves with different technologies. LA Cellular is promising a cellular system using Ericsson TDMA technology sometime this year. PACTEL and one of the vendors in New York are heavily involved in CDMA. A third technology has been introduced by Motorola, called N-AMPS. N-AMPS stands for Narrowband Amps, and is a "digitally enhanced" analog system. It increases capacity by using 10kHz radio channels instead of 30 kHz radio channels, using the existing analog technology. It also has a digital sub-audio channel which allows data to be sent to the mobile. This technology is intended as a bridge between an analog and digital system. I believe all Motorola mobile and portable cellular phones now shipping are dual mode AMPS/NAMPS. All of these technologies have their pluses and minuses. TDMA is the basis for GSM, which is in commercial service in Europe, so it is a proven player. NAMPS is in commercial service in Japan, and can be used with Micro-TAC LITE sized phones (the other technologies cannot be used with portables at this time). CDMA promises the biggest capacity increase and possibly higher quality handoffs. The big problem I see is that CDMA and TDMA are incompatible; the standards currently call for all mobiles to be dual mode (digitial/analog), but there is no thought at this time for a mobile to support both TDMA and CDMA. For example, if you are an LA Cellular TDMA user and attempt to roam in a CDMA system, you will not be able to use the digital system (you should always be able to go back to standard AMPS service, however, no matter where you are). This has also made it very difficult for manufacturers. Ericsson and Northern Telecom are firmly behind TDMA. Motorola and AT&T are developing CDMA, TDMA and NAMPS. Hughes is pushing E-TDMA, a second generation TDMA system which uses a half-rate vocoder to get an eight-fold increase over today's analog capacities. And Qualcomm is pushing CDMA. One thing should be noted about digital cellular. Everyone is hot about anything digital nowadays. When cellular goes digital, however, you will not see a quality improvement like that from LP records to compact discs. I quote the editor of Cellular Business: "Cellular's digital technology is another beast altogether. It might sound better. But chances are good that the customer won't even notice a difference, except that some manufacturers phones might be bigger. And initially, they might be bulkier, too." (Cellular Business, "Moving Into Digital", supplement to October 1991 issue). Craig Ibbotson, Motorola, Inc. ...uunet!motcid!ibbotsonc Cellular Infrastructure Division, Radio Telephone Systems Group ------------------------------ From: ho@hoss.unl.edu (Tiny Bubbles...) Subject: Re: Honda 800 Line Flooded by Caller Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 07:07:37 GMT I have no way of knowing whether this is related to the Honda guy, but someone just submitted a forged post to alt.binaries.pictures (crossposted to all the smut groups) claiming that some 800 number is a "free sex line" and asking everyone to please call it. I wonder who the target of this is. Michael Ho | UNTIL JAN. 20, sysmgrs willing: Internet:ho@hoss.unl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 11:25:44 EST From: kityss@ihlpf.att.com (Arnette P Baker) Subject: Re: Repeat Dialing Question Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories >> My question is, does repeat dialing allow people to "camp on" a dialed >> number and stack up in the order that they dialed, causing people >> without it to be blocked from ever seizing that line? > Moderator's Note: I think it only checks every few seconds to see if > the called line has become available (especially if the called party > is on another switch somewhere) as opposed to instantly knowing the > status of the called line. Therefore, a 'free lance' dialer -- someone > manually trying to get in -- could catch the line during a period of a > few seconds when it is free and seize control. I don't think the > service is truly 'camp-on' in a technical sense, but rather, just a > Demon Dialer like thing in the CO. I am not sure of whether Doug`s inability to reach his movie line is due to Repeat Dialing (Automatic Recall/Callback) users, but I thought I would clarify Pat`s description. There are two modes of operation for a switch to determine the "busy/idle" status of a repeat dialed party. Some newer switches actually "queue" the camp on requests for a given line in a FIFO order. This queue list is then used to send a "party free" SS7 message to the originating switch if the line becomes idle. Only one queue entry is given "party free" notification at a time. This mode of operation is referred to as "Terminating Scanning" and does NOT tie up network resources as a war dialer does. The other mode of operation is "Originating Scanning". This method is usable by every switch that offers Repeat Dialing. In this case the originating switch does send a "query" SS7 message every few seconds/minutes (decided by the Telco) to determine if the camped-on party is idle. Although this method does tie up network resources, it is not as detrimental as a war dialer, since the query messages are SS7 signalling messages and do not use voice circuits. My personal guess is that Doug's increase in busy signal could be due to Repeat Dial users (since people may now camp-on and eventually complete a call rather than giving up after five to ten busy signals); however as Pat correctly pointed out -- there is some minimum window during which direct dial calls can get through. I hope this is useful information. Arnette Baker kityss@ihlpf.att.com ------------------------------ From: David Ptasnik Subject: Re: Device Wanted to Screen Junk Calls Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 8:48:34 PDT isus!hoyt@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Hoyt A. Stearns jr.) wrote: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 16, Message 2 of 13 > I would like a cheap device that connects to the phone line that > answers with "If this is a junk call, please press 1, Personal, 2 etc. > Use your imagination about what happens if you press 1 :-). From a previous edition of TELECOM Digest: bhouser@d2com.intel.com (Brad Houser/SC9-43/765-0494) wrote: I received the Heartland America Catalog last month, and they list a product that intrigues me. It says you can add the power of a PBX and Voice mail to your existing phone system. It's features include: Add up to five inside extensions (on their own loops) to the outside line; Works with standard one or two line phones, faxes, modems; Needs an answering machine to simulate "voice mail"; Routes calls (caller enters a number from 1-5); Works as an intercom; Adds "hold" to any phone. Heartland Customer service couldn't help me with my questions, but they gave me the name of the manufacturer: Areanex Technology Inc (408-257-5880). They have the system (Model ACR105) on that line. Areanex calls it the "Phone Director" as the answering machine OGM plays the message: "Thank you for calling, press 1 for Joe, 2 for Chris, ... or stay on the line to leave a message". If the call is not redirected by the caller (or they don't have DTMF) the phone is answered by Line 0, which is the answering machine line. Otherwise, one of the other lines can be individually rung. (You can still use it without the answering machine and telemarketers won't know how to reach you, but then neither will your friends for a while.) Hold is obtained by hitting #, (## if you made the call) and then an extension can be dialed. It answers after one ring, and then the caller hears a much different ring. I have ordered the product with a 30-day money back guarantee, but I will have to wait about another week or so. I don't work for either company, but so I don't get asked to send the address, here it is: Heartland America 6978 Shady Oak Rd. Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3453 1-800-229-2901 Fax: (612)943-4096 I will post a followup with my impressions after using the device. Brad Houser | Deus Ex | Intel California Technology Development, SC9-43| 408-765-0494 | Machina! | 2250 Mission College Blvd. | bhouser@sc9.intel.com | Santa Clara, CA 95052 | ------------------------------ From: friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US (Stephen Friedl) Subject: Re: PC Based PBX Date: 10 Jan 92 16:44:28 GMT Organization: Steve's Personal machine / Tustin, CA Ken Jongsma reports the following from {Communications Week}: > Start-up PCBX Systems Inc. has developed what it is calling the first > PBX to run on a personal computer. The PCBX is a PC card that can give > any telephone set full PBX functionality, said the Woodland Hills, > California company. Directory assistance for Woodland Hills, CA (area code 818) doesn't know about these folks, so anybody knowing how to find them is encouraged to fill the rest of us in. Stephen Friedl | Software Consultant | Tustin, CA 3b2-kind-of-guy | uunet!mtndew!friedl | +1 714 544 6561 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 21:35:24 CST From: varney@ihlpf.att.com (Alan L Varney) Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Organization: AT&T Network Systems, Lisle, IL In article kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) writes: > I now understand that ANI is not Caller ID, and that 'blocking' caller > ID may not have the desired effect when you call a business. > Would someone in the know please concisely explain: I believe I did this about a year ago (so you could check the archives) but, to answer your questions briefly: > * What, exactly, is "Caller ID", as technical people describe it? This phrase is NOT technically defined, but refers generally to the capability to present the Telephone Number of the Caller to the Called party, prior to answer. Bellcore TR-TSY-000030 & 000031 describe the basic technique for signaling over individual T/R pairs between ring cycles, while other documents (not all Bellcore) specify the capability of blocking the display of a Caller's number, the use of the number in various other CLASS features (Auto Callback, Customer Orig. Trace, Selective Call Forwarding/Rejection, etc.), signaling over an RS-232 channel (instead of the T/R pair) for groups of lines, interactions with various capabilities such as Voice Mail providers, etc. > * What, exactly, is ANI? ANI is strictly Automatic Number Identification, describing the hardware used in SxS, etc. to provide the Billing Number to the Automatic Message Accounting (AMA) Switches for use in charging for Toll calls, and later to various Operator systems. Without ANI, Operators had to ask you for YOUR number before Toll calls (even 1+ calls) would complete. ANI has evolved to refer to methods of transmitting a Billing Number during call setup, and even to the digits of the Billing Number. The basic method is called CAMA (Centralized AMA), using MF to transmit an "I" digit followed by a seven-digit Billing Number. The receiving Switch would determine the NPA from the incoming trunk and record the Billing Number and duration of the call. The "I" indicated Coin Phone, POTS, Hotel, ANI failure, etc. This mechanism allowed one Central Switch to make call record for many SxS switches, with only the ANI hardware needed at those switches. CAMA is seldom transmitted more than one switch beyond the originating switch, for several reasons, one being that answer supervision is not possible after transmitting the Billing Number. (The receiving switch does supervision.) To allow various InterLATA Carriers to do their own billing (or monitor the billing of the LECs for the Carrier), the industry developed a scheme for sending information to the IC using MF signaling. In general, it is: KP-0ZZ-XXX-ST followed by KP-II-10_digit_Billing_#-ST KP-Called_#-ST and is called FG-D (Feature Group D) signaling. (See Bellcore LSSGR.) This Billing Number is also referred to as ANI. The CAMA "I" was replaced with "II", indicating the "class" of caller (Coin, etc.) in more detail. > What are the differences between these two things that determine whether > or not a properly equipped receiver can get your phone number, especially > in places that (1) don't currently offer Caller ID (2) offer blocking of > one kind or another? "Caller ID" may be blocked if so provisioned by the LEC. Note that the number is delivered to each Switch where SS7 circuits are used, but the "Private" indication goes with the number. This allows such features as CO Trace or Auto Callback to use the number, even if it was "blocked". Billing Number information cannot be "blocked" (would allow free calls!), and there is no protocol standard for marking the Billing Number "Private". > Does the answer vary depending on exchange, and is there a way I can find > out how my exchange is configured? The exchange has little to do with it: If the call uses an InterLATA Carrier, they can get the Billing Number; if the call uses SS7-all-the-way, the terminating Switch (and any intermediate carrier) gets the Calling Number. I know of no way to determine this information without looking at TELCo or IC private information. (Don't ask -- I won't give it out or even bother to check!) One difference to keep in mind: The Billing Number is the telephone PAYING for the call, which is not always the original Caller's telephone number. "Caller ID" attempts to track the originator of the call. Al Varney, not-officially-speaking-for-anyone ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #23 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16948; 12 Jan 92 0:24 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08798 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 22:21:22 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28099 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 11 Jan 1992 22:21:02 -0600 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 22:21:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201120421.AA28099@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #24 TELECOM Digest Sat, 11 Jan 92 21:21:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 24 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Autodialing a Digital Phone (Patton M. Turner) Re: Dialed as 800, Billed For 900 (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: Information Age Media Bytes (Don Lewis) Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language (Brian Prenovost) Re: Call Return Has Its Problems (S. Spencer Sun) Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line (Jack Winslade) Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line (Jeff Sicherman) Re: Rotary Callers Go Home! (John Higdon) Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? (unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Steve Forrette) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Dell H. Ellison) Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits (Carl Moore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 09:49:43 CST From: Patton M. Turner Subject: Re: Autodialing a Digital Phone msa3b!kevin@gatech.edu (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) writes: > We've got an AT&T System 85 PBX. We've got digital phone sets hooked > to it. We've got hundreds of customer service reps who need to call > our clients. We'd like to have either their PC or a central computer > autodial the call.... > I thought of building a Y connector, to have a rep's handset and a > modem wired in parallel, and then plug that into the phone (since the > handset HAS to be analog). I don't know if this would work due to > voltage, current, etc. This works for radio station phone patches moderately well. Use a 600 ohm transformer to couple the modem and transmitter. To eliminate hum (the main problem with this arrangement) prehaps you could use the A-A1 leads of your modem (if so equiped) to operate a relay to disconnect the transformer except when dialing. For ruggedness the connection should be made inside the phone, IMHO. Otherwise you can just cut the handset cord, crimp on two RJ-11's and insert a splitter. Pat Turner pturner@eng.auburn.edu KB4GRZ @ K4RY.AL.USA ------------------------------ From: paul@unhtel.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Dialed as 800, Billed For 900 Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 15:50:04 GMT In article unhtel!paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) writes: > Well, we just got hit with it ... our LEC bill "as a service to AT&T" > is billing us for calls (back to October) to 900-555-5555 (USA Today). To be fair, I just got word that AT&T has agreed to credit these calls on our bill. We did not have very many of these after all, especially compared to some of you who reported here. The price of 800-calling is eternal vigilance! Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - paul@unhtel.unh.edu Telecommunications and Network Services - VOX: +1 603 862 3262 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 - FAX: +1 603 862 2030 ------------------------------ From: lewis@ssigv.UUCP (Don Lewis) Subject: Re: Information Age Media Bites Organization: Silicon Systems, Nevada City CA Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 01:02:06 GMT In article stapleton@misvax.mis. arizona.edu (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton) writes: > I'll be teaching a course this coming semester on "Issues for the > Information Age," and I am looking for interesting media bites (in the > range of a minute or two) to use as conversation starters in the > various segments of the course. The course will cover issues like > privacy, mass-marketing databases, government and other surveillance, > national security, man-machine "relations," etc. The phone company revealing its grand plan to James Coburn's character in "The President's Analyst". Don "Truck" Lewis Phone: +1 916 265-3211 Silicon Systems Internet: (under contruction) FAX: +1 916 265-2931 138 New Mohawk Road UUCP: {uunet,tektronix!gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com}!ssigv!lewis Nevada City, CA 95959 ------------------------------ From: briandp944@tampa.relay.ucm.org Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 10:40:30 CST Subject: Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language In TELECOM Digest V12 #15, Doug Martin writes: > By now my fascination with intercept recordings and with calling remote > places is well documented [...eskimo recording...] Does anyone know > any even more isolated places with interesting recordings? Well, I lived in Minneapolis for 20 years, and I consider that pretty Isolated. Anyway, when I was living there one of my phreaker friends stumbled upon a group of consecutive numbers that NW Bell must have been using for intercept recordings. One was out of order, another number changed, but the most interesting one was the 'coin needed for this call'. Well, I imagine you can see what was coming next, I went right to my phone, and forwarded my number to the 'coin needed' recording. Then, I went to another phone and tried to call my phone. Sure enough, "The call you have placed requires a coin deposit." So, now with the trap set, I dialed the Operator, and asked if she might be able to help me complete my call, as I had no slot to deposit a coin into! Bahaha!! Brian Prenovost ------------------------------ From: spencer@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (S. Spencer Sun) Subject: Re: Call Return Has Its Problems Organization: Princeton Class of '94 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 01:12:13 GMT In article , TONY@MCGILL1.BITNET (Tony Harminc) writes: [The Moderator uses Call return for wrong numbers] >> What's funny though are the ones who lie about it; claim they did >> not call, and have 'no idea' why I am calling them. :) [Mr. Harminc suggests a "PBX-related" situation] > [Moderator's Note: I'm not as dumb as I look, Tony. A call at midnight > with a two year old child on the other end saying 'da da da' then a > voice in the background screaming 'hang up the phone and get back in > bed you little 'bas---d' followed by a receiver going on hook most > likely did not originate from the Widget Corporation's PBX. PAT] Ah, but if you heard such a conversation, and are presumably quick of mind, even at midnight, then you could figure out what was going on and would hardly need to use return call anyway, right? :-) S. Spencer Sun - WWIVnet #1 @6913 - 609-258-8647 - USR DS v.32bis ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Jan 92 11:45:24 cst From: Jack.Winslade@ivgate.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line Reply-To: jack.winslade@drbbs.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha I still have (somewhere) a genuine AT&T or {something} Bell (can't remember which -- this was in the era that AT&T and Bell still meant more or less the same) white box that did just that. We used it at our old house (ca. '83 or so) but never installed it at the new place. It would sense the hook flash and place a resistance on the pair, thus allowing the sub to go on hook and pick up the call on another extension. If I remember correctly, a series of beeps after the hook flash indicated a successful hold. My wife NEVER used it. ('..could you hang this up as soon as I pick up in the bedroom ...') I kept forgetting it was there and did the same thing most of the time. The times I did use it, it worked fine. It would always release the line should the holding current drop, either when an extension picked up, or when loop current would be interrupted, such as if the far end hung up. Good day! JSW Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.13 r.5 DRBBS, Omaha. Farewell to Admiral Grace (200:5010/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 23:31:09 -0800 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: HOLD Device Wanted For Residential Line Organization: Cal State Long Beach In article donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) writes: > donm@pnet01.cts.com (Don Maslin) writes: >> Recollection suggests that stand-alone HOLD devices were marketed >> several years ago which were actuated by going on-hook momentarily and >> then hanging up, and the device was released when any instrument went >> off-hook (or some similar mode of actuation and release.) >> [Moderator's Note: I think Radio Shack has what you are seeking. PAT] > I thought so also until I checked. ;-> Officially discontinued but may still be a few around at a steep discount. Last was $19 or so. Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 09:46 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Rotary Callers Go Home! Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM> writes: > "Thank you for calling the Casio Referral Hotline. If you are calling > from a touchtone telephone, press one now. If you are calling from a > rotary dial telephone, please call back on a touchtone telephone. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > And if you don't have one, tough luck! (I guess). I am surprised that it has taken this long. Tone signaling is SO superior to rotary that it is nothing short of amazing that it has taken nearly twenty years to become the dominant dialing method. Consider that the CD has been around for about eight years and has all but decimated the LP, which was king for the previous thirty-five years. Since 1987, my personal answering machine has REQUIRED DTMF input to be of any service to the caller. First, I cannot imagine that I would want to talk to anyone using a rotary phone :-), and second, no junk calling machines are smart enough (yet) to enter the required DTMF digit to "break through". Remember, you do not have to have DTMF service to own a phone capable of DTMF. In fact, are there any areas left that do not have DTMF telephone service available? I mean, really, if Pac*Bell now considers it to be part of standard telephone service ... John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: The Unknown User Subject: Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? Date: 11 Jan 92 09:46:44 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing In article faunt@cisco.com (Doug Faunt) writes: > Has anyone built a file of exchange names? I din't see anything in > the archives that was obviously that. I'd like to know WHY there were exchange names in the first place. Remembering a word (or the first two letters of it) and five numbers seems harder to remember than seven numbers. Was the exchange concept the reason there are letters on the numbers at all? Also, when did people switch to ###-#### instead? (The most recent example in the media of exchanges I can think of is some movie I didn't see called Transylvania 6-5000.) unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu [Moderator's Note: The exchange name concept is the only reason there are letters on the dial. You may think it is harder to remember 2-L / 5-D than 7-D, but that's because of your age and the fact you don't recall anything about the old way. When ANC (all number calling) started getting phased in in the early sixties, people were outraged at having to 'learn and remember' two more digits. A group called the ADDL (Anti-Digit-Dialing League) in Berkeley, CA held several protest demonstrations trying to convince telco to abandon ANC for the old method. There was no clean cutover. New prefixes as of about 1961-62 were ANC, with no significance to the numbers. New customers on existing prefixes about the same time began getting assigned the ANC version of the same number, ie, a new customer on the SHEldrake exchange was told by the business office his new number would be 743-xxxx. For about fifteen years thereafter, the phone directories had a mix of both 2-L / 5-D and 7-D. As old customers dropped out, their listings went with them. Finally about 1975 or so, remaining numbers with letters in the book were converted to all numbers. Any manual exchanges which were cut after about 1960-61 simply used ANC, with no exchange name ever part of the scene. The change from 3-L / 4-D occurred here in 1948, but it was an abrupt switchover; one year the phone books simply started showing 2-L and the numerical equivilent of the third /L/. The words made better sense originally since the words were neaalways the community name, ie Transylvania. Everyone knew where the community was located when one said 'Transylvania'; 872 would have been difficult for most people in those days to match with the place. Why is my town known as 872 and your town is known as 763 when we really know its name is Podunk? But either the Podunk-ites or the citizens of Rodneyville got to use their name, not both. Of course in larger cities, 244 (CHIcago) would quickly run out, and it was the need for a huge number of prefixes with a growing assortment of unwieldy names which finally led the Bell System to kill that scheme in lieu of 7-D, just as the more recent dearth of possible three digit numbers with 0/1 in the middle led to the area code numbering plan change we will have soon. People also got confused, dialing 'HP' for HYDe Park and "H0" (as in zero) for HOLlycourt, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 03:22:50 pst From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article it was written: > Even better, we use active power control (something we can do because > it's digital). The mobile and cell channel elements transmit with > only as much power they need. If you're close to the cell, you don't > need much power. As you get farther away, it slowly boosts power. Just the way AMPS works today. > What it works out to is that while an analog phone transmits at three > watts, and the cell-site power requirements are truly horrible, CDMA > phones transmit in the milliwatt range, and the entire cell site > transmits with only as much power as a couple of the radios in the > analog cell. Again, not always. The remote AMPS transmits only at the necessary level. In fact, my handheld is always operating in the "milliwatt range." > In addition, we can divide the channel between different data sources, > so you could send voice and data (from a modem, perhaps) on the same > channel. What we can do is limited only by the messages we can think > up to send back and forth. What advantage is this going to be to the individual subscriber? Answer: the same advantage that individual subscribers get from ISDN: nothing! The carriers will undoubtedly price the data services at outrageous prices. Take a look at what 56/64Kbps data calls cost: many times the cost of a "voice" call, with the only difference being the way the call is tagged. But of course the users with data transmission needs will have even less choice than with ISDN, as the traditional modems, etc., are unlikely to work well over the vocoder. A user with a 2400 baud dialup or 9600 baud fax need will have to pay whatever rate the carrier sets for these services, as they will not operate properly over the voice channel. And the user has to pay for more-expensive equipment to do this, at least initially. Now, if the carrier wishes to give me a new phone at no charge to me (which in crowded markets such as LA and NYC would allow them to quickly recover its cost by tripling their concurrent call capacity) that has a serial port whose usage is charged for reasonably, I might consider digital ... Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com, I do not speak for my employer. ------------------------------ From: ellisond@rtsg.mot.com (Dell H. Ellison) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 14:45:35 GMT Bob Miller writes: > Echo Valley Two Six Eight Oh Nine > I used to call that number all the time > Maybe someone can put a title and artist to the song. Your favorite group: The Partridge Family. Dell H. Ellison ...!uunet!mcdchg!motcid!ellisond Motorola, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 16:42:51 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Telecom's Greatest Hits I don't recall seeing this one yet (and my home machine has been down today): Don't Hang Up (by the Orlons? c. 1963, and it might be from Philadelphia.) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #24 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24258; 12 Jan 92 3:09 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01345 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:22:10 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06464 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:21:37 -0600 Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:21:37 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201120721.AA06464@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #25 TELECOM Digest Sun, 12 Jan 92 01:21:21 CST Volume 12 : Issue 25 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (Andrew Klossner) Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (Jim Rees) Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (Rich Greenberg) Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (Paul W. Schleck) Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago (TELECOM Moderator) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 10:33:21 PST Subject: Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon > [Moderator's Note: We had WU clock service for many years. > Fortunatly, I was able to grab two clocks when they > discontinued the service in the middle sixties; and I have both > clocks running in my house, without the setting circuit, of > course. I knew where there were a dozen more, but within days > of WUTCO discontinuing the service the clocks were ripped off > by collectors (like me!) ... (: I'll mention more about this > in a couple days if someone reminds me. PAT]" It's been a couple days. Here's a reminder. Sounds like a good story. -=- Andrew Klossner (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com) (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew) [Moderator's Note: See the final article in this issue. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rees@dabo.citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago Reply-To: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 01:52:02 GMT The story about Western Union clock service has prompted me to write in. I have one of those clocks too. I also have in my home a couple of Unix machines that are on the Internet. Just for a hack, I ran a line from DTR on a spare RS-232 port into a simple transistor switch driving a relay, and ran the contacts of the relay to my Western Union clock (which is normally synchronized by a pulse from a quartz clock circuit I built). Then I wrote a simple program to pulse DTR at the top of the hour. So I now have what I believe to be the only Western Union clock in the world that is synchronized by time pulses directly traceable to the Bureau of Standards. The pulse comes from my Apollo dn330, which derives its time via xntp from a Sun at the University of Michigan, which gets its time from Merit, which gets its time from WWV (somehow, although I'm not sure how). Can anyone top this? ------------------------------ From: richg@locus.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago Organization: Locus Computing Corp, Los Angeles Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 19:16:38 GMT > dozen more, but within days of WUTCO discontinuing the service the > clocks were ripped off by collectors (like me!) ... (: I'll mention > more about this in a couple days if someone reminds me. PAT] Please consider yourself reminded. Happy Friday. :-) Disclaimer: The above writings are the ramblings of one human being and have nothing what-so-ever to do with Locus Computing Corp. ---> Rich Greenberg, richg@locus.com TinsleTown, USA 310-337-5904 Located in Inglewood, Ca, a small city completely contained within Los Angeles ------------------------------ Date: 11 Jan 92 22:04:00 CST From: ACM005@zeus.unomaha.edu Subject: Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago In 72446.461@CompuServe.COM (Alan Boritz) writes: > I thought TELECOM Digest readers might like this entertaining piece > about Western Union's time service, from the FidoNet FCC conference > (not distributed as a newsgroup), submitted by Don Kimberlin. Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com > [excellent story about fighting bureaucratic idiocy at WU deleted] > [Moderator's Note: We had WU clock service for many years. Fortunatly, > I was able to grab two clocks when they discontinued the service in > the middle sixties; and I have both clocks running in my house, > without the setting circuit, of course. I knew where there were a > dozen more, but within days of WUTCO discontinuing the service the > clocks were ripped off by collectors (like me!) ... (: I'll mention > more about this in a couple days if someone reminds me. PAT] Please do, Pat. I recall this thread being quite fascinating the last time it came up (about a year ago). As a matter of fact, I did some research and hunted down a fairly good-looking brown square wall model for myself at an Omaha antique store. The dealer had two of them, the other one still unsold after a year, despite my giving his phone number out to several interested parties on the net. If someone is interested, please send me E-mail and I will give you his phone number. A word of warning, however. I would like to remain on good terms with this dealer, so I would like to limit calls to him to SERIOUS inquiries only. He is unlikely to sell his remaining example for less than $150, probably more if he has to package it up and mail it to you, so don't waste his time if you don't intend to fork over that much cash. Would someone happen to have a schematic, or at least a good working knowledge of the clock's innards? I'm still poking around inside of it figuring out how to wind the damn thing ... :-) Paul W. Schleck ACM005@zeus.unomaha.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 00:39:47 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Re: Western Union's Time Was Up Years Ago Actually, the Western Union clock service has been gone for more than a quarter-century. It was unavailable to new subscribers after about 1963 and totally gone by about 1965. No one less than 30 years of age would remember seeing them in operation. We've covered the way they operated in past issues; look in the archives if you are interested in more details. The idea was the Naval Observatory Master Clock in Washington, DC sent out a pulse every day which jerked the hands on the local master clock (the one in the telegraph office) around to the correct time, and the local master clocks would in turn pulse every hour on the hour to set the local clocks in buildings around town. Sometimes they would synchronize a sub-master clock instead, which in turn snyched the ones under it, etc. The service -- like almost everything else of Western Union's -- was great for the earlier years of this century. There was no such thing as a digital clock with quartz accuracy until about twenty years ago. Another consideration was the lack of AC power. Many towns, including Chicago used direct current from Edison for many years. Electric clocks do not run very well on direct current. They need alternating current at sixty cycles to perform properly. Even in our 'battery operated' analog clocks today, the battery does not run the clock; it simply runs the motor which winds the spring which pushes the escapement. In the 1900 - 1960 era, a city the size of Chicago had hundreds or maybe thousands of Western Union clocks. They ran with long life batteries which wound the mainspring once an hour or so, and the setting circuit (telegraph pulse) kept them accurate. Every government office, every radio station, every school had them. Generally in large institutional settings (schools, government offices) a sub-master clock was used to calibrate the individual clocks in each classroom. Attachments to the clocks made it possible to ring bells at certain times, etc. Western Union charged $1 (ONE DOLLAR) per clock/month for the service, and gave the clocks away free as part of the deal. You returned the clock if you gave up the service or got the service cut off for failure to pay the bill. There were several models and styles of clocks, ranging from rather plain brown metal cases with 10, 12 or 14 inch dials to clocks in handsome wooden cases which did cost more to rent. Some had sweep- second hands; others did not. The most ornate model was a very large grandfather clock -- six feet tall with an attractive pendulum in a very handsome oak case -- with Western Union works inside it. It was not uncommon for shopkeepers to put a WU clock in the window as a courtesy to passers-by; Bell Telephone switchboards used a special version built into a timestamp machine to correctly stamp the time on long distance toll tickets; and WGN radio in Chicago had a unique application in their studio clock: instead of the red light which flashed for a second once each hour as the clock got synched from the master, they had a relay tied up there which sounded a little chirp which went over the air every hour on the hour. The station used that chirp with their station-ID for about forty years. The Western Union headquarters building in Chicago had several dozen clocks in the offices, as well as the lobby, the public telegraph office on the first floor, etc. One day WU announced the clock service was being discontinued, but the memo said 'subscribers who have the clocks are welcome to keep them ... but there will no longer be a time signal sent out after '. Poof! All of a sudden the clocks disappeared in one fell swoop from the WU building and new electric wall clocks were hanging in their place. The WU executives no doubt ripped them all off and took them home, etc. Elsewhere in town, the clocks were around, but growing fewer in numbers for a few years, then eventually disappearing altogether. Generally a clock enthusiast or antique dealer would see one and convince the owner to sell it or if possible, talk him into giving it away. By 1970 or so, a WU clock in an office was a rare sight. If you were a clock collector and you found a source that had not yet been picked clean, you kept it to yourself, and arranged to get them out as soon as you could before the next guy beat you to it. Of course you had to wheel and deal with the owner the best you could. If you found a place where they did not anticipate the future antique value of the clock, you were in luck. The Chicago Temple Building had six clocks if my memory is correct; one in the lobby by the elevators with a fourteen inch dial that I have operating in my living room today sans setting circuit of course; two backstage in the auditorium (stage left where the organist could see it and stage right by a room where program participants would wait before entering the stage); one in the WNIB radio broadcasting booth on the second floor of the auditorium; one in an office on the second floor and a beautiful grandfather clock in what they called the Parlor on the third floor where receptions were held, brunches, etc. As our former President Carter said, I had lust in my heart for that one. When the one in the lobby stopped running because the battery ran down, I convinced the building manager 'it was probably broken' and if he *gave* it to me I'd get him a new electric wall clock from a store nearby. The deal was done that day and the $19.95 electric clock is still hanging there today! A couple days later I was brousing around backstage and in the organ pipe chambers thinking of a way to get the two clocks back there (a step ladder was needed) but the manager told me he caught hell from the Trustees for giving me the clock in the lobby, so I couldn't have the ones backstage ... odd that he said that, because two weeks later I was back there again and both of them were gone! :) There were other clocks in the building, but they were in the private offices and the answering service. I didn't have the nerve to ask for the grandfather clock ... :) ... in fact I only saw two of the grandfather clocks ever; in addition to the one in the Chicago Temple third floor parlor, one was in the office at Telegraph Federal Savings and Loan (the old WU telegraph employees credit union) on Jackson Street, and some employee working there heisted that one when the S & L merged with another bank sometime around 1969. The Chicago Board of Education had bunches of clocks in their office building on LaSalle Street. They all walked away with the exception of the one in the Board of Ed cafeteria which I managed to get. It was a wall clock in a large wooden case; someone had painted the case an ugly institutional green and it took me a couple months to sand the case and get the paint off, then restore the original finish. I am using that clock today (again, less the setting circuit) on the wall in front of me here at my terminal. A friend of a friend who worked for WU for almost forty years -- in the clock service yet! -- got me a couple more which were stashed in the basement supply room at the Western Union HQ building, and he also got me three spare sets of works without cases or dials to keep as spares when/if mine broke down. Unfortunatly, I sold those clocks and the spare works. I wish now I had kept them a few years. There were four or five clocks at Orchestra Hall. I was told I could have precisely *one* that was backstage by the dressing rooms if I took it during the month the Hall was closed for repairs, but the day I went down there, some guy from Illinois Bell was there working on a circuit to radio station WFMT; he had already taken all the clocks down and had them sitting in the back of his truck ... and he had the nerve to tell me he *bought* them from the Symphony! :< Sure he did! I told my contact about it later on and he was flabbergasted. Luckily, I had not 'paid' for mine yet ... and I won't say how payment was to have been tendered, just that it hadn't been yet! I got two other clocks from Pixley and Ehler's Cafeterias (Van Buren Street and Wells/Madison) when they closed. P&E's was a chain of restaurants as common in the 1950-75 period as McDonald's is today, with five or six in the downtown area alone. I got the one in the lobby of the Monroe Theatre (an 'adult' and 'art film' place) downtown when the building was closed and torn down in 1968. But I cleaned them all up and gave them away to friends, or sold them. Now I have only two left, both running in my house. The workmanship? The best ... both (in fact almost all WU clocks) were manufactured by the "Self Winding Clock Company" of New York City. Mine were manufactured in 1910 and 1917 ... both run very well, and seldom need calibration even today. When I took the one down from the wall at the Chicago Temple a pencilled inscription on the wall behind it said it had been installed by 'J. Brady' in (I think) May, 1930 ... and 35-36 years later it was running perfectly, probably with little or no maintainence over the years except for the batteries. I have mine running from a DC three-volt, one amp power supply, and my 'setting circuit' is a nine-volt battery taped under my desk wired through a doorbell button which I press on cue from the talking clock every month or two when I happen to think about it and call the Naval Observatory on 202-653-1800. When WU offered clock service, sometimes subscribers would not pay the bill, and a clock technician would go out to reclaim the instrument. Sometimes the subscriber would refuse to give the clock up ... the tech would go to the phone terminal box in the basement where the setting circuit came into the building, and open the pair. Then he would put a load on the circuit to the delinquent subscriber, and leave it there for a few minutes. That tug-of-war between the setting circuit and the clock escapement would soon cause the clock to stop running completely ... and the tech would tell the subscriber 'you might as well give me the clock back now because I've stopped it from running at all ... :). Of course *all* the clocks on that circuit would stop running so the tech had to go around one by one and restart the good subscribers while leaving the delinquent guy shut down. Between the clocks, the public telegraph offices and their many other services, Western Union was a grand part of the American heritage for over a century ... their slow death in the past few years has been a real pity to all of us who remember their heyday. And the public telegraph offices were interesting places also, but that is a story for another day. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #25 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25950; 12 Jan 92 3:41 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20985 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:55:26 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16860 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:55:01 -0600 Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 01:55:01 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201120755.AA16860@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #26 TELECOM Digest Sun, 12 Jan 92 01:54:50 CST Volume 12 : Issue 26 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Dave Levenson) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (John Nagle) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Jim Rees) Re: Data-Under-Voice Hardware Wanted (Patton M. Turner) Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? (Michael Gersten) Re: Cellular Prices Go Up (Steve Forrette) Re: PC Based PBX (Jeff Sicherman) Re: International ANI is Here? (David G. Lewis) Re: International ANI is Here? (Bob Frankston) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dave@westmark.WESTMARK.COM (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Date: 11 Jan 92 15:34:56 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) writes: > I read somewhere that in most large cities cellular carriers are > switching to digital systems due to saturation of existing cells. I > couldn't tell what the advantages of this would be: There's a lot of confustion over this claim. Right now, in most cities, the analog cellular systems are being upgraded to use digital switching and transmission within the cellular network. This means that time-division switching and multiplexing is being implemented within the cell site and central office equipment. They are still analog narrow-band FM between the cell sites and the mobile telephone sets. The service-providers are talking about 'digital' but it's only their internal network that sees it. In the next few years, digital radio links between cell sites and mobile phones will be introduced. This will be phased in, so as not to render obsolete the installed base of approximately six million analog mobile telephones. The first batch of digital mobile sets will be 'dual-mode' sets, to remain compatible with the analog systems, but take advantage of digital transmission as it becomes available. What is gained by going digital on the 'air link'? A time-division-multiple-access (TDMA) standard permits three compressed digital voice channels to occupy the spectrum used by a single FM analog voice channel. The users of these channels will get a better signal-to-noise ratio than users of analog FM channels under impaired RF conditions. Mobile and portable data devices will get far lower data error rates. (But high-speed analog modems won't work correctly in the presence of the compression being used.) Digital control channels will permit more features -- sort of like 'ISDN to the car'! A little farther into the future, a code-division-multiple-access (CDMA) standard will allow even greater spectrum efficiency, with the same advantages gained by using digital speech coding. > Are these carriers using source coding? Won't that make > the cellular phones more expensive/bulky? It does add complexity to the mobile telephone. But adding complexity to electronics, these days, doesn't necessarily add bulk. The telephone set manufacturers are already developing chip sets that implement digital voice coding and other functions, so the user probably won't notice an increase in size or weight. Price? Too soon to tell, I think. The improvements in signal quality, and new features can probably be 'sold' by someone whose market research discovers how much the traffic will bear. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 18:30:36 GMT Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) > In the long term, digital phones should be cheaper and lighter, > however, as VLSI components are employed. In the Motorola MicroTAC, the battery is over half the weight. Further VLSI integration won't shrink the package that much. Actually, the coils and filters probably weigh more than the semiconductors already. Look at the Philips/Signetics chip set, for example. It's down to 12 shrink surface-mount packages. Progress will have to come from reducing power consumption. John Nagle ------------------------------ From: rees@paris.citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Reply-To: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 22:05:10 GMT In article , rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) writes: [ concerning the Qualcomm CDMA system... ] > Even better, we use active power control (something we can do because > it's digital). The mobile and cell channel elements transmit with > only as much power they need. Analog systems do this too. Maybe not as well, but they do. > Finally, with digital we can (and do) use a variable rate vocoder. In > this way CDMA makes use of the Voice Activity Factor of conversation: > either of the parties involved is not saying something about 60% of > the time. Analog phones are also capable of doing this, but it usually sounds bad enough that most systems don't enable the feature. > (Interestingly, even when we force the vocodoer to use a > maximum rate of half its top rate, it still sounds better than my > analog phone). I understand the top rate is 9600 bps. I find it hard to believe that half of this sounds very good, and would like to hear a demo. > In addition, we can divide the channel between different data sources, > so you could send voice and data (from a modem, perhaps) on the same > channel. I hope you are making provisions for direct access to the bits, although at 9600 bps it won't be very useful. Certainly running an analog modem over one of these is going to lose big. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 17:09:58 CST From: Patton M. Turner Subject: Re: Data-Under-Voice Hardware Wanted Jean Renard Ward writes: > Who is aware of hardware products (and related software products) that > support simultaneous transmission of data and voice on either a > dial-up telephone line, or on a low-data-rate (the lower the better) > communications line that I could connect to the serial port on a PC? Micom makes a multiplexor that they claim will multiplex voice, FAX, LAN, and data at speeds from 9.6K to 56/64 Kbps. Other than getting some product literature, I don't know anything about it, but it should work on a switched digital line. For info and a compressed voice demonstration call 1-800-642-6687 (1-800-932-DVNS in Canada) or (805) 583-8600. Pat Turner pturner@eng.auburn.edu KB4GRZ @ K4RY.AL.USA ------------------------------ From: michael@stb.info.com (Michael Gersten) Subject: Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? Organization: STB BBS, La, Ca, 310 397 3137 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 02:30:39 GMT I have a question on ISDN. As I understand it, a local loop under STM is a 192K line, divided by time into two 64K channels, one 16K channel, and 48K of overhead. 8K of this overhead is just timing to keep the bits straight. Now, I also understand that ATM ISDN is based on 48 byte packets plus five byte headers (53 bytes total). And that ATM is the way of the future, i.e., all the telephone company equipment is working ATM, and your STM calls turn into ATM on the way. My question is: Why does the phone company only offer STM to the home, which forces a line to be used (and payment made, hmm ... I think I answered this one) even when nothing is being sent? Why not have the home line just be a 192K ATM feed, and put a rate limiter of 64K on it? Michael Gersten michael@stb.info.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Jan 92 02:32:14 pst From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: Cellular Prices Go Up Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article Dave Leibold writes: > Bell Canada and Cantel will be raising their cellular rates soon. > Bell has a "Lifeline" rate of > $9.95 which will not be changed (though this might involve higher > connect time charges). Now let me get this straight: A "lifeline" rate for cellular? Now I've heard everything! Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 19:16:20 -0800 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: PC Based PBX Organization: Cal State Long Beach In article friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US (Stephen Friedl) writes: > Ken Jongsma reports the following from {Communications Week}: >> Start-up PCBX Systems Inc. has developed what it is calling the first >> PBX to run on a personal computer. The PCBX is a PC card that can give >> any telephone set full PBX functionality, said the Woodland Hills, >> California company. > Directory assistance for Woodland Hills, CA (area code 818) doesn't > know about these folks, so anybody knowing how to find them is > encouraged to fill the rest of us in. >Stephen Friedl | Software Consultant | Tustin, CA ^^^^^^^^^^ Not surprising; you should have tried closer to home, lost closer: PCBX Systems, Inc 3730 S. Susan Street Santa Ana, CA 92704 800-755-PCBX TEL: (714) 668-1180 FAX: (714) 668-0215 BTW, I talked to them on Thursday and while I'm not knowledgeable enough on telecom hardware issues in general and PBX systems in particular, it was an interesting conversation and the engineer-type I spoke to was very friendly and forthcoming. Without any real details, I got the impression it was not a completely mature product in its present form. API documentation may be sketchy. Only POTS-type phones are supported (they are negotiating for some feature phone [BLF, etc.]) add-ins and capabilities. He couldn't (or wouldn't and couldn't say) give any information about installed base. The card is an eight-bit long card (pictured in the promo material they sent me) but they *strongly* recommend an AT-class computer in order to provide the necessary perfomance to support some of the cards features via the CPU - especially if you're planning to have the cpmputer do anything else. I didn't get any info on multitasking or Windows compatibility of the interfaces. It has a 50-pin connector that a special cable is plugged into that mates with a 50-pin (25-pair?) connector on a type-66 block [I'm culling this from memory, not notes, so please forgive any errors] for mating to trunk and station lines. The card itself supports four trunks and 12 sets. The specs chart indicates 16 trunks total and 48 stations but I'm not clear on how multiple cards are mated for that configuration. A 'future' line specifies 32 trunks and 96 stations, but that would pretty max out any IBm chassis so I don't know if they are planning a higher capacity card for that. A little drawing in the fact sheet shows (block diagram) FAX, voice mail, auto-attendent, music, paging interfaces but the discussion led me to believe that these are supported through external connections via the 66 block (don't know if it occupies line positions or uses 'extra' pairs in the cable unused by the trunk and station sets). SMDR is supported through software interfaces to the board. Trunk line support currently for loop start only; specs indicate ground start in the future. There is a long list of PBX-type features which I won't attempt to list here. The price is expensive for a key system replacement but seems inexpensive for a PBX (I'm not a reseller or very knowledgeable about the market as a whole so that's just impression). The have an 'Unauthorized Dealer' Evaluation/Demo Kit which is above twice the Authorized Dealer wholesale price. [PAT, I hesitate to report the prices, lest this look too much like an ad for them]. The cover letter implies LAN support but I couldn't find anything specific in the fact sheet and the rep didn't mention anything so I tend to think it's just the fact that it can share the computer with a network interface that provides an opportunity. There was no mention of packages software for it that does this now. I mentioned the existance of 10baseT hub cards that occupy AT chassis slots and he seemed interested in the possibilities; maybe some cheap router/WAN applications? Finally, as I understand from the guy I talked to, it's not strictly a 'start-up'. I'm a little vague remembering exactly what he said, but I got the impression it was reorganized either financially, technically, or both from a previous attempt that didn't make it anywhere very fast. If anybody gets a more accurate impression or significant details that I have overlooked, I would be interested myself in a further followup. Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: International ANI is Here? Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 15:47:52 GMT In article writes: >An article in today's {New York Times} said: > "...a small start-up company, International Discount Telecomm- > unications, has found a way to allow callers abroad to telephone the > United States at the same low rates Americans pay to call overseas. > When a customer calls the company, he lets the phone ring once and > hangs up. The black box is programmed to call back the customer's > number and patch in the second American telephone line. The customer > now has an American dial tone, ..." > This implies that ANI can be delievered internationally, does it not? > I never heard anything announced about this. Are there CCITT specs > for this? I read the same article and tried to figure out the implementation; I came up with the following hypotheses: 1. The CCITT specification for SS7 (Integrated Services Digital Network User Part, Q.761-766) does include Calling Party Number. AT&T offers INFO-2 service (billing number delivery over PRI) for International 800 calls. Theoretically, it is possible that the callers are calling an I-800 number (using the national-specific prefix for called-party-paid calls) and the billing number is getting delivered to the called party. I don't think that's the way it's working, though. 2. The brute force approach, which is what I am guessing is being used, is that there are a large number of lines on the USA side of the operation, each with an individual dialable number, and each overseas customer dials a different number to access the service. One "black box" hangs off each line, and has programmed into it the dialback number for that customer. My reasoning that the second approach is being used is based on several factors. First, I don't know how widely supported delivery of calling party number/billing number to I800 is (in terms of how many countries support it). Second, similar CPN/BN issues arise as have been discussed here before -- is the BN a dialable number, and is it the same as the CPN for a given customer? For primarily business customers, the answer would be "no" a disturbingly large proportion of the time. Third, the black box description implies to me a box hanging off a single line, and if you were using a PRI, you'd have one box with one or more T1 ports instead of many boxes, each hanging off one line. Note, however, that this is all my personal conjecture based on limited information. Don't go trying this at home ... (I don't know what AT&T's policy with regard to this service is, so don't go interpreting my conjectures as favorable/unfavorable views of the service. Technical clarifications (and of course, conjectures) are all I'm willing to go into ...) David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!houxa!deej ISDN Evolution Planning ------------------------------ From: Subject: Re: International ANI is Here? Date: Sat 11 Jan 1992 13:12 -0500 The article on this service explained that it is much less general than it seems. A ring on a given number activates equipment to dialback to a predetermined number and then present it with dialtone which could be used to call out to anywhere in the world. Simple and clever. The PTT's probably consider it impolite (to put it mildly). A good demonstration of the difficulties of local regulations in an interconnected world. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #26 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02183; 13 Jan 92 0:07 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20061 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 21:51:30 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20985 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 21:51:15 -0600 Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 21:51:15 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201130351.AA20985@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #27 TELECOM Digest Sun, 12 Jan 92 21:51:13 CST Volume 12 : Issue 27 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: AT&T Drops The Ball? (John Higdon) Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? (David Lesher) Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? (David G. Lewis) Re: PC Based PBX (Peter da Silva) Re: Rotary Callers Go Home! (Malcolm Slaney) Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language (Michael Rosen) Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language (Cliff Stoll) Re: Rotary Callers Go Home (Larry Rachman) Re: Problem with Procomm; Help Needed (Louie Crew) Re: Those Are REAL Phone Numbers! (Robert L. McMillin) Re: Phone Company Humour (Giles D. Malet) I Got Cancer by Phone (was I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex (John Stanley) Re: I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex (was Phone Company Humor) (Jim Rees) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 12 Jan 92 04:30 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: AT&T Drops The Ball? Last week, I wrote about miserable sounding phone calls to the Hawaiian Islands and that such had been reported to AT&T. On Friday, a gentleman called "explaining" the reason for the connections sounding the way they did (but not anything about fixing it). His explanation was predictable: it is the nature of satelite connections. Why satelite connections? Supposedly it is because AT&T runs out of fiber circuits during peak periods. I am going to tell you that this is the poorest "customer resolution" that I have ever experienced from AT&T. First, what he said was probably bunk. Second, his workaround was laughable. I indicated that such connections were unacceptable and that another carrier would have to be found. "Oh, that is not necessary. If you get on one of those circuits [about 100% chance] simply hang up and dial '00' and ask for credit and to be put through on a better circuit." Now if I can get my Telebit to say, "Operator ..." A much more plausable explanation (and one that actually explains what I hear) was offered by a fellow Digest reader. Apparently, in order to cram the most into the least (the way of the 1990's), AT&T is using a form of data packet compression. Part of a packet can be deleted to shed load during congestion and the packet is organized so that the least significant bits of information on all voice samples can be truncated. And, of course, packet data transmission introduces end-to-end propagation delays that sound very much like satelite. While the packet contains time information, allowing for a constant delay, this can be upset if the load becomes very high. This would cause the effect that I heard of a varying propagation delay during the course of a call. And since AT&T would not want to waste any precious bits denoting silence, it uses silence deletion (contrary to the impression conveyed in its ads -- or do they only apply to "continental USA"?) that makes some voicemail systems look good. While AT&T is very proud of this whole system, they can drop it into the Pacific Ocean for all I care. So erase that question mark from the subject line. AT&T HAS dropped the ball. Their service to the Islands is crummy and there are no plans to do anything about it. After hearing this "frame-relay" transmission technique, I am rather leary of squashed and mashed digital anything. And it certainly would be nice if AT&T gave the straight poop to its customers (like it used to). But then, nothing is what it used to be. And given the way Sprint and MCI have been hustling and performing on their dedicated T1 services as of late (as opposed to AT&T -- some customers will be switching soon!), I guess it is time to become open minded again and admit that there is more than one long distance company. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: Who Picked Exchange Names? Date: Sun, 12 Jan 92 9:32:10 EST Reply-To: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex Others said: > I'd like to know WHY there were exchange names in the first place. > [Moderator's Note: The exchange name concept is the only reason there > are letters on the dial. If there WERE letters. The "metropolitan" dial was used in cities, but initially, many rural dials were all number. wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu ------------------------------ From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 18:14:57 GMT In article michael@stb.info.com (Michael Gersten) writes: > I have a question on ISDN. > As I understand it, a local loop under STM is a 192K line, divided by > time into two 64K channels, one 16K channel, and 48K of overhead. 8K > of this overhead is just timing to keep the bits straight. Actually, ANSI-standard U-interface DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is 160k -- 2 64k B channels, one 16k D channel, and 16k overhead. AT&T T-interface DSL is 192k; I'm not sure about anyone else's T-interface (or if there's an NI-1 spec for T-interface). > Now, I also understand that ATM ISDN is based on 48 byte packets plus > five byte headers (53 bytes total). And that ATM is the way of the > future, i.e., all the telephone company equipment is working ATM, and > your STM calls turn into ATM on the way. Whether it's the "way of the future" is still an object of considerable discussion in the technical community; as to "all the telephone company equipment working ATM", it's most certainly not. The only ATM equipment deployed is some very limited lab and field trials. Emphasis on very limited. The only thing turned into ATM is ATM trial traffic. > My question is: Why does the phone company only offer STM to the home, > which forces a line to be used (and payment made, hmm ... I think I > answered this one) even when nothing is being sent? Why not have the > home line just be a 192K ATM feed, and put a rate limiter of 64K on > it? Because there is no ATM in deployment yet. Furthermore, when an ISDN line is idle, the 160k is just idle signals cooking back and forth between the switch and terminal/TA plus the occasional maintenance message ("Hey, you still there?" "Yep, sure am.") None of this is billed. There's a large amount of discussion about if and when ATM will be "ubiquitous". The ambitious techie types like to talk about ATM everywhere in the world out to the subscriber interface. More reality-drivin types tend to talk more about "hybrid networks", with ATM switches, STM switches at various signal rates, and various subscriber interfaces applied as appropriate. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!houxa!deej ISDN Evolution Planning ------------------------------ From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) Subject: Re: PC Based PBX Organization: Taronga Park BBS Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 15:35:40 GMT My question (as always) is: do they provide interface specs on the card to you can write your own drivers, or do the "specs" consist of a working MS-DOS program with no source? When you buy a PC card, demand specs. Take it up as high as you can. If they don't *have* specs available, get another card: they probably developed the hardware and software together and it's a mass of kludges. Not directly telecom related, but doing my part to fight low-quality hardware. Besides, you might want to interact with some other card to provide an interface they never thought of. Peter da Silva. Taronga Park BBS. +1 713 568 0480|1032 2400/n/8/1. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jan 92 16:33:25 -0800 From: Malcolm Slaney Subject: Re: Rotary Callers Go Home! Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA In article John Higdon writes: > I am surprised that it has taken this long. Tone signaling is SO > superior to rotary that it is nothing short of amazing that it has > taken nearly twenty years to become the dominant dialing method. Ummm ... one of the lessons that I've had to learn once I got out of school and into the real world is that the Joe Average Consumer doesn't necessarily beat a path to the most technologically wonderful products. I bet my grandparents never made more than a couple of calls a day. I'm sure they never thought it was worth the effort to change their phones or switch their service with Illinois Bell. (That's assuming that they even knew the difference that tone dialing would make.) I wonder what the average number of calls per day is for the average residential phone? Malcolm ------------------------------ From: Michael.Rosen@samba.acs.unc.edu (Michael Rosen) Subject: Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 23:44:27 GMT It wasn't mentioned, but there *is* an English message right after the Eskimo one. Mike ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Jan 92 17:12:13 -0800 From: usenet@agate.Berkeley.EDU (USENET Administrator) Subject: Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language From: stoll@ocf.berkeley.edu (Cliff Stoll) Subject: Re: NWT Intercept Recordings in Eskimo Language Date: 13 Jan 1992 01:12:12 GMT Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility Doug Martin called Baker Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada and heard an intercept recording in an Eskimo dialect. Oh, I spent a couple weeks in Rankin Inlet, NWT -- not far from Baker Lake. Only way in or out of town was a weekly DC-3 airplane; only communications was longwave radiotelephone. Purpose of trip: the July 1972 eclipse. Wonderful people. Made several telephone calls over the years: it was always a delight to talk over the radiotelephone from the south 48. "Rankin go ahead," the operator would say whenever the half-duplex circuit was changed. Alas, the Anik satellite has taken the thrill out of the phone calls; it even works during solar minimum. I have a copy of the telephone book to Rankin Inlet, circa 1972. One mimeographed page. There were 350 people in the settlement ... Cliff Stoll [Moderator's Note: Many/most of the radiotelephone calls to that area years ago were routed through a privately owned radio station in Alma, Quebec under contract to the telcos. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 12 Jan 92 21:17:50 EST From: Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Rotary Callers Go Home In a recent issue of Telecom, John Higdon john@zygot.ati.com writes: >> rotary dial telephone, please call back on a touchtone telephone. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > I am surprised that it has taken this long. Tone signaling is SO > superior to rotary that it is nothing short of amazing that it has > taken nearly twenty years to become the dominant dialing method. What holds it back is, in part, the premium charged. On this side of the rock, we pay a buck and change for doing NYNEX the favor of reducing their register holding time. I think its a bargain, but I have friends who refuse to pay it on principle. (Of course, they also have tone-to-rotary converting PBXs, so they are DTMF-capable). The issue is also one of inertia. There are still many people who view the phone as '... you pick it up and dial, and thats all I want to know about it.' > Since 1987, my personal answering machine has REQUIRED DTMF input to > be of any service to the caller. First, I cannot imagine that I would > want to talk to anyone using a rotary phone I can only think of one person in my case, but I really can't leave her out -- she's my mother! When I got my pager, I bought her a switchable tone-rotary phone from Radio Shack, which was a tough thing for an old Western Electric die-hard like myself to do. I've offered to pay the fifteen bucks a year or so, but she's not interested -- her rotary phones work just fine (And I'd have to buy her a bunch of tone phones to make the change worthwhile.) > telephone service available? I mean, really, if Pac*Bell now considers > it to be part of standard telephone service ... Were it that NYNEX felt the same way ... but then again, you guys just got the extra charge for DTMF merged into your monthly rate anyway, as I recall. When NYNEX eventually makes the transition, my mother (and billions of other mothers like her) will probably say something to the effect of 'That's nice, but my phones work just fine -- why would I want to replace them.' They'll have to make rotary stop working altogether to take care of the last stragglers. And where will that leave my 235G three-slot rotary coin phone? I'll have to go shopping for a rotary-to- tone converter! Larry Rachman, WA2BUX reply to 1644801@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Louie Crew) Subject: Re: Problem with Procomm; Help Needed Date: 11 Jan 92 15:44:18 GMT Reply-To: lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu Organization: H.R.H.Q. Lutibelle Enterprises I experience a related problem when I try to use Alt-F6 to review the material that PROCOMM has saved. On most occasions, I see the material again in the same format it had the first time I saw it. But in nn, as when reading the two messages posted currently in this group, Alt-F6 garbles them with no indication of the line endings I saw when I read the messages with nn itself. Since I don't want to save every screen I see, is there a better solution than a screen dump for this problem? For example, might I change the set up on our newsfeeder program, nn, so that it will transmit the lf's that PROCOMM expects for the Alt-F6 function? Thank you in advance. Louie Crew, Assoc. Prof., Academic Foundations Dept., Rutgers U./NWK 07102 lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu 201-485-4503 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 18:28:40 PST From: rlm@ms_aspen.hac.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Those Are REAL Phone Numbers! 818-954 is connected to a Burbank exchange. ------------------------------ From: shrdlu!gdm@uunet.uu.net (Giles D Malet) Subject: Re: Phone Company Humour Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 04:33:07 GMT Reply-To: Giles D Malet While living in London (UK) a few years ago, I noticed an entry in the 'phone book for a certain "Zaphod Beeblebrox", complete with number and residential address. He lives! I never did get round to calling it ... I wonder if it's still there? gdm@shrdlu.UUCP Waterloo, Canada +1 519 725 5720 ------------------------------ From: stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU (John Stanley) Subject: I Got Cancer by Phone (was I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex) Organization: Oregon State University, College of Oceanography Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 05:35:41 GMT In article nolan@tssi.com writes: > ... but only if you had headlines like: > Do Cellular Phones Cause Cancer? This isn't really as phunny as it sounds. Here in Corvallis, the US West Cellular people wanted to put cellular antennas on top of a water tower on top of a hill in a certain neighborhood. Some of the people in this neighborhood became quite active in opposing these antennas, for fear of the effects of radiation on them and their offspring. They even canvassed the surrounding neighborhood getting petitions signed. When they showed up at my door, I had a hard time keeping myself from asking this guy if he had electrical power in his cave. The city had two votes on it. The first was a vote to determine if this was an appropriate usage and fell within certain planning guidelines (it did). The second was a vote to allow US West to put the antennas up (they can't). ------------------------------ From: rees@paris.citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex (was: Phone Company Humor) Reply-To: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 20:38:17 GMT In article , nolan@tssi.com (Michael Nolan) writes: > ... but only if you had headlines like: > I Got Pregnant Through Phone Sex My favorite tabloid, the {Weekly World News}, is full of ads for phone fortune-telling services. The most enterprising don't even use human operators, they have a touch-tone driven machine that tells you "... WHAT YOUR NAME TELLS ME. The letters in your name have vibrations and reflected progressions. The _first_letter_ of your name ... the _last_letter_ ... the _vowels_ ... _consonants_ ... THEY ALL HAVE MEANING AND TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF." Only $120 per hour. Caller must be 18 years old. [Moderator's Note: {Weekly World News} is my favorite newspaper also. Do you like reading Ed Anger's column and Dear Dottie? :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #27 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa04893; 13 Jan 92 1:45 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22153 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 23:37:16 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA21608 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 12 Jan 1992 23:36:57 -0600 Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 23:36:57 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201130536.AA21608@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #28 TELECOM Digest Sun, 12 Jan 92 23:36:53 CST Volume 12 : Issue 28 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (David G. Lewis) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (John Higdon) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Andrew M. Dunn) Re: Baby Bells Hit New Low (David Niebuhr) Re: I Wasn't Billed For USA Today 800 Call, Were You? (Ken Jongsma) Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival (Russ Nelson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1992 16:54:38 GMT I would just like to qualify some points in the recent articles explaining Caller*ID (tm?) and ANI. whs70@taichi.cc.bellcore.com (24411-sohl) writes: > Caller ID requires ANI (Automatic Number Identification) to be able to > deliver the calling party's number to the called party's display > device. Not exactly. More properly, Caller ID requires end-to-end SS7 connectivity between the originating end office and the terminating end office, to enable the Calling Party Number to be carried between the two offices. It also requires the Calling Party Number Deliver feature to be activated in the terminating end office, globally and for the called line. > Automatic Number Identification is the inclusion of the calling > party's telephone number in the routing and call setup messaging which > takes place in order for the call to be established. ANI is the function of an Equal Access End Office (EAEO) or Access Tandem (AT) delivering the Billing Number of the originating line to an Interexchange Carrier switch via FGC or FGD trunks. (It is also the function of sending the BN to a CAMA system, OSPS, or E911 PSAP, but that's not relevant to this discussion ... nor is the fact that ANI is "Automatic" Number Identification as opposed to ONI, or "Operator" Number Identification. More trivia for the telecom edition of Trivial Pursuit ...) The inclusion of the calling party's number in the routing and call setup messaging is a function of the SS7 ISUP protocol. (Calling Party Number is an optional parameter of the ISUP Initial Address Message (IAM).) > If a "caller ID blocking" is invoked by the calling party, then (I > believe) the calling party's number (using ANI) is still sent, Correct that CPN is sent; not using ANI, though -- using SS7. ANI is always used to deliver Billing Number to the IXC, regardless of any per-line or per-call blocking requested by the caller. > but the additional info that the calling party does NOT want his/her > number displayed to the called party is also included in the call > setup messageing. Specifically, the Calling Party Number parameter in the IAM has the Presentation Indicator field set to "Presentation Restricted". But you probably don't care. > The end office (the telephone switching office) of the called party > then recognizes that caller ID blocking is in effect for that call and > the calling party's number is NOT then displayed to the called party. > I'm not 100% certain, but I belive that call blocking is ONLY involved > in Intra-LATA (possibly Intra-State) calls. That is because (In my > understanding) that state regulations of caller ID services do NOT > apply to Interstate nor possibly Intra-state (but Inter-LATA) calls. > Those situations (tariffs) are controlled by the FCC which I belive > has not prohibited any aspect of caller ID. Blocking is currently only supported on intra-LATA calls because Caller ID is currently only supported on intra-LATA calls. The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding a proposed regulation that per-call blocking must be supported for all interstate calls. This would imply that all LECs would have to recognize *67 and pass the CPN Presentation Restricted indicator to the IXCs (one SS7 Network Interconnect is deployed), that all IXCs would have to honor the Presentation Restricted indicator (not deliver CPN to directly connected egress customers, carry the indicator through the IXC network, and deliver it to the terminating LEC), and that all LECs would have to honor the Presentation Restricted indicator, at least for interstate traffic. > If either the originating or the terminating office does NOT > have (SS7) capability, then there is no way for the ANI information to > be passed from the originating end to the terminating end. Add any intermediate tandem offices; in addition, even if all *offices* support SS7, if any particular *trunk* a call traverses is not SS7 signaled, the information will not get passed to the terminating office. This is why Caller ID is not currently supported inter-LATA; even though the big three IXCs are at or close to 100% SS7, and some LECs are at or close to 100% SS7, the network interconnection is not yet deployed. (I'm only going to include comments of Lars' that I'm going to comment on; everything else he said I agree with ...) lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) writes: > ANI, as used in this context, refers to the delivery of the billing > number associated with a call passed from an LEC to an InterExchange > Carrier (IEC or "Long Distance Carrier"). This number is sometimes > provided in-band using MF ("touch tone") signalling, but usually > passed out-of-band on the common carrier signalling system (SS#6 or > SS#7). Currently, all LEC-IXC signaling uses Equal Access MF (EAMF) signaling. SS7 Network Interconnect is only in trials. The big three IXCs all use SS7; I think the only place CCIS6 is used is as a backup signaling network in AT&T. > As the subscriber interfaces go digital, I would expect PBXs to > increasingly be attached to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) > Primary Rate Interface (PRI -- the ISDN version of "T1" lines carry 23 > voice channels and one X25-like data channel) which will allow the PBX > to identify the actual calling station in the directory number field > of the call request record. Just a side note; I belive ISDN PRI is part of Bellcore's National ISDN 2. I think sending Station ID to the network is part of NI-2; if it's not, it should be (sorry, had to inject one opinion -- all AT&T products support SID to the network ...) > It is conceivable that an interstate call might be delivered to a > state that does not allow or require blocking, and the number might be > displayed despite the blocking request. The fact that this is > unresolved is one of the reasons that C-ID currently may not be > delivered across LATA boundaries. See my comment above on the FCC NPR. (Side note -- wasn't there someone a while ago posting "this week at the FCC" summaries? Whatever happened to that?) > It is fairly certain that any CO that offers "custom calling > features" can be configured to deliver both numbers. Different LECs refer to different packages as "custom calling features". The "original" custom calling features were call forwarding, call waiting, and three-way calling. The "new" package (referred to as CLASS (SM) by Bellcore) are Caller ID, Return Call, Call Trace, and the other services that use calling number ID in one way or another. If a CO supports CLASS, it generally can support the entire package. David G Lewis !att!houxa!deej AT&T Bell Laboratories Switching and ISDN Implementation ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 01:56 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI konstan@elmer-fudd.cs.berkeley.edu (Joe Konstan) writes: > Our Moderator consistently maintains that 800-number customers have a > right to this information since they are paying for the call. > The argument is even less compelling for 900-number customers who > generally do not pay for the call. But 900 service providers DO pay for the call. If you call a 900 number, the cost of the transport of the call is deducted from any remittance passed to the provider. If you wiggle out of the charges ("the devel made me do it", etc.), the IP is still stuck for the transport charges incurred by your call. In a previous article, I mentioned that AT&T claimed to one provider that his calls for the month were one hundred percent uncollectable. What I did not mention was that as a result, AT&T presented this outfit with a horrendous bill -- the cost of transporting all of the 900 calls for the month. When you call a 900 number, the service provider is extending you credit for the cost of the call itself plus the program charge. The sum of these two charges makes up the advertised cost of the service. If the 900 service provider is extending you credit, he certainly has the right to know who you are. A number of 900 providers actually block calls from specific numbers that have proven time and time again to be deadbeats from which charges are uncollectable. I agree with Pat on this one: if you have some reason that you do not want someone at the other end of an 800 or 900 number call to know your number -- don't call. It is the customer of the 800 service (or even 900 service) that is paying for the call and he has a right to know who is running up his bill. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: amdunn@mongrel.UUCP (Andrew M. Dunn) Subject: Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Canada Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1992 22:26:21 GMT In article konstan@elmer-fudd.cs. berkeley.edu (Joe Konstan) writes: > Nominally, this is to allow the IXC to bill you for the > calls. Many (all?) long distance carriers sell this information (in > real-time or delayed in billing statements) to their 800 and 900 > customers. > Our Moderator consistently maintains that 800-number customers have a > right to this information since they are paying for the call. I agree with our esteemed Moderator. Consider the fact that the 800 number exists to answer your call whenever you call it, and that the company owning it pays a time-measured rate for the call. Consider somebody who abuses the number. Perhaps they call consistently and hold the line, or do something else to run up massive charges. And consider that, in your scenario, this is completely anonymous. What would you, as the company with the 800 number, do? You'd have to cancel your 800 service. Remember the case reported here in the Digest (I think) last week where somebody tried to get revenge on a company by faxing them long faxes and tying up their phones? What if they really were anonymous. You could cost somebody thousands (even tens of thousands) of dollars, and they couldn't even _identify_ you! > Personally, I don't see that as being the case -- indeed when other > companies pay for you to get information about their product (either > with business reply mail, free shuttle busses, etc.) they are not > provided with any specific information about you unless you provide > it. It's much easier to handle abuse with business reply mail. AND it usually costs far less to the business. The 'cost terrorist' in the scenario above would have to send thousands of business reply cards (IF he could get his hands on them, which, since they're a printed and distributed entity, is unlikely) to cost the company much money. > The argument is even less compelling for 900-number customers who > generally do not pay for the call. Here I agree. > The only time you can prevent ANI is if you are on a > service without direct distance dialing (i.e., all long distance calls > must be made by going through operators) and I don't think we have to > worry about that. No, because in those scenarios, all long distance calls through an operator prompt them to ask 'Your number please?' which they key in, and the ANI proceeds from that point onwards. But _local_ calls don't have ANI in this scenario. Andy Dunn (amdunn@mongrel.uucp) ({uunet...}!xenitec!mongrel!amdunn) [Moderator's Note: However Andy, I would refer you to John Higdon's message in this issue. 900 operators *do* pay for the call in the sense they are extending credit to you, the caller until you pay your phone bill and telco in turn remits to them. As someone who provides an extension of credit, they are also entitled to know who you are. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 08:28:59 -0500 From: niebuhr@bnlux1.bnl.gov (david niebuhr) Subject: Re: Baby Bells Hit New Low In niebuhr@bnlux1.bnl.gov (david niebuhr) I wrote: > The ad set a scenario of a group of doctors in Upstate New York > operating on a little child for a rare blood disease. The doctors > were supervised by a physician in New York City, over a hundred miles > away. > The thrust was for letting the Baby Bells and USTA into the > information providing services and that lives could be lost if they > aren't allowed to enter that arena. PAT asks: > [Moderator's Note: Is the United States Telephone Association the same > as (or what used to be called) the United States Independent Telephone > Association? (Sometimes known as USITA). ^^^^^^^^^^^ PAT] The sponsors were the RBOCs and the United States Telephone Association, representing over 1,100 local telcos. I have no idea as to whether or not USTA and USITA are the same. Anyone have ideas? Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ From: ken@wybbs.mi.org (Ken Jongsma) Subject: Re: I Wasn't Billed For USA Today 800 Call, Were You? Organization: Consultants Connection Date: Sun, 12 Jan 92 03:29:54 GMT Two calls I made to the {USA Today} 800 number in October showed up on my January Michigan Bell bill. Although the amounts weren't large, I wanted to follow up on it. I first called Michigan Bell and asked the business office rep if she had copies of the actual CAMA tapes for October. She said that all she had were the billing records, and wasn't sure she could get the CAMA records. When I explained why I wanted them, she said that AT&T received the CAMA tapes and then sent Michigan Bell a tape with billing data on it. So, the changing of the billing records from an 800 call to what showed up was most likely on the AT&T side. I then called AT&T. After explaining that I was knew the difference 800 and 900 calls, I asked why the billing records showed 900 when I knew I dialed 800. She asked if I had reached a live person and been put on hold. I said no, and asked what difference that would have made. She said that there was a way for 800 calls to be reversed billed as a 900 call! I said that that most certainly did not happen, she gave up and said that AT&T would waive 900 billing the first time and I let it go at that. I really would like to know more about this reverse 900 business though. Ken Jongsma ken@wybbs.mi.org Smiths Industries jongsma@benzie.si.com Grand Rapids, Michigan 73115,1041@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) Subject: Re: ISDN: Estimate of Arrival? Organization: Crynwr Software, guest account at Clarkson Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1992 03:32:12 GMT In article michael@stb.info.com (Michael Gersten) writes: > As I understand it, a local loop under STM is a 192K line, divided by > time into two 64K channels, one 16K channel, and 48K of overhead. 8K > of this overhead is just timing to keep the bits straight. You don't understand it. The local loop is 160 Kbps (80 Kbaud). That's 2*64K B-channels + 16K D-channel + 4K M-channel + 12K framing. The B-channels can be either circuit-switched aka stream (like a TCP connection), or packet-switched (like a UDP connetion). The D channel is always packet-switched. It is used for call connect/disconnect/etc, and optionally for data. The M-channel carries status information and commands between the switch (LT) and the NT-1. It is not available for any other purpose (although you could do some way cool things with it vis-a-vis network management, but we'll have to wait for the 5E12 release for anything *that* neat). russ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V12 #28 *****************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07970; 13 Jan 92 2:40 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19127 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 13 Jan 1992 00:14:25 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23791 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 13 Jan 1992 00:14:09 -0600 Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1992 00:14:09 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199201130614.AA23791@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V12 #29 TELECOM Digest Mon, 13 Jan 92 00:14:00 CST Volume 12 : Issue 29 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? (Bob Ackley) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Wilson Mohr) Re: Digital Cellular Telephony (Bernard Rupe) Re: Information Age Media Bites (Mike Butts) Re: Please Explain the Difference Between CID and ANI (Ronald T. Crocker) Re: Cellular Prices Go Up (Andrew M. Dunn) Re: Cellular Prices Go Up (Toby Nixon) Re: International ANI is Here? (Toby Nixon) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 07 Jan 92 01:16:29 cst From: Bob.Ackley@ivgate.omahug.org (Bob Ackley) Subject: Re: Why do Area Codes Always Have 0/1 as the Second Digit? Reply-To: bob.ackley@ivgate.omahug.org In a message of <03 Jan 92 17:05:34>, Gary Deol (11:30102/2) writes: > Does anybody know why the middle number in a area-code is always a > zero or one? Things that make you say Hmmmmmmmm :^) I believe it's to differentiate the area code numbers from the exchange prefixes (none of which contain a zero or one as the second digit). My dad retired from Pacific Bell in 1976. Way back when direct dial long distance first came around (late fifties?), in our area (Oakland CA) one did not have to dial '1' before the area code to get long distance. The equipment would recognize a 0/1 in the second position as an area code and automatically handle the call as long distance. I think that's the way dad explained it to me, of course that was 30+ years ago and memory fades. msged 1.99S ZTC Bob's Soapbox, Plattsmouth Ne (1:285/2.7) ------------------------------ From: mohr@rtsg.mot.com (Wilson Mohr) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Telephony Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, RTSG Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1992 18:25:35 GMT dasgua@rpi.edu (Anindadeb Vijaykumar Dasgupta) writes: > I read somewhere that in most large cities cellular carriers are > switching to digital systems due to saturation of existing cells. I > couldn't tell what the advantages of this would be: > With analog transmission, each equipment would need 4 KHz. Yes, but it is transmitted via FM requiring at *least* 8Khz of bandwidth. In reality, with guardbands, channel spacing is 30Khz. This is to accomodate overhead information. (i.e channel, power, signal strength readings, etc.) It is actually designed for a peak deviation of 12Khz and 3Khz guardbands. Let me babble. Analog transmissions require more bandwidth to transmit in order to maintain integrity of the intelligence signal. If this is allowed to "splash" adjacent frequencies, the combined result will be deg