Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27858; 23 Aug 94 18:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA16470; Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:20:16 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA16463; Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:20:12 CDT Date: Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:20:12 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408231820.AA16463@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #351 TELECOM Digest Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:20:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 351 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson EPIC Statement on FBI Wiretap Bill (Dave Banisar) North American Electronic Phone Directory (Mona Brennan-Coles) Book Review: "The Internet Unleashed" (Rob Slade) Joining Two Networks Over Dialup or Dedicated Phone Line (Martin Loeffler) LDDS Byys Wiltel (Daily Oklahoman via Wes Leatherock) Add an External Antenna to Prevent Drop Out (Yang Yu-shuang) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Steve Cogorno) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (John Higdon) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (John David Galt) Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? (Robert J. Woodhead) Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay (John Nagle) Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay (Stan Schwartz) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 16:42:34 GMT From: Dave Banisar Subject: EPIC Statement on FBI Wiretap Bill EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill The digital telephony bill recently introduced in Congress is the culmination of a process that began more than two years ago, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation first sought legislation to ensure its ability to conduct electronic surveillance through mandated design changes in the nation's information infrastructure. We have monitored that process closely and have scrutinized the FBI's claims that remedial legislation is necessary. We have sponsored conferences at which the need for legislation was debated with the participation of the law enforcement community, the telecommunications industry and privacy advocates. We have sought the disclosure of all relevant information through a series of requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Having thus examined the issue, EPIC remains unconvinced of the necessity or advisability of the pending bill. As a threshold matter, we do not believe that a compelling case has been made that new communications technologies hamper the ability of law enforcement agencies to execute court orders for electronic surveillance. For more than two years, we have sought the public disclosure of any FBI records that might document such a problem. To date, no such documentation has been released. Without public scrutiny of factual information on the nature and extent of the alleged technological impediments to surveillance, the FBI's claims remain anecdotal and speculative. Indeed, the telecommunications industry has consistently maintained that it is unaware of any instances in which a communications carrier has been unable to comply with law enforcement's requirements. Under these circumstances, the nation should not embark upon a costly and potentially dangerous re-design of its telecommunications network solely to protect the viability of fewer than 1000 annual surveillances against wholly speculative impediments. We also believe that the proposed legislation would establish a dangerous precedent for the future. While the FBI claims that the legislation would not enhance its surveillance powers beyond those contained in existing law, the pending bill represents a fundamental change in the law's approach to electronic surveillance and police powers generally. The legislation would, for the first time, mandate that our means of communications must be designed to facilitate government interception. While we as a society have always recognized law enforcement's need to obtain investigative information upon presentation of a judicial warrant, we have never accepted the notion that the success of such a search must be guaranteed. By mandating the success of police searches through the re-design of the telephone network, the proposed legislation breaks troubling new ground. The principle underlying the bill could easily be applied to all emerging information technologies and be incorporated into the design of the National Information Infrastructure. It could also lead to the prohibition of encryption techniques other than government-designed "key escrow" or "Clipper" type systems. In short, EPIC believes that the proposed digital telephony bill raises substantial civil liberties and privacy concerns. The present need for the legislation has not been established and its future implications are frightening. We therefore call upon all concerned individuals and organizations to express their views on the legislation to their Congressional representatives. We also urge you to contact Rep. Jack Brooks, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to share your opinions: Rep. Jack Brooks Chair, House Judiciary Committee 2138 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3951 (voice) (202) 225-1958 (fax) The bill number is H.R. 4922 in the House and S. 2375 in the Senate. It can be referred to as the "FBI Wiretap Bill" in correspondence. Electronic Privacy Information Center 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Suite 301 Washington, DC 20003 (202) 544-9240 (voice) (202) 547-5482 (fax) EPIC is a project of the Fund for Constitutional Government and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. ------------------------------ From: boris@uwovax.uwo.ca Subject: North American Electronic Phone Directory Date: 23 Aug 94 05:45:02 EDT Organization: CCS, UWO, London, Ontario, Canada Hello: My name is Mona and I am the analyst/programmer for Telecommunications at The University of Western Ontario. We now spending approximately $25,000 for North American Long Distance and Local Directory Charges. We are currently investigating alternatives to provide Directory Assistance to our users via our Switchboard. I am aware of "CanadaPhone" -- a CD-ROM listing of ten million Canadian Households and Businesses -- from Pro CD Inc., Marblehead, Maine. This company also produces a multi-CD US wide directory plus separate 1-800 and European Business Lists. These products with quarterly updates would cost us approximately $2500 annually. Our initial investment for hardware for four operator positions would be approximately $20,000. This system would pay for itself in one year and generate significant cost savings after that. For the initial $500 investment for all products, we were planning to order the disks and try it out. However, in the August 11,1994 edition of {The Toronto Star}, Gerry Blackwell discusses this product and its limitations -- out of date, Windows program driving the first version is buggy and causes "frequent, not nice" crashes. I am contacting the author for more details and the company for their comments to this article. My questions are: 1. Has anyone used this product? What was your experience? 2. Has anyone used another product? I will summarize the responses I receive plus any other information I collect if anyone is interested. Mona Brennan-Coles ITS-Telecommunications Natural Sciences Centre 211C INTERNET: brennan-coles@uwo.ca The University of Western Ontario FAX: 519-661-4304 London, Ontario CANADA N6A 5B7 VOICE: 519-661-3323 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 01:52:07 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Internet Unleashed" BKINTUNL.RVW 940520 Sams Publishing 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 or 201 West 103rd St. Indianapolis, IN 46290 317-581-3718 fax: 317-581-4669 hayden@hayden.com haydenbks@aol.com 76350.3014@compuserve.com "The Internet Unleashed", various, 1994, 0-672-30466-X, U$44.95/C$58.95 At over 1400 pages in total, this book weighs in as the most massive Internet tome received to date. It is "net-like" in another way: it seems to have been produced the way the Internet is run, by consensual anarchy. No one is taking responsibility here; there isn't even an editor listed. Individual items in the book are excellent. Overall, there is a tremendous resource of Internet information. Unfortunately, there are also inconsistencies in the quality, style, audience, and technical level of the material. One chapter may contain an in-depth analysis of certain RFCs and specifications, while the next is a "gee-whiz-isn't- this-neat" puff piece. There are sixty-two chapters, and a detailed table of contents which takes up thirty-two pages, alone. The five chapters of parts one and two are the usual conceptual and historical introduction. Part three is a guide to access and connection, and generally pretty useful. Part four covers communication, including mail, mailing lists, Usenet news and real time chat systems. Some of the chapters give great detailed documentation on, for example, various UNIX mail readers, but related chapters give little coverage of the use of mail for information gathering and dissemination. Part five should probably have been two parts, as it deals with both access tools for obtaining information, and resource tools for finding information. True, there is a reason for linking related access and resource tools, but that is not how the chapters are organized in any case. Parts six to nine look at specific uses for business, libraries, education, and community purposes. A good idea, but mostly weak material. Part ten looks at issues and controversies; by no means exhaustive, and inconsistent in quality. Part ten lists diversions. The appendices contain some solid information; the PDIAL list, handy Internet tools, UNIX basics; and some miscellaneous stuff. The volume of paper does not correspond to an equal volume of material. There is much duplication of content. Chapter two covers the growth of the Internet and acceptable use policies -- topics which spawn two later chapters (thirty-five and thirty-seven) with almost identical information. Chapter fourteen, on internetwork addressing, has a very helpful and practical section on finding email addresses. This is also the topic of chapter twenty, which has a broader range of directory tools, but is far less helpful, and misses a number of the most useful. There are also a number of holes in the coverage. The chapter on the use of mailing and distribution lists concentrates almost exclusively on the BITNET LISTSERV system, with only token mention of the others. These and other gaps should have been filled, rather than wasting forty pages giving sample gopher screens, or the two chapters which are little more than advertising for commercial systems. There is some good information and a few great pieces. The tips on how to set up a mailing list or gopher could be very useful, and the list of Internet related tools is first rate. However, there are also holes, errors and dross. I would recommend this as a resource, but not necessarily as a sole source. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTUNL.RVW 940520. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: Martin Loeffler Subject: Joining Two Networks Over Dialup or Dedicated Phone Line Organization: UTCC Public Access Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 11:30:09 -0400 I'm trying to pass ip and ipx packets between an ethernet network and a localtalk network over a phone line, and need suggestions on ways to do this. The set up has to pass both ip and ipx packets only. Appletalk would be good, but is not manditory. The connection would be low bandwidth, with little or no sustained continuous throughput, and would serve about 20 people. My first thought is to connect a netblazer on the ethernet end to a 28.8 modem, and then to another 28.8, but I don't know much about what I'd connect to the localtalk end of things, nor do I know if a netblazer would pass ipx. For background, we have two buildings. One building is on campus and will be connected to the campus ether backbone. The other building is older, and off campus. It has an existing localtalk network, and would like to be able to access the net (telnet, mosaic, etc) and our mail system (First Class, for which we have an ipx module, and for which no ip module is yet available). Please reply via email, I will summarize if there's any interest. Thanks for any and all suggestions. Martin Loeffler loeffler@utgpu.utoronto.ca (The University of Toronto HELP 978-7879 (The Faculty of Education OFFICE 978-7880 (The Technology for Enhancing Learning Centre FAX 978-6775 (Computer Operations)))) FE 346a ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 09:16:48 Subject: LDDS Buys Wiltel From The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) for Tuesday, August 23, 1994 Most of Tulsa-based WilTel Inc. will be sold to Mississippi's LDDS Communications Inc. in a $2.5 billion cash deal, officials with both companies said Monday. ....... LDDS, the nation's fourth-largest long-distance phone company, will buy WilTel Network Services, the long-distance operations of rival WilTel. The purchase comes after almost three months of financial courtship. [WilTel is a subsidiary of Tulsa-based Williams Cos. Inc.] ....... Last year WilTel had $663.8 million in revenues. In the first six months of this year, the company has recorded $413.4 million in revenues, [Linda] Laughlin [a WilTel spokewoman] said. ....... Williams will retain WilTel Communications Systems, a supplier of telecommunications equipment and services in Woodland [sic], Texas, and Vyvx, the Tulsa-based operator of a national video network used by TV broadcasters. LDDS officials said the company had a $3.25 billion underwriting commitment from a bank group managed by NationsBank to finance the purchase. The group also will back LDDS in refinancing $550 million in existing debt. The transaction ends LDDS overtures for WilTel. Williams earlier refected a $2 billion offer for all of WilTel's operations. ....... LDDS surpassed $1 billion in revenues last year.... ....... LDDS is WilTel's second largest customer. Combining LDDS and WilTel networks will create a state-of-the-art digital system of 15,000 miles, Bernard Ebbers, LDDS president, said in a prepared statement. ....... The sale is subject to expiration of a federal anti-trust waiting period. While it must also win approval from the Federal Communications Commission and state public service agencies, WilTel's Laughlin said approval may come in 90 to 120 days. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu ------------------------------ From: yang@mundoe.maths.mu.OZ.AU (Yang Yu-shuang) Subject: Add an External Antenna to Prevent Drop Out Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 08:51:03 GMT Dear friends, I am using a Voxson 899 analogue handheld phone (I think it is a local version of a AT&T model). The problem with it is that I am having a lot of drop outs. The signal strength in my office registers for two segments (out of four) on the phone display. Each time someone ring me up, the first thing for me to do is asking their number and then call back using a normal landline phone. The problem became serious about two months ago. Usually, the drop outs happen about 45" - 1.30" after the connection. The other party's voice is replaced with white noise. After that, the white noise will continue for a few seconds and the timer still goes. Then, the phone will return to standby mode. It makes no difference whether I originated the call or just to receive a call. I don't have the problem in area with a stronger signal. The questions I am asking are: (1) What is likely to be wrong, the phone itself or the network? What kind of problem it could be? (2) As I don't have problem when the signal is stronger, I am thinking of get an external antenna. A car kit would be too much just for that. Is there a simple way to connect an external antenna? At the bottom of the phone, it has a socket. It has a flat part with six metal straps on one face and five on the other. It also has a round connect which looks like a co-axial connector. Is this co-axial connector for the external antenna? If the answer is yes, how do I get it connected to an antenna? The socket looks like the following: ------------------------------------- | | | | I I I I I /^\ | | ( O ) | | | | | | | \./ | | | ------------------------------------- Any help or information would be appreciated. Thanks, YS Yang yang@maths.mu.oz.au ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 09:54:11 PDT Alan Boritz said: > Do you honestly believe that just because you ring my phone, that I > HAVE to talk to you? After a dozen or so telesleaze calls in one > morning, I'd find that opinion laughable, at best. I can't believe telemarketing is really this big of a problem. Do people really get daily (or even more frequent) calls? I have had this phone number for almost four years and the only telemarketing/ annoyance calls have been the local newspaper calling everytime I move to ask about the paper, and a collection agency that wanted me to spy on my neighbor. (Don't know where they got my number.) I would say I have received < five telemarketing calls over four years. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 21:13:36 -0700 From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Paul A. Lee writes: > Part of the audio analysis done by the software is to use cadence and > stress patterns to detect answering machines and intercept messages, > to prevent switching a non-productive call to an agent. It's *very* > likely that the canned announcement being proposed in Laurence's plan > would be sensed as a non-productive answer. A bit of PE (Personal Experience) here: I have had a simple front end on my home phone since 1987. You get three choices: leave a message, ring through, activate a pager. This gives a caller the opportunity to leave a message in the middle of the night without waking me up. But the caller always has the opportunity to determine for himself how important his call might be. What you may find unbelievable is the fact that in nearly seven years, I have yet to have one single telemarketing call penetrate the front end. Not one! Make no mistake: my private, unlisted numbers which are unscreened, get plenty of random telemarketing pitches. This is primarily why a smile comes to my face when someone tells me that he has an unlisted number to avoid junk calls. It would appear that the dialer of the call, be it human or machine, determines early on that the number with the front end is a dead end, saleswise. John Higdon | P.O. Box 7648 | +1 408 264 4115 | FAX: john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: John_David_Galt@cup.portal.com Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 18:24:47 PDT > to have a secret code *which only his friends know about to start with* > which is not announced on the recording. That's the way my 800 number > that I got from MyLine works: If you press the proper code number during > the greeting your call gets automatically forwarded to where I am at; > otherwise you go to voicemail. The thing is, I don't tell the caller > that ahead of time -- they have to know about it. MyLine is a very good If only I could get this feature on a regular, non-800 line, I'd switch to it in an instant. For a long time I have wanted to build a device which would do the same thing on a POTS line. If there is an EE out there who could design it, I may want to hire you. John David Galt 510 278-8392 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, the people at MyLine will give you a local San Luis Obispo number (is that 804?) which terminates on their switch -- they don't care. You pay the same rates I think, meaning it gets a bit more expensive considering the caller is paying to reach you also. The local dialup would work the same way as if it had gone in there on an 800 number; same forwarding, voicemail, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: trebor@foretune.co.jp (Robert J Woodhead) Subject: Re: Personal ACD vs. Telemarketers? Date: 23 Aug 1994 11:02:01 GMT Organization: Foretune Co., Ltd. In john (j.m.) clarke writes: > Of course, I know this letter will hit the bit bin with all the other > articles that point out PAT's errors, but I thought I'd try. I have to take issue with this. In my experience, the _easiest_ way to get published in the digest it to point out PAT's errors or opine that he is full of it. He feels morally compelled in most cases to publish them. However, form is important. When slamming Pat, a certain amount of civility is considered good form. BAD : Pat, you're a know-nothing phone-card-selling sleaze. GOOD: Our esteemed moderator is a underinformed overopinioned marketer of long distance services. (Of course, PAT might just not print this just to be contrary -- and if I said "I bet he will" he probably won't, so I wont!) Robert J. Woodhead, Biar Games / AnimEigo, Incs. trebor@forEtune.co.jp ALL GENERAL ANIMEIGO QUERIES SHOULD GO TO 72447.37@compuserve.com. PLEASE [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It also helps if you are full of it and if I need a good laugh for the day. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 17:05:31 GMT Carl Moore writes: > So what would those protesting companies do regarding the crowding in > present area 708? I take it those "wireless" services do get incoming > calls, so if those services go to area code 630, some people will have > to send out word to those who call them. It's time to go to eight-digit local numbers, as France and Japan have done. If they did it, the US can do it. John Nagle ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay Date: 22 Aug 1994 21:01:38 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All that would change is the area code > of the cellular/pager device, not the number itself. In other words if > your cellular number was 708-234-5678 it would become 630-234-5678. Unless you know that for a fact, Pat, that's not always the case. In NY, CellOne NY/NJ is busy changing 212 numbers to 917 (forced 718 to 917 is still to come for their customers). One of your options is to bring your phone to where you bought it for re-programming. It would be impossible to guarantee everyone the same number in the overlay area code. Here's why: - What are the odds that CellOne was allocated the same prefixes in 917 as they were in 212/718? - If CO/NY actually GETS the same prefixes, what are the odds that every dealer is allocated the same numbers that the all had in 212/718? - What if my CellOne number is 212-555-1234 and some other guy has 718-555-1234. Who gets 917-555-1234? Whoever doesn't gets a NEW cell number. - Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When 708 was split from 312 a few years ago, the prefixes were simply carried intact out of 312 into the new code. Then, after an interval of six months or so, they started using the prefixes (which had gotten moved to 708) all over again in 312. I am told there is very little overlap or duplication of *cellular* prefixes between 312 and 708. That is, if 312-xxx exists as a cellular prefix then there is no 708-xxx, and vice versa. There are exceptions. The 312 cellular prefixes and 708 cellular prefixes will be 'woven together' into 630. Duplication of prefixes will be rare and where duplication of prefixes does occur, duplication of numbers *within the prefix* will be rarer still. In other words, maybe there is both a 312-xxx and a 708-xxx, both in cellular service. Will there then also be 312-xxx-yyyy and 708-xxx-yyyy? I believe in the couple of instances where 312 and 708 both have the same prefix in cellular service that 'both sides' of the area code boundary are assigned to the same carrier, meaning then it will only be a matter of possibly having to untangle a few subscribers. Furthermore, I am given to understand that the new 630 will be sophisticated enough that calls can be sorted out to carriers all the way to seven digits, like 800 calls are now. I don't think it will be necessary to have entire prefixes assigned to any certain carrier, although that might be useful and handy where billing purposes are concerned. If necessary, I am told xxx-0001 can be routed to one carrier and xxx-0002 can be routed to the other carrier for example. Despite all this there may be a few overlaps but they should be rare. I think IBT quit duplicating cellular prefixes between the 312/708 areas some time ago when they began planning the eventual merger of the two into 630. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #351 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15588; 24 Aug 94 16:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05630; Wed, 24 Aug 94 11:55:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05623; Wed, 24 Aug 94 11:55:09 CDT Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 11:55:09 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408241655.AA05623@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #352 TELECOM Digest Wed, 24 Aug 94 11:55:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 352 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Multi-User Real-Time Environments (Virtual Universe Product Information) Sony or Northern Telecom Speakerphone Sources? (Gary L. Dare) FCC To Hold Broadband PCS Press Conference (Bob Keller) Ameritech Cellular in Chicago Down For 30 Minutes (John Gilbert) Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? (John Lundgren) Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? (Richard L. Barnaby) Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? (John Levine) Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? (John Lundgren) Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? (Seth B. Rothenberg) Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? (Brian Nunes) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: info@virtual.cuc.ab.ca (Virtual Universe Product Information) Subject: Multi-User Real-Time Environments Organization: Virtual Universe Corp Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 18:55:37 GMT *PRODUCT RELEASE* THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE WHAT IS THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE ? The Parallel Universe is a real-time, many-user Shared Virtual Reality (SVR) server designed to be accessed using standard dial-up telephone lines. Applications do not run on the server itself. Rather, a user's application runs on their local computer and communicates with other users sharing the same virtual space(s) through The Parallel Universe. Users working within a common virtual space do so interactively. Changes made by one user are reflected in real-time in the displays of users sharing the workspace. Multiple applications and virtual spaces can operate concurrently on the system, to a practical maximum of 100 users at once (in a full commercial system with all operating with spatially-relative voice communications. Development platforms are 10-user only.). The Parallel Universe accepts each user's data stream via conventional high-speed modem, processes it using proprietary algorithms to determine relevance to other users, and then directs all or part of the data stream to those relevant users. User relevance is fundamental to system operation as it allows the user to have the illusion of having all information available from all other users at all times without the expensive communications bandwidth requirements normally associated with this type of data availability. The Parallel Universe, in full system form, is enhanced by spatially-relative audio teleconferencing. This allows users to communicate with each other, speaking naturally while operating within the same workspace. The audio teleconferencing features distance attenuation designed to emulate "real world" behaviour, and stereo panning using a proprietary system called "Steereo". The Parallel Universe has been designed to operate using a single standard telephone line in order to access the widest possible user base. This design allows developers to present real- time, fully interactive applications to the end-user in the home and/or workplace. WHY USE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE? IF YOU ARE A TELEPHONE COMPANY: COST and MARKET PENETRATION. The Parallel Universe can deliver real-time interactive services over low bandwidth media so current potential users are not forced to purchase high bandwidth service, such as ISDN, in order to access this type of service. This broadens the user base dramatically and acclimatizes the user to these types of applications. Once the users are accustomed to using these type of services, they are more likely to accept the cost of increased bandwidth for enhanced on- line services. One of the big obstacles in the way commercialization of interactive services is the lack of "content" on the real-time interactive networks. Content providers are demanding a large customer base on the networks prior to committing resources while the networks are insisting that they need content before they can get customer base. The Parallel Universe breaks this impasse by allowing the telephone companies an opportunity to provide a substantial user base to the content providers and thereby facilitating the creation of content for the network. IF YOU ARE DEVELOPING CONCURRENT ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS: COST and COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. Each year greater than $750 million is spent in the U.S. alone for the sole purpose of putting design engineers in the same room to collaborate on the design phase of projects. To put people in the same room costs money in the form of airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and lost time. Currently, engineering companies are moving people carrying data rather than moving only the data. The Parallel Universe allows engineers in many different locations to "travel" to a common virtual "location" without the expense associated with transport of the engineers themselves. This ability is particularly useful in 3-dimensional design tasks. Furthermore, because The Parallel Universe can use a standard telephone line to accomplish this, costs are significantly reduced. Companies using The Parallel Universe will enjoy a distinct competitive advantage. IF YOU ARE A VIDEOGAME DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: MARKET PENETRATION AND EXTENDED SHELF LIFE. There is currently a shift occurring toward networked, many-player videogames as an alternative to stand-alone videogames. This shift is partially the result of games developers desire to extend the "shelf life" of their products but there is also a consensus amongst games developers that the stand-alone videogame market may have reached its peak. Many of these same games developers believe that networked many-player games are a growth market with little competition. A typical videogame will have a shelf life of only 6-8 months where the majority of product sales will occur. After this time the revenue stream decreases dramatically. This happens because most people that are going to purchase a videogame do so within 6-8 months of its release. Typical stand-alone videogames provide few incentives for users to keep playing after having mastered the game and, as they move on to other games, their word-of-mouth advertising shifts from "old" product to "new" product. Word-of-mouth advertising is the prevalent reason why people buy particular videogames. The main problem is that the user gets bored by the game after he or she has mastered it; mastery of a game is usually a function of memorizing the pre-programmed play of the game. In network play the user never truly masters the game because the actions of other users are not predictable and therefore not memorizable. Each session of a networked many-player game is different than the one before so the user does not easily get bored. This extends the shelf life of the product in two ways: 1. The initial users continue their play and word-of-mouth advertising; and 2. New users are required to purchase the game in order to become part of the networked experience. Recognition of the advantages (i.e. increased shelf life) of networked many-player games has created a need amongst the games developers for a development platform upon which to develop these networked games. Until now there have been no commonly available network development platforms and games developers have been forced to use non-economical networking schemes, such as high bandwidth ethernet, to provide networked play. Since virtually no-one has ethernet bandwidth in their home, the market has been severely limited for these products. The Parallel Universe development platform addresses this bandwidth problem and allows games developers to develop products for the networked, many-user, in-home game market *NOW*. IF YOU ARE A VIRTUAL REALITY DEVELOPER: COST and MARKET PENETRATION Get your application into the home NOW. With the availability of real-time 3D renderers such as Renderware and RealityLab, VR in the home can now be a reality. With The Parallel Universe you can network these VR generators in the home and have access to a larger market. And you don't have to wait for fiber or ISDN! The Parallel Universe gets into the home now at a price that the users have said they will pay. The Parallel Universe is available now as a software only development platform, complete with PC API, that is ideal for companies wishing to capitalize on the increasing demand for true real-time many-player games and concurrent CAD-type applications using PC's as the user node. The Parallel Universe development software is expandable to a full voice-enabled commercial system. Customers are advised that voice-capable systems require custom hardware and are built when ordered. Pricing is quoted at time of order. FEATURES 1. Data Filtering This function substantially reduces network traffic by separating motion packets (motion packets are the ones primarily responsible for network saturation) from other types of packets and only sending the motion packets where they are actually needed by a user at any specific point in time. 2. Internal Object and User Database The server keeps lists of all "objects" and "users" within any number of "universes". Objects may be points, vertices, animations, colours, textures, or user defined. The server holds the current "state" of each universe for updating users as they log on. 3. PC Application Programmers Interface The PC is a large potential market due to the large installed base. Most applications that run on a PC can be ported to The Parallel Universe. A Silicon Graphics API is planned. 4. Low Latency Typical system lags are less than 100 ms with system updates at 25hz. 5. Low/High Bandwidth Capability If real-time interactive, multi-user applications are to reach users in their homes, studies have shown that they must be at a very low cost. This requirement rules out the expense of high bandwidth communications. Since The Parallel Universe can use either low or high bandwidth, developers can get their applications into the home or business without having to wait for high bandwidth installation. 6. Spatially-relative Voice Why bother with a second telephone line or separate teleconferencing service to speak to other users in a multi-user session? The Parallel Universe features fully integrated multi-source voice communications enhanced with distance attenuation and left-right cuing. This is possibly the most advanced voice conferencing bridge available today. 7. Commercialization Path The Parallel Universe allows developers to create applications using a low cost development platform that is the same underlying software as the commercial systems use. This means that developers with market ready applications do not need to wait for further development of The Parallel Universe to commercialize their products. Full system R&D is already complete! If an application is ready for commercialization, so is The Parallel Universe. Royalty rates are low and vary dependant upon application. PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS SUN SPARC running SUNOS 4.1.3 with up to 10 serial ports with 9600bps or faster modems to act as the central server. 80386-or-better-based PCs act as application platforms. PRICING Pricing ranges from US$ 3,500 for a 10 user, software-only, development platform up to US$ 250,000. for a full 100-user commercial system. Many intermediate custom configurations are available. Customers will have a 30 day, full refund trial period on entry level software platforms. Royalty rates on commercial systems are dependant on the application. Please contact the Company for details. Virtual Universe Corporation is a public company trading on The Alberta Stock Exchange (symbol VRX). Virtual Universe Corporation Suite 510, 700-4th. Ave. SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3J4 Voice: (403) 261-5652 Fax: (403) 237-0005 Internet: info@virtual.cuc.ca.ab ------------------------------ From: gld@prairienet.org (Gary L. Dare) Subject: Sony or Northern Telecom Speakerphone Sources? Date: 24 Aug 1994 04:14:17 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Reply-To: gld@prairienet.org (Gary L. Dare) I'm looking for sources of new or refurb speakerphones from either Sony or Northern Telecom. The NT models that I've come across in the business world are particularly impressive and if they're not full duplex, their transitions are so smooth that it was not noticeable ... Gary L. Dare formerly gld@columbia.edu gld@prairienet.org uk960@freenet.victoria.bc.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 13:30:25 EDT From: Bob Keller Subject: FCC To Hold Broadband PCS Press Conference MEDIA ALERT August 22, 1994 Media contacts: Audrey Spivack and Susan Lewis Sallet at (202) 418-0500 BROADBAND PCS AUCTION SEMINAR PRESS CONFERENCE WASHINGTON, D.C. ON AUGUST 29 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a press conference at Atlantic Studios on August 29 at 4 p.m., immediately following the Commission's broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) seminar. The press conference will feature FCC auction staff experts who can address media questions regarding the auction process. This seminar and those held in Chicago, Denver and San Francisco are designed to educate the public on the rules and procedures involved in auctions for licenses to provide broadband PCS in the 2 GHz. All seminars are open to the press. The broadband PCS seminar will be held at Atlantic Studios, 650 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM EDT. This seminar will also be transmitted nationwide via satellite (SBS 6, Transponder 16) to remote sites in Atlanta, Dallas and Seattle. WHO: FCC Auction Experts WHAT: Broadband PCS press conference WHERE: Atlantic Studios, 650 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Rehearsal Room 5, Washington, D.C. WHEN: Monday, August 29, 1994 - 4:00 PM -FCC- Bob Keller Robert J. Keller, P.C. Tel +1 301 229 5208 rjk@telcomlaw.com Telecommunications Law Fax +1 301 229 6875 finger me for FCC Daily Digests and miscellaneous FCC releases ------------------------------ From: johng@ecs.comm.mot.com (John Gilbert) Subject: Ameritech Cellular in Chicago down for 30 Minutes Organization: Motorola, LMPS Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 08:18:23 -0500 Last Saturday morning (8/20) at about 12:15 AM, I got in my car and noticed I had the no-service indicator lit on my cellular phone. I got out and checked my antenna thinking that someone might have pulled it off. My antenna is still attached. I select Cellular one from the keypad and I see that they are on the air an that my phone roams over to them just fine. It appears that my phone is OK. Ameritech must have lost a cell site. I drive through several cells and I still have a no-service light. I am really wondering about the extent of the trouble now, so I picked up my SMR handset and place a call to Ameritech Chicago customer service. The CSR first tells me that "We have lost a cell site and hope to be back on the air shortly." After I tell him that I have driven ten miles and have been out of service the whole time, he admits, "The whole Chicagoland system is down and has been down for the last 20 minutes!" The system came back up at 12:21 AM. I have seen many articles recently where cellular is promoted for critical communications needs such as police and emergency medical service patient telemetry (not to mention personal safety needs). I wonder how many of these customers realized that they were without service for approximately 30 minutes the other night. John Gilbert johng@ecs.comm.mot.com KA4JMC ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? Date: 24 Aug 1994 16:53:26 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Maybe someone could clarify my understanding of what goes on in the CO and between COs during a modem session. At one time, many trunks between COs had voice compression so that more channels could be squeezed in. When a data call was made, the voice compression was disabled so that it wouldn't affect the data. Many trunks have been upgraded to digital carrier equipment, and some of the trunks are no on Fiber Optics. One of the 'pair gain' equipment I hear the telco people mention is the SLIC 5. I've never asked our reps how all this is done today. I suppose that things may have changed and the voice compression no longer is used. The reason behind this is that I often hear our Computer Club members complain that they have problems dialing into the club's BBS, and yet I don't have a problem. They find that they can call other BBSs no problem, but only certain modem lines like ours has the problem. The sysop has had some things to say about this too. He said that Pac Bell replaced the cables around his neighborhood in the last few years, and that cleared up most of the problems he had been having. Recently, the CO cut over to a 5 ESS switch, so this may be another variable. He also says that he has had other complaints from users in the same general area, and thinks it has something to do with the telco, and not with the lines from the user's house to the CO or the sysop's modem lines to the CO, since they work Ok for other users. I have suspected that it might have something to do with the voice compression equipment not being taken out of the trunk during the data session. Or maybe the routing of the call has something to do with it. I've heard that sometimes the following routing happens. The trunks between two COs are all busy so the call is routed to a regional CO and then back out to the other CO. This is an acceptable circuit for voice, but for data, it possibly has some problem. Thanks for any input. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: barnaby@world.std.com (Richard L Barnaby) Subject: Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 18:18:23 GMT johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) writes: > I'm here at my summer headquarters at the beach in New Jersey, and I'm > having incredible trouble getting a reliable modem connection. Half > the time, the modem won't even shake hands, the other half of the time > the connection dies after somewhere between one and fifteen minutes. I'd suspect TELCO. Probably noisy lines. There are many Telebits. Are you using V.32? If so, probably not Telebit. If using Telebit's proprietary PEP protocol, I have not had good luck with that protocol over adverse lines, and have recently replaced all Telebits (older Trailblazers) with Hayes V.32. > I've tried this with two different modems, a Megahertz PCMCIA and a > GBC (or maybe GVC, it's an OEM version without a label) external modem. > The other end is a bank of five Telebits. I'm trying to connect at > 14.4K V.32bis. I agree with Moderator here, back off to 9600 and try. IMHO you need to place a trouble call with TELCO and let them "put the meter" on the circuit. > I'm in Harvey Cedars NJ (609-361), the other end is in Pleasantville > (609-485) which is a local call albeit a different CO. Both COs have > modern electronic switches. I have two phone lines here and have > about the same amount of trouble with either. Things work best in the > morning, worst around midnight. (Strange but true.) There is no > audible noise that I can hear on the line. I had the same problem > last year but though that it was due to the cheapo Sportster modem I > was using. I've had many "strange" occurances that turned out to be "noise" on the lines. The fact that it is time-of-day-sensitive might point to external sourced noise. For example, around here in Vermont, we have electric fences for cows. If the grass isn't cut or eaten near the fence (who wants to mow next to an electric fence, or what cow wants to eat next to one) then on rainy days, the wet grass hits the fence and puts a pulse directly to ground. This click-click noise is not audible except on my ultra-sensitive-headset, but can be seen on the TELCO's meter (the meter swings about once per second). Another time, a client of mine in Paramount, CA was having modem problems at 10:00 AM every morning. As I drove to his site, I noticed a large transformer on the telephone pole next to his office. At 10:00 I went outside, and heard a very loud humming from the transformer. After calling the power company, and getting the transformer replaced, the "strange modem problem" at 10:00 AM went away. The transformer didn't have much load, but at 10:00, \a neighboring industry began some process that took the load to overload, and the weak transformer was so noisy. PS: I actually could "hear" the noise at 10:00, by listening to the line Check your cable from your "Summer headquarters" at the beach. Often, beach connections will deterioriate with salt air and water and water in your lines (through a crack in the insulation) can\ cause "intermittent" problems (bad on days after it rains) > Any suggestions? If I shelled out for a Telebit would it be > likely to work any better? Any magic things I can say to repair > service beyond "my fax machine keeps hanging up" ? Don't buy a Telebit to solve a noise line. If you want a Telebit anyway mine is for sale, make an offer Telebit Trailblazer Plus. Tell your repair service that you want to check the resistance on the lines to be sure that there are no "leaks" (Electron leaks), and check the physical routing of your cable to the Telephone company demarc. Is it underground? How old is it? What kind of cable is it? Is it proper cable (Sometimes people use non-underground type cable because it's "just a short run". See what other lines are nearby? Do other telephones work, any neighbors you can try out? Power cables/Transformers? Any Industry nearby? (Look for large overhead power wires). Ask if there is any "digital" service that might be less prone to noise. We people, unfortunatly, have come to believe that our digital modems are "just-ones'and-zeros", but the reality is that modems are analog devices, and subject to all the sins and deficiencies of the "real world" (as opposed to cyber-world). In other words Noise-is-a-bitch. Good Luck. Barnaby barnaby@world.std.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 11:42:00 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? > I'm here at my summer headquarters at the beach in New Jersey, [and I can't > get a modem connection to work ...] Re lots of helpful suggestions, connections don't stay up a heck of a lot better at 2400 bps than they do at 9600 or 14.4K. Someone suggested that MNP is more robust than V.42; that seems to help a little. Lots of people pointed out that Telebit V.32 (the other end is a bank of Telebits) is not hugely compatible with everyone else's V.32. I'll try to borrow a T2500 and see if that works any better. I told the telco that I had fax problems, by the way (which was true, faxing to their fax machine doesn't work very well, either.) After a few calls back and forth, one of the telco guys said "faxes send data, we don't promise they'll work on voice lines." Of course, there's no other kind of line you can order. Welcome to New Jersey, home of the Information Rutted Dirt Track. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? Date: 24 Aug 1994 17:04:48 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Brian Nunes (bnunes@netcom.com) wrote: > I have a bizarre question, if reading the rest of the posts is any > indication. I have a 14.4 bps modem and I have call waiting, but my > question is not how to turn off the call waiting, but how to let the > second call get through. Apparently the "click" or "beep" to let me > know I have a second call is seen as "noise" by the modem, which then > error-corrects it away. > There are times when I *WANT* a voice call to come through, so I > specifically DO NOT TURN OFF call waiting. Sometimes it will knock me > offline, but quite often I later find out that my line just rang and > rang with a second call, and I had no idea (no weird characters on the > screen, no loss of carrier). > Any idea how I can make my modem "more sensitive" to the call-waiting > beep, without disabling error-correction? If you add up the monthly cost of the call waiting and other features on your line, and subtract them from the cost of another separate line, I would say that the difference isn't that much more. It's probably a better idea to get a separate line for your modem. Another way to go is to call forward your calls to another number, maybe a voice mail service, so that you won't miss any call. Obviously you can't have an answering machine on the line since it's busy with the modem. I wouldn't want the call waiting to interrupt my modem session, because it slows it down and can possibly interrupt and/or corrupt the data. In the case of a .ZIP file, some small error can ruin the whole file. It's foolish to risk this. And some sysops get riled when you terminate a call by hanging up on their equipment. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: rothen+@pitt.edu (Seth B Rothenberg) Subject: Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? Date: 24 Aug 1994 14:19:45 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh In article bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes) writes: > I have a bizarre question, if reading the rest of the posts is any > indication. I have a 14.4 bps modem and I have call waiting, but my > question is not how to turn off the call waiting, but how to let the > second call get through. Apparently the "click" or "beep" to let me > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, there isn't any way to do it. I > don't know how many times over the years here there have been articles > asking how to *avoid* being knocked off by call waiting; this seems > to be the first saying the person wants to be knocked off. I suggest > its impossible to have it both ways. I have read about a patent issued for a modem that does exactly what was described. The modem recognizes the 'call waiting' tone, and negotiates with the remote modem to "hold on." Then, it flashes, and let's the user talk. I assume there's a protocol for resuming also. Seth [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have never heard of any way to negotiate with a distant modem telling it to 'hold on'. Either the carrier is present or it is not present. If carrier is lost the other end disconnects. If you are on a call waiting, you can't very well send carrier to the first party at the same time. And anyone who was willing to have their modem configured in such a way that lacking carrier it was still willing to sit patiently on the line is a fool. I'll call every modem I know of and tell them to 'hold on' until infinity then disconnect the line. Please give us more details on this Seth. I would love to know of a modem that does not require a carrier to sit off hook patiently forever waiting for its original caller to return -- with carrier -- to the line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes) Subject: Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? Organization: This Way Out, the int'l lesbian & gay radio magazine Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 04:13:09 GMT On Wed, 17 Aug 1994 06:00:00 GMT I asked: > Any idea how I can make my modem "more sensitive" to the call-waiting > beep, without disabling error-correction? Despite some pessimists' protestations that it couldn't be done, quite a few people e-mailed me privately on how to do it. Basically, change your S9 register to 6 and the S10 register to 1 (both numbers have to be small, and the S9 register has to be higher). This has worked for me over the past week just fine! The way it works is that S10 (how long carrier needs to be absent before hanging up, in 1/10ths of a second) needs to be smaller than S9 (the minimum amount of time carrier needs to be present to make a connection, in 1/10ths of a second). Both these registers default to rather high numbers, so by making the tolerances smaller, I get more sensitivity to call-waiting. Hope this works for other people! Brian ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #352 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09398; 25 Aug 94 18:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28563; Thu, 25 Aug 94 13:01:25 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28554; Thu, 25 Aug 94 13:01:23 CDT Date: Thu, 25 Aug 94 13:01:23 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408251801.AA28554@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #353 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Aug 94 13:01:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 353 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Companies Comment on N11 Codes (Greg Monti) User Interface Strategies '95 (Run O.J. Run) Report on Public Key Infrastructure (Michael S. Baum) TCA Conference (Bob Hamilton) Phones For High Noise Areas (J. DeBert) Internet Junk Mail (Ken Levitt) AT&T Countering 1 800 COLLECT? (Judith Oppenheimer) Need Help With T1 (Michael J. Logsdon) Traffic Quality Monitoring Equipment Vendor - Settel (?) (Jim Maguire) AT&T True Connections Flyer (Jeffrey W. McKeough) International Modem Communication (Julian Daley) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Aug 1994 12:44:52 EDT From: Greg Monti Subject: Companies Comment on N11 Codes The publication {Communications Daily} is reporting in its August 25, 1994, edition on the comments the FCC has received on assignment of N11 codes to telephone-delivered information services. A summary of the article [with a few comments]: 1. Everybody wants the FCC to take action, but nobody agrees on what it should be. 2. Newspapers and publishers want the FCC to break the "logjam" and to force state regulators to force local telcos to assign N11 codes soon. 3. GTE wants N11 codes to be used only for "public service" purposes, not commercial ones. 4. Caddo Parish (County), Louisiana, complained that that state's PSC had assigned a 311 code to a private ambulance company and customers are confusing it with 911. The Parish doesn't want the usefulness of the 911 service destroyed in people's minds. 5. There are only eight N11 codes and four of them have been reserved by the North American Numbering Plan for internal telephone company use or public service needs. [I count three: 411 (DA), 911 (PSAP) and 611 (repair).] 6. Bell Atlantic, noting that demand exceeds supply, suggested that the FCC assign a few N11 codes as gateways to menus of services. [Gee, if it takes four more key presses to get through the menus to the service you really want, you might as well have dialed a seven-digit number.] 7. GTE and Bell Atlantic agreed that the FCC should pre-empt state assignments of N11 codes so that they are all national, like 411 and 911. 8. GTE said assignment of N11 codes to individual commercial companies would not give the public better access than existing 976, 800 or 900 numbers. It would only give some competitors a leg up on others. 9. Media companies said that assignment of N11 codes to themselves was a "best hope" for bringing "innovative" services. And complained that most LEC's have "resisted efforts to make N11 service available" because they "don't want to give up their monopoly on N11 numbers." They also said that existing N11 services in West Palm Beach and Atlanta "have produced no ill effects, including no consumer confusion between the N11 services and either 411 or 911." 10. The National Newspaper Association urged the FCC not to mandate nationwide or statewide assignment but to allow N11 codes to be assigned locally, protecting local newspapers against national competition. 11. BellSouth said the FCC shouldn't do any assigning. The FCC should "rely on industry processes to identify the optimal balance of relevant technological, economic and marketplace factors for N11 applications." [In other words, just let the telcos assign the codes.] BellSouth also made a significant point, that there is no single N11 code that is not currently in use for either internal use by an LEC, a public service use or a commercial use. So, no national assignments can be made until somebody's existing service is reassigned. 12. MCI suggested giving national asssignments priority over local uses, and to do it "first come, first served." 13. Most of the telcos and information providers advised against assigning any codes to the US Government or to state governments, which were the proposals that spawned this inquiry in the first place. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ From: buzzroll@wam.umd.edu (Run O.J. Run) Subject: User Interface Strategies '95 Date: 25 Aug 1994 15:39:26 GMT Organization: University of Maryland College Park Information Superhighway Seminar! You and members of your organization are invited to participate in a special seminar titled: User Interface Strategies '95: The Information Superhighway Tuesday, December 13, 1994 11 AM - 5 PM Eastern Presented by Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland Frank Stein, IBM H. Rex Hartson & Deborah Hix, Virginia Tech Kent Norman, University of Maryland Five leaders in the field of human-computer interaction present their views on the emerging information superhighway. The topics the presenters will discuss include new and improved user interface strategies, the reality behind the hype of interactive television, the implications in reshaping training and education, and the development of usable interfaces. They emphasize the information superhighway as a central focus for expanding applications of computers in business, education, and the home. They o ffer their vision and suggest exciting technological developments for the new decade. Benefits You will: % Learn and understand the Visual Information Seeking principles (VIS) % Receive insights on the current status of interactive television and the future technology that will lead to the envisioned Information Superhighway; % Perceive education and training as a key component of the Information Superhighway to achieve both professional and personal goals; % Feel assured about the ease and efficiency of the Information Superhighway. Intended Audience User interface designers, programmer, software engineers, interface evaluators, managers in the computing and communications fields, technical writers, human factors specialists, trainers, and marketing personnel. The seminar will benefit all those who need to understand the Information Superhighway and its implications for the future. Biographies Ben Shneiderman is the Head of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, a professor of Computer Science, and a member of the Institute for Systems Research all at the University of Maryland in College Park. His books include Designing the User Interface (2nd Edition), Software Psychology, Hypertext Hands-On!, and Sparks of Innovation in Human-Computer Interaction. Frank Stein, employed by IBM, is responsible for the development of IBM's Video Server software in the Networked Multimedia Division in Bethesda, MD. He has degrees from Carnegie-Mellon, Stanford, and George Washington Universities. He has worked at Bell Laboratories, SBS, and MCI on new communications systems, intelligent networks, advanced user interfaces, and video servers. Kent Norman is an Associate Professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Maryland, a charter member of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, and a member of the Steering Committee for Teaching Technologies. He has taught in electronic classrooms for three years and is the creator of HyperCourseware, an integrated environment for education. He is the author of The Psychology of Menu Selection: Designing Cognitive Control at the Human/Computer Interface. H. Rex Hartson is a professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech and the founder and principal investigator of the pioneering Human-Computer Interaction research project there. He is also the co-author of Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability through Product & Process. Deborah Hix is a Research Computer Scientist for both Virginia Tech and the Naval Research Laboratory located in Washington DC. She is also the co-principal investigator of the Virginia Tech HCI research project and the co-author of Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability through Product & Process. Course Outline and Learning Objectives 11:00-12:00 User Interfaces for Information Visualization: Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland % Define Visual Information Seeking principles % Modify video-on-demand, digital libraries, on-line databases, and organizational directories with map-like overviews % Identify necessary resources 12:00-12:30 Lunch Break 12:30-1:25 Interactive TV: Reality Behind the Hype: Frank Stein, IBM % Discuss the current status of interactive television % Describe the system architecture % Explain necessary technological developments % Predict the future of interactive television 1:35-2:30 Reshaping Training and Education: Kent Norman, University of Maryland % Summarize the importance of interactive television in education and training % Diagram the electronic classroom % Estimate the impact of multimedia, interactivity, and collaborative learning on performance measures 3:00-3:55 The Process for Developing Usable Interfaces: H. Rex Hartson and Deborah Hix, Virginia Tech % Demonstrate ease and efficiency of the Information Superhighway % Control and redesign the iterative process % Ensure universal access 3:55-4:05 Short Break 4:05-5:00 Panel Discussion: Utilization of the Information Superhighway in the Future Enrollment: For more information on how to enroll for this course send your email address to gb24@umail.umd.edu, or call ITV Marketing at (301) 405-4905. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 16:39:21 EDT From: Michael S Baum Subject: Report on Public Key Infrastructure ***NEW INFO. SECURITY BOOK ON PUBLIC KEY LAW & POLICY*** FEDERAL CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY LIABILITY AND POLICY Law and Policy of Certificate-Based Public Key and Digital Signatures by MICHAEL S. BAUM, J.D., M.B.A. Independent Monitoring, Cambridge, MA baum@im.com Published by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology Produced in support of the Federal Government's public key infrastructure study, this book identifies diverse technical, legal and policy issues affecting a certificate-based public key cryptographic infrastructure utilizing digital signatures supported by "trusted entities." It examines potential legal implications, surveys existing legal paradigms and the structures and roles of relevant governmental agencies and presents various institutional approaches to controlling liability. It considers the underpinnings of a legal and policy framework which might serve as a foundation for security policies and their implementation and concludes with a series of recommendations, both general and specific concerning certificate-based public key. Both public and private sector issues are addressed. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS - PREFACE - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. SCOPE III. DEFINITIONS IV. ASSUMPTIONS V. SURVEY OF FCA ACTIVITIES CREATING LIABILITY EXPOSURE VI. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS VII. FCA INFRASTRUCTURE - PROPOSALS AND PARADIGMS VIII. SURVEY OF, AND APPROACHES TO, TRUSTED ENTITY LIABILITY IX. OTHER APPROACHES TO MITIGATE LIABILITY X. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS XI. APPENDICES XII. GLOSSARY XIII. INDEX ORDERING: National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. Tel: (703) 487-4650. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael S. Baum is Principal of Independent Monitoring, a consultancy focused on electronic commerce and information security law. He serves as Chair of the EDI and Information Tech. Div., Section of Science and Technology, American Bar Association and its Information Security Comm.; Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Working Party on Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce; and an ICC Delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). ------------------------------ From: bob hamilton Subject: TCA Conference Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 21:55:19 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard -- Greeley site I've heard there is a pretty good telecom conference held in San Diego each year called the TCA (TeleCommunication Association) Conference! Does anyone have any details? I heard it was first week of October or something?? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: onymouse@netcom.com (J. DeBert) Subject: Phones For High Noise Areas Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 20:42:43 GMT I'm helping (unofficially) the Safety and Facilities departments at my Real Job to get phones for high noise areas at our facility. One particular area is a huge enclosed room full of equipment -- pumps, fans, recirculating coolers, et cetera, which produce high levels of wideband, low frequency and impulse-type noise ranging from 70 to 95dB in the entire area as well as 100dB noise from a 10-inch water supply main valve in one spot. This is causing problems with telephone communications within the area: It is very difficult to hear whom one is talking to on the phone and, sometimes, the other party cannot hear, either. Clearly a safety problem, especially when miscommunication can occur, leading to unsafe equipment operation and when emergency communications are needed. The sets in use are 2554 "Trads" and ATT 3103 wall sets hooked to a 5ESS PBX. Some of the 2554's have amplified handsets and none have nose-suppressing transmitters. (BTW, the 3103's are not type-accepted. Intended solely for use on ATT PBX's, I guess.) I've changed some of the 2554's by adding noise-cancelling transmitters but these are being replaced with 3103's, which have the K-style handsets which the transmitters do not fit. ATT does not offer a noise-cancelling amplified handset for their 3103's. Walker has a "universal" K handset that requires external power. There is no means of providing external power for these and it is neither practical to do so nor is it desired, particularly due to safety considerations (should power in the building fail, then the sets also fail, cutting 1/3 of the building's phone service--if all the sets used them. I've found no other source of sucuh equipment. SO what I'm looking for is either a noise-cancelling, amplified K-style handset that requires no external or battery power for use on the ATT3103 sets or a similar set that is designed for use in high-noise areas. I've seen explosion-proof sets that have these features but they have been unreliable in the past and expensive. Besides, they are not needed. All that is needed is to have sets that can provide reliable communications in a high-noise area and are line-powered. Has anyone ever run into these kinds of sets? Thanks, jd onymouse@netcom.com Box 51067 Pacific Grove, CA, 93950-6067 USA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 17:53:35 EDT From: levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org (Ken Levitt) Subject: Internet Junk Mail Today I received an Internet junk mail advertisment for some book. The message came from Ed Isper of the Isper Publishing Company. I have had no prior correspondence or relationship with this person or company. This message appears to be a mass mailing of commercial material over the Internet. I called the 800 order number to complain, but the number goes to some order processing company. I suggested to them that they stop doing business with such a slime ball company. I suggest that anyone getting this message should call 800-247-6553 and tell them to stop doing business with the Isper Publishing Company. Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 UUCP: zorro9!levitt INTERNET: levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org or levitt%zorro9.uucp@talcott.harvard.edu ------------------------------ From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: AT&T Countering 1 800 COLLECT? Date: 24 Aug 1994 21:07:19 -0400 Organization: The Pipeline I just saw an AT&T ad on TV for 1 800 ATT TIES - "for when you're away and want to call home" (they never say the word "collect".) I got curious, and dialed. And dialed. And dialed. Busy! How about 1 800 ATT TRIES?! J. Oppenheimer Producer@pipeline.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Aug 1994 11:42:53 -0400 From: am339@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael J. Logsdon) Subject: Need Help With T1 Reply-To: am339@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael J. Logsdon) We are here in Ameritech land in Cleveland. We have two SRX phone systems located six miles apart, in different CO's. We have voicemail at one location and want to offer it to the other. I've been told that E&M circuits are the way it is best done. Now I'm reading that T1 and 24 circuit capability and that E&M can be done on T1. I need general help with the jargon and what sort of end equipment we will need. Mike Logsdon University School Cleveland 216-831-2213 ------------------------------ From: Jim Maguire Subject: Traffic Quality Monitoring Equipment Vendor - Settel (?) Date: 25 Aug 1994 02:19:00 GMT Organization: Telstra Australia Is there a vendor of voice traffic monitoring equipment called something like Settel? The equipment would connect to traffic bearers and signalling bearers and collect call quality information. Thanks, Jim Maguire Telstra, Sydney, Australia ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 03:07:31 -0400 From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: AT&T True Connections Flyer Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst I just received a flyer from AT&T about their new 500 number service. The text follows: [begin included text] If you're a person on the move, you need a number that moves with you. AT&T is pleased to bring you AT&T True Connections(sm) -- a new and innovative 500 number service that will help you stay connected to the important people in your life, as well as provide you with access to the latest AT&T technologies. We'll send you complete enrollment information once our tariff is filed with the FCC and approved, and once 500 number access is provided by all local exchange companies. If you've already requested a specific AT&T 500 number, we'll do what we can to accommodate your request. There's been a lot in the press lately about this exciting new way to keep in touch. Here are all the latest details: Q. "What is a 500 number and why should I get one? A. A 500 number is a personal, unlisted number that you can get from AT&T. You, alone, decide who to give it to and when and where people will be able to reach you. With an AT&T 500 number, you can forward your calls to virtually any phone, virtually anywhere in the world, any time of the day or might. So instead of having to give out your home, office, car, cellular and other numbers, you can simply give out your AT&T 500 number and people can reach you without having to know where you are. Q. "Do I have to be an AT&T customer to get a 500 number from AT&T?" A. Yes. At this time, your long distance phone service must be through AT&T. If it's not, we can easily switch you to AT&T when you call to activate your AT&T 500 number. We'll even pay any switching fee your local telephone company may charge you. Q. "Who pays for the calls to an AT&T 500 number?" A. You decide. You can give callers the option to bill their calls to the phone they're calling from or to charge them to their calling card. Or you can give a PIN (personal identification number) to special people whose calls you'd like to pay for -- your child away from school, your mother overseas -- and they'll be able to bill their calls back to you. Q. "What are the costs associated with an AT&T 500 number?" A. The final price structure is pending tariff filing and final approval by the FCC. The way it's designed now, the pricing will be flexible depending on what features you want. That way you only pay for the features you need. As for the cost of calls to your AT&T 500 number, your callers can expect to pay postalized rates comparable to average AT&T Long Distance rates for domestic calls. Q. "If I ever change my home number, will I have to change my 500 number, too?" A. No. Your 500 number will stay the same no matter how many times you move. Q. "Can I get a personalized number like 1 500 FIND-SUE?" A. Yes. There are a limited number of vanity numbers available at this time, but we'll do what we can to accommodate your request. AT&T TRUE CONNECTIONS(sm) MAKES IT EASY TO STAY CONNECTED, EVEN IF YOU NEVER STAY IN ONE PLACE. LOOK FOR OUR ENROLLMENT PACKAGE IN YOUR MAIL, OR CALL NOW TO RESERVE YOUR AT&T 500 NUMBER: 1 800 870-9222. [end included text] Comments: 1) Given the talk of tariffs and local exchange companies, either the usual marketing folks didn't produce this, or they are actually targeting an audience with fairly advanced knowledge of telephony. 2) The question about being an AT&T customer says that you must be one _at this time_. My guess is that they're going to bill this service the same way they do for EasyReach, on the AT&T portion of your phone bill. However, it looks like they're anticipating providing service to non-presubscribed customers. Perhaps when 500 goes portable? 3) I wonder if "your mother overseas" will be able to dial +1 500 NXX XXXX, or if she'll have to go through USA Direct, as with EasyReach. On the one hand, there's no need to specify a carrier, since there is no duplication within the NPA, as with 700. The prefix should allow the calls to be routed to the correct carrier. (Right?) OTOH, if 500 goes portable, there'd have to be a database lookup in order to determine routing. Would that present difficulties in IDDD? 4) What are "postalized rates?" Will the caller have to be weighed in order to determine pricing? :) 5) The flyer says that your 500 number won't change no matter how many times you move, but it doesn't explicitly guarantee a number for life as EasyReach did. I was able to reserve a 500 number by calling the number listed in the flyer. AT&T is offering numbers in three prefixes: 367 (Spells FOR), 346 (Spells FIN. Add a 3 and you have FIND. This combo also spells EGO ;-) , and 677 (Spells MRS). I thought the auction allowed a company to reserve four prefixes. Perhaps they're saving the other one for a later promotion. BTW, there was no fee for reserving a number, but I couldn't be guaranteed that there would be no startup fee in the future. Jeffrey William McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: uclyjjd@ucl.ac.uk (Julian Daley) Subject: International Modem Communication Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 10:03:18 GMT Organization: University College London I am trying to establish image transfer between the UK and a selection of other sites in Europe, Africa and Asia. The useage will only be intermittent, so a dial up link is likely to be the most cost effective. Where ISDN is available, this would seem the most appropriate option, but according to the BT ISDN help desk, ISDN is not available to several of the countries with which I wish to communicate. I am considering alternative options. The first would be to use high speed modems. However, even with just a 14.4kbaud modem, I have experienced very low transfer rates and poor reliability over digital compressed international lines. I have been unable to get hold of anyone at BT who can advise me about availability of non-compressed lines to the countries I am interested in. The second alternative would be Inmarsat data links. However the cost of the inmarsat equipment with the "high speed data" option is in excess of #20k, which becomes a large number when multiplied by the number of sites I need to communicate with. This is being posted by a colleague (my news server is currently dead), so I would be grateful if you could send any suggestions to: D.Hill@umds.ac.uk Derek ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #353 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05547; 26 Aug 94 19:22 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17051; Fri, 26 Aug 94 15:03:15 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17044; Fri, 26 Aug 94 15:03:13 CDT Date: Fri, 26 Aug 94 15:03:13 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408262003.AA17044@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #354 TELECOM Digest Fri, 26 Aug 94 15:03:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 354 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Fire in Orangeburg Telco Exchange (A. Padgett Peterson) Hacking, Viruses, and Computer Underground Congress (Fernando Bonsembiante) MCI Announces 'Xstream' Brand Name (Stephen Goodman) Re: Companies Comment on N11 Codes (Stan Schwartz) Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay (Robert L. McMillin) Observations About my Phone Bill (Nevin Liber) Fire Safety On Internet (Brian Moura) Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill (Eric N. Florack) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Aug 94 09:09:36 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Fire in Orangeburg Telco Exchange Last Sunday I went on a business trip to NYC and for various reasons stayed at the Orangeburg Holiday Inn, on the west side of the Hudson about 20 miles north of the GW Bridge. Early Tuesday morning when I cam out to the lobby, dense black smoke was coming from a bare red brick building across a side street from the HI parking lot. Within minutes the parking lot had become a staging area for the firefighters and the NYNEX personnel (do not know who arrived first). The firemen had blocked off the immediate area and were not allowing anyone (including the NYNEX personnel) across this. The firemen were all using oxygen tanks (do not know if this is SOP). When I left for the city the volume of smoke was reduced but still considerable. On return about seven thirty that evening, the lot was completly full of both Fire and NYNEX equipment however the firefighters had not yet allowed any NYNEX personnel on the site. About nine pm they were allowed to enter the building. In conversation with some of the people, the subject of Hillsdale came up and I was told that this was the end switch for the local exchange and only had limited impact. Wedenesday morning the Holiday Inn had been taken over as a command center with NYNEX personnel working all night under 50 foot high searchlights. Again I was able to ask a few questions and was told that it looked as if the switch had not been damaged. The major difference was that the halls in the Holiday Inn were now full of cables. On my return that evening the volume of personnel was reduced somewhat and telephone service to the rooms had been restored though was very noisy (modem kicked out numerous times). I was told that a trailer with a bank of pay phones had been setup in the parking lot around noon. I do not know but suspect that a temporary switch may have been setup in the Holiday Inn since several semi-trailers and a large crane were at work at the switch building. When I left Thursday morning, things were near normal again. ------------------------------ From: fernando@ubik.satlink.net (Fernando Bonsembiante) Reply-To: fernando@ubik.satlink.net Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 10:51:06 -0200 Subject: Hacking, Viruses, and Computer Underground congress Note: Copied (from: alt.2600) by Fernando Bonsembiante using timEd. Note: Copied (from: ALT.PRIVACY.CLIPPER) by Fernando Bonsembiante using timEd. Note: Moved (from: alt.2600) by Fernando Bonsembiante using timEd. Hola all! Hacking and Virus congress in Buenos Aires First international congress about Virus, Hacking and Computer Underground. Organized by Virus Report Magazine Buenos Aires, Argentina, october 7, 8 and 9, 1994, 3 PM to 9 PM. At the Centro Cultural Recoleta, Junin 1930. The admission to all days, all events will be FREE. The congress will be oriented to discuss subjects related to hacking, viruses, and the technology impact in the society of now and in the future. We will also have discussions about cyberpunk, virtual reality, the internet, the phone system, programming, etc. The speakers will be both from the 'official' world, and the 'underground' world. Emmanuel Goldstein (2600 magazine) and Mark Ludwig (Little Black Book of Computer Viruses), will be our special guests. The people coming from other countries will be offered free rooming at volunteer's homes. We can't afford plane tickets for anyone, so the travel expenses are up to you. The official languages will be spanish and english, with simultaneous translation. We expect the congress to be as open as possible, offering freedom to speak to all attendants, being from the 'bad' or 'good' side of the discussed issues. As we in Argentina don't have yet laws against hacking or virus writing or spreading, we think it is very important to discuss all those items as freely and deeply possible. Information: E-Mail: fernando@ubik.satlink.net Fidonet: 4:901/303 Phone: +54-1-654-0459 Fax: +54-1-40-5110 Paper-Mail: Guemes 160, dto 2. Ramos Mejia (1704) Provincia de Buenos Aires Republica Argentina Saludos, { Fernando Bonsembiante } { Guemes 160 dto 2 Tel: (54-1) 654-0459 } { Ramos Mejia (1704) Fidonet: 4:901/303 } { Republica Argentina Internet: fernando@ubik.satlink.net } ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Aug 94 21:23 EST From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com> Subject: MCI Announces 'Xstream' Brand Name MCI TO MARKET VALUE-ADDED SERVICES UNDER NEW "XSTREAM" BRAND NAME -- Introduces simplified pricing structure Atlanta, GA, August 23, 1994 -- MCI today announced a new package of value-added services that will be marketed under the brand name "Xstream." Formerly part of the BT North America Tymnet services, the new services are packaged as a bundled data solution and include an attractive and simpler per minute pricing structure for X.25 packet switched services. "MCI is changing the way the industry looks at Value Added Network (VAN) services," explained Nancy Jenks, MCI's director of applications services marketing. "We've made the pricing easier to understand and very competitive. With the elimination of all fixed charges normally associated with a packet switched service, the barrier to entry for many smaller companies has been virtually removed." Historically packet switched services have been priced by the hour and have had separate pricing components for dial-up connect charge, network connection charge, installation fee, dial backup charge, workstation software, and a fee for monthly session summary reports. MCI has repackaged the Xstream services to include all of the previously separate charges and reduced the list price for the services by 40 percent to about eight cents per minute. In addition, the new pricing structure includes an automatic volume discount as well as one-, two- and three-year term discounts. "The per minute list price for Xstream services starts at a rate less than the previous rate for the dial access piece alone," said Jenks. "We have made VAN services much more attractive for many smaller companies. Comprehensive bundled solutions, no fixed charges and competitive per minute pricing add up to a big win for our customers." With MCI's Xstream Service, a company's host computer or X.25-capable LAN is linked to the MCI data network via a private line. Remote users can then access applications (e.g. electronic mail, order entry, inventory, customer records) on the host or LAN by placing a local call in over 1100 cities to the nearest MCI point of presence in the U.S. and Canada. The service supports dial access at speeds up to 9600 bps, and is economical for companies with as little as 15,000 minutes (250 hours) of usage per month. MCI Business Markets is based in Atlanta and provides long distance voice, data and video telecommunications to America's businesses. MCI Communications Corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., offers a full range of domestic and global telecommunications services through one of the world's largest state-of-the-art networks. With 1993 revenue of nearly $12 billion, the company is the second largest long distance provider in the United States and has more than 65 offices in 60 countries and places. ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Companies Comment on N11 Codes Date: 25 Aug 1994 22:57:03 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Greg Monti (GMONTI@npr.org) wrote: > 5. There are only eight N11 codes and four of them have been reserved > by the North American Numbering Plan for internal telephone company > use or public service needs. [I count three: 411 (DA), 911 (PSAP) and > 611 (repair).] Greg: Here in NPA 516 (NYNEX - Long Island), we don't have any commercially-assigned N11 codes, but the ones we _DO_ have are as follows: 211 - LEC Credit for Mis-dialed numbers 311 - Emergency TDD (not yet working in all areas) 411 - Directory Assistance 511 - Reads back your own number (like 958, but a different voice) 611 - LEC Repair Office 911 - Emergency 711 seems to be a valid prefix (dialing 711-XXXX gets us an intercept stating that 711-XXXX is not a working number in area code 516, rather than "Your call cannot be completed as dialed"). I would guess that 211 is used for "Credit" in other NPA's outside of NY, thereby giving you the fourth reserved code. Stan ------------------------------ From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: Companies Protest Illinois 630 Overlay Organization: Surf City Software/TBFW Project Date: Fri, 26 Aug 1994 03:44:05 GMT On 23 Aug 1994 09:05:31 PST, nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) said: > Carl Moore writes: >> So what would those protesting companies do regarding the crowding in >> present area 708? I take it those "wireless" services do get incoming >> calls, so if those services go to area code 630, some people will have >> to send out word to those who call them. > It's time to go to eight-digit local numbers, as France and Japan > have done. If they did it, the US can do it. Why? Name one good reason when we're not even using our existing NPA numbers well? The companies protesting the 630 overlay are a bunch of whining crybabies. They'd cry just as much if they had to use eight digit numbers. Growth hurts. Get used to it. Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Bubba! | Jail to the Chief! ------------------------------ From: nevin@cs.arizona.edu (Nevin Liber) Subject: Observations About my Phone Bill Date: 26 Aug 1994 02:55:00 -0700 Organization: University of Arizona CS Department, Tucson AZ I just thought that I would share a few observations about my recent phone bill with you: I have two phone lines; one with AT&T as my long distance carrier, and MCI on the other. Last month I made two simultaneous calls to two different friends, and attempted to use my AT&T 5352 two-line cordless phone to bridge the calls together into one three-way call. Unfortunately, the phone dropped the three way call approximately every 16 minutes, requiring me to redial. Each time I did this, I switched which phone line I used to dial each of my friends. For an evening 16 minute call from Tucson, AZ to Natick, MA, the cost difference (before my True USA kicked in) of MCI over AT&T was 1 penny ($2.71 vs. $2.72). Spot checking the rest of my bill, it appears that AT&T charges $.17 a minute for evening long distance calls, and MCI charges $.17 a minute, but subtracts a penny from the total for that call. This was also the first time I used my MCI line to make a long distance call. On the MCI portion of my bill, it has an account number and the name Michael Obert. I have no idea who Michael Obert is. Why is he listed on my phone bill? Am I legally responsible for the phone calls, or is he? How often does MCI make this kind of mistake? Nevin ":-)" Liber nevin@cs.arizona.edu (602) 293-2799 +++ (520) after 3/95 summer office: (602) 621-8112 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How long have you had the phone number used for the MCI part of the calls? Possibly Michael Obert was the previous subscriber to that phone number. It frequently happens that the first time a number is used by a subscriber to dial through MCI on a long distance call, MCI gets the *current* billing information for that number, then they never bother to update the records. They probably never were told Michael Obert no longer has the number. Once it gets reported, his name will be taken off and your name inserted in the record instead. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 25 Aug 94 02:28:15 EDT From: Brian Moura <76702.1337@compuserve.com> Subject: Fire Safety On Internet CITY OF SAN CARLOS Press Release For More Information, Call: Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager For Release 9:00 a.m. (415) 802-4210 August 25, 1994 Internet E-Mail: scarlos@crl.com Internet Web Server: http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/local_gov/city/san_carlos/schome.html SAN CARLOS PROVIDES ON-LINE FIRE SAFETY TIPS Internet Web Pages Show How to Protect Your Home from Fire SAN CARLOS, CA -- August 25, 1994 -- The City of San Carlos announced today that it has posted a fire safety tutorial on the Internet. The information teaches San Carlos citizens how to prevent hillside brush and wildland files as well as tips for fire safety in all parts of the City. It also includes a full color diagram on how to create a proper fire break for hillside residents. Mayor Tom Davids said "We are very pleased to be presenting information on how to make your home fire safe on the Internet. It is our hope that distributing this information on the Internet will reach people who may not have seen the earlier fire safety brochure from South County Fire on this important topic. As an added bonus, our efforts may protect homes in other communities which can be very important during a dry fire season such as the one we are experiencing this year." City Manager Michael Garvey stated that "The South County Fire Authority has been a leader and innovator in the fire profession for many years. We were very impressed with their fire safety materials and decided to make them available to a wider audience through the Internet. I am pleased that we can offer this fire safety information to the public in this new format." Assistant City Manager Brian Moura who was responsible for reformatting the information for use on the Internet said: "I think this is a very interesting demonstration of the power of the Internet. It shows how the City of San Carlos can publish important safety information and have it reach a very wide audience. We look forward to the hearing from the public to see if they would like more information of this type on our Internet area." Accessing the Fire Safety Information The fire safety tips and tutorial are available on the City of San Carlos World Wide Web server pages on the Internet. Users with Internet access should select "Fire Safety Tips and Fire Department News" from the City of San Carlos Home Page to see this information. The City of San Carlos Web server is at: http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/local_gov/city/san_carlos/ schome.html) and the City Hall Internet E-Mail box is at scarlos@crl.com. Other World Wide Web/Mosaic Information Available The City of San Carlos area on the World Wide Web (WWW) is part of a pilot project with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) called "ABAG On Line". It is designed to see if the Internet can be used by all government agencies in the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area to better inform the public and work with business. In addition to the fire safety tutorial unveiled today, the City of San Carlos Web server also includes a number of other items of interest. These include information on Parks and Recreation services and events, how to obtain a City business license, projects underway to make San Carlos a better place to live, public transportation schedules, surplus City equipment for sale, a letter from the Mayor and two Police Department suspect wanted posters. About South County Fire Authority South County Fire Authority is a Joint Powers Agency (JPA) formed by the cities of San Carlos and Belmont to provide fire department services. South County Fire Authority serves the communities of San Carlos, Belmont, Redwood Shores and the Harbor Industrial Area. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Aug 1994 05:24:07 PDT From: Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox.com Subject: Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill Dave Banisar says: > We have monitored that process closely and have scrutinized the > FBI's claims that remedial legislation is necessary. We have > sponsored conferences at which the need for legislation was debated > with the participation of the law enforcement community, the > telecommunications industry and privacy advocates. We have sought the > disclosure of all relevant information through a series of requests > under the Freedom of Information Act. Having thus examined the issue, > EPIC remains unconvinced of the necessity or advisability of the > pending bill. I, for one, would bemost interested in your disclosure of what it is that /WOULD/ so convince you. > As a threshold matter, we do not believe that a compelling case has > been made that new communications technologies hamper the ability of > law enforcement agencies to execute court orders for electronic > surveillance. For more than two years, we have sought the public > disclosure of any FBI records that might document such a problem. To > date, no such documentation has been released. Without public > scrutiny of factual information on the nature and extent of the > alleged technological impediments to surveillance, the FBI's claims > remain anecdotal and speculative. Indeed, the telecommunications > industry has consistently maintained that it is unaware of any > instances in which a communications carrier has been unable to comply > with law enforcement's requirements. Under these circumstances, the > nation should not embark upon a costly and potentially dangerous > re-design of its telecommunications network solely to protect the > viability of fewer than 1000 annual surveillances against wholly > speculative impediments.<< How much common sense does it require to realize that a wholly digital network takes far more technology to 'tap'? (More, apparently, than opponants of this bill possess!) Is it 'speculation' to understand that without standards such as your much hated 'Clipper', the sheer mound of technology would make many government monitor operations too costly to pursue? With the polls suggesting that crime (and not healthcare) being the number one issue in the country today, does it make sense to pursue a policy which hampers law enforcement efforts? > We also believe that the proposed legislation would establish a > dangerous precedent for the future. While the FBI claims that the > legislation would not enhance its surveillance powers beyond those > contained in existing law, the pending bill represents a fundamental > change in the law's approach to electronic surveillance and police > powers generally. The legislation would, for the first time, mandate > that our means of communications must be designed to facilitate > government interception. The FBI is correct; all this bill does is hold the status quo ... a situation which seems to infuriate such groups as your own, as well as such as EFF, CPSR, and so on. Because of the nature of the network, the FBI and other police groups have always had the ability to tap with minimal technology and cost. With the new systems, however, that ability will be hampered. All the bill seeks to do is to maintain what the above named groups, your own included, seem to fear most: The government's ability to monitor. Yes, it's quite true that /legally/, the government will still be able to monitor, but with the sheer wall of technology and the costs involved ... (and the government's inability to pay for such technology ... since when is law enforcement on the leading edge of ANY technology?) ... will prevent the government from using the ability it's always had. It's rather like someone rasing the speed limit on the freeways to 300 MPH. Great. Now, all I have to do is get rid of this Ford Festiva so I can take advantage of it. The barriers being removed by this bill are not philosophical, nor are they legal. These barriers, (The only ones we've been dealing with for the last 70 years) remain. The only barrier being altered by this bill is the one your group, and the others mentioned, seek to impose on the government; that of prohibitive cost. CPSR (and it's EPIC persona) seek to place added limits to government monitoring, by the defeat of this bill. It's really that simple. EPIC claims that restructuring the networks to comply with the bill will be costly. EPIC should provide proof of such claims. EPIC should also provide an answer to the question of how much the added crime from lack of ability to enforce our laws, will cost us, and balance the two issues. I suggest they have not made their case. The bill should pass as it stands. /E .CC Jack Books, via FAX ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #354 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24750; 29 Aug 94 16:14 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14722; Mon, 29 Aug 94 11:16:18 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14715; Mon, 29 Aug 94 11:16:15 CDT Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 11:16:15 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408291616.AA14715@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #355 TELECOM Digest Mon, 29 Aug 94 11:16:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 355 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (Linc Madison) Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (Carl Moore) Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (R. Fergus) Book Review: "Data Communications, Networks and Systems" (Rob Slade) ACD / Overlay Number (James E. Bellaire) MCIMail's Internet Fax Service (James H. Cloos Jr.) Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines (Bradley Allen) Need Eight to Ten Cent Flat Nationwide Rate (krazykev@panix.com) Leased Network Manager Position Available (Owen Crowley) Windows Telephony API Sample Applications (Frank Xu) Need Information on ASN.1 (Hareesh K. Boinepelli) Cellphone 911 For Reporting Traffic Problems (David H. Close) International Conference on Software Engineering - Telecom (F. Depuydt) Sony SPP40 Cordless/Answering Problem (Paolo Bellutta) Last Laugh: Make Money Fast FAQ (Nathan Palovcik via Stefan Bethke) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 00:25:41 -0700 From: LincMad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes The following is a transcript of a piece that aired on the "Dan Rather Reporting: News, Commentary, and Analysis" segment on CBS radio on Thursday, August 25, 1994. In the San Francisco area, "Dan Rather Reporting" airs at 3:35 p.m. weekdays on KCBS-AM 740; check with your local station for air time. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Hello, everybody. It's the end of an era -- a milepost to measure our age. It indicates how far we've come, where we're going, and it's all embodied in a three-digit number: it's the area code, that three-digit number that connects us to the rest of the country, that allows us to communicate with relative ease just about every time we pick up the telephone. For most of us, the area code has been as much a part of our lives as a street address or a social security number. It's a bit startling to realize the system was introduced just fifty years ago. At that time, the area code was presented to provide a bit of breathing space for the country's flourishing phone system. Three-digit combinations were assigned as communities grew. As developed by Ma Bell, the area code would always have a 1 or a 0 as the middle number. That would allow 144 combinations. The phone company confidently predicted all community needs could be met to the turn of the century this way. Well, the rush onto the information superhighway has already caused phone company detours. It may be the beginning of a traffic jam. What's about to happen, what will start next summer, is the introduction of a whole new age of area codes. The nation has run through all current combinations. The new codes will look a bit different. Residents in several states will get the new-style codes. In northern Virginia, the code will be 540. These are the first area codes offered without a middle 0 or 1. Now, other than a new number to memorize, it would seem to be a small matter. Cities have already been split into new area code sections; that's of no major concern. What *is* of concern is how electronic devices will memorize and read those numbers. The problem is this: telephone software and switches are set to read area codes with a middle 0 or 1. All those switches and all that software will now have to be changed, be modified to accept the new area code system. That's hundreds of thousands of switches, millions of customers to notify. Without modification, one reporter suggested, there could be a frightening number of fender-benders on the infobahn, a phenomenal number of misdirected calls. Government officials and entrepreneurs offer a wonderful vision of the information superhighway -- they talk about progress, they talk about its promises. It now seems it may be a mighty bumpy ride on that road to the future. Now please, this message. [commercial] Dan Rather reporting, from area code 212, CBS News. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Pretty good report, all in all. Minor points: 540 isn't the first, and the new-style codes will begin in January, not next summer. Slightly more off the mark is the linking of the information superhighway with the area code shortage. There is some connection, but I don't really consider faxes, DID lines to every desk, or cell-phones to be part of the "infobahn." Still, most of the overall view is on target, especially about the *effect* of the introduction of the new area codes. Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 14:17:11 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes He didn't say 540 was the first area code not to have 0 or 1 as the middle digit. All I can tell from the article alone is that 540 is one of the first of such codes (maybe it got attention because it will be rather close to Washington, although he was reporting from New York). Could he have had the July 1, 1995 deadline in mind for the system to be ready for the NNX area codes? That deadline, which would fit "next summer" (1995) was noted in telecom as being moved to six months earlier (Jan. 1, 1995). ------------------------------ From: rfergus@aol.com (RFergus) Subject: Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes Date: 27 Aug 1994 11:41:03 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) According to Emmanuel Goldstein of WBAI's (99.5FM, NYC) "Off the Hook" radio program (and "2600 Magazine," which I have not seen), phone companies have already developed the capability for handling area codes that do not include a '0' or a '1' as the second digit. Therefore, expanding the area codes will not be a problem. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not for the telcos, it generally won't be a problem. The problem will be mainly for those subscribers who use privately maintained toll-restriction/toll fraud prevention devices which rely on the 'zero/one as second digit' to detect whatever they are looking for. Some of them will be hurting. With their 'protection' in place, they'll be unable to call many of the places they might want to call and with their security schemes suspended they'll be exposed to all kinds of fraud. New software will be needed which examines the number dialed in a different light. Now they are going to have to look at all the digits dialed and examine the digits in their context to one another. That is, if a particular user is permitted to place long distance calls, then look at all the digits dialed and interpret them. If a '1' is dialed first, then interpret the ten digits which follow and restrict based on entries in a table. If '1' is not the first digit, then truncate the dialing string after the first seven digits and interpret those by themselves, etc. Be alert for certain three digit combinations as they might appear in the string of digits dialed. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 19:37:17 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Data Communications, Networks and Systems" by Bartee BKDCMN&S.RVW 940706 SAMS 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 hayden@hayden.com haydenbks@aol.com 76350.3014@compuserve.com "Data Communications , Networks, and Systems", Bartee, 1991, 0-672-22790-8, U$49.95/C$64.95 It is very difficult to determine the purpose, objective, or audience for this book. There is not much specifically wrong with the information, but it is hard to tell who might need this particular presentation. The back cover blurb speaks of the growth in personal computers, and talks of "suggestions for high profile results". This could be seriously misleading, as little of the material is of direct use to those working with personal computers, and the papers tend towards a generic background overview, rather than specific practicalities. The preface opens by stating that the book contains the latest information in the important areas of digital communications, networks and systems. In fact, the book contains ten essays by different authors, generally addressing topics basic to data communications. The papers vary in audience and technical level. Most are relatively non-technical (and non-specific) but some assume a fairly solid grasp of higher mathematical concepts. Because of the differing authorship, little information can be developed from chapter to chapter, and some topics are repeated, while others are missed. Transmission media, in chapter one, is given a thorough but basic background. Chapter two, on carriers and regulations, is solely concerned with the US, an attitude which carries over into modems (chapter three), which lists modems only by the Bell standards. This is a rather dated reference, as is the continual discussion of RS-232C which, as the book notes once, was superseded by RS-232D in 1987, four years before the *first* publication of the book. Chapters four and five discuss basic ideas in protocols, and integrated voice and data networks. Chapters six, seven and nine talk about baseband, broadband and standards in local area networks, oddly separated by security in chapter eight. The book closes with a very mathematical discussion of error control. While sections are good (chapter six, on LANs, is excellent), overall the book lacks focus. Trying to give the "latest" information in a book tends to date it quickly. In this case, even in 1991 the material would have been quite pedestrian. None of the material looks at technologies that would have been "new advances" in the fields. McNamara's "Introduction to Data Communications," whose most recent version was three years earlier, outdoes this work in many areas. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKDCMN&S.RVW 940706. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: 29 Aug 94 18:21:27 EDT From: James E Bellaire <73177.1452@compuserve.com> Subject: ACD / Overlay Number A few notes on recent TELECOM postings: Automatic Call Direction for the home - Yes -- I am one of those telcom junkies who would attach a fax/voicemail board to my computer even when no one has ever faxed me or left a message other than on an answering machine. I like having the technology there, even if no one uses it. (I even have a personal 800 number for calling myself to check the non-existant messages!) Yes -- The two lines into my home ring constantly with tele-sleeze, based on which credit card company you do business with, or book company, or gas company, or shoe size, or whatever. Four to five calls per day on line one is normal, two to three per week on line two. One of my credit cards calls me on line one with garbage and line two with collections. I recieved calls for over two years from one woman who kept asking for Mrs. Bellaire and promising to call back when I said she was not here. She never stayed on the line long enough for me to tell her that Mrs. Bellaire had died. (I was about ready to give the cemetery as her new address!) 630 (and other) Overlay Numbers - I prefer using an overlay for special services. The major growth area is there so it makes more sense to give them the new numbers. Landline home phone users have been bumped between area codes for years because of the non-landline uses. It's time for cellular, paging and corporate PBX exchanges to take the licks their expansion causes. A single NPA overlay for cellular/paging/full exchange PBX would make dialing the numbers easier for callers too. You could say "Call me on my car phone, 550-xxxx" in Chicago and the caller would not have to remember if you said 708 or 312 since all car phones would be 630. I wouldn't mind seeing entire states take an overlay for this purpose. Eight Digit Dialing - This would require more planning than the telcos have done. It would have to replace seven digit dialing in affected areas and would confuse people who move and their children, unless the entire country went to it. Don't expect it to happen this year. Ten digit dialing makes more sense with some PUC rule that telcos not charge more for ten digit dialed or 1+ ten digit dialed calls than seven digit dialed calls. Which reminds me, I can dial 616-450-xxxx, a 100 mile long distance call by using seven digits. The telco bills me as long distance. Gotta get that fixed! Cell Phone Emergencies - The cellcos could always allow calls to 911 despite the access level. The "emergency" calls that should not go through would be car phone calls to brokers, ordering a buy/or sell of stocks based on what was destroyed in the disaster. Remember Lucy's emergency? What is urgent for you is not always urgent for the general public. (BTW - Party line service is still the only service in a lot of rural telcos around here.) Thank you for your time ... James E. Bellaire ------------------------------ From: James.Cloos@Rahul.NET (James H. Cloos Jr.) Subject: MCIMail's Internet Fax Service Organization: a2i network Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 04:47:17 GMT Weeks ago I signed up on the mailing list MCI set up for announcements on the fax mailboxes they planned to make available to internet customers. (Ie., you would get your faxes by, I assume, telnetting in rather than phoning up. Also, you could use email to send an outgoing fax at std MCIMail rates.) I never got any info from the list. Did anyone else? Does anyone know if the planned service was dropped or just delayed? TIA. James H. Cloos, Jr. include James.Cloos@Rahul.NET include (cloos@io.com) URL: http://io.com/user/cloos Finger for pgp pub key. Snail: Box 1111, Amherst, NY 14226-1111 ------------------------------ From: ulmo@panix.com (Bradley Allen) Subject: Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines Date: 29 Aug 1994 00:01:11 -0400 First, by my VERY rough calculations from traceroute times, Sprint's lines from Washington, DC to Stockton, California are .8 efficient in terms of directness. While at first I was very impressed, I realized this is just somewhat impressive, considering some railroad right of ways are basically this direct already. Anyway, on to questions. Where is there a FAQ answer to "who owns the physical long distance data pipes in the USA and worldwide"? Not that it's that important, but I was disagreeing with one of my clients about this trivia (don't worry, not a computer business client). I think the topic came up in response to the rates charged and who gets to set those rates. I was arguing the side that after breaking even on the installation investment and budgeting for both maintenance and technological advancement, there could be a significant price drop if the service personnel were severely cut back ... not that I was advocating this, since I don't know the answer to the question, what to do with people in an almost totally automated world ... But, I mean, what's to keep me from making a phone company where I don't require people to "turn off" their service when they move out, and "turn on" when they move in; if I just charge for absolute equipment all up-front. "Key in your address on the touch tone pad ... key in your VISA ... that will be $756.48, with a twenty year full warranty and no further charges, installation included within two hours ... press 1 to accept, or 2 for a longer warranty period". I would pay for it! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the directness of routing in the example you gave of Sprint, you should bear in mind that Sprint had its beginning in the late 1970's as the telecommunications department of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was that railroad's desire to modernize and upgrade its (then) very obsolete telecom network which led to the upgrading which later became Sprint when the railroad decided to sell the excess capacity created in the modernization. Sprint is an acronym for outhern

acific ailroad nternal etwork elecommunications. Fifty to sixty years ago, all railroads operated telecom links between their stations coast to coast, with trackside telephones every ten miles or so in case the trains got into trouble. The wires ran on poles along side the track on the railroad right-of-way. So the first public (non- railroad) customers of Sprint were able to call anywhere the railroad went, which made it largely a south/southwestern USA system. AT&T largely 'followed the tracks' also around the start of this century. It was easier for them to cut deals with a few large railroads than with every farmer in their path between New York and (eventually, as of about 1921) the West Coast. Somewhere around here I have the historic photo of the AT&T crews as they worked from the west coming east and the other way around when they met and connected the wires making nationwide long distance possible for the first time. Everyone has probably seen it, along with the photo of the railroad crews doing the same thing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: krazykev@panix.com Subject: Need Eight to Ten Cent Flat Nationwide Rate Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 02:32:10 -0500 Does anyone represent or know of a telephone company which offers a flat rate of eight to ten cents for nationwide USA calling, even if only in the evening, without a T-1 commitment; in other words, for regular switched access? Must have six second minimum, six second increments for all calls. Would appreciate any information you have. Thanks. Sincerely, krazykev@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some will do it without T-1, but they set a monthly minimum usage requirement which is very high, and often times the rates are higher with a discount off the total monthly bill bringing the effective rate per minute back to the amount you are seeking. PAT] ------------------------------ From: owen@hodes.com (Owen Crowley) Subject: Leased Network Manager Position Available Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 10:14:03 -0500 Organization: Bernard Hodes Advertising MANAGER OF LEASED NETWORK Outstanding career opportunity with a premiere and rapidly growing InterExchange Carrier. Join a friendly and competent team in an attractive and low-cost city. You will be responsible for achieving the optimization of leased network facilities. To qualify, you must have a similar background to the Director of Network Analysis, with emphasis on managing the use of leased inter-exchange facilities, contractual relationships, developing projects in facility consolidations and leased network acquisition synergies. This position requires math, engineering, telecomm, or business degrees. Attractive compensation, benefits and relocation packages are being offered. For confidential consideration, please call or send your resume including salary history to: Craig Williamson, Inc., Executive Recruiters, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Suite 250, Bethesda, MD 20817, Fax (301) 897-5839, Phone (301) 897-9566. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 05:01:22 GMT From: fdxu1@staff.monash.edu.au Subject: Windows Telephony API Sample Applications Organization: Monash University Has anyone tried the telephony sample programs (answering machine and dialdemo) from the 93 December issue of {Microsft Systems Journal}, which you can download from the ftp site of Microsoft? If you have, could some tell me have you had any success to make it working? I have trouble trying to run both programs, I think because of WAVE device ID. Any advice and help will be greatly appreciated! Frank Xu Research Assistant Monash University fdxu1@mfs01.cc.monash.edu.au ------------------------------ From: boinepel@enws196.eas.asu.edu (Hareesh K. Boinepelli) Subject: Need Information on ASN.1 Reply-To: boinepel@enws196.eas.asu.edu Organization: Network Systems Lab, Arizona State University Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 06:05:12 GMT Hi everyone, I need some pointers on the journals or articles to look at for information on the Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1). Thanks in advance, Hareesh Kumar Boinepelli Network Systems Lab Electrical Engineering Arizona State University boinepel@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu Tempe, Arizona ------------------------------ From: dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu (David H. Close) Subject: Cellphone 911 For Reporting Traffic Problems Date: 29 Aug 1994 05:42:21 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena A local news story says the CHP has requested travellers with cellphones to use them to report traffic problems. Explicitly included were dangerous drivers. Explicitly excluded were speeders (CHP: that would overload the system since 99.9% of drivers are exceeding the speed limit). The story states that problems can be reported by calling 911 from a cellphone. My question: does the system identify the caller's location or are all calls routed to the CHP? How does this work? Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu dave@compata.ccss.com ------------------------------ From: fdepuydt@innet.be (Francis Depuydt) Subject: International Conference on Software Engineering - Telecom Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 10:32:02 Organization: INnet NV Does someone know where and when the next International Conference on Software Engineering for Telecommunications Switching Systems is held? Who is the contact person for that conference? Thanks, Francis ------------------------------ From: bellutta@portofino.ai.mit.edu (Paolo Bellutta) Subject: Sony SPP40 Cordless/Answering Machine Problem Date: 29 Aug 1994 11:32:09 GMT Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab Hi, when I was living in the US I got a Sony SPP40 Cordless Phone with Answering Machine, which worked fine there. Now I moved to my home country (Italy) and have a problem with the answering machine. When somebody calls, the message is recorded but after the person hangs up the busy signal is recorded for the remaining period of max recording time (which I set to one minute). This is quite annoying because if you want to listen to the time stamp you have to listen to the busy signal for all that time. I also tried to change the CPC (calling party control?) switch, but nothing changed. I guess that in the US there is a signal sent over the line after somebody hangs up and the machine senses it. Probably here in Italy such signal is not used. Any hint on how to solve the problem? Paolo Bellutta Internet: bellutta@ai.mit.edu ------------------------------ From: stefan@transit.hanse.de (Stefan Bethke) Subject: Last Laugh! Make Money Fast FAQ Date: 29 Aug 1994 02:28:02 +0200 Organization: Hanse e.V. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This one could be re-titled "Hints for Usenet participants". PAT] [ Article crossposted from comp.sys.mac.misc ] [ Author was Matthew J. Bernhardt ] [ Posted on 15 Aug 1994 14:52:04 GMT ] Nice thing, this faq. Might be worth a laughth or two... StB Well, it's about that time of year when many universities are starting up, and many newbies will soon descend upon the net. Therefore, I think it is time for a good stiff dose of preventative medicine: Really From: npalovci@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca (Nathan Palovcik) Subject: MAKE.MONEY.FAST(FAQ) Date: 6 Apr 1994 18:14:18 GMT This FAQ is for the benefit of those who have never experienced the advertisement MAKE.MONEY.FAST. Here are some answers to some questions frequently asked. 1. Does MAKE.MONEY.FAST really work? Not in the sense that you'll make money fast, but you'll make a lot of enemies fast. 2. If I forward or repost MAKE.MONEY.FAST, will I get a lot of mail? Yes, hate mail, flames, etc. 3. How can I get my account cancelled? Post MAKE.MONEY.FAST. 4. How can I get my system administrator mad at me? Post MAKE.MONEY.FAST. His mailbox will be so full of complaints, it'll take him/her a week to sort through all of them. 5. Who is Dave Rhodes? Salmon Rushdie's roommate. Just about every administrator wants to kill him so he had to go in hiding. 6. How can I assure I have a long and prosperous life? Well, nobody can guarantee that, but it can be guaranteed that if you post MAKE.MONEY.FAST you're life may be cut short by accident (hee hee). 7. Just how does one have to never work again after posting MAKE.MONEY.FAST? Well, MAKE.MONEY.FAST is a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi schemes are illegal. Ponzi schemes are a form of fraud. Some of these net interchanges go over telephone wires, optic fibers, and microwave transmissions all regulated by the FCC. If you repost MAKE.MONEY.FAST over the net, and someone at the FCC wanted to get nasty, they may want to prosecute you for WIRE fraud. Once you're in jail, you never have to pay rent, your meals are free. Anal injections are free. MAKE.MONEY.FAST has a lot of side benefits. 8. How can I help to stop the spread of MAKE.MONEY.FAST? When some netter newbie blunders and posts MAKE.MONEY.FAST on the net, just send him a polite letter to not do it again (remember, the newbies act out of ignorance) then write the root@domain and request they inform all their users not to perpetuate this drivel. Forward this FAQ to at least 2 of the news groups you like to read. Nathan Palovcik (Cardinal Fang) npalovci@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca -- Matt Bernhardt University of Georgia Fools multiply folly. bernhardt@bscr.uga.edu mbernhar@phoenix.cs.uga.edu -- Stefan Bethke stefan@transit.hanse.de D-22087 Hamburg +49-40-25 19 04 60 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #355 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10143; 30 Aug 94 20:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11951; Tue, 30 Aug 94 14:01:06 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11942; Tue, 30 Aug 94 14:01:03 CDT Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 14:01:03 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408301901.AA11942@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #356 TELECOM Digest Tue, 30 Aug 94 14:01:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 356 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill (Brad S. Hicks) Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill (Sean Donelan) Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill (Carl Moore) Re: AT&T True Connections Flyer (Kevin McConnaughey) Re: AT&T True Connections Flyer (Wes Leatherock) Re: Cellular Phone Use in Emergencies (odn@ucssun1.sdsu.edu) Re: Companies Comment on N11 Codes (Mike Morris) Re: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? (Paul Lee) Re: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? (Paul Lee) NYNEX Eliminated Roam Charges (Doug Reuben) Stratacom and Frame Relay (Sydney Quocsi Tran) Extent of GSM Coverage in USA? (thor@sushi.uib.no) Kosova: Serb Police in Mass Telephone Seizures (Nigel Allen) Motorola Radius PR-3000 Pager (Chris Cappuccio) .wav to Dialogic ADPCM Conversion Software Wanted (Ira Hochman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: /G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU1=0205925@mhs-mc.attmail.com Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 10:59:04 -0500 Subject: Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill > How much common sense does it require to realize that a wholly digital > network takes far more technology to 'tap'? (More, apparently, than > opponants of this bill possess!) You want to tap a digital phone? Put a bug in the mouthpiece. Cheap and 100% effective. If you can't do that, use surveillance gear to bug the room; more expensive and more difficult, but a LOT cheaper than $500,000,000. "The Dapper Don" John Gotti suspected his phones were tapped, so he didn't discuss business on the phone. So the government found out where he DID discuss business (pacing the sidewalk outside) and bugged the lamp poles. > Is it 'speculation' to understand that without standards such as your > much hated 'Clipper', the sheer mound of technology would make many > government monitor operations too costly to pursue? With the polls > suggesting that crime (and not healthcare) being the number one issue in > the country today, does it make sense to pursue a policy which hampers > law enforcement efforts? By the government's own figures, even as cheap and easy as it is today, wiretapping produces usable evidence in only a few hundred cases a year. Wiretapping isn't now and never was a cost-effective way to catch common criminals. Real police agencies seldom use wiretaps, they rely on informants (paid, or bargained with reduced sentences). And I'm a little tired of "war on crime" rhetoric, when in every category except murder the crime rate has gone down almost every year since the mid 1970s. The murder rate would go down, too, if we would just end Prohibition ... but no, we'd rather waste hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds, maybe thousands of lives, than have people perceive that the government was permitting people to screw up their lives with drugs that don't have corporate sponsors. If you're not willing to see the end of Prohibition, or not (at least) willing to testify when you witness a crime, don't you DARE come whining to me about crime problems. (Even if you are foolish enough to live in a dirtbag rust belt hellhole like Chicago.) Because those are the only two things that have a hope in aitch-ee-double-toothpicks of actually reducing crime; Clipper and "assault weapon" bans and FBI Digital Telephony and federal carjacking laws and Midnight Basketball and the Brady Bill and three strikes are all just ways for Congress and the President to FOOL you (and maybe fool themselves) into thinking that they're doing something about the (mostly non-existent) Crime Problem. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ From: sean@sdg.dra.com (Sean Donelan) Subject: Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill Date: 29 Aug 94 04:04:46 CDT Organization: Data Research Associates, St. Louis MO In article , Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox. com writes: > How much common sense does it require to realize that a wholly digital > network takes far more technology to 'tap'? (More, apparently, than > opponants of this bill possess!) Oh, phooey. DTMF (aka TouchTone) dialing made the FBI's old analog pen registers obsolete. The poor FBI had to go out and buy new equipment. They didn't fine the phone company $10,000 a day and demand the right to approve new technology. If they had that power back then, we would probably still be using rotary phones. Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO Domain: sean@dra.com, Voice: (Work) +1 314-432-1100 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 21:48:43 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: EPIC Statement on Digital Telephony Wiretap Bill Did you mean U.S. Representative Jack Brooks? If so, you left out the "r" in "Brooks". Sometimes a person's name will be somewhat modified to poke fun, as in a case (where I am leaving out the first name and city) where a Mr. Garbis had a reputation for being a slumlord and thus was nicknamed Mr. Garbage. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That was an accidental error, not a deliberate thing. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: AT&T True Connections Flyer From: kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 13:55:54 EDT Organization: Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, VA. jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) writes: > I just received a flyer from AT&T about their new 500 number service. > The text follows: > Text on AT&T 500 Service deleted here > Comments: > 3) I wonder if "your mother overseas" will be able to dial +1 500 NXX > XXXX, or if she'll have to go through USA Direct, as with EasyReach. > On the one hand, there's no need to specify a carrier, since there is > no duplication within the NPA, as with 700. The prefix should allow > the calls to be routed to the correct carrier. (Right?) OTOH, if 500 > goes portable, there'd have to be a database lookup in order to > determine routing. Would that present difficulties in IDDD? You are correct that there is no need to specify a carrier but there is a BIG problem of routing from foreign destinations. Most PTTs route on the first three digits after the international access code (the country code). In the case of the North American dialing plan the carriers usually route down to the NPA level. No PTT that I am aware of yet implements routing at the NXX (or NNX) level. If there was a financial justification I suppose that they might but the US carriers have not been able to get this sort of cooperation for toll free services (800 in the USA) which is a very large revenue service, much less other newer and unproven services. I am aware that a number of PTTs are looking to implement area code 456 routing with specific NXXs routed to specific US carriers and this might be used as a "follow me" type service as described. There are also the 1XX "NPAs" (I use quotes because they are not strictly NPAs) that are being used by all three US carriers in conjunction with cooperating PTTs to route carrier specific traffic such as audiotext internationally. Two key issues from the non-US carriers' point of view are: 1) Non US carriers have lots of other things to worry about than implementing a highly complex routing system when the potential revenues are unproven and the major beneficiaries are US carriers and their customers. 2) There are several apparently competing concepts for carrier specific routing now being proposed -- which will gain the most credibility and customers is still to be seen. > 4) What are "postalized rates?" Will the caller have to be weighed in > order to determine pricing? :) "Postalized rates" just refers to the practice of averaging rates to simplify the rate schedule. A prime example is US domestic postal rates for first class mail. A regular letter costs 29 cents to send anywhere in the US. Most telephone tariffs try to take into account distance and do not have a flat "postalized rate". From your description of this service it is not clear whether the rates are postalized for the whole US or if the proposed structure is more complex. kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, Virginia +1-703-758-9084 ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 12:12:13 Subject: Re: AT&T True Connections Flyer jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) wrote: > I just received a flyer from AT&T about their new 500 number > service. The text follows: ... [text deleted] ... > "As for the cost of calls to your AT&T 500 number, your callers > can expect to pay postalized rates comparable to average AT&T > Long Distance rates for domestic calls." ... [text deleted] ... > 4) What are "postalized rates?" Will the caller have to be > weighed in order to determine pricing? :) Ordinarily the term "postalized rates" means that the rate is the same regardless of distance, like 29 cents for a one-ounce letter whether it is going across the street or to Alaska or Hawaii. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu ------------------------------ From: odn@ucssun1.sdsu.edu (Jason) Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Use in Emergencies Date: 29 Aug 1994 12:17:32 GMT Organization: San Diego State University Computing Services Motorola officially defines Access Overload as: Access Overload Class: This is a number (0-15) which specifies the level of priority the cellular telephone has when accessing the system. There is no coreelation between numbers and priority; i.e., higher numbers do not necessarily mean higher priority. LA Cellular (a Cellular One company) officially assigns 15 to all of its customers. As far as I know, the overload numbers are not implemented at all at the switch. I mean really, any idiot can reprogram the NAM on any phone that does not require a NAM chip programmer (read swap the prom). It would be absurd to actually expect this to work; every kid in town would have high priority on his phone. Then again ISI put source routing in the IP protocol, so go figure. Jason ------------------------------ From: morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Mike Morris) Subject: Re: Companies Comment on N11 Codes Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 12:00:50 GMT Greg Monti writes: > The publication {Communications Daily} is reporting in its August 25, > 1994, edition on the comments the FCC has received on assignment of > N11 codes to telephone-delivered information services. A summary of > the article [with a few comments]: [snip] > 5. There are only eight N11 codes and four of them have been reserved > by the North American Numbering Plan for internal telephone company > use or public service needs. [I count three: 411 (DA), 911 (PSAP) and > 611 (repair).] 811 was used in the Los Angeles area as the access to the 911 system while it was being installed. After 911 was turned on, 811 was set up as a universal access to Pacific Telephone's own system -- I dial 811-7000 for example to get a customer disservice rep. The are a few more 811- numbers in the phone book, but -7000 is all I can remember at this moment. Lastly... The only n11 service I can see a real need for is a service where I can look up my own DA via modem (including a grep function), if I was forced to come up with another service, I'd like to be able to download my last bill in case I want to do a compare with my SMDR. But neither requires a three digit number. I say let's just reserve some x11 numbers for future use. Why spend your assets? Look at the situation with radio spectrum -- they had to sacrifice UHF TV channels to make room for cellular -- lets save some "dialing plan spectrum" for the future. Who knows what we will need five or ten years from now? Mike Morris WA6ILQ PO Box 1130 Arcadia, CA. 91077 818-447-7052 evenings ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 00:48:07 -0400 From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation Subject: Call Waiting on Error-Correcting Modems? In TELECOM Digest Volume 14 Issue 347, Brian Nunes wrote (in part): > Any idea how I can make my modem "more sensitive" to the call-waiting > beep, without disabling error-correction? Check your modem's S-registers for a "Loss of Carrier" time setting. It's usually factory default set at 250 milliseconds or so. Reducing the setting may make the modem more sensitive to the Call Waiting click by sensing the interruption of the remote carrier that results when the talk path is broken. It may also make the modem more sensitive to other types of noise. Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Aug 1994 01:38:39 -0400 From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation Subject: Why Can't I Keep a V.32 Connection Up? In TELECOM Digest Volume 14 Issue 347, John Levine wrote (in part): > I'm here at my summer headquarters at the beach in New Jersey, and I'm > having incredible trouble getting a reliable modem connection. Half > the time, the modem won't even shake hands, the other half of the time > the connection dies after somewhere between one and fifteen minutes. > I've tried this with two different modems, a Megahertz PCMCIA and a > GBC (or maybe GVC, it's an OEM version without a label) external modem. > The other end is a bank of five Telebits. I'm trying to connect at > 14.4K V.32bis. > I'm in Harvey Cedars NJ (609-361), the other end is in Pleasantville > (609-485) which is a local call albeit a different CO. Both COs have > modern electronic switches. I have two phone lines here and have > about the same amount of trouble with either. Things work best in the > morning, worst around midnight. (Strange but true.) There is no > audible noise that I can hear on the line. I had the same problem > last year but though that it was due to the cheapo Sportster modem I > was using. Do you have the same problem when trying to connect to other remote locations? I'm going to run a bit with the clues I have here: Beach (corrosive air); same trouble on both phone lines; bad at midnight, better in the morning; New Jersey (eastern exposure with morning sun). The noise doesn't have to be audible to screw up v.32 quadrature detection. Inaudible hash from capacitive loading or RF rectification (both can result from corrosion of the cable plant or drop), induced signals from a poor made electrode ground (corrosion also a possible cause), or local RF interference (strongest at night, and weakest when competing with atmospherically filtered sunlight) could cause your problem, right at your house. Try making full-speed connections to other locations. If you still have the same problems, you've at least determined which end they're at (from your CO out to your modem). Then, try connections from a neighbor who lives in a house with newer phone service or who lives inland, but is served by the same CO. This kind of testing will help isolate the source of the problem. My first bet is still grounding and/or cable plant corrosion that makes your drops more susceptible to noise or spurious voltage. Even your wall jacks or other inside wiring components could be contributing to the problem. Let us know what you find out. Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: NYNEX Eliminated Roam Charges Date: Mon, 27 Aug 1994 01:51:36 PDT I was waiting to see if someone mentioned it here (I was moved to Bell Atlantic and figured NYNEX customers would find out first), but since no one directly mentioned it: NYNEX/NY customers can now roam ANYWHERE in the US (and I think Canada) and NOT pay a daily roam charge, which is usually $3. This is similar to SNET's (CT-B) "Roam USA" where you have no daily roam charges on any B system in the US and Canada, with a flat rate of 75 cents per minute. In many ways, it's unusual for NYNEX, which is usually pretty slow and lethargic as compared to its McCaw owned competitor Cell One/NY, to offer a roaming package which outdoes Cell One's. Cell One/NY customers enjoy home airtime rates from DC up I-95 to all of DE, Southeastern PA, NJ, all the way to Poughkeepsie and onward to all of CT, RI, and Mass and small part of seacoast NH. However, when they roam outside this area, e.g., north of Poughkeepsie, west of NJ towards Allentown, north of Mass to VT, etc., they will usually pay a $3 per day roaming charge and NOT have auto call delivery or any call delivery (CO/NY does not offer Nationlink to its customers, not that I'm a big fan of that anyhow). Besides allowing NYNEX customers to not worry about roam charges, having no daily fee eliminates the problem of border customers getting hit by roam charges simply because they live near another cellular system and sometimes pick up that signal, thus incurring a daily roam charge. Since there is no daily charge at all, this is no longer a problem for NYNEX customers. Additionally, a NYNEX customer traveling on a long trip through multiple systems doesn't have to keep track of which systems he made calls in so as to avoid paying $3 dailies in all of them. I normally put NYNEX down for their poor service -- a *glaring* example of this is how their AT&T Autoplex switch will ANSWER a call to my .6 watt handheld when it is in a marginal area, when no one presses SEND to answer the call! (No, I don't have auto answer "on", and no, the .6 watt is fine -- it never does this in BAMS/Philly [also an Autoplex], nor in Boston on CO/Boston [an EMX], its just NYNEX's crazy way of doing things ... they don't really seem to have very good "quality control"; I don't think its an inherent flaw in the Autoplex.) However, although eliminating roaming charges does not make up for their otherwise poor service and their "We don't care, we're the phone company" attitude, it does go to show that at least *some* people there are in tune with their customers needs and are willing to take a bit of a cut in revenues to attract a larger and more loyal customer base. It's about time we simply got rid of daily roam charges -- no matter what cell companies will tell you, they are simply designed to rake in a LOT of money from a nearly captive user base. Many Cell Cos will drag out that old "fraud" argument, which they use for everything from why SW Bell Mobile charges a $2 "Administrative Fee" above the roam charges for Boston customers all the way to why NYNEX/NY won't offer Call Forwarding features in *some* other NYNEX properties and in SNET/CT's territory. I've never heard more specious arguments in my life! The fact is that most MSA Cellular Operators are making a killing as it is on cellular, and dailies only add to the pot. This is not to say there isn't a considerable degree of expense in operating and augmenting a cellular system, but the roam charges have nothing to do with fraud (any more than do any other charges), and they are just a device which the industry uses to increase revenues, the same way they raise airtime rates or reduce off-peak calling periods. The $3 daily simply discourages many people from calling at all, which I think in the long run hurts the industry, especially which the emergence of alternate wireless providers such as NexTel (sp?) and PCS. Moreover, its totally out of proportion which the cost of providing service to roamers -- why should roamers pay $3/day and $.99 per minute (and with SW Bell's inane system, home airtime for call delivery :( ) using Roaming Carrier "A" when Roaming Carrier "B" doesn't charge any of the above charges and gives roamers a decent airtime rate? If B could do it, why can't A? Its got nothing to do with cost, but with the priorities of the roaming carriers, and their overall policy on how they treat their customers. Thus, I'm glad to see that NYNEX, one of the largest "B" side carriers, has chosen to be an industry leader and eliminate the $3 daily charge for its customers who roam (do they eat it themselves?). The next step is to get the $.99 per minute rate more in line with the cost of providing the service, but the elimination of the $3 is a positive step and one which I wholeheartedly applaud. Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: sydtran@wam.umd.edu (Sydney Quocsi Tran) Subject: Stratacom and Frame Relay Date: 29 Aug 1994 19:26:19 GMT Organization: University of Maryland College Park Hi all, I am looking for a phone number, e-mail address of Stratacom (a (California baed company). I am doing a paper on Frame Relay Switches and if I am not mistaken Stratacom and Wellfleet are the two companies who dominate this area of market. Any info is greatly appriciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: thor@sushi.uib.no Subject: Extent of GSM Coverage in USA? Date: 29 Aug 1994 21:23:27 GMT Organization: University of Bergen, Norway Reply-To: edmtl@edb.uib.no I would like any references to maps or descriptions which highlight the current and planned coverage of the GSM standard in the USA. Here in europe it is been quickly built up and coverage is very good. I have seen posts from Australia asking about coverage in San Francisco, and would like more specific info about covered areas, planned coverage, etc. How is the market in USA seeing the GSM system? Are many companies commiting to it? Any references to companies currently supporting GSM system and selling GSM services would be appreciated (especially in California). Please e-mail replies. Regards, Thor Legvold NorNeXT User Group leader University of Bergen NORWAY ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 17:49:19 -0400 Subject: Kosova: Serb Police in Mass Telephone Seizures From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Organization: Internex Online (io.org) Data: 416-363-4151 Voice: 416-363-8676 Kosova (sometimes written Kosovo) is a district of Serbia adjacent to Albania, with a predominantly ethnic Albanian population but ruled as an integral part of Serbia. The following item, was posted to soc.culture.yugoslavia and soc.culture. europe by cla04@cc.keele.ac.uk (A.T. Fear), and I thought it would be relevant to this newsgroup. KOSOVA COMMUNICATION Bulletin of the Ministry of the Information of the Republic of Kosova 3rd Year; No 184; 22 August 1994 Serb Police in Mass Telephone Seizures The presence of cordless telephones in numerous private Albanian homes has been of great concern to Serbian police authorities with the revelation that in some cases, police wave bands can be overheard. Consequently Serbian police have embarked upon a mass search of Albanian homes throughout communes of Kosova in order to seize telephones which police believe are being used to eavesdrop on police communication frequencies. In many cases, families found in possession of such phones have been subjected to physical maltreatment. Incidents of this type have been reported in the communes of Decan and Kamenica with over 54 telephones seized, each seizure accompanied by maltreatment of Albanian residents. Albanians affected by this police action have pointed out that they had purchased the phones legally and with the full knowledge of Serbian telecommunication authorities and had paid up to 2,500 DM in order to be connected. (Note from NDA: Tragedy is soemthing that happens daily in the former Yugoslavia, and I don't want to trivialize the killings in Bosnia by comparing them to anything happening in Kosova today. The Serbian authorities are behaving badly in Kosova, but a shooting war hasn't started there yet. Still, things are very bad in Kosova, and are likely to get worse.) ------------------------------ From: ccappuc@satelnet.org (Chris Cappuccio) Subject: Motorola Radius PR-3000 pager Date: 29 Aug 1994 20:54:46 -0400 Organization: SatelNET A friend who works at the local hospital got a brand new pager, a Motorola Radius PR-3000 voice pager from the hospital. Like most hospitals, they have their own paging system (tower, stuff to program the pagers, etc...) Anyways, this is just like a normal voice pager, it has volume and on/off and stuff. But one thing which I couldin't figure out, is why it has this white button, and when you press it, you hear everything (static when nothing is being broadcast, or tones then voice when a page is going on) on the freq that the crystal in the pager is tuned to. What would the point of having a button where you could hear any page be? You have to hold down the button and you hear whatever is on the frequency that it is tuned to, and when you let go, it stops. Someone suggested to me that it was used in emergencies or in situations when the hospital wanted to broadcast to everybody, but I figured, you would have to know when to hit the button, and you can't exactly predict emergencies. Any suggestions? Peace, Chris ------------------------------ From: iracle@lcs.mit.edu (Ira Hochman) Subject: wav to Dialogic ADPCM Conversion Software? Date: 29 Aug 94 14:06:25 Can anyone point me to software that can convert, in a "batch" mode, wav sound format files to one of the Dialogic ADPCM formats? The application is one where a user at a PC records a message in .wav format which is then converted into Dialogic format and stored on a server. Thus, the conversion needs to be callable by a windows program without user intervention. Please respond directly via email. I will post a summary of replies for the benefit of the net. Ira Hochman iracle@lcs.mit.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #356 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10380; 30 Aug 94 20:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13724; Tue, 30 Aug 94 15:06:12 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13717; Tue, 30 Aug 94 15:06:08 CDT Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 15:06:08 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408302006.AA13717@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #357 TELECOM Digest Tue, 30 Aug 94 15:06:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 357 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson GSM Phones in Europe (Robert Hoare) ISDN Phones in Europe (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) CompuServe Kicked Out of Court (Richard Patterson) Request For Comment - Government Electronic Documents (Tom Worthington) The Network Side of Cellular Mobile Radio (Tobias Oetiker) French Numbering System to Change (Clive D.W. Feather) Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier (dong@umiacs.umd.edu) Reviews of Echo-Cancellers For Teleconferencing (Geir Pedersen) RF Transmitter and Our Health; Looking For Papers (Daniel JungYue Chun) Last A+B Box Vanishes (Clive D.W. Feather) Cellular Phone Plus Modem (Jonathan Lundell) Re: Need Help With T1 (David W. Kay) Re: Sony or Northern Telecom Speakerphone Sources? (David W. Kay) Re: Phones For High Noise Areas (Scott Falke) Re: Phones For High Noise Areas (Dale Farmer) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 20:04:15 GMT From: rh@rh.eunet.be (Robert Hoare) Reply-To: rh@rh.eunet.be Subject: GSM Phones in Europe Late this year or early next year, when the networks are a bit more complete, I'm planning to get a GSM phone for Europe, and I'm starting to look at the alternative carriers, deals etc. Is there a FAQ/Info file on GSM anywhere on the net or in a recent magazine? I want to use the phone in France, UK and (probably) Benelux, without excessive charges for incoming calls. Outgoing charges are not that important, I could use a callback service if incoming calls are free. Do any of the carriers in those countries allow international roaming without charging (me) extra for incoming calls? Or do I always have to pick up the costs from my home country number to the overseas phone location? Presumably it'll roam to me without the caller knowing? Also, do any of the carriers have a voicemail service for when the phone is out of range or switched off? Can it be accessed whilst roaming outside that country? Can calls be redirected to a terrestial phone overseas? Or am I expecting too much? As an alternative, is it possible to use multiple smart cards, so the same phone thinks it is a French, British and Belgian phone, ideally at the same time? Finally, are there any GSM phones, available for use on all networks, that handle data? Rob rh@rh.eunet.be AND rh@mann.demon.co.uk (roaming for internet would be nice also!) ------------------------------ From: 100020.1013@compuserve.com (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) Subject: ISDN Phones in Europe Date: 30 Aug 1994 09:13:14 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I am looking for sources of ISDN phones which can be used (possibly certified) in Italy. It seems to be quite hard to find ISDN phones here, an SIP does not have a large choice of models (actually only two, and will take weeks to have one after the order). Thanks for any pointer. Please answer by email since I may not read this newsgroup. Alfredo Cotroneo, Milano, Italy FAX: +39-2-706 38151 / Ph: +39-337-297788 email: 100020.1013@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Subject: CompuServe Kicked Out of Court From: richard.patterson@yob.com (Richard Patterson) Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 13:31:00 GMT Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569 Reply-To: richard.patterson@yob.com (Richard Patterson) On August 11, 1994, the US District Court, for the Southern District of Ohio, entered an Order and Opinion [17 pages], dismissing CompuServe v. Patterson, Case No. C2-94-91, for want of personal jurisdiction. A "scanned" copy of the order and opinion are available on CompuServe's Legal Forum (LAWSIG) and America Online Legal Sig (LEGALSIG), in the file named CIS3OH.ZIP. CIS sued an individual Texas shareware author and long time service subscriber in the Ohio District Court, attempting to convince the court that all subscribers to CIS and shareware authors using its online service to distribute shareware programs, send messages, or upload other "content" consent to jurisdiction and venue in the Columbus Ohio courts (where its central computer is located). The court rejected this argument, although CIS reraised it on a Motion for Rehearing filed Auguse 22, 1994. This case is one of the first to reference the "information superhighway," and provides a detailed discussion of the application of International Shoe, the due process clause and the state long-arm statutes as they relate to users of online services and brings them into the "information age." It should be of interest to users of any telecommunications network and certainly to all Shareware authors. Ye Olde Bailey BBS Zyxel 713-520-1569(V.32bis) Hayes 713-520-9566 (V.FC) Houston,Texas yob.com Home of alt.cosuard ------------------------------ From: tomw@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (Tom Worthington) Subject: Request For Comment - Government Electronic Documents Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 07:43:13 GMT This is to request comments on the draft of: "Implementing Effective Procedures for the Management of Electronic Documents in the Australian Public Service" Available at URL:ftp://archie.au/ACS/implguid.html (about 111KBytes) Send comments to: tomw@adfa.oz.au The draft report, containing guidelines for implementing effective procedures for the management of electronic documents, has been produced by a subcommittee of the Commonwealth Government's Information Exchange Steering Committee (IESC). The IESC is an advisory body, responsible for providing guidance to Commonwealth agencies on policies and strategic directions relating to Information Technology and related issues, including telecommunications. For further details of the IESC contact Max McGregor (e-mail: max.mcgregor@finance.ausgovfinance.telememo.au, ph: +61 6 263 3553, fax: +61 6 263 2276). The report is aimed at providing further assistance in putting those management principles into practice. Although the report has been produced primarily for the guidance of Commonwealth Agency records managers, the basic principles can be equally applied throughout any organisation that maintains electronic records. Note that this is a working draft only. It is considered less than 20% complete. However the committee would welcome your input to make it a better document. Table of contents from "Implementing Effective Procedures for the Management of Electronic Documents in the Australian Public Service": 1. Foreword 2. Background/Environmental Scan 3. Objectives of these Guidelines 4. Basic Groundwork - Corporate Information Management Commitment and Resources 5. Best Practices in Electronic Document Management 6. Security of Electronic Documents - Sharing Information 7. Preserve Your Records - The Archival Process 8. Other Legal Requirements 9. Planning for Further Change 10. Information Management Technology 11. Personal Information Management Practices APPENDICES A. GLOSSARY B. BIBLIOGRAPHY C. CASE STUDIES D. INDEX PS: Don't miss (because I am talking at it): Playing for Keeps: An electronic Records Management Conference Hosted by Australian Archives Canberra Australia 8-10 November 1994 For details e-mail: acts@ozemail.edu.au Phone: +61 6 2573299 or Fax: +61 6 2573256 Posted by Tom Worthington Chair of the IESC Electronic Document Management Subcommittee & Senior Policy Advisor, Data Administration Standards Communications and Information Systems Engineering Branch Department of Defence Room B-3-25, Russell Offices, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia Ph: +61 6 2651258, Fax: +61 6 2653601, Pager: +61 6 2856209 X.400: G=Tom;S=Worthington;OU=CM-DIMP;O=HQADF;P=ausgovdefencenet;A=telememo;C=au 30 August, 1994 ------------------------------ From: tobias@haydn.ethz.ch (Tobias Oetiker) Subject: The Network Side of Cellular Mobile Radio Date: 30 Aug 1994 12:36:23 GMT Organization: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Reply-To: tobias@ife.ee.ethz.ch Hello, I just started working with the network resarch group ad DMU in Leicester . My task is to give an overview on recent developments in the area of digital cellular mobile radio (GSM, ...) and to identify possible research projects. Currently I am working through a load of papers from 1990 to 1992 on the subject. But to get really up to date information I would be glad to get your input: - What happened in cellular digital communications in '93 and '94. - Where do you see network related questions that would need further investigation. Thanks for you help; I will post a summary if I get some answers. Cheers, Tobias Oetiker 55 Windermere St tobias@ife.ee.ethz.ch * Phone 0533 55 09 43 ====== UK ========= ------------------------------ Subject: French Numbering System to Change Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 20:27:29 BST From: Clive D.W. Feather According to a poster on uk.telecom, France is to switch from eight to ten digit numbering in just under two years time: I though the leaflet included with my France Telecom phone bill on Saturday might be of interest. It is headed '10 digit dialling', and goes on to explain that due to the exhaustion of number capacity due to faxes, mobile phones, etc., France will go to 10-digit dialling as of "spring 1996". The old Paris/province split will vanish, along with the need to know where the number you are calling is in order to know if you need to use the 16 or 16 1 prefixes. Instead Greater Paris numbers will all be prefixed 01, and all other numbers will get a prefix 02, 03, 04 or 05, depending on which geographical quadrant of the country they are in. All calls will now need to dial all 10 digits. At the same time the international code will change from 19 to 00. No mention of the 112 emergency number, nor of whether incoming international calls drop the leading zero. ---------------------- Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 1923 813541 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 1923 813811 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: dong@umiacs.umd.edu Subject: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier Date: 30 Aug 1994 01:05:29 -0400 Organization: UMIACS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 Does anybody know any information about the regulation for local phone company charging security deposits? I am trying to get a phone connection for my new home. The local phone company (Bell Atlantic) wants to charge me $50 deposit and $70 prepaid for the first month's bill, plus other switch on fees. I think there were a regulation on how the local company can charge deposits. I remember I had a telephone five years ago and somehow I managed to get rid of the deposit by telling them a regulation. It has been a long time that I already forget the details. Could someone remind me of that? From the conversation I had with the operator, I know some people do not have to paid deposits. But she won't tell me how to qulify that. Also, another operator only want charge me the $50 and switch on fee. So I think they probably don't know what they were talking about, and just want to charge whatever they can. Please email to me. Thanks, DC [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The telco is entitled to take reasonable actions to insure they are paid for their service. Unlike many businesses, telco is regulated under a rule which says they *must* provide service on demand to all qualified applicants without delay. In this context, a qualified applicant is one who has demonstrated the ability and willingness to pay for the service. To demonstrate your 'ability and willingness' to pay, a security deposit and/or advance payment can be required. A deposit is an amount of money held in escrow for some period of time upon which telco is required to pay interest. It is forfeited in the event of a default in your payments. An advance payment on the other hand does not draw any interest and is immediatly applied as a credit on your account to cover the cost of the first month's service in advance and installation fees. Whether or not a security deposit and/or advance payment is required cannot be detirmined arbitrarily, nor can such requirements be made on the basis of any illegal criteria such as the applicant's race, sex, nationality or living arrangements. Such a requirement can be made based on telco's own records of prior service to the applicant, or the records of other telcos shared in common. It can be made on the basis of a report from a credit bureau. Some latitude is given to low-level employees in detirmining the amount or nature of any advance payment required; they are to balance customer goodwill with the best interests of the company. A security deposit equal to a month or two month's estimated billings is considered reasonable as is an advance payment equal to the estimated cost of installation and a month of service. There is no regulation or requirement that telco give its services away without some assurance of payment, although careful and courteous negotiation will often times reduce the amount demanded. That, plus of course a good credit history with telco itself. PAT] ------------------------------ From: geir.pedersen@usit.uio.no (Geir Pedersen) Subject: Reviews of Echo-Cancellers For Teleconferencing Date: 30 Aug 1994 06:00:52 GMT Organization: University of Oslo I am looking for reviews of echo-cancelers for teleconferenceing, e.g. the units from Shure and Coherent. Are there any trade magazines or other sources that are likely to publish this type of material? Thanks, Geir Pedersen University of Oslo ------------------------------ From: dchun@HK.Super.NET (Mr. Daniel JungYue Chun) Subject: RF Transmitter and Our Health; Looking For Papers Date: 30 Aug 1994 16:31:57 GMT Organization: Hong Kong SuperNET What published research is available on this topic? Best Regards, Daniel J Y Chun 39A Tin Hau Temple Rd | Tel/Voicemail: +852 571 5345 | Pager +852 1107445444 2/F Causeway Bay | Fax/Data: +852 571 5345 | Office +852 738 7170 Hong Kong | Internet: dchun@hk.super.net | CompuServe: 100267,712 ------------------------------ Subject: Last A+B Box Vanishes Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 02:34:50 BST From: Clive D.W. Feather Pat - this just appeared on uk.telecom; you might like to put it in the Digest. From: A.L.Radtke@bradford.ac.uk (Drew Radtke) Subject: Para Stour 224; last A+B phone box in UK Date: Fri, 26 Aug 1994 22:40:08 GMT I've just watched News at Ten and noticed the '...and finally' story about the last phone box in the UK that still had the A+B buttons. Those are the ones were you put a coin in, and if the person answers you press A and the call is connected, or you press B and get you money back if you get no reply. It had been in service since the 1930s, and it was on Papa Stour on the Shetland Islands. I say was, as today BT replaced with with one of the latest digital pay phones. The number is Papa Stour 224. I love those sort of phone numbers don't you? Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 1923 813541 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 1923 813811 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: jlundell@opus.com (Jonathan Lundell) Subject: Cellular Phone Plus Modem Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 01:34:43 GMT I mentioned recently that I've been using an Air Communicator combo cellular phone and 14.4 modem (with a Mac Duo). I like it so far. Several folks have asked for contact info, so I asked AC. They said: 1-800-AIR-DATA or AIRSALES.MKT@AppleLink.Apple.COM There's both Windows and (somewhat less) Mac support. The people there have been helpful so far. The phone's quite a bit bigger than, say, a Moto flip, but quite a bit handier than phone+adapter+modem. Also, the modem works with a land line (the phone has an RJ11 jack). Jonathan Lundell jlundell@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: david (d.w.) kay Subject: Re: Need Help With T1 Organization: BNR Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:20:00 GMT In article , am339@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael J. Logsdon) says: > We are here in Ameritech land in Cleveland. > We have two SRX phone systems located six miles apart, in different > CO's. We have voicemail at one location and want to offer it to the > other. I've been told that E&M circuits are the way it is best done. > Now I'm reading that T1 and 24 circuit capability and that E&M can be > done on T1. I need general help with the jargon and what sort of end > equipment we will need. Mike: Can you give some more details? E&M is NOT the way to go. It is one of the oldest methods of doing long distance (Like from the 1930's) and requires a minimum of 4 (but more likely 8) wires from one switch to another. T1 at least gives 24 multiplexed lines on one twisted pair of wires. Can you give more details as to what equipment you have and what your voice mail system requires. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:46:00 -0400 From: david (d.w.) kay Subject: Re: Sony or Northern Telecom Speakerphone Sources? Organization: BNR In article , gld@prairienet.org (Gary L. Dare) says: > I'm looking for sources of new or refurb speakerphones from either > Sony or Northern Telecom. The NT models that I've come across in the > business world are particularly impressive and if they're not full > duplex, their transitions are so smooth that it was not noticeable ... Dial 1-800-NORTHERN in Canada or 1-800-842-7439 in USA You can order directly from them ... Regards. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Aug 94 10:24:51 -0700 From: scott@csustan.csustan.edu (Scott Falke) Subject: Re: Phones For High Noise Areas Organization: CSU Stanislaus In article onymouse@netcom.com (J. DeBert) writes: > I'm helping (unofficially) the Safety and Facilities departments at my > Real Job to get phones for high noise areas at our facility. > One particular area is a huge enclosed room full of equipment -- pumps, > fans, recirculating coolers, et cetera, which produce high levels of > wideband, low frequency and impulse-type noise ranging from 70 to 95dB > in the entire area as well as 100dB noise from a 10-inch water supply > main valve in one spot. > This is causing problems with telephone communications within the > area: It is very difficult to hear whom one is talking to on the phone > and, sometimes, the other party cannot hear, either. Clearly a safety > problem, especially when miscommunication can occur, leading to unsafe > equipment operation and when emergency communications are needed. [[[snip]] > I've seen explosion-proof sets that have these features but they have > been unreliable in the past and expensive. Besides, they are not > needed. All that is needed is to have sets that can provide reliable > communications in a high-noise area and are line-powered. It sounds like you've covered most of the options; maybe painted yourself into a corner, but here's a few ideas. Although an XP set, have you looked at the fairly new Crouse-Hinds model? I'm fairly sure the set has a line-powered amplifier, and big buttons for use with gloves. It's also somewhat corrosion proof, if that's an issue. Is the area the phones are located conducive to small, sound-absorbent kiosks? I've seen this used as an effective supplement to the noise-cancelling handsets. I can locate a manufacturer or two if you would like. Email as desired. As a alternative to phones, how about non-audio signalling such as something like DTMF keypads and displays on portable 2-way radios? Heck, maybe Morse code -- you could glue a key on each hard hat. Even head-mounted xenon flashers ... Finally, although possibly a little out of scope, has your safety group at all considered noise mitigation at the source? In the past I have read that Dow {or is it Dupont?} consider noise mitagation in the industrial setting as having exceptional safety benefits; on both acute and chronic bases. substation scott ------------------------------ From: dale@access1.digex.net (Dale Farmer) Subject: Re: Phones For High Noise Areas Date: 30 Aug 1994 00:36:49 GMT Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA J. DeBert (onymouse@netcom.com) wrote: > I'm helping (unofficially) the Safety and Facilities departments at my > Real Job to get phones for high noise areas at our facility. > One particular area is a huge enclosed room full of equipment -- pumps, > fans, recirculating coolers, et cetera, which produce high levels of > wideband, low frequency and impulse-type noise ranging from 70 to 95dB > in the entire area as well as 100dB noise from a 10-inch water supply > main valve in one spot. > This is causing problems with telephone communications within the > area: It is very difficult to hear whom one is talking to on the phone > and, sometimes, the other party cannot hear, either. Clearly a safety Depending on the decibel level of the noise in the room your may want to investgate the "noise booths" That you find in industrial telecom catalogs. These are fairly pricey though, but when I have used them they are far superior to the various noise-cancelling handsets. Another consideration is if it is a hazardous noise area OSHA regulations may require you to provide a telephone that workers can use without removing their hearing protection (plugs/muffs), or in a location, such as the booth, where they can safely remove their hearing protection while using the phone. You can build a lower grade one of these things by making an imitation phone booth out of plywood. Don't bother with a door for it. and lining the inside with a layer of accustic foam. (those "eggcrate" type foam mattress pads work fine) Hang the phone on the outside of the booth, with a long enough handset cord to reach inside. It is amazing how (relatively) quiet it is inside one of these things. Materials cost about $100 at local stores, plus a couple hours and some carpenters tools. Dale Farmer ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #357 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07138; 1 Sep 94 16:40 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03932; Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:06:34 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17293; Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:53:25 CDT Date: Tue, 23 Aug 94 13:53:25 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9408231853.AA17293@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #351 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08076; 1 Sep 94 17:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03740; Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:00:39 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03733; Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:00:35 CDT Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:00:35 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409011800.AA03733@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #358 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:00:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 358 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Senate Bill Making Carriers Responsible For Info Content (John Sullivan) Second International Conference on Data Transmission (John Coupland) Millennium Goes to Prison (Henry Troup) Europe: Unlimited Residential Service (quioqy@satelnet.org) Bell Canada Plans For 500 Portability Service (David Leibold) Name Display, Extra Call Blocking Coming to Bell Canada (David Leibold) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Sep 1994 11:21:46 -0500 From: sullivan@geom.umn.edu Subject: Senate Bill Making Carriers Responsible For Info Content [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Sullivan, a long time, very loyal and helpful participant here in this Digest has forwarded the following which originally appeared in RISKS. My thanks to John for thinking of us and passing it along. PAT] This is long, and forwarded from RISKS: Date: Thu, 25 Aug 1994 14:32:40 -0600 From: djw@eff.org (Daniel J. Weitzner) Subject: New indecency rules proposed for all online services (900#s in cyberspace) I. Overview During the final hours before the Senate telecommunications bill (S.1822) was marked-up by the Senate Commerce Committee, a provision was added which would expand the current FCC regulation on obscene and indecent audiotext (900 number) services to virtually all electronic information services, including commercial online service providers, the Internet, and BBS operators. This proposal, introduced by Senator Exon, would require all information service providers and all other electronic communication service providers, to take steps to assure that minors do not have access to obscene or indecent material through the services offered by the service provider. Placing the onus, and criminal liability, on the carrier, as opposed to the originator of the content, threatens to limit the free flow of all kinds of information in the online world. If carriers are operating under the threat of criminal liability for all of the content on their services, they will be forced to pre-screen all messages and limit both the privacy and free expression of the users of these services. Senator Exon's amendment raises fundamental questions about the locus on liability for harm done from content in new digital communications media. These questions must be discussed in a way that assures the free flow of information and holds content originators responsible for their actions. II. Summary of Exon Amendment The Exon amendment which is now part of S.1822, expands section of the Communications Act to cover anyone who "makes, transmits, or otherwise makes available" obscene or indecent communication. It makes no distinction between those entities which transmit the communications from those which create, process, or use the communication. This section of the Communications Act was originally intended to criminalize harassment accomplished over interstate telephone lines, and to require telephone companies that offer indecent 900 number services to prevent minors from having access to such services. The 900 number portions are known as the Helms Amendments, having been championed by Senator Jesse Helms. These sections have been the subject of extension constitutional litigation. If enacted into law, these amendments would require that anyone who "makes, transmits, or otherwise makes available" indecent communication take prescribed steps to assure that minors are prevented from having access to these communications. In the case of 900 numbers, acceptable procedures include written verification of a subscriber's age, payment by credit card, or use of a scrambling device given to the subscriber after having verified his or her age. Failure to do so would result in up to a $100,000 fine or up to two years imprisonment. III. Carrier Liability and Threats to the Free Flow of Information These provisions raise serious First Amendment concerns. (Note that we use the term 'carrier' here to refer to a wide range of information and communication service providers. This does not suggest that these entities are, or should be, common carriers in the traditional sense of the term.) Overbroad carrier liability forces carriers to stifle the free flow of information on their systems and to act as private censors If carriers are responsible for the content of all information and communication on their systems, then they will be forced to attempt to screen all content before it is allowed to enter the system. In many cases, this would be simply impossible. But even where it is possible, such pre-screening can severely limit the diversity and free flow of information in the online world. To be sure, some system operators will want to offer services that pre-screen content. However, if all systems were forced to do so, the usefulness of digital media as communication and information dissemination systems would be drastically limited. Where possible, we must avoid legal structures which force those who merely carry messages to screen their content. Carriers are often legally prohibited from screening messages. In fact, under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, electronic communication service providers are generally prohibited from examining the contents of messages or information carrier from one subscriber to another. Extension of the 900 number rules to all electronic information services may be unconstitutional The regulation of indecent 900 number programming was only accomplished after nearly a decade of constitutional litigation, with rules being overturned by the Supreme Court. The regulations were finally found constitutional only after being substantially narrowed to meet First Amendment scrutiny. Since the access methods offered by online service providers are significantly different than simple telephone access to 900 services, we doubt that the same constitutional justifications would support the newly expanded rules. This issue requires considerable study and analysis. Content creators, or those who represent the content as their own, should be responsible for liability arising out of the content. In sum, it should be content originators, not carriers, who are responsible for their content. Any other approach will stifle the free flow of information in the new digital media. IV. Next Steps Having only just received the language offered by Senator Exon, EFF still needs to do further analysis, and consult with others in the online community. We also hope to speak with Senator Exon's staff to understand their intent. Another important hearing will be held on S.1822 in mid-September by the Senate Judiciary Committee. By that time, we hope to have this issue resolved. While we agree that these carrier liability problems are in need of Congressional consideration, we do not believe that the time is ripe to act. Before any action is taken, hearings must be held and careful evaluation of all the issues, not just indecency, must be undertaken. Daniel J. Weitzner, Deputy Policy Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1001 G St. NW Suite 950 East, Washington, DC 20001 +1 202-347-5400(v) ------------------------------ From: Coupland, John Subject: Second International Conference on Data Transmission Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 11:35:00 PDT Second International Conference on "Data Transmission - Advances in data communication, technology and applications" IEE, Savoy Place, London: 27 February - 1 March 1995 CALL FOR PAPERS AIMS The second IEE International Conference on Data Transmission will review new developments in data communications in terms of theoretical work, technology and applications. The aim of the conference is to bring together users and technologists in a forum which will encourage user awareness of new technologies and provide feedback on the practical applications and issues of concern. Much of the discussion involved in the development of these new technologies occurs in standards committees in which manufacturers rather than users set the requirements. This conference will provide a forum where a broader audience can comment on such topical issues. A specific aim is to improve the understanding of how modems and ISDN will evolve and co-exist with other technologies, such as wireless systems, over the next few years. The conference will help: Telecomms managers to develop their data communications strategy and to improve their interactions with suppliers. Data communications manufacturers to match their product strategy to users' requirements. Computer hardware and software developers to understand trends in data transmission. Telecomms service providers to introduce new services so that they are closer to the users' needs and within the technology available. Academics to discuss their recent work with colleagues and choose directions for future work. The conference papers will be of a reasonable technical level and will address both technology and applications. A number of panel sessions will be used to bring out key discussion points and to encourage communication between conference delegates. SCOPE Contributions should be technical in nature but, where possible, of a level that users will find informative. Papers are requested on any of the following topics but papers on other closely related areas will also be considered. Analogue Technology Recent advances in modem and fax transmission technology. Experience in the implementation and use of the techniques in V.34 modems will be particularly welcome. Signal-processing techniques used in high-speed modems. Modem hardware and software components. Modem performance measurement. Modem management and diagnostics. Digital Technology New advances in ISDN terminal adapters. Use of ISDN basic rate and primary rate for data transmission. ISDN channel aggregation and bandwidth management. ISDN/PSTN inter-working issues and solutions. Data compression techniques. Schemes for compression of synchronous data. High-speed transmission in the local loop - HDSL and ADSL. Communications Hardware and Software The PC as a multi-mode communications platform. High performance serial interfaces. Command languages for data, voice and fax devices. Communications APIs. Access security and encryption mechanisms. Wireless Technology Access to LANs and PBXs. Access to public data networks. Replacement for copper local loops. Point-to-point and multipoint data systems. Data transmission over analogue and digital cellular systems. Applications Transmission of voice, video and data using modems, ISDN or wireless technologies. Audiographics conferencing. Teleworking. PC-Host communications. LAN-to-LAN interconnection. Remote LAN workstation techniques. CONTRIBUTIONS The Organising Committee invites offers of contributions and review papers for consideration for inclusion in the conference programme. Those wishing to offer a contribution should submit a synopsis of up to 1 side of A4 paper, to be received by the Secretariat on or before 5 August 1994. The synopsis should include the main points of the paper and should indicate its innovative contrib ution and the inclusion of practical results. Authors whose synopses are selected for development into full contributions for further consideration will be requested to provide a typescript of a maximum of 5000 words of text, (less if illustrations are included) for assessment by 4 November 1994. Final versions of all papers will be published by the IEE, and copies of the proceedings will be provided to all Conference Delegates. DEADLINES Receipt of synopsis 5 September 1994 Notification of acceptance September 1994 Receipt of camera ready manuscript 4 November 1994 WORKING LANGUAGE The working language of the Conference is English which will be used for all printed material, presentations and discussions. VENUE The Conference will be held at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Savoy Place, London WC2, UK. EXHIBITION It is proposed to arrange a small technical exhibition in association with the Conference. Those requiring further details of layout and charges should so indicate on the attached reply-form. SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME Student IEE Members and Younger IEE Members presenting papers at this Conference may be eligible for an IEE Scholarship to assist with the cost of registration fees and reasonable accommodation charges. Please contact the IEE's Scholarship Department fo r further details. PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION Registration forms and further programme details will be published a few months before the event and will be sent to those who complete and return the attached reply-form. ORGANISERS The Conference is being organised by the Electronics Division of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in association with: British Computer Society Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (UKRI Section and Communication Chapter) Telecommunications Managers Association Telecommunication Users' Association UK ISDN User Forum CONFERENCE ORGANISING COMMITTEE Mr W L Pechey, Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc (Chairman) Mr J Brownlie, Consultant Mr J P Edney, Symbionics Ltd Professor P G Farrell, University of Manchester Mr C N Firth, Racal Research Mr J Haine, Ionica Professor B Honary, University of Lancaster Mr M Jones, Consultant Mr M J Maundrell, DRA Mr J L Moughton, Cray Communications Ltd CORRESPONDING MEMBERS Dr M Blaum, IBM, USA Dr A Clark, Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc, USA Mr G D Forney Jr, Motorola, USA Mr K Krechmer, ACTION Consulting, USA Professor Dr-Ing J Lindner, Universitat Ulm, Germany SECRETARIAT DT95 Secretariat Conference Services Institution of Electrical Engineers Savoy Place London WC2R 0BL Tel: 071 344 5477 International +44 71 344 5477 Fax: 071 497 3633 International +44 71 497 3633 Telex: 261176 IEE LDN G Email:sgriffiths@iee.org.uk (please quote DT95 in message) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 15:07:00 -0400 From: henry (h.w.) troup Subject: Millennium Goes to Prison KINGSTON, Ontario -- The success of a recent trial of the Northern Telecom Millennium pay phone at Collins Bay Prison in Kingston, Ontario, may mean the system is set to go to prison for life. Northern Telecom partnered with the Canadian Federal Correctional Services, telephone consortium Stentor, and Bell Canada, to customize the flexible Millennium system architecture to fit the unique demands of a prison setting. The resulting "Millennium Inmate Solution" includes real-time management of inmate phone traffic to allow or restrict numbers, and enhance fraud control. Production on the Millennium Inmate Solution is slated to begin in Calgary by year-end, after final reviews by Stentor and the federal government. Roll out to federal prisons coast to coast is planned for the first quarter of 1995. The new prison phone system was also very well received by the American Correctional Association when it was shown at their conference this month in St. Louis, Missouri. ------------------------------ From: quioqy@satelnet.org (Quioqy) Subject: Europe: Unlimited Residential Service Date: 1 Sep 1994 04:16:00 -0400 Organization: SatelNET > "Freedom of information" = cost of internet host + cost of local call. Thanks everybody for your response. Here are some highlights: Daytime Nite&Hol "F_of_Info" Telco Telecom Telcom IntHost IntHost Total_90_hrs US$/mo. US$/hr US$/hr US$/mo. US$/hr US$/mo. Germany 1.50 0.75 20-30 0.0 97-165 rural 9.00 4.50 " " 435-840 France 2.50 0.90 20-50 0.0 111-255 rural 24.00 4.80 " " 462-2200 Britain 1.80 17.50 0.0 179 rural 10.00 3.70 " " 350-917 Sweden 0.60 7.00 1.0 151 rural UnitSta 13-15 0.0 0.0 0-30 0.0 30-40 rural 13-15 8.40 8.40 -786 Here are some of the comments received: Sweden: "..perhaps the most deregulated market in the world. Anyone may start his own telecom and carry which ever service, he likes..." Germany: "..the monopolistic Deutche Telecom, fearing upcoming competition starting as late as 1998, plan to charge 100% !!! more as of 1996 (or 1995?)." France: "..the above prices are for someone living in the Paris area. A long distance call before 6 pm and of more than 60 miles is US$ 0.43 per min.." to which a US caller responds "..that is quiet expensive, indeed for US$ 0,43 per min I can call Paris from here.." Britain: "British Telecom is launching an internet service shortly, but costs are not available yet." United States: "In the U.S. unlimited service means free local calls. For example I have unlimited service here at my beach cottage so I can call the Cisco router I connect to, which is about 50 km from here, but considered to be local at no charge. I can (and do) stay on the phone 14 hours per day without paying more than my regular monthly flat rate service which is US$ 10.45 + 9 % tax." (The respondent is a writer who works with internet information.) Flat residential rates: It appears that the U.S. and Hongkong are the only areas where flat residential rates prevail. However, some areas like New York and Chicago charge per call. In New York it is US$ 0.10 per call, but there is no limit on the length of a call. !!Hongkong based netters, please confirm the rates in the city state!! ??Are there any other areas out there with flat local rates?? More comments will be presented in the next posting. And your opinion? PS. One respondent seeks an internet host in Toulouse. Please reply.!! ------------------------------ From: woody Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 23:16:23 -0400 Subject: Bell Canada Plans For 500 Portability Service [from Bell News, 29 Aug 1994] Coming in '95 - 500-numbers for 'gadabouts' For the Toronto-based sales person who is 'on the road' throughout Canada and the U.S. more often than he's at home, we'll soon be able to offer a phone number that will allow him to be called wherever he hangs his hat. It's called a 500 number. With such a number, the customer can be reached whether he's in Moose Jaw or Milwaukee. Bell Communications Research Inc. (Bellcore), which administers the North American telephone numbering plan, is now assigning blocks of personal "go anywhere" numbers to telephone companies and wireless carriers across the U.S. and Canada. These personal numbers all conform to the following format: 1-500-NXX-XXXX where N can be any number from 2 to 9, and X can be any number from 1 to 9. [DL note: actually that should be 0 to 9] Bellcore is assigning the NXX prefix codes, each of which gives its owner access to 10,000 different numbers (derived from combinations of the four-digit XXXX suffix). Stentor Resource Centre Inc. on behalf of Bell has applied to Bellcore for blocks of 500-number prefix codes. Mobility Canada also applied for numbers on behalf of its members which include Bell Mobility. Although we're gearing up to offer 500-number service in 1995, development is still in the initial stages. Portability - an inevitable thorn. Portability - the ability to use the same personal number regardless of one's carrier - muddies the 500-number waters. Initially, the 500-number system will hunt for subscribers based on vendor-specific prefix codes, the premise being that if the network knows who supplied a given number, it will be easier to find its user. But if a 500-number customer switches carriers, were portability in effect, his 500-number would go with him, and the network would no longer be able to use the prefix code to identify his carrier. The network must then look at all ten digits of a 500-NXX-XXXX number to find the carrier. This increases the complexity of the search and puts more demands on the network. Given those difficulties, portability will be offered, although likely not until the network has been up and running for some time. We're currently offering PrimeLine service which allows one number to reach customers anywhere *within a local area*. This service employs less efficient call routing than upcoming AIN-based systems. Members of Mobility Canada offer a similar service called PrimeLine Direct. --- The technology: 500-number service will employ AIN (Advanced Intelligent Network) technology that permits calls to be directed efficiently through a North American-wide network of databases and customer-specified call routing instructions. The service uses computers to search for 500-number customers in a sequence programmed by users. For instance, a call might be routed first to the office, then to the car, then to the home, and finally to the cottage. In the evening, calls could be routed to the home first. ------------------------------ From: woody Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 23:18:15 -0400 Subject: Name Display, Extra Call Blocking Coming to Bell Canada [from Bell News, (Bell Canada/Bell Ontario), 29 August 1994] New options will preserve privacy. Privacy is a red hot social issue these days. That's why we're anticipating a high level of interest in the name display option that we'll be offering our customers starting October 24. Name display - an option for use with Call Display, one of our SmartTouch[tm] services - will allow customers to see the name in addition to the telephone number of the person or business calling them. Aware of the sensitivity of the issue when it granted Bell approval in June to offer the name display option, the CRTC also approved our proposal to extend "Per-Call Blocking" to all our customers (where technically possible) free of charge. The CRTC also asked us to extend the availability of "Per-Line Blocking" and to offer a "Private Name" message option. What do these options add up to? To ensuring the privacy rights of callers which are viewed by Bell and the CRTC as "equally important" as the rights of persons called. To protect the privacy of callers, we are offering blocking choices that stop or block the number and name of callers from being seen by the people they call. Per Call-Blocking, for example, satisfies the need to block the occasional call. "Per-Line Blocking," which is also free will be offered by request (with a call to the Bell Customer Service Centre). It is geared to shelters for victims of domestic violence, crisis lines, social service agencies as well as victims and potential victims of violence. "Private Name" Message replaces the caller's name with the message "PRIVATE NAME" which will appear on the display screen of the called party's phone set or the add-on Bell 415 unit. All these options, plus other privacy safeguards, are outlined in an account insert which is being mailed out to customers beginning this week. Bell has also produced a brochure, Privacy and Your Telephone - A Guide for Bell Canada Customers. It's available in our Bell Phonecentre stores or by calling the Bell Customer Service Centre at the number shown on the front of our customers' account. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #358 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09546; 1 Sep 94 19:40 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11232; Thu, 1 Sep 94 15:34:16 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11223; Thu, 1 Sep 94 15:34:10 CDT Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 15:34:10 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409012034.AA11223@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #360 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Sep 94 15:34:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 360 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Understanding Pay TV - A One Day Course (Stuart Glanfield) Excel Telecommunications (Mark Glenn) Wide Area Network Connectivity Using Lotus Notes (D. Seshagiri) Wanted! One Channel Voice/Fax/Modem PC Cards and Supplier Info (M. Rubinov) Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? (Bradley Allen) QModem 4.5 Experiences Wanted (Donald Parriott) Two Communications Items (Compuserve, Bell Atlantic) (Paul Robinson) Connection Between Distant Appletalk Networks (Giot Renaud) Seeking Telephone Historians (Arnold L. Cornez, J.D.) Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier (James Deibele) Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier (Nigel Allen) Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier (John Levine) Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (Linc Madison) Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (Mitch Weiss) Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes (jdl@wam.umd.edu) Re: Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines (YS Gutfreund) Re: Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines (K McConnaughey) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: eef@ee.su.oz.au Subject: Understanding Pay TV - A One Day Course Reply-To: eef@ee.su.oz.au Organization: Electrical Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 02:55:37 GMT A ONE DAY COURSE PROGRAM Friday, 16 September 1994 0830-0900 Registration and Coffee Session 1: Transmission Technologies 0900-0920 Welcome Prof Trevor Cole, Head of Department, Sydney University Electrical Engineering 0920-1000 MDS - The "Wireless Cable" Solution David Ingham, Director, David Ingham Communications and Course Designer Aim: To explain the strengths and weaknesses of this low-cost solution to Pay TV. 1000-1040 ADSL - Asymetric Digital Subscribers Loop Ross Halgren, Technical Manager - Transport and Communication, AWA Communications Aim: To bring participants up to date with the use of the subscriber loop to provide Pay TV. 1040-1110 Morning tea 1110-1150 Fibre/Cable - Telecom's Interim Solution Dr John Semple, Project Leader, Telecom Research Laboratories Aim: To provide an introduction to the architecture of a fibre cable network. 1150-1230 Satellite - The Mandated Delivery System Dr Mark Harwood, Sales Manager, Media and Communications, Optus Communications Aim: To explain how digital transmission will improve capacity. 1230-1330 Lunch Session 2: Carrier and Operator Issues 1330-1410 Common Carrier Issues David Havyatt, General Manager, Media, Telecom Australia Aim: To provide an overview of how Telecom sees itself in the Pay TV market. 1410-1450 Spectrum Management Issues of Pay Television Roger Smith, Executive Manager, Business Directions, Spectrum Management Agency, Canberra Aim: To provide an introduction to the issues of spectrum management in Pay TV. 1450-1520 Afternoon tea 1520-1600 The Role of the National Broadcaster Rosemary Sinclair, Director, Strategic Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Aim: To explain how the new Broadcasting Services Act creates opportunities for a national broadcaster. 1600-1630 Summary David Ingham Further Information: Stuart Glanfield, phone: (02) 692 3659, fax: (02) 552 4920, email: eef@ee.su.oz.au. ------------------------------ Subject: Excel Telecommunications From: mark.glenn@cccbbs.cincinnati.oh.us (Mark Glenn) Date: Thu, 01 Sep 94 11:31:00 -0500 Organization: Cincinnati Computer Connection - Cincinnati, OH - 513-752-1055 Reply-To: mark.glenn@cccbbs.cincinnati.oh.us (Mark Glenn) To anyone interested in joining the fastest growing long distance company in the country, Excel Telecommunications, call George Preston @ 513 752 7391. We are currently looking for people interested in sales/marketing. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What makes your company the 'fastest growing'? That is a claim I hear often. If you ask me, there are so many players in this game now the margin of profit for any independent sales rep in telecom has been almost entirely squeezed away. PAT] ------------------------------ From: seshagiri@qdov01.enet.dec.com Subject: Wide Area Network Connectivity Using Lotus Notes Date: 01 Sep 1994 12:00:00 GMT Organization: DEC, New Delhi, India Hello: My name is Seshagiri and I am working in areas of Networks and Operating Systems for Digital Equipment India Limited, (Indian Subsidary of Digital Equipment Corporation) in New Delhi India. Our client uses Lotus Notes Rel 3.0 as a Work group for Windows environment and the offices world wide are connected over Dial up lines. The users at one site compose the mail docs locally and the messages are sent across over dial up lines to other locations. My questions are: 1. Can Lotus Notes offer remote logins? 2. Has anyone used Lotus Notes on X25 and leased lines? What is the experience? I will summarize the responses I receive plus any other information I collect if anyone is interested. D. Seshagiri Digital Equipment India Limited 6 Floor Tolstoy House Tostoy Marg New Delhi 110012 INTERNET : seshagiri@qdov01.enet.dec.com FAX: 91-11-3322399 VOICE:91-11-3715324 ------------------------------ From: rubinovm@pizzabox.dialogic.com (Michael Rubinov) Subject: Wanted! One Channel Voice/Fax/Modem PC Cards and Supplier Info Organization: Dialogic Corporation, Parsippany NJ Date: Thu, 01 Sep 94 17:17:46 GMT Hi all! I am interested in getting information about suppliers and manufacturers of: 1 or 2 channels VOICE + FAX/MODEM PC cards with the following features: - Windows driver. - Library support for API development. - With features: Call progress, DTMF detection, PLAY/RECORD. I am sure that cards like this exist. If you have any information about it please let me know. Thanks! Michael ------------------------------ From: ulmo@panix.com (Bradley Allen) Subject: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? Date: 31 Aug 1994 18:40:25 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Does anybody know where to send my payment for my NYNEX bill? I have all this cash and a NYNEX account that's due around now, and I can't find an address to pay it. I'm worried they're going to turn off my phone! The billing line, 212-890-2100, is busy every time I call. I called the administrative offices, and after holding for 25 minutes, they told me an address at 412 W. 36th St. I went there and it was closed. I can pay cash or money order. I live right next to the 24 hour United States Post Office. Someone please help! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't really believe some of the mail I get from one day to the next. This is a good example. I would suggest to our correspondent that you wait until NYNEX renders a bill for the service. There will be an envelope enclosed to be used for payment, and an address on the statement enclosed. I don't really think they are going to cut you if you wait until their bill arrives and then pay it in a timely way upon presentation. Is there something I am missing here somewhere? PAT] ------------------------------ From: parriott@earth.planet.net (Donald Parriott) Subject: QModem 4.5 Experiences Wanted Date: 30 Aug 1994 01:14:50 GMT Organization: Planet Access Networks - Stanhope, NJ If anyone is using QModem 4.5, I'd like to hear from you (via e-mail please! I'm having a problem using it in VT100 mode. Don Parriott Internet Address: PARRIOTT@PLANET.NET ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 11:31:52 EDT From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Two Communications Items (Compuserve, Bell Atlantic) Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA From the Business Digest, {Washington Post}, Wed Aug 31, 1994, Page F1: Bell Atlantic said Lands' End, Nordstrom and J.C. Penney have agreed to sell their goods next year in a proposed trial of the telephone company's video-shopping service in Northern Virginia. If federal regulators approve the company's "video dial tone" service, the home-shopping trial will reach 1,000 Bell Atlantic customers. Compuserve, the commercial on-line information service, plans to provide business customers with direct access to the Internet in November. It will also upgrade consumer subscribers' access starting late this year, with direct Internet access scheduled for next year. In addition, it is funding a new company to develop other Internet services. ------------------------------ From: Giot@gebi.ucl.ac.be (Giot Renaud) Subject: Connection Between Distant Appletalk Networks Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 17:50:49 +0100 Organization: UCL/CABI/GEBI I try to connect (cheaply) three distant Macintosh networks to a principal one with permanent telephone lines (no dialing up): one line (and consequently two modems) for each connection between networks. The objective to do this is to permit the connection of distant 4Dclient to a unique 4D server in the principal network. To do this, each distant network must see the principal network and the principal network must see each computer of the distant ones. I think it must be possible with Apple Internet Router, but how is it possible to connect without dialing? Other problem: how increase the amount of serial modem port on the same computer? Doesn't it tell problems in terms of performence? It is perhaps possible by using Apple Remote Access, but in this case will each network see the others? Perhaps are there other solutions? Thanks in advance. Giot Renaud Unit of Bioengineering - Catholic University of Louvain Place Croix du Sud, 2/19 B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve Belgium Tel.: +32-(10)-47.36.557 Fax.:+32-(10)-45.30.62 Email:giot@gebi.ucl.ac.be ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 10:27:44 -0700 From: arniec@hopf.dnai.com (Arnold L. Cornez, J.D.) Subject: Seeking Telephone Historians Attention *old timers* or telephone historians: I came across an old business card for my wife's grandfather's business formerly located in Charleroi, PA. The card gives the phone number as: Bell Phone 698J I have an academic curiousity of what the number meant and of the strange numbering systems. Sounds a lot more charming than the present 1 plus ten digits. Any help? Thanks, Arnold L. Cornez, J.D., Cornez & Associates Voice: 1-800-541-1441 International Financial & Business Consultants Fax: 1-408-738-3700 E-mail: arniec@hopf.dnai.com Snail mail: (Silicon Valley) 333 W. Maude Av., Ste. 112, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086, U.S.A. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was a small town switchboard, probably with only a few hundred subscribers, or maybe a couple thousand subscribers at best. All subscribers had numbers consisting of one to four digits. Usually the original, or charter subscribers had the lowest numbers with one, two or three digits. Sometimes 'important subscribers' had the single digit numbers with the long term subscribers since the early days having two digit numbers, etc. For example in those long ago times in Whiting, Indiana, the Town Clerk was 'Whiting 1', the Mayor's Office was 'Whiting 2'. The Walgreen Agency Drugstore, which had been there since sometime in the 1920's was 'Whiting 89'. Oddly enough, the Whiting Refinery, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Division of Amoco Oil Corporation, which started in 1890, holds massive amounts of real estate all over town and was the only reason the town of Whiting ever existed -- then and now -- had the number 'Whiting 2111' for their PBX operator, although the important people at the refinery had their own private lines, such as 'Whiting 6' in the superintendent's office, etc. Police and fire were just generally 'police' and 'fire' when requested through the operator, although I think officially they were numbers 3 and 4 respectively. At the Hoosier Auditorium Theatre, which was sort of the community hall, an answering machine (yes, one of the real old fashioned kind that weighed a hundred pounds in the big cabinet with the large round spinning drum coated with mylar) answered with recorded announcements of events going on, movies in the theatre and other news on the number 'Whiting 1234'. The Western Union office was 'Whiting 4321', but that was because WUTCO always had a sweetheart relationship with Bell and they always had exchange-4321 as the number to call in telegrams over the phone in every community. If a letter followed the number, as in your example '698-J' that indicated it was a party line. There were probably four (or maybe two) subscribers with the number 698, and the letter indicated which one was to be signalled on incoming calls. I think the party line letters everywhere were 'H', 'J' 'M' and 'R'. If the operator was requested to ring one of those numbers she had to press down the associated button H/J/M/R at the same time she pulled the ringing key in order to ring the correct phone and not the others. If the phrase 'Bell' appeared as part of the number then possibly there was a competing phone exchange in the community; the calling party has to indicate *which company's* '698' he was trying to reach; although frequently the competing companies agreed not to duplicate numbers in order to avoid confusion. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jamesd@teleport.com (James Deibele) Subject: Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier Date: 31 Aug 1994 21:55:03 -0700 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 In dong@umiacs.umd.edu writes: > Does anybody know any information about the regulation for > local phone company charging security deposits? > I am trying to get a phone connection for my new home. The local phone > company (Bell Atlantic) wants to charge me $50 deposit and $70 prepaid [...] > [customer goodwill with the best interests of the company. A security > deposit equal to a month or two month's estimated billings is considered > reasonable ... PAT] Count your blessings: I've been running a public access site for five years. During that time the business was a sole proprietorship. We're now incorporated and are moving things from my DBA to the corporation. One of the things I wanted to move was the phone lines. Because it's a new corporation with no track record, US West wants a deposit equal to two months charges ... on 133 phone lines, soon to be 161. Our phones cost about $30/month each. And that doesn't include the T1, the 56Ks, the voice lines, etc. jamesd@teleport.com Full internet (ftp, telnet, irc, ppp) available. Voice: (503) 223-4245 Portland: (503) 220-1016 2400, N81. Login as "new" to setup an account. Vancouver: (206) 260-0330 Salem: (503) 364-2028 FAX: (503) 223-4372 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In lieu of a deposit, telco would probably accept your personal guarentee in writing since you do already have a track record with them. The day you called telco to tell them you were incorporating, the rep you spoke with probably thought to herself, "Do we look like a bunch of fools?" ha ha ... they know the corporation can go out of business leaving telco holding the bag and no one individually responsible. As them to accept your personal guarentee. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 02:36:03 -0400 From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier Organization: 52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto M6G 1V3 Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca dong@umiacs.umd.edu writes: > Does anybody know any information about the regulation for > local phone company charging security deposits? This varies from telephone company to telephone company, and individual state public utility commissions may have their own rules as well. In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says that telephone companies under its jurisdiction can only require a security deposit if the customer: (a) has no credit history with the telephone company and will not provide satisfactory credit information; (b) has an unsatisfactory credit rating with the telephone company due to payment practices in the previous two years regarding the telephone company's servics; or (c) clearly presents an abnormal risk of loss. The CRTC also requires the telephone company to notify the applicant or customer of the specific reason for requiring a deposit, and of the possibility of providing an alternative for a deposit, such as arranging for third party payment, a bank letter or credit or a written guarantee from a third person whose credit is established to the satisfaction of the telephone company. [Source: Bell Canada, Terms of Service, Article 7. Other telephone companies in Canada have nearly identical terms of service.] Public utilities commissions have to balance the risk of losses from unpaid bills against the need to provide universal service. My impression is that state public utilities commissions in the U.S. are generally more willing to allow telephone companies to impose security deposits than is the CRTC. For people on limited incomes, high security deposits or installation charges can be more of a barrier to telephone service than the monthly cost of service. Nigel Allen ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 18:20 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier I love telcos that want security deposits. As far as I'm concerned, the more the better. In Massachusetts, they pay 7%/yr. In Vermont, they pay an astounding 10%/yr. Where else can you get interest like that on your money? And with almost no risk? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 16:31:49 PDT Carl Moore writes: > He didn't say 540 was the first area code not to have 0 or 1 as the > middle digit. All I can tell from the article alone is that 540 is > one of the first of such codes (maybe it got attention because it > will be rather close to Washington, although he was reporting from > New York). Yes, I was just nitpicking on the "first" issue. Probably he mentioned 540 because of its proximity to Washington and because it's been in the news more the last couple of weeks than 334 and others. > Could he have had the July 1, 1995 deadline in mind for the system > to be ready for the NNX area codes? That deadline, which would fit > "next summer" (1995) was noted in telecom as being moved to 6 months > earlier (Jan. 1, 1995). Yes, he was probably just working from outdated information there. I'm sure that between now and the end of January, people will begin to realize that the changes won't be waiting for summer. At least, in certain parts of Alabama, Washington, Arizona, and other states ... Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ From: mweiss@interaccess.com (Mitch Weiss) Subject: Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 21:19:30 Organization: IAC > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not for the telcos, it generally won't > be a problem. The problem will be mainly for those subscribers who use > privately maintained toll-restriction/toll fraud prevention devices > which rely on the 'zero/one as second digit' to detect whatever they > are looking for. The problem with the new area codes is not only for toll fraud detection systems. Most PBX's will require upgrades. Depending on the PBX, it may be just a simple and relatively inexpensive software upgrade. For some companies, however, it could be quite expensive. I have talked to a person who has a rather old Northern Telecom SL1 PBX. He will have to spend about $30,000 on hardware upgrades just to get the hardware needed to run the new software release. The new area codes are also an issue for all people who have telephone call accounting systems. For example, the Chicago Suburbs will have a new code 630. If an old call accounting system sees a number 630-234-5678, most without the software upgrades will price it as a call to the local 630 exchange (it will assume the number is 630-2345) since it tosses the extra digits to handle things like pagers and voice mail. Without a software upgrade (that can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars) they will not price calls correctly. And, as you stated, it also affects toll fraud software. Many vendors are treating the new area codes as a cash windfall. It is not often that you can "force" your entire installed base to upgrade their software or hardware for a hefty price. Mitchell Weiss mweiss@interaccess.com ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 22:27:17 -0400 Subject: Re: CBS Radio Piece About New Area Codes Linc Madison wrote that Dan Rather said: > In Northern Virginia, the code will be 540. Actually, I believe that the 540 area code will cover all areas currently part of area code 703 but not in the metropolitan Washington region. Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC will keep the 703 area code. ------------------------------ From: sg04@gte.com (Yechezkal-Shimon Gutfreund) Subject: Re: Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines Date: 31 Aug 1994 18:04:27 GMT Organization: GTE Laboratories, Inc. Reply-To: sg04@gte.com My curiousity is more focused on trying to figure out how much spare capacity we have in the long-haul network (both intercontinentally and to various overseas locations). That is, given a 2%/month growth in Internet Traffic, when will we run out of headroom given the current installed national and transnational grid? Yechezkal-Shimon Gutfreund sgutfreund@gte.com [MIME] GTE Laboratories, Waltham MA ftp://ftp.gte.com/pub/circus/home/home.html ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Curious How Many Carriers Own Cross-Continental Lines From: kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 22:51:49 EDT Organization: Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, VA. ulmo@panix.com (Bradley Allen) writes: > First, by my VERY rough calculations from traceroute times, Sprint's > lines from Washington, DC to Stockton, California are .8 efficient in > terms of directness. While at first I was very impressed, I realized > this is just somewhat impressive, considering some railroad right of > ways are basically this direct already. You have picked two sites that are near major hubs for Sprint. Both the fiber transmission network and the switched network have key sites in these two locations. I do not understand your point about railroad rights of way and "directness". From the point of view of the switched voice network Sprint has an almost flat architecture -- almost every switch is directly connected to all other switches. But I don't think that is related to your measurement. I assume the statistic you quote is related to performance over the TCP/IP network. I believe performance in that network should be more closely related to the number of data switches and routers the data travels through rather than the (relatively) smaller differences due to actual physical transmission path length. (stuff deleted here) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the directness of routing in the > example you gave of Sprint, you should bear in mind that Sprint had its > beginning in the late 1970's as the telecommunications department of the > Southern Pacific Railroad. It was that railroad's desire to modernize > and upgrade its (then) very obsolete telecom network which led to the > upgrading which later became Sprint when the railroad decided to sell > the excess capacity created in the modernization. Sprint is an acronym > for outhern

acific ailroad nternal etwork elecommunications Pat, I don't think the origin you have for "SPRINT" is quite correct. The story related to me by fellow former SPCC employees who were there was: SPCC (Southern Pacific Communications Co.) needed a name for a new service product. An internal naming contest was held to generate names for the service. An unofficial, unwritten rule was that the first two letters of the service name would be SP. There was apparently more than one entry with the name "SPRINT". I do not know who the people were that suggested Sprint as the name. It was not an acronym. There were attempts to create acronyms after the fact. Several that I have heard in addition to your suggestion are: outhern

acific ailroad nternal ework outhern

acific ailroad ternal elecom... Unfortunately I do not have any written documentation of this genesis of the Sprint name but I do trust the memories of those that told me. By the way, when I first joined SPCC there was a product called Sprint LTD. It was for residential users and they could call only during "limited" off-peak hours. This limited access was physically enforced rather than by an economic, pricing mechanism. LTD users' access codes were only functional certain times of the day. Another oddity for the historical archives of deregulation and change in the industry over the last 15 years. kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, Virginia +1-703-758-9084 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #360 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15614; 4 Sep 94 11:37 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24237; Sun, 4 Sep 94 08:22:21 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24231; Sun, 4 Sep 94 08:22:19 CDT Date: Sun, 4 Sep 94 08:22:19 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409041322.AA24231@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #359 TELECOM Digest Thu, 1 Sep 94 13:58:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 359 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ComCast Cellular Finally Upgrades its Software (Doug Reuben) UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications (Harvey Stern) AT&T Can't Take "Yes" For an Answer (Greg Trotter) Internet/MBone Access From Ship (Jim Hendee) Wanted: Info on Internet Use by Securities Firms (Masanori Ashizawa) URL Sources for Telecom (Great Sources) (Julie Johnson) WilTel Opens New Office in Cyberspace (David Cordeiro) 900 Mhz Cordless Phone Evaluations (Chris Campbell) MCI and $25 Checks: My Experience (Michael P. Deignan) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: ComCast Cellular Finally Upgrades its Software Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 03:21:20 PDT I mentioned a number of months ago how an older version of Motorola's EMX switch software (cellular) prevented many roamers from getting call-waiting indication tones while roaming in EMX-based systems. A couple of good examples where this was/is a problem is for GTE Mobilnet customers roaming on Pac*Bell's system, and Cell One/NY's customers roaming on the ComCast EMX system to the south and the Bell Atlantic (Metro Mobile) system to the north. If you are on the phone in one of these EMX areas, callers who dialed your number will (usually) hear a *single* busy tone, and then get bounced to voicemail (depending on if the cellco uses IS-41A, which I think they both do). YOU never have any idea that anyone has just called, and at least with GTE you will have to pay airtime for the call as well. (CO/NY has a similar billing problem -- if you are currently on the phone in ComCast NJ/DE/PA and you get a call, it is bounced back to voicemail, but the billing systems sees this as you trying to access voicemail by calling yourself, and bills airtime for it. You USED to be able to call your own number and get voicemail (as you can in the CO/NY 00025 system), but now it varies, and in a few weeks you will only get a busy signal. But to the billing system, if you call yourself or if someone else calls and your phone busy then both calls *appear* to be the same, and thus an airtime charge is incorrectly incurred in the later case.) Since ComCast is an NACN system, all features, including CW, are supposed to work, and I presume in order to conform to the NACN standards, ComCast is implementing the new EMX software soon to ensure that it becomes fully NACN compliant. Note that Metro Mobile (which I believe is also using IS-41 now to/from NY) is NOT an NACN system. I suspect that they will join the NACN if and when McCaw's recently acquired Litchfield system joins so that they can get full state coverage/call-delivery, which only SNET (B-side) currently offers. However, presently, they do not need to conform to the NACN standards and call-waiting will not work in CT for NY customers (or Boston customer who roam into CT for that matter, as Boston also has automatic call-delivery to CT.) Metro Mobile did implement a moderate interim solution: If you are on the phone, and in their system, your caller gets a regular busy signal, and the call doesn't transfer to voicemail, thus no erroneous airtime charges as one would currently get in ComCast. I'm glad to see that ComCast is getting the proper software upgrade so as to provide Call-Waiting to NACN roamers in their system (although a call which comes in as a call-wait seems NOT to go to voicemail; ie, if you don't answer the call-waiting tones the calling party gets an "Out of Vehicle" message; why can't the call go to voicemail as well?). I would hope that Pac*Bell gets with it an upgrades so CWs will occur when GTE customers roam on their system, and for that matter, that most EMX systems upgrade so that as interconnectivity increases there won't be these pockets of selective "outages" which limit the usefulness of one's cellular service. ComCast should be fully upgraded by October, if not sooner. (Great, just in time for Boston to get on the NACN, only four months late ... Let's hope they upgrade their software PRIOR to NACN admission, so CW will work in Boston immediately!) Doug dreuben@netcom.com / CID Technologies / (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on Communications Date: 31 Aug 1994 16:59:27 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 5 Short Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks, and Video Compression MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications (September 22-23, 1994) This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of telecommunications including current status and future directions. This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio, personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia services. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs (October 19-21, 1994) It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM (Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique. This course is an in-depth examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues for development of future high-speed networks. Topics include: Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in ATM networks. GIGABIT/SEC DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS: Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management (October 17-18, 1994) This short course aims to provide a general understanding of the key issues needed to design and implement gigabit local and wide area networks. The topics are designed to compliment those covered in the SONET/ATM-Based Broadband Networks course (above). Topics include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network management, internetworking and applications. Specific issues addressed include TCP/IP on ATM networks, design of high performance network interfaces, internetworking ATM networks with other network types, and techniques for transporting video over gigabit networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology Group, Applied Research, Bellcore. Dr. Stephens has over 40 publications and one patent in the field of optical communications. He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet, and Personal Communication Systems (October 3-5, 1994) This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies, system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless access. At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/ frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS). Presented are both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54 (North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11, DCS 1800, and Iridium. Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also developed. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. VIDEO COMPRESSION AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION (October 13-14, 1994) Video Compression and Visual Communication is a rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field focussing on the development of technologies and standards for efficient storage and transmission of video signals. It covers areas of video compression algorithms, VLSI technology, standards, and high-speed digital networks. It is a critical enabling technology for the emerging information superhighway for offering various video services. In this course, we will fully treat video compression algorithms and standards, and discuss the issues related to the transport of video over various networks. Lecturers: Ming-Ting Sun, Ph.D, is director of Video Signal Processing Research, Bellcore. Dr. Sun has published numerous technical papers, holds four patents, developed IEEE Std 1180- 1990, was awarded the Best Paper Award for IEEE Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with Tzou), and an award for excellence in standards development from the IEEE Standards Board in 1991. He is currently the express letter editor, IEEE Transaction on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (CSVT), and associate editor, IEEE Transactions of CSVT. He was chairman and now serves as secretary of the IEEE CAS Technical committee on Visual Signal Processing and Communications. Kou-Hu Tzou, Ph.D., is manager of the Image Processing Department, COMSAT Laboratories. Dr Tzou won the Best Paper Award for IEEE Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with Sun). He holds 6 patents, has served as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, is currently associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, and served as a guest editor for Optical Engineering Journal special issues on Visual Communications and Image Processing in 1989, 91, and 93. He is the committee chair of the Visual Signal Processing and Communication Technical committee, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) contact: Harvey Stern U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 ------------------------------ From: greg@gallifrey.ucs.uoknor.edu (Greg Trotter) Subject: AT&T Can't Take "Yes" For an Answer Date: 31 Aug 1994 18:22:16 GMT Here's something that happened to me a few weeks ago that the readership might enjoy. I was sitting at home on a Thursday night about 7:30 when the phone rang. It rang on my distinctive ring number, not the main number. "Hello?" "May I speak to Paula Woods, please?" "There's nobody here by that name. Paula Woods hasn't had this number for at least two years." At this point, I establish that the caller is a sales rep for AT&T, and inform the salescritter of my name and yes, I do make LD decisions for the household. "Well, sir, I'm calling about your long distance service." The standard AT&T speil comes across the phone. "Would you like us to switch your service tonight?" "Well, no, not really. I am an AT&T customer." "Well, sir, our records show that you currently use another long distance company as your primary carrier." "Yes, but your records also show that my name is Paula Woods." At this point, I engage in a futile attempt to explain to this critter that she rang my DR number, and no calls are billed to it. I can hear the concept flying over her head. "OK, sir. I understand. Let me connect you to an independent auditor to verify your account information." "But..." "Hello, Mrs. Woods?" Same speil again. I'm not Paula. I'm Greg. I try again to explain the distinctive ring. And yes, I already use AT&T for my 1+ dialing. "So, you are satisfied with your AT&T service?" "Yes, I am." "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir. May I verify some information so that this confusion won't happen again?" "Sure." (Gladly!) Name, phone number, address, and the like are exchanged. "OK, sir, that's almost everything. I just wanted to remind you that AT&T will pay for the switchover fee..." "But I'M ALREADY A CUSTOMER!" "Well, then, that wouldn't apply to you. The last thing I need from you is a secret code so your local phone company can verify that you authorized the change." "What change? I'm happy with my service! This is worthless!" I have family members with horror stories about AT&T not being able to take no for an answer; it seems they aren't satisfied with yes, either. Greg Trotter ------------------------------ From: hendee@manoa.aoml.erl.gov (Jim Hendee) Subject: Internet/MBone Access From Ship Date: 31 Aug 1994 18:26:56 GMT Organization: U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA/AOML Is there an inexpensive (i.e., < $15,000) system for a ship to access the Internet from a research vessel? We would like to implement an MBone (multicast backbone) system from ship to/from lab, but have been daunted as of late at ESD's price tag of > $350K. Data transmission would have to be greater than via standard modem speeds, e.g., wireless of some sort. Any ideas out there? Many thanks, James C. Hendee Internet: hendee@aoml.erl.gov Data Manager Voice: 305 361-4396 Ocean Chemistry Division Fax: 305 361-4582 NOAA/AOML COASTAL RBBS: 305 361-4524 ------------------------------ From: dira@pipeline.com (Masanori Ashizawa) Subject: Wanted: Info on Internet Use by Securities Firms Date: 1 Sep 1994 12:58:43 -0400 Organization: The Pipeline I am interested in how Internet is utilized at US securities firms. I am concerned with five areas of interest: 1 - What kinds of firms use Internet? 2 - What divisions/departments use Internet? 3 - What type of connection is used (dedicated, POP, SLIP, dial-up)? 4 - What applications are used on Internet? 5 - How often is Internet used? If any Net'rs know of any articles or other resources that address these questions, kindly forward me the information. I'll provide the information to any other parties interested in the topic too. Thanks in advance. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, they use the Internet to send out mass mailing solicitations to purchase their securities; they use it to compile names/net addresses for possible future contact in a mass mailing, after investigating which of the names thus compiled have the required wherewithal (in other words cash, dummy!) to have time spent on them making such a pitch. There are two such applications, and they use the Internet frequently. "Divisions/departments" using the Internet would include the latest breed of telemarketers, those who sit on chat systems all day/night (such as IRC, Compuserve CB, the People Connection on AOL, etc) soliciting likely prospects to go into private chat with them for the purpose of making an old-fashioned telemarketing pitch for whatever they are selling, etc. Telemarketing by phone? That's getting to be old ... do it via computer chat programs and email instead! The next time you get a message that someone wants to chatm don't assume they are after your cyber-body. Maybe they are after your credit card number and your okay to send out information on whatever they are selling. You don't believe me? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Julie Johnson Subject: URL Sources for Telecom (Great sources) Date: 31 Aug 1994 15:13:11 GMT Organization: Fujitsu Here is a clipped set of URLs from a home page we are creating (no public access yet) including lots of telecom, govt reg, and association information. Please reply with any other URLs that aren't here. I'll repost a revised list. This is in HTML format but you can grab the URLs as is.

Telecommunications Sources

Companies

Telecommunications Associations

Government Sources

Julie Johnson JAJ@FNS.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 9:35:55 CDT From: david_cordeiro@wiltel.com Subject: WilTel Opens New Office in Cyberspace WilTel Opens New Office in Cyberspace WilTel, the pioneer in commercial data telecommunications, has become the first company in Oklahoma to put a commercial WWW server on the Internet. "This is a natural move for WilTel," says Russ McGuire, the initiator of WilTel+s Internet server. "Our server puts us one step closer to our Internet-using customers and opens WilTel up to a huge potential client base." WilTel's server offers information on the company as well as detailed information about all of its telecommunications products. In keeping with WilTel's corporate values, other services are also planned to add value to the Internet community and WilTel's home city of Tulsa, OK. Gordon Martin, WilTel's director of product marketing, believes this project puts WilTel on the leading edge of high-tech marketing. "This is exactly where we need to be. Our leading-edge products and services are perfectly matched to this leading-edge media," he says. As future Internet technologies develop, WilTel is committed to remaining on the cutting edge of this exciting frontier. WilTel's server can be reached by Internet users at the Universal Resource Locator (URL) -- http://www.wiltel.com/ Contact: David Cordeiro David_Cordeiro@wiltel.com ------------------------------ From: dsrekcc@prism.gatech.edu (Chris Campbell) Subject: 900 Mhz Cordless Phone Evaluations Date: 31 Aug 1994 23:41:26 -0400 Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology I am starting to research 900 MHz cordless phones, planning to purchase before Christmas. Since this is turning into a pretty hot market segment, I figure there's a bunch of folks out there who would be interested in the information I gather. I am writing a fact sheet for 900 MHz cordless phones. Please send me the appropriate information if: - Somebody has already done this kind of compiling and I can get to it on the Net (i.e. I don't need to repeat someone else's work) - There is another newsgroup besides the following that I should be monitoring for information: alt.2600 alt.cellular-phone-tech comp.dcom.telecom comp.dcom.telecom.tech rec.radio.scanner sci.electronics - You own a 900 MHz cordless phone. I am interested in information such as: quality of sound (echo, compander clamping), range, scannability (audio leakage on other bands), battery life, digital 'encryption', even the weight. I am interested in the digital scheme only as it relates to security against scanner reception. Note 1: If you've posted to rec.radio.scanner in the past month or so, I already have your information. Note 2: The Tropez model is fairly common, and I've already got info on it (largely negative), so I'm less interested in that one. These are the models that I am aware of: AT&T 9100 AT&T 9120 BEL 900LX Escort 9000 Escort 9020 Motorola models (pricey) Panasonic KX-T9220 Sony SPP-ER1 Tropez 900 DL Uniden EXP9100 Uniden EXP9200 Western Union WC9000 If you have any experience or other information, please let me know. I will be compiling the information and reposting, so you can mail directly to me at the address below, or post it to one of the above newsgroups, if you feel that your post is of immediate importance to the public. My alt.newsgroup access is haphazard these days, so I may not receive a post on alt.newsgroups. My e-mail address is: dsrekcc@prism.gatech.edu Chris Campbell dsrekcc@prism.gatech.edu ------------------------------ From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) Subject: MCI and $25 Checks: My Experience Date: 31 Aug 1994 00:53:25 GMT Organization: Brown University Over the past year since long distance carriers started sending out checks for $25, $50, and $75 to intice us over to their respective services, I've almost been able to make a decent living just cashing their checks and switching back and forth between LD carriers. I have to keep wondering where they get my name from, since I make $5 worth of long distance calls per year, if I'm lucky. But hell, its their money, so who am I to tell them differently? Well, my latest excursion started when MCI sent me a check for $25. This one was a little different than the others. This time, you had to call them at an 800 number and give them some information, and you get a "code" to write-in on the check to "activate it". I thought I'd be a wise ass when I called: MCI woman: "And how much do you spend each month on LD Mr. Deignan?" Me: "Oh, next to nothing. I don't make long distance calls. I hate all my relatives." MCI: "So, you don't have anyone in your calling circle now..." Me: "No, like I said, I don't call any of my relatives, and I don't have any friends. I hate everyone." MCI: "Okay, so there's nobody you want to put in your calling circle then." Me: "Oh yes, absolutely. In fact, I hate my relatives so much that I'm going to write all their names and numbers down on a sheet of paper and mail it to you. I can't think of a better present to give them than one of your reps calling them at all hours attempting to get them to switch ... Hehehehehe ... I really hate them. And what a better way to show them ..." MCI: "Oh okay, that sounds good. Here's your code ..." Summary: MCI reps don't recognize sarcasm when it hits them broadside across the head. MD -- The best way for Bill Clinton to keep his legal -- fees down is to keep his pants zipped up. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Har har har ... both to your message and your .signature quote. Thanks for making my day! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #359 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01359; 7 Sep 94 20:08 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15941; Wed, 7 Sep 94 14:14:14 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15933; Wed, 7 Sep 94 14:14:10 CDT Date: Wed, 7 Sep 94 14:14:10 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409071914.AA15933@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #361 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 94 14:14:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 361 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson First French Book on Internet (Jean-Bernard Condat) France Numbering Changes (Dave Leibold) Disaster Discussion Groups (Dave Sellers) New Wireless Journal; Call For Papers (Chester A. Ruszczyk) Looking For CLASS Serial Port Device (Dan Dodson) Modems in Germany (Tom Satterfield) Paging Systems and Hardware (orfanosg@aol.com) 1957 Note on Pagers (Carl Moore) Radius Pager Question (rosman@swri.edu) Mitel SX200 Light Pinouts (Joe Terry) Forcing Calling Card Provider to Refund Credit Balance (Eric DeMund) On-line Information About ISDN Available Free via WWW (Daniel R. Kegel) New Fiber Service in Oklahoma (Wes Leatherock) New Area Code in East TN (David Marks) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 07 Sep 1994 11:55:47 GMT From: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.fr (JeanBernard Condat) Organization: FranceNet Reply-To: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.fr Subject: First French Book on Internet New Book in French Language: INTERNET Internet is now available from Editions JCI, Inc. (2700 Joliette #201, Montreal, Quebec, H1W 3G9, Canada) The *Internet* book goes beyond all business school case studies and descriptions of Internet tools, teaching French readers how to effectively use the Internet to boost sales and cut costs. Through real world examples and expert advice, you'll learn how to use the Internet to build European/international market share, track down business leads, communicate with colleagues, search online databases, provide cost- effective customer support and access time-critical information. You'll also explore the many business opportunities now available on the Internet and get tips on shopping for the best deal on Internet access and cyber-mail space. Just as importantly you'll learn about the culture of the Internet, find out what type of advertising is acceptable and can generate a positive response, and which forms are verboten and can provoke community hostility (the famous 'netiquette'). The *Internet* also contain detailed descriptions of the author's first-hand and experienced experience in doing business on the Internet. Co-author Jean-Bernard Condat is a veteran information science writer and publisher of electronic newsletter that tracks trends and developments in electronic newspaper and magazine publishing. Co-author Nicolas Pioch is the conceptor of WebLouvre--Paris, the first consulted WWW in Europe (http://www.enst.fr/~pioch). Here's the basic information: Jean-Bernard Condat & Nicolas Pioch, "Internet", J.C.I. Inc., Oct. 1994, 224 pages, 195 FF (CAN$29.95), ISBN 2-921599-06-6. Table des Matieres: 1. Preface; 2. Premieres notions; 3. Documentation Internet; 4. Le courrier electronique; 5. Smileys (emoticons); 6. telnet; 7. Formats de fichiers; 8. FTP; 9. Archie; 10. Prospero; 11. Usenet/newsgroups; 12. Netiquette; 13. WAIS; 14. Gopher; 15. WWW; 16. cryptographie; 17. Adresses utiles; 18. MacTCP/PPP; Index. Note that you can receive more information on this publication by ordering it direct from: - Diffulivres, Canada: +1 514 738 2911, fax: +1 514 738 8512; - Distique, France: +33 37 34 84 84, fax: +33 37 30 78 65; - Context SA, Belgium: +32 41 40 19 82, fax: +32 41 490 19 82; - Micro-Distribution, Switzerland: +41 227843482, fax +41 227840945. Don't hesitate to contact us for more information on Internet ... in France. Jean-Bernard Condat, 47 rue des Rosiers, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Tel: +33147874083, Fax: +33149450129, Alphapage: +3336605050 code 0030006 Email: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.FR *or* an113309@anon.penet.fi ------------------------------ From: dave.leibold@gvc.com Organization: GVC Technologies - The Name you can Trust. Public ACCESS Date: Wed, 07 Sep 94 05:59:11 -0400 Eastern DST Subject: France Numbering Changes France will be changing its numbering plan to have an area code for all regions, effective in 1995. The area codes (as posted before) will be: 1 Ile-de-France (Paris, ...) 2 Northeast France 3 Southeast France 4 Southwest France 5 Northwest France The change also apparently means dialing will be done as 0 + area code + number, rather than the 16+ that was in use. However, there are toll-free numbers with the format 05+number. What will be happening to those numbers if 05 means calls to Northwest France? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 94 07:57:30 EDT From: sellers@on.bell.ca (Dave Sellers) Subject: Disaster Discussion Groups Question folks, Is there a discission group for disaster planning? I'm sure businesses and Telco's all have some plans, and would like to pass ideas on from time to time. I haven't been able to locate such discussions except from time to time in this Digest. The recent report here of the fire in the telco building has raised my interest in this. If there is one, please direct me to it. Thanks in advance ... Dave Sellers, Managing Consultant Bell SYGMA - Telecom Solutions Floor 17 Grey, 160 Elgin St. Ottawa, Ont., Canada, K2P 2C4 sellers@ON.Bell.ca VOICE= (613) 785-2694 IIS= SELLERS ENVOY= DA.SELLERS ------------------------------ From: ruszczyk@risky.ecs.umass.edu (Chester A Ruszczyk) Subject: New Wireless Journal; Call For Papers Date: 2 Sep 1994 15:41:02 GMT Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Editor-in-Chief: I. Chlamtac, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003, USA ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CALL FOR PAPERS for forthcoming special issues: (If interested in receiving the full call for paper contact: ruszczyk@bruha.ecs.umass.edu) ****** SPECIAL ISSUES ****** Title: Issues in Wireless Multimedia Networking Guest Editors: Georges Makhoul (georges@ctr.columbia.edu) Zhensheng Zhang (zhang@ctr.columbia.edu) The Center for Telecommunications Research, Columbia University, Rm 801, 530 W, 120th Street New York, NY 10027-6699, USA Title: Error Control in Wireless Packet Networks Guest Editors: Magda El Zarki, Department of Electrical Engineering University of Pennsylvania 200S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Sanjay Gupta Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Illinois Institute of Technology 3301 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60616, USA Title: Performance Evaluation Methods for Wireless Networks Guest editors: Stephen S. Rappaport (rappaport@sbee.sunysb.edu) Thomas G. Robertazzi (tom@sbee.sunysb.edu) Department of Electrical Engineering SUNY at Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA Title: Routing in Mobile Communications Networks Guest editors: Martha Steenstrup (msteenst@bbn.com) Ram Ramanathan (ramanath@bbn.com) Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc. Title: Hybrid and Satellite Communication Networks Guest editor: Anthony Ephremides (tony@eng.umd.edu) Univ. of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA Title: Channel Access in Wireless Networks Guest editors: Ioannis Stavrakakis (ioannis@cdsp.neu.edu) Lazaros Merakos (merakos@neu.edu) Title: Free-Space Optical Local-Area Networks Guest editors: Joe Kahn (jmk@eecs.berkeley.edu) Georgia Inst. of Technology John Barry (barry@ee.gatech.edu) Univ. of California at Berkeley ****** JOURNAL DESCRIPTION ****** Aims & Scope: The wireless communication revolution is bringing fundamental changes to data networking, telecommunication, and is making integrated networks a reality. By freeing the user from the cord, personal communications networks, wireless LAN's, mobile radio networks and cellular systems, harbor the promise of fully distributed mobile computing and communications, any time, anywhere. Numerous wireless services are also maturing and are poised to change the way and scope of communication. The journal will fill an existing gap by focusing on the networking and user aspects of this field. It will provide a single common and global forum for archival value contributions documenting these fast growing areas of interest. The journal will publish refereed articles dealing with research, experience and management issues of wireless networks. Its aim will be to allow the reader to benefit from experience, problems and solutions described. Regularly addressed issues will include: Network architectures for Personal Communications Systems, wireless LAN's, radio, tactical and other wireless networks, design and analysis of protocols, network management and network performance, network services and service integration, nomadic computing, internetworking with cable and other wireless networks, standardization and regulatory issues, specific system descriptions, applications and user interface, and enabling technologies for wireless networks. The journal will also publish special issues devoted to topics of particular interest to the readers. Proposals for special issues can be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief. Article submission: Manuscripts must be submitted in five copies to the Editor-In-Chief: Professor I. Chlamtac, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003, USA All manuscripts will be refereed. The final decision of publication will be taken by the Editor-In-Chief. Manuscripts for publication must be written in English and typed double-spaced on one side of the page only with wide margin. They must begin with the title, the authors' names and addresses, and a self-contained abstract. The same manuscript must not be submitted, in any language, for publication elsewhere. The copyright of a paper accepted for publication transfers automatically to the Publisher. 25 reprints will be made available free of charge to authors. After acceptance of their paper, authors are invited to send a diskette with the TEX (or LATEX or AMS-TEX) source of their paper together with a hard copy including the letter of acceptance to the Editor-in-Chief. Editorial Board Anthony S. Acampora (Columbia University, New York, USA) Hamid Ahmadi (IBM, Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights NY, USA) Ian Akyildiz (Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta GA, USA) Robert R. Boorstyn (Polytechnic Inst. of NY, New York, USA) Jin-Fu Chang (National Taiwan University, Taiwan) Magda El Zarki (Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, USA) Anthony Ephremides (Univ. of Maryland, College Park MD, USA) Luigi Fratta (Polytecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy) Robert Gallager (MIT, Cambridge MA, USA) Bezalel Gavish (Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, USA) Mario Gerla, (UCLA, Los Angeles CA, USA) Zygmunt Haas (AT&T, Holmdel NJ, USA) Pierre Humblet (Eurocom Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France) Chih-Lin-I (AT&T, Holmdel NJ, USA) Leonid Kazovsky (Stanford, Stanford CA, USA) Shay Kutten (IBM, Yorktown Heights NY , USA) Leonard Kleinrock (UCLA, Los Angeles CA, USA) Hisashi Kobayashi (Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA) Victor Li (USC, Los Angeles CA, USA) Jon Mark (Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo ONT, Canada) Laszlo Pap (Tech. U. Budapest, Budapest, Hungary) P. Papantoni-Kazakos (University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) Raymond Pickholtz (George Washington Univ., Washington DC, USA) Stephen S. Rappaport (SUNY, Stony Brook NY, USA) Tom Robertazzi (SUNY, Stony Brook NY, USA Raphael Rom (Technion, Haifa, Israel) Izhak Rubin (UCLA, Los Angeles, USA) Krishan Sabnani (AT&T, Murray Hill NJ, USA) William Sander (Army Research Office, NC, USA) M. Schwartz (Columbia Univ, New York NY, USA) Nachum Shacham (SRI Intnl, Menlo Park CA, USA) Moshe Sidi (Technion, Haifa, Israel) Khosrow Sohraby (Univ. of Missouri at KC, MO, USA) F.A. Tobagi (Stanford Univ., Stanford CA, USA) Andrew J. Viterbi (Qualcomm Inc., San Diego CA, USA) ------------------------------ From: dandodson@aol.com (Dan Dodson) Subject: Looking For CLASS Serial Port Device Date: 7 Sep 1994 11:31:06 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) I'm looking to OEM an inexpensive CLASS device to support Caller Line ID and autodialing from a PC. We will bundle it with our Mac and PC software. A driver will be written to integrate the capabilities of the device into our software product. I'm with a large telecommunications firm and would appreciate all correspondence via E-Mail to dandodson@aol.com. Thansks, Dan ------------------------------ From: ladybug040@aol.com (Ladybug040) Subject: Modems in Germany Date: 7 Sep 1994 09:56:11 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) please reply to ******* satterfield@conti.de Hi I'm an American recently assigned to Germany for my company for one year. As I have not yet been able to reestablish direct Internet access this is being posted on my behalf by a friend. The subject of this message is the reason why I do not yet have direct net access. Anyway, after resolving all sorts of problems with getting my American computer operational here in Germany (problems mostly related to different electrical standards) my computer is now working more or less satisfactorily EXCEPT that I can't get the modem to connect through the German phone system. I need some clues and advice on what to try to resolve this and have a few questions. Can I expect any problems with operating an American modem with the German phone system? If I replace my modem should I replace it with one of a German source or can I order one from America? Will a German modem work with my American computer? Will it work with the American phone system? The initial error I was recieving from my modem is "no dial tone" yet the phone appears to be working fine otherwise. Are my problems software or hardware related or some combination thereof? (operator error?) Please, I am suffering severe online withdrawal and have GOT to get reconnected!! Any advice or suggestions gratefully appreciated. Please reply to: satterfield@conti.de Thank you, Tom Satterfield ------------------------------ From: orfanosg@aol.com (Orfanosg) Subject: Paging Systems and Hardware Date: 7 Sep 1994 15:55:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Can anyone provide (or tell me where to get) info on paging systems and hardware? I am looking for full system configuration/tech. specs/pricing and regulatory info. Thanks for your help. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 94 10:24:50 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: 1957 Note on Pagers Wilmington (Del.) Morning News, Tuesday, April 9, 1957; page 27, column 6 of 8 CALLING DR. KILDARE. BOSTON (AP) -- A $10,000 doctor-radio paging system has been installed at Beth Israel Hospital. Pocket radios are now standard equipment for all physicians serving the hospital. A doctor's code number is beeped to the radio clipped to his pocket. This signal comes from a transmitter installed near the telephone switchboard. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My first experience with pagers was around 1960 or so when I was working at the University of Chicago and they installed a paging system in the hospitals. My first personal pager was a few years after that when Illinois Bell started selling a service called 'Page Boy'. It was just a beeper without voice or text capability. Around 1970 or so I got one of the (then) new 'talking pagers'. On those the caller's voice actually came out through the speaker. Everyone had to dial the same seven digit number if they had touchtone service, and then enter the five digit number of the paging unit. After a 'beep tone' they had ten seconds to record a message which was then relayed over airwaves to the pager a few seconds to a minute later as air traffic permitted. After getting the message you had to press a little button on the unit to squelch it again; otherwise you got to listen to all the other pages which followed yours, along with dead air (what little there was of it). There were only a couple of answering services in Chicago which offered paging services. If your answering service did not offer paging, then they brokered it for you from an answering service which did. I subscribed to Annex Answering Service for a couple of years and they had pagers. Their antenna was on the roof of the Chicago Temple Building, which was also the building where Annex Answering Service was located. There was only one frequency for all voice paging units, and it was quite busy. If you left your unit unsquelched just to listen, there was rarely any dead air except maybe in the middle of the night. The answering service operators would never shut up, and they had to contend for air time with each other and with the general public using touchtone phones to page directly. Rotary dial users called a certain number which went to Rogers Radio Paging and passed their message to operators who repeated it over the air for them. The frequency was so busy that sometimes pages were delayed 5-10 minutes in getting out; even the ones sent directly via touchtone phone in the caller's voice would get backlogged in the machine, which itself contended with the live operators ... and those women were fast at seizing the circuit going across town to Annex's tower on the Chicago Temple Building downtown. To make it worse, the frequency was shared by two mobile phone users who had some type of radio equipment long pre-dating cellular phones. There were just two of them, but they would sometimes makes calls from their car and tie up the frequency for five minutes or so. I gave myself a test page one day and five minutes later it had not come through the unit I was carrying, so I opened the squelch to see what was going on. This guy with his car phone was talking! He gave some sort of signal to the answering service serving him that he was finished. The operator came on, "This is Rogers are you clear?" No he says, I need to make another quick call. He passed that number to her and she dialed it then must have gotten busy and forgotten to supervise the call, since the number turned out to be disconnected and an intercept recording came on. He hung up right away, but the answering service operator forgot all about him and that blasted intercept recording played for five minutes over and over and over .... 'the number you have dialed is not in service please check the number and dial again.' Someone must have called from one of the other answering services and told them to pull the cord down; after endless repeats of the 'not in service' recording all of a sudden it stopped and a woman's voice came over the pager, "This is Rogers are you clear?" and getting no response after asking a second time saying "Rogers is clear, KOH761 the Rogers Telephone Answering Service is clear" ... Of course *instantly* it was seized again and the long backlog of pages pushed through the circuit. All the operators from Annex, General Telephone Answering Service, Illinois Bell and everyone else with pager subscribers started their stuff moving; stuff that had been sitting for 15-20 minutes in the queue waiting. My test page came through about 15 minutes after that. The operators all had a little light on their switchboard which illuminated when the circuit to the tower was in use. They'd sit there staring at that little light; when it went out the one with the fastest response to the keys on her switchboard was the winner and got her page out next. The automated machine for touchtone subscribers was the fastest of all. It always got the circuit first if it had stuff waiting. Some days the system did not work right at all; in theory the person getting the circuit to the tower excluded everyone else in the process; if that did not work the answering services would keep a radio turned on listening for dead air to get their chance; but the operators did not care. Very discourteous at times and overwhelmed with pages, they would walk all over each other's transmissions; some would just open the key and start talking. Individual, or DID numbers for pagers did not start until sometime in the 1980's. Before then it all went through answering services on a single switchboard number at each service, and until the middle or late 1970's to a tower-in-common shared by all and actually owned by Annex, at least here in Chicago. The individual units we carried weighed about five pounds and were about six inches long by two inches or so wide. We used big Ni-Cad batteries that sort of resembled 'C' batteries today. You put the unit in the charger at night and got 10-12 hours of use the next day provided you did not leave the squelch open all the time to snoop on other subscribers and the messages they were getting. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 8:19:26 CDT From: ROsman@swri.edu Subject: Radius Pager Question > it has volume and on/off and stuff. But one thing which I couldin't > figure out, is why it has this white button, and when you press it, > you hear everything (static when nothing is being broadcast, or tones > then voice when a page is going on) on the freq that the crystal in > the pager is tuned to. What would the point of having a button where > you could hear any page be? You have to hold down the button and you > hear whatever is on the frequency that it is tuned to, and when you I think that the pager you reference opens the speaker for a fixed time period and the button allows the user to hear long pages. In the early days of paging your pager beeped and you had to hold a button down to hear the page. Users got in the habit of using that button for setting volume, too. Later (still first generation) pagers would beep, and then open the speaker automatically. The button then did double duty, open the speaker (squelch, if you like) and reset the circuit closing the speaker. Later generation pagers auto-reset after a fixed (often programmable) time. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On ours, the speaker would stay open forever, unsquelched once the answering service set it off until/unless the subscriber pressed the button to silence it again. Once I was riding home from downtown in a cab and forgot my pager which I left laying on the back seat of the cab. I no sooner got in my house than I realized what I had done. Solution: called the pager and gave a message saying, "cab driver! please drive back here immediatly with the pager and I will pay the fare for your trip." I called the pager two or three times with that message and sure enough in five minutes or so the cab driver pulled up to my door. The answering service contracts all warned against leaving the speaker open to monitor others. It was, they said, in violation of the tariff to spy on other subscribers and cause for your service to be terminated. PAT] ------------------------------ From: joet@xmission.com (Joe Terry) Subject: Mitel SX200 Light Pinouts Date: 7 Sep 1994 10:34:27 -0600 Organization: XMission Public Access Internet (801-539-0900) I am in the process of moving a Mitel PABX this weekend and nee some pinout/configurations information to hook up telephones, T1's, etc. Is there anyone out there in netland that could fax or email me some information or perhaps give me some phone assisstance. Please let me know via email. Thank you very much. Joe Terry Sandy, Utah joet@xmission.com ------------------------------ From: ead@netcom.com Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 10:11:16 -0700 Subject: Forcing Calling Card Provider to Refund Credit Balance Reply-To: Organization: Netcom Folks, I've got a credit balance on one of my long distance calling cards. The calling card provider all but refuses to refund this balance to me. I have not used this card in at least a month, and don't intend to use it until they refund this balance. They're located in Ohio and I'm located in California. Which state's public utilities commission do I file a complaint with? I'm certain this practice must be in violation of their tariff, if not the law. (They say they will not refund the balance unless I close the account.) Thank you, Eric De Mund [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Before complaining, check your contract with that carrier and see if they are required to refund credits on still open accounts. Under the rules, they may not have to. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dank@alumni.caltech.edu (Daniel R. Kegel) Subject: On-Line Info About ISDN Available Free via WWW Date: 7 Sep 1994 23:38:47 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Those interested in ISDN might find my WWW page a good place to start when looking for vendors, carriers, or technical info. You'll need Internet access and Mosaic or any other Web browser; it's at http://alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/isdn/. Enjoy, Dan ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Wed, 07 Sep 94 08:50:36 Subject: New Fiber Service in Oklahoma {The Daily Oklahoman} (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) for September 3, 1994, reports that another competitive access provider is building a fiber optic network in Oklahoma City. Brooks Fiber Properties, Inc., of St. Louis said it is building a fiber optic network of 33 route miles that will connect to more than 50 Oklahoma City office buildings. Brooks Fiber joins Cox Fibernet and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company as access providers in Oklahoma City. Cox Fibernet, a division of Cox Cable of Oklahoma City, a cable television company, announced earlier this week that it would offer competitive access to long distance companies over its fiber optic network. Brooks Fiber said it should have its Oklahoma City network completed by the fourth quarter of this year. It said it is currently operating or building competitive access networks in Springfield, Mass.; Hartford, Conn.; Sacramento and San Jose, Calif., and Providence, R.I. The general manager of Brooks Fiber's Oklahoma City operation will be Chris Hugman, who the company said has seven years of experience with WilTel and Southwestern Bell Corp. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu ------------------------------ From: tijc02!djm408@uunet.uu.net (David Marks) Subject: New Area Code in East TN Organization: Siemens Industrial Automation, Johnson City TN Date: Wed, 7 Sep 94 12:38:27 GMT I recently posted to this group an article concerning a change to the 615 area code wherein East TN was being split off to a new code to be implemented in 1996. Details were sketchy and the proposed area code numbers were either 931 or 249. Well, as reported this morning (9/2) in the {Johnson City Press}, the decision has been made: the new area code for East TN will be 423. It was decided that 249 was "too close to some exchanges in Kingsport" and that 931 "could be confused with the 901 area code for Memphis". The new area code will take effect September 1, 1995, and there will be a permissive dialing period where both the old and new codes will be in effect until February 1, 1996, after which only the new code will be in effect. Middle TN will continue to use 615. Exact boundaries were not stated, but almost certainly Knoxville and the Tri-Cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol will in the 423 area code. This is the second area code change announced for this region: SW VA is being split off from 703 to 540 as of 6/95. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #361 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01775; 7 Sep 94 20:31 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19775; Wed, 7 Sep 94 15:59:26 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19765; Wed, 7 Sep 94 15:59:23 CDT Date: Wed, 7 Sep 94 15:59:23 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409072059.AA19765@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #362 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 94 15:59:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 362 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: GSM Phones in Europe (Sam Spens Clason) Re: GSM Phones in Europe (Rob Parker) Re: Extent of GSM Coverage in USA? (Gerald Serviss) Re: Phones For High Noise Areas (J. DeBert) Re: Will an Australian Cellular Phone Work in USA? (David McLauchlan) Re: Motorola Radius PR-3000 Pager (Rob Lockhart) CNET DCC N.T. OC12 Cable Pinout? (Dino Moriello) Speech Recognition Training: Please Call! (Johannes Keihl) HDLC Processor Help Wanted (Jim Dixon) Secretary, Dept. of Telecom (India) Replaced (Anil Garg) Directory Database For Demo Purposes? (Ian Service) Can't Place Intra-LATA Calls Thru LEC From This Phone! (Ed Gehringer) Forwarding, Tariffs, Intent, and Telco's View of the Law (Jerry Leichter) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: d92-sam@somme.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: GSM Phones in Europe Date: 07 Sep 1994 12:39:32 GMT In rh@rh.eunet.be (Robert Hoare) writes: > I want to use the phone in France, UK and (probably) Benelux, without > excessive charges for incoming calls. Outgoing charges are not that > important, I could use a callback service if incoming calls are free. > Do any of the carriers in those countries allow international roaming > without charging (me) extra for incoming calls? Or do I always have to > pick up the costs from my home country number to the overseas phone > location? Presumably it'll roam to me without the caller knowing? You pay the cost of routing the call from your home operator to your (roaming) phone. > Also, do any of the carriers have a voicemail service for when the phone > is out of range or switched off? Can it be accessed whilst roaming > outside that country? Can calls be redirected to a terrestial phone > overseas? Or am I expecting too much? If you have voicemail with your home operator that's the one used. You can have call forwarding when out of reach, no reply etc. Just as on your home net, but extremely expensive. Scenario: You have a Belgian phone, roam in Holland, have no reach to your v-mail active and someone calls you from Holland. Holland -> Belgium He pay int'l rate Belgium -> Holland You pay int'l rate Holland -> Belgium (v-mail) You pay int'l rate + 0 <= surcharge <= 15%. Varies between operators. N.b. this doesn't apply to unconditional forwarding. Then the call goes Holland -> V-mail, only the dutchman pays. Optimal routing is technically but not administratively possible. The telcos would have to trust one another without really being able to check telco-telco billing. When? I don't know, would like to though. > As an alternative, is it possible to use multiple smart cards, so the > same phone thinks it is a French, British and Belgian phone, ideally > at the same time? Of course you could have several SIM-cards, but only one in at the time. > Finally, are there any GSM phones, available for use on all networks, > that handle data? GSM is a standard. If both phone and network are capable of sending data it works. Buy a new phone and the call the opertors and ask if they handle data (and "data roaming"), if they do you're ok. Sam Sam Spens Clason ------------------------------ From: rob@dxcern.cern.ch Subject: Re: GSM Phones in Europe Organization: CERN European Lab for Particle Physics Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 07:30:05 GMT > Late this year or early next year, when the networks are a bit more > complete, I'm planning to get a GSM phone for Europe, and I'm starting > to look at the alternative carriers, deals etc. Is there a FAQ/Info > file on GSM anywhere on the net or in a recent magazine? Not that I know of on Internet. (Note to Pat: maybe there should be one. GSM is taking off rapidly in Europe. Maybe we could also have tariffs, coverage maps?) > I want to use the phone in France, UK and (probably) Benelux, without > excessive charges for incoming calls. Outgoing charges are not that > important, I could use a callback service if incoming calls are free. > Do any of the carriers in those countries allow international roaming > without charging (me) extra for incoming calls? NO > Or do I always have to pick up the costs from my home country number > to the overseas phone location? Yes. If you have a UK subscription you have a UK number, and callers pay the rate to the UK. If you are in the UK you pay nothing to receive the call. If you are outside the UK you pay. > Presumably it'll roam to me without the caller knowing? Generally yes. But if you go out of range or switch the phone off the announcement to say you are unreachable come from the message centre where you were last; sometimes the message can give the caller an idea of where you are. > Also, do any of the carriers have a voicemail service for when the phone > is out of range or switched off? Depends on the carrier, but most of them have or are planning it. > Can it be accessed whilst roaming outside that country? Depends on the carrier. > Can calls be redirected to a terrestial phone overseas? Or am I expecting too much? Calls can be redirected on various conditions: busy, no reply, unreachable, when abroad (so you don't have to pay for international rerouting if you don't want). You can reroute anywhere, but you pay of course. And some operators charge a subscription for the ability to reroute. > As an alternative, is it possible to use multiple smart cards, so > the same phone thinks it is a French, British and Belgian phone, > ideally at the same time? Yes, but not at the same time. The card identifies the subscription, and defines the phone number (and stores your preferences, abbreviated numbers etc). But of course, you then pay multiple subscriptions. > Finally, are there any GSM phones, available for use on all networks, > that handle data? All of the GSM phones I know of can be connected to a standard modem. However, since GSM is digital, it is presumably possible to bypass the analog part as in ISDN. You probably can only call another GSM phone that way though. Rob rh@rh.eunet.be AND rh@mann.demon.co.uk (roaming for internet would be nice also!) Rob Parker Tel: + 41 22 767 5765 SL Division Fax: + 41 22 767 5800 CERN email: rob@dxcern.cern.ch CH-1211 Geneva 23 Switzerland [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, a GSM section in the Telecom Archives would be a nice thing. I am hoping soon to have another patron/sponsor for the Digest which will allow me to work full time on this publication and make such additions as you suggest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: serviss@tazdevil.cig.mot.com (Gerald Serviss) Subject: Re: Extent of GSM Coverage in USA? Date: 07 Sep 1994 14:34:34 GMT Organization: Cellular Infrastructure Group, Motorola In article , wrote: > I would like any references to maps or descriptions which highlight > the current and planned coverage of the GSM standard in the USA. Here > in Europe it is been quickly built up and coverage is very good. I > have seen posts from Australia asking about coverage in San Francisco, > and would like more specific info about covered areas, planned > coverage, etc. I am aware of NO 900Mhz GSM coverage in the USA. There are plans for 1.8GHz GSM for use in PCS applications. The person in Australia has an AMPS (US analog) phone. Australia is somewhat unique in that its analog system is AMPS and its digital system is GSM. Jerry Serviss Motorola Inc serviss@cig.mot.com ------------------------------ From: onymouse@netcom.com (J. DeBert) Subject: Re: Phones For High Noise Areas Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 07 Sep 1994 13:46:42 GMT Scott Falke (scott@csustan.csustan.edu) wrote: > Although an XP set, have you looked at the fairly new Crouse-Hinds > model? I'm fairly sure the set has a line-powered amplifier, and big > buttons for use with gloves. It's also somewhat corrosion proof, if > that's an issue. I have not seen the Crouse Hinds sets. But that is another item I should pass onto Safety. There are XP sets that are nearly impossible to use with acid and solvent gloves and, of course, are not chemical resistant. > Is the area the phones are located conducive to small, sound-absorbent > kiosks? I've seen this used as an effective supplement to the > noise-cancelling handsets. I can locate a manufacturer or two if you > would like. Email as desired. Very few phones are located in such areas at present. There is still construction going on and things get moved around a lot. It is more prudent to avoid "cluttering" by adding booths, etc. > As a alternative to phones, how about non-audio signalling such as > something like DTMF keypads and displays on portable 2-way radios? > Heck, maybe Morse code -- you could glue a key on each hard hat. Even > head-mounted xenon flashers ... Radios are discouraged because of theft and interference with equipment (all the U.S. made equipment is prone to failures and dangerously unpredictable behaviour when exposed to RF). There are exactly two terminals in the area, bigger than a football field and most people don't know how to use talk, chat and phone. > Finally, although possibly a little out of scope, has your safety > group at all considered noise mitigation at the source? In the past I > have read that Dow {or is it Dupont?} consider noise mitagation in the > industrial setting as having exceptional safety benefits; on both > acute and chronic bases. Supposedly the noise levels are below OSHA standards for hearing protection. However the noise does have a noticeable effect on hearing, particularly after periods of more than ten minutes. Most of the loudest noise is impulse-type. Using weighted measurements as specified in some regulations, understates the actual SPL, unfortunately, and there seems little inclination to do anything beyond what is required by regulation. Most of the equipment is enclosed in insulated cabinets which do mitigate the noise. (Many pumps, Edwards dry pumps, have noise levels of 100dB+ when the cabinets are opened. I see that I neglected to describe the 3100 series sets that ATT is giving us. They look exactly like 2554 "trads" except that they have K handsets and are electronic. While handsets for 500/2500 series sets work, the sound from the transmitter is very weak. The stock handsets have electret microphones. Of all the various handsets tried, the best choice seems to be amplified listen/noise-cancelling. Varying connection conditions have adverse effects on conversations using all the others. ATT has no amplified noise cancelling handsets for these sets. They do have everything else, though. Walker and Hello Direct also have nothing except sets requiring external power. Maybe I'm too critical but I definitely prefer to be able to hear someone on the phone clearly and with a minimum of background noise. Thanks to all who replied via mail and in the group. jd onymouse@netcom.com Box 51067 Pacific Grove, CA, 93950-6067 USA ------------------------------ From: davemac@adam.com.au (David McLauchlan) Subject: Re: Will an Australian Cellular Phone Work in USA? Date: 7 Sep 1994 10:30:50 +0930 Organization: ADAM Pty Ltd. Glen K Moore (gkm@uow.edu.au) wrote: > 1. an Australian cellular phone (Motorola Microtac Ultralite) will > work in the USA. I talked to various people at both Telecom, and Optus about this, so I'll try and relate what happened! Firstly, if the phone is digital (ie: GSM) the answer is definately not. It sounds like that particular model is analogue so you pass the first test. Telecom said you have to notify them of where in the US you are going, and they will get in contact with the various providers in the states you are going to. Unfortunately you will find the Telecom people give different answers -- some say you have to call the US provider yourself, others say Telecom will do it. I suspect that because I was only enquiring out of curiousity the staff weren't too keen to find out ... > It seems Australia has reciprocal agreements in every country (almost) > except the USA. The reason usually given is the large number of > different carriers in the USA. In Australia, until recently, we had > only one. Australia has reciprocal agreements for quite a few countries that I am aware of. Once again however, the phone system for international travel is GSM -- although the US has adopted a different system along with Japan. One sentiment that was clear from Telecom was that if you are continually moving between states, things could get very messy ... Fidonet: 3:800/805 CompuServe:100236,420 David McLauchlan Internet: 100236.420@compuserve.com davemac@adam.com.au (preferred) ------------------------------ From: rlockhart@aol.com (RLockhart) Subject: Re: Motorola Radius PR-3000 pager Date: 07 Sep 1994 12:16:08 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) In article , ccappuc@satelnet.org (Chris Cappuccio) writes: > A friend who works at the local hospital got a brand new pager, a > Motorola Radius PR-3000 voice pager from the hospital. Like most > hospitals, they have their own paging system (tower, stuff to program > the pagers, etc...) Anyways, this is just like a normal voice pager, > it has volume and on/off and stuff. But one thing which I couldin't > figure out, is why it has this white button, and when you press it, > you hear everything (static when nothing is being broadcast, or tones > then voice when a page is going on) on the freq that the crystal in > the pager is tuned to. What would the point of having a button where > you could hear any page be? You have to hold down the button and you > hear whatever is on the frequency that it is tuned to, and when you > let go, it stops. Someone suggested to me that it was used in > emergencies or in situations when the hospital wanted to broadcast to > everybody, but I figured, you would have to know when to hit the > button, and you can't exactly predict emergencies. Any suggestions? Chris, perhaps, in this instance, it's not all that useful a feature, but in some instances the ability to monitor the channel for other, perhaps related traffic on a shared two-way channel is quite beneficial. There are applications where a light weight selective monitoring device comes in quite handy .. e.g., police, fire, EMS. Rob Lockhart, Resource Manager, Interactive Data Systems Paging Products Group, Motorola, Inc. Desktop I'net: lockhart-epag06_rob@email.mot.com Wireless I'net (<32K characters): rob_lockhart-erl003e@email.mot.com ------------------------------ From: dino@CAM.ORG (Dino Moriello) Subject: CNET DCC N.T. OC12 Cable Pinout? Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 19:56:52 EDT Organization: Communication Accessible Montreal Would anyone happen to have the Pinout for a DE-9 CNET link cable that goes between two Northern Telecom OC-x ATM shelves? I checked the NTP and of course they show nothing of the sort. I'd like to make up a cable for an upcoming project, and can't wait for NT's delivery to here. Thanks, Dino Moriello (Telecom Tech) Internet: dino@cam.org Packet: VE2DM@VE2FKB Please E-mail all USENET replies James Bay, Quebec, CANADA ------------------------------ From: hannes@xs4all.nl (hannes) Subject: Speech recog training: Please call! From the Netherlands: (03404) 209 16 From any other place: ++31 3404 209 16 You can select from "Deutsch", "Francais" and "English" simply by answering "yes" or "no" to the language questions. You should be a native speaker of the language you choose! for | English French German ----+--------------------------------- 1. | yes oui ja 2. | no non nein 3. | English francais deutsch 4. | error erreur Fehler 5. | assistance assistance Hilfe If you make a mistake, never mind. Just go on with the next word. 1. Tokyo 2. Zavinul 3. Algebra 4. Alfredo 5. Axel 6. Pas-De-Deux 7. Pickwick 8. Quotient 9. Benjamin 10. O'Hara The computer gives you an example how to do it! Again never mind if you (or the program) make any mistakes. The winners will be drawn from all calls correctly made. The maximum recording time is 15 secs. huisje, boompje, Johannes Kiehl, stagiaire bij Comsys b.v. beestje! hannes2@dds.hacktic.nl / / kiehl@ldv01.uni-trier.de ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 94 18:33:21 GMT From: jdd@aiki.demon.co.uk (Jim Dixon) Organization: AIKI Parallel Systems Ltd Reply-To: jdd@aiki.demon.co.uk Subject: HDLC Processor Help Wanted We would be immeasurably grateful if someone could point us to a source for information on the Thomson MK5025 HDLC processor, supposedly used in high performance routers. Our local SGS Thomson rep denies all knowledge of the part. Jim Dixon Compuserve: 100114,1027 AIKI Parallel Systems Ltd + parallel processing hardware & software design voice +44 117 9291 316 | fax +44 117 9272 015 ------------------------------ From: anil@axcess.net.in (Anil Garg) Subject: Secretary, Dept. of Telecom (India) Replaced.. Organization: National Centre for Software Technology, Bombay Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 18:51:11 GMT Just a few hours ago, the Government of India reshuffled secretaries to the various departments. Perhaps the most surprising change was that relating to the Department of Telecommunications which has been in the news for the last several months, due to it's (vocal) (ex) secretary, the Chairman of the Telecom Commission, India, for his progressive (read heretic) reform agenda. N. Vittal has been replaced by A.K. Thakkar. Vittal will go back to his earlier full-time job as the Secretary of the Department of Electronics. Anil Garg aXcess : anil.biginfo (aXcess is a regd. TM of BI InfoTech) Internet: anil@axcess.net.in, anil.biginfo@axcess.net.in, : anil@shakti.ncst.ernet.in Phones : +91 22 493 7676/+91 22 493 2806 [work] : +91 22 972 7676 [messages] Fax : +91 22 493 6578/+91 22 287 5671 [work] Post : Anil Garg, Vice President, Business India InfoTech. Ltd., 2nd Fl., Phoenix Mills Compound, 462 Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Bombay - 400 013, INDIA ------------------------------ From: iservice@.sw.stratus.com (Ian Service) Subject: Directory Database For Demo Purposes? Date: 7 Sep 1994 16:45:42 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer Anyone know of any sort of freely available directory of almost anything interesting that is available for me to use to demonstrate some programs. 800 numbers or something like that would be great, especially if they were in a flat file. I do know of some of the commercial CD-ROM's and the like and those are interesting but I was looking for something simple, cheap and unencumbered. All opinions are my own and do not represent anyone else. Ian Service iservice@gourock.sw.stratus.com Isis Distributed Systems (A subsidiary of Stratus Computers) M/S M3-2-ISI, 55 Fairbanks Boulevard TEL (508) 460-2352 Marlboro MA 01752-1298 FAX (508) 481-9274 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 00:17:28 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Can't Place Intra-LATA Calls Thru LEC From This Phone! A few months ago, I got a Southern Bell calling card to place toll calls within the "Triangle J" calling region. On such calls during off-peak hours, Southern Bell gives a rate of 4c-5c/min., compared with the 12c-22c/min. charged by IXCs. Yesterday I attempted to place such a call, but to my surprise, heard the AT&T boing instead of the Southern Bell boing. I queried the telecommuncations office at our university. They told me that they had recently concluded an exclusive agreement with AT&T to carry all 0+ calls from the university, in exchange for a kickback. Further queries yielded instructions on how to force my call to go by Southern Bell: Even though the boing says AT&T, just punch in my Southern Bell calling-card number; then the call would be carried by Southern Bell. Well, it so happens that the first time I tried this, the number was busy. And lo and behold, I got the AT&T message: "The number you are calling is busy. To leave a message for a fee ..." Pretty good proof that the call went via AT&T. (I should have known better than to believe their explanation!) So, can someone answer the following questions: - How can an agreement between the university and an IXC supersede the LEC's right to carry intra-LATA calls? - Is there a 10xxx number (I forgot the technical term for these) that I can use to be sure my call goes via Southern Bell? Thanks for any help, Ed [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Such an agreement can exist simply because a telephone subscriber (in this case the university) can choose pretty much what it wants to do with its phones. Regardless of what *you* dial, the phone system there is picking it off and routing it as it pleases, in accordance with however the university has it programmed. Now if you are an employee of the university, you probably have no rights in the matter at all. If you are a student, then I believe there are regulations about phone service for transient populations which have to be observed, including the right to use alternate carriers, etc. You might ask Southern Bell if they have a code of the 10xxx form you can use; also you might try dialing whatever you call for an outside line then dialing 0 for an operator to see if you can get Southern Bell that way. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 94 11:20:23 EDT From: Jerry Leichter Subject: Forwarding, Tariffs, Intent, and Telco's View of the Law In recent issues of the Digest, OEM (Our Esteemed Moderator) has: a) Defended the practice of some Telco's in refusing to provide both measured and unmeasured service at the same location on the grounds that this would let people choose the cheaper alterna- tive on a call-by-call basis, which is not the "intent" of the various charging schemes; b) Claimed that it would be illegal (or at least in violation of the tariffs) to use call forwarding to turn a single toll call into a two-hop toll-free call. His reasoning is again that the "intent" of the call forwarding service is to make it possible to receive calls at convenient locations, not to avoid tolls. I go into my local supermarket and find a special sale on single cans of beer. I buy 12 singles instead of two six-packs, as I can save a few bucks that way. The store tries to charge me for two six-packs - they claim the "intent" of the sale was to get people to try the beer, not to save me money. If I insist, who wins? Not the store! They are certainly free to establish business practices; they can post a sign limiting sales of singles to, say, four to a customer. What they can't do is come along afterward and say "oh, we never *meant* for you to do that". In placing beer out on the shelves with a particular price marked, they've made an offer; I've accepted that offer. We have a contract, and I expect them to fulfill their end. If they wanted to make a different offer -- up to four singles only -- they were free to do so. If they didn't, it's their problem, not mine. The tariffs define the terms under which the Telco's are offering to do business. If they've written into the tariff a restriction that classes of billing cannot be mixed at one address, that may be silly, that may be poor public policy, but it's there in the tariff. The "intent" of the Telco is not at issue, and a customer is under no obligation to try to determine the intent -- the tariff is, at least in principle, right there for anyone to see. Telco's have a long history of distorting this issue. First off, they'll always say "Oh, we can't do that because the Public Utility Commission -- or whatever the local regulatory body that approves tariffs happens to be called -- won't let us; see, they put it in the tariff". In fact, the tariffs are written by the Telco's and mainly rubber-stamped by the PUC's -- but you'll never hear them admit that they were the ones who wrote that particular piece of language. At other times, Telco's have been known to claim that some restriction they find convenient is "in the tariffs", though of course it's your problem to find it there -- something you won't succeed at, because there is in fact no such restriction. Finally, since Telco's are big companies with expensive lawyers on retainer, they are quite ready to simply claim the law is on their side, knowing full well that you are unlikely to have the resources to do anything to rebut their claim. Claiming that the "intent" of some service, never defined anywhere in the tariffs, was different from what you wanted to use it for, thus making your actions illegal, is an example. It's curious that OEM is convinced that the economic intentions of the Telco have the force of law -- but at the same time has himself ridiculed Telco claims that learning, much less publishing, anything about the technical inner workings of Telco equipment is illegal. Telco's used their expensive lawyers to bludgeon people into believing that particular bit of nonsense for many years, and they continue to try it to this day. Suppose a Telco argued that the "intent" of providing service under the tariffs was for you to use it to make phone calls, not to learn about the workings of the telephone system -- and that any use of your telephone instrument with the goal of learning about the inner workings was in violation of the "intent" of the tariffs. Would OEM then support the Telco's right to deny him all telephone service because, in publishing this Digest using a dial-up connection, he was clearly violating the "intent" of the tariffs under which the Telco had graciously consented to provide him with a telephone? Jerry [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, heh heh! You spot a little inconsistency now and then coming from this pulpit, eh? The best response I can give you is the one provided by the Reverend Bob Dobbs, pastor of the Church of the Sub-Genius: he once said, "The reason I don't practice what I preach is because I'm not the kind of person I am preaching to." Then another time in his weekly Hour of Slack Radio Ministry he once commented, "F--- 'em if they can't take a joke." Praise Bob! I'll overlook your heresy this time, but the Telephone Inspectors may find it necessary to do an audit of your premises sometime soon, looking for violations of what they intended in the tariff. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #362 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03212; 9 Sep 94 18:16 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10751; Fri, 9 Sep 94 13:33:05 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10744; Fri, 9 Sep 94 13:33:01 CDT Date: Fri, 9 Sep 94 13:33:01 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409091833.AA10744@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #363 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Sep 94 13:33:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 363 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "On Internet '94" by Dern/Abbott (Rob Slade) ISLIP'94 Final Program Announcement (R. Jagannathan) Cell One NY/NJ is becoming "Hell One" (Stan Schwartz) Free Demo - Multi-User Virtual Reality (Jim Durward) Novel TeleMarketing Dialing System Needed (Rich Williams) Help: Computer Voicemail Hard/Software (Peter Salzman) Cable & Wireless Won't Give Me Their Rates (Alan Boritz) Wanted: Information on CTI (Dermot Wall) Help: Universities to Pursue Telecomm Managemant Grad Studies (D. Nyarko) Audiovox MXT-950 900 MHz Phone (Dick Kalagher) Area Code 562 May Arrive Early (Craig Milo Rogers) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Sep 1994 11:20:55 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "On Internet '94" by Dern/Abbott BKONIN94.RVW 940606 Mecklermedia 11 Ferry Lane West Westport, CT 06880 "On Internet 94", Dern/Abbott, 1994, 0-88736-929-4, U$34.95/C$44.95 ddern@world.std.com meckler@jvnc.net This is a set of resource listings of mailing lists, texts and archives, systems, services, newsgroups and WAIS databases on the net. Of great value to those who act as Internet guides within their own institutions, this is promised to be an ongoing service, updated on a yearly basis. The largest section of the book is devoted to mailing lists and electronic journals, in chapters one and two. The distinction is not readily apparent other than in degree of moderation, and this may account for the fact that a number of lists appear in both chapters. (Indeed, some entries appear, in slightly different terms, more than once in a given chapter, since most are listed by list name, but some are listed by descriptive name.) Another odd division is the separation of the reviewed mailing lists to an appendix at the end of the book. This work relied upon returns from a questionnaire sent out by Meckler, which had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, if full details were returned, there are some very interesting datum points which you are not likely to find in the list of lists. On the other hand, it is obvious that many list owners sent back very terse entries largely with insufficient instruction on how to get or use the lists. Some lists are startling by their absence, and I therefore assume that the returned questionnaires were the sole source used. I would hope to see more editing in future editions. Chapter three refers to electronic texts, archives, ftp sites, and resource guides. Obviously, this had to be very selective. Like the "catalog" of the Krol book, it is interesting, useful, and even fun, but definitely limited. Chapters four, five and six list community, campus, and commercial systems which may allow greater or lesser degrees of public access. Chapter seven is the annotated Usenet newsgroup list by Spafford and Lawrence. The final chapter is a list of WAIS servers. It is certainly handy having all this information in hard copy, and the research, particularly in the mailing lists, can be quite useful. At the same time, some general editing needs to be done. Access methods still need a bit of work. The index, for example, at least has a "Mystery" entry for the DOROTHY-L list, but nothing under "Literature" or "Writing" (even though these categories exist). Tech support types will find no entries at all for desktop, IBM, Mac, MS-DOS, personal computer or PC. In spite of the gaps, this first effort at "On Internet" shows significant promise beyond the comparable "Internet: Mailing Lists" (cf. BKINTMAL.RVW) and I look forward to the 1995 edition. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKONIN94.RVW 940606. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Sept. '94) Springer-Verlag ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 94 17:12:08 -0700 From: R. Jagannathan Subject: ISLIP'94 Final Program Announcement ISLIP '94 SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON LUCID AND INTENSIONAL PROGRAMMING FINAL PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT STARTS Monday September 26th at 9 AM; ENDS Tuesday September 27th at 530 PM. WHERE: At SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, California. A building, Conference Room B PROGRAM Talks should take 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions. Monday, September 26 9:00 Welcoming remarks Jaggan Jagannathan and Ed Ashcroft 9:20 Multidimensional Declarative Programming: The Book Ed Ashcroft 10:00 Hyperindexical Pandimensional Beings Bill Wadge 10:40 Break 11:10 Prescription for Modelling Time in Databases Mehmet Orgun 11:50 On the Design of an Indexical Query Language Joey Paquet and John Plaice 12:30 Lunch 1:50 Objectflow - Adding Objects to GLU Weichang Du and Tony Faustini 2:30 Object-Oriented Implementation of Intensional Languages Weichang Du 3:10 Break 3:40 Developing Scientific Applications in GLU Pushpa Rao and Jaggan Jagannathan 4:20 Particle Simulation with Lucid John Plaice 5:00 End of program for Monday Tuesday, September 27 9:00 Observations on Spreadsheet Languages and Dataflow Alan G. Yoder and David L. Cohn 9:40 Adding Eagerness to Eduction Jaggan Jagannathan 10:20 Break 10:50 Isomorphisms between Two Groups: An Experiment in Program Synthesis and Transformation F. Esfandiari and C. T. P. Burton 11:30 Transforming First-Order Functional Programs into Intensional Programs of Nullary Variables: Theoretical Foundations Panos Rondogiannis and Bill Wadge 12:10 Lunch 2:00 Standard Cell Designs for Hardware Synthesis with Lucid Operators Abhay Kejriwal and Ben Huey 2:40 An Object-Oriented Visual Dataflow Language Da-Quian Zhang, Sute Lei, and Kang Zhang 3:20 A Visual Programming Environment for GLU Dhanraj Rajender and Tony Faustini 4:00 Break 4:30 Panel Discussion 5:30 End of ISLIP 94 HOW TO GET TO SRI: From San Francisco or San Jose Airport, take Highway 101 to Willow Road (Menlo Park). Go west on Willow Road to Middlefield Road, right on Middlefield to Ravenswood Avenue (2nd stop light), left on Ravenswood to 333 Ravenswood (main entrance). PARKING: Park in visitors lot in front of building A REGISTRATION: Registration by mail recommended (by September 19th, 1994) On-site registration possible as a last resort. Registration form follows. ACCOMMODATION: Information on places to stay near SRI follows. ISLIP '94 REGISTRATION September 26-27, 1994 SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., USA Name _____________________________________________________________ Institution ______________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Phone __________________FAX ________________ email________________ Registration fee: $15.00 Send registration (by September 19th) to: Judith Burgess ISLIP 94 Computer Science Laboratory SRI International 333 Ravenswood Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel. (415) 859-5924, FAX (415) 859-2844 email: burgess@csl.sri.com Please enclose check or money order in US dollars, payable to SRI International. No credit cards. Registration includes break refreshments -- lunch is on your own. ACCOMMODATIONS Note: Prices not guaranteed and not necessarily current. Saying you are attending a conference at SRI *may* get you a better rate. Holiday Inn 625 El Camino Palo Alto, CA (415) 328-2800, fax 327-7362 (800) 465-4329 SRI 89/99, gov`t 69/79 if avail. Menlo Park Inn 1315 El Camino Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 326-7530, FAX 328-7539, res 800-327-1315 SRI/gov't 57.00/62.00 (walking distance) Mermaid Inn 727 El Camino Menlo Park, CA (415) 323-9481 $48/$58, $60/70 w/kitchen $62 2bed double (walking distance) Riviera Motor Lodge 15 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 321-8772, FAX 321-2137 $44/52 (long walking distance) Red Cottage Motel 1704 El Camino Redwood City, CA (415) 326-9010 Reg. S=$50, D=$60-65 Govt S=$45, D=$55 No tax (5-10 min. drive) Stanford Park Hotel 100 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 322-1234 S=$148-225; D= $158-225 (walking distance) ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" Date: 8 Sep 1994 21:06:15 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC A couple of months ago, I posted my dissatisfaction with attempting to use my cell phone in Montreal, Canada while roaming from NY with a "Fraud Protection Feature" on my account. To Cell One's credit, one of their representatives read the Digest and contacted me directly to discuss my problem. The resolution was to: A: Have me call customer service before I plan to travel to Canada again to have them remove my FPF before I travel there. B: Make a notation on my account so that when I call under condition "A" I won't get a hard time. So I believed them. Last Thursday, I called customer service to have them remove my FPF before my trip to Toronto. The rep didn't want to do this and when I insisted and explained myself, I got the pleasure of holding for five minutes. When she returned, after checking with the "technical department", she confirmed that there is still a problem with the FPF in Canada and that she would remove the feature. She begged me to call back when I returned to re-activate the feature. She also told me that Toronto was a NACN city and I should have no problem using my phone. Saturday night in Toronto, I tried to make a call and I alternately got a re-order or a CanTel operator. When trying to call in from a pay phone, I got my voice mail. I tried to activate call delivery (*350) and that code was not valid in Toronto. The CanTel rep couldn't tell me what the equivalent code was there and he wouldn't/couldn't connect me to Cell One NY. I went down to a pay phone (Bell Canada, with the neat two-line display), and I called 1-800-242-7327 (CellOne NY customer service). I got the menu choices and was holding for a rep for about 30 seconds when a recording came on to tell me that the number I dialed could not be reached from my calling area. BUT I HAD!!! I tried this a couple more times, only to resign myself to the fact that this was the strangest supervision I had ever encountered. I called Cell One's Paramus number and was lucky enough to find that their switchboard has a voice response option to reach customer service. The rep there tried calling my phone a few times (at one point she said, "Let me try another way. Hold on."), put me on hold, and returned to tell me that Toronto IS a NACN city, but because of the large amount of fraud in the NYC area, I am in a "Pooled Region". This means that CanTel's system sees that my home area code (516) is in a high-fraud area and won't complete calls. Nice, eh? "Imagine No Limits" indeed!!! (The limit is when you reach the Canadian border). I called CellOne today to make sure that I won't have the same problem on my next trip to Denver next week. My conversation went something like this: Me: "I'm calling to see if a couple of cities are in the NACN." CellOne: "Sure, what cities?" Me: "Denver and Toronto." [ I _HAD_ to see what answer I'd get ;-) ] CellOne: "Yes, sir, those are both NACN cities, which means that your callers won't have to use a roamer access number to reach you." Me: "But I was in Toronto last week and I was unable to make calls." CellOne: "That shouldn't have been a problem." .....insert above situation here..... CellOne: "A pooled region is where Canada's phone companies won't let THEIR customers make calls here. None of our customers are in a pooled region. " Now I'm fuming. Josie (the customer service rep) was kind enough to do some research, call me back, and file a trouble report. I'm just not feeling safe depending on the phone anymore while roaming. CellOne NY/NJ is probably _THE_ most expensive carrier in the country, doesn't offer discounted/unlimited weekends, and they can't provide dependable roaming. What's the deal!?? Stan ------------------------------ From: jim@virtual.cuc.ab.ca (Jim Durward) Subject: Free Demo - Multi-User Virtual Reality Organization: Virtual Universe Corp Date: Thu, 8 Sep 1994 20:11:45 GMT VIRTUAL UNIVERSE CORPORATION Suite 510, 700 - 4th. Ave. S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 3J4 Tel. (403) 261-5652, Fax. (403)237-0005 Internet Address - jim@virtual.cuc.ab.ca S.E.C. Rule 12g3-2(b) File number 82-3467 Alberta Stock Exchange Symbol - VRX September 8, 1994 NEWS RELEASE The Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into a development agreement with Virtual Games Inc.(VGI) whereby VGI will port its STIMSLUM videogame to The Parallel Universe. This represents a major step forward as this will be the first commercial application to run on The Parallel Universe and is expected to be a showcase for the leading edge technology of both companies. VGI's videogame is a first person perspective, three dimensional texture-mapped, real-time game that takes place in the future on an abandoned space station. The game is specifically designed to be playable as a networked game and focuses on a rich playing environment versus a linear storyline, to provide the players with enhanced roleplaying interactivity in an alternate virtual society. Players can speak to each other anonymously and are able to select and modify body types and game playing instruments. As Director and Chief Programmer at VGI, Anselm Hook has extensive videogame experience including the programming of hit titles such as Sword of Sodan (SEGA), Dragon's Lair (PC and 3D0), and Maelstrom (PC). The initial STIMSLUM target platform is the PC-CDROM due the large installed base and the strong growth in the CDROM market. The Company believes that the release of STIMSLUM with The Parallel Universe will represent the dawning of a new age in real-time networked videogames. The Parallel Universe allows multiple users, regardless of physical location, to enter into a common networked three dimensional environment and fully interact with each other in real-time. The system is enhanced with spatially-relative voice using a proprietary process dubbed "Steereo". To the company's knowledge, this system is the only one of its kind in the world and has the significant advantage of allowing fully interactive three dimensional Virtual Reality delivery to home, business, or arcade-based computers over standard telephone lines. The Company continues to seek strategic partners in order to implement its long term plan of worldwide deployment of The Parallel Universe. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Ian T. Tweedie" Ian T. Tweedie C.A. President The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved this news release and the Company takes full responsibility for its accuracy and content. FREE VIRTUAL UNIVERSE DEMO SOFTWARE AVAILABLE BY EMAIL. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of The Parallel Universe, Virtual Universe is making available a simple demo program that is a sort of multi-player tankwar. When you enter into the Parallel Universe using this demo, you are represented as a tank and you can drive around the playing field while firing at others. You can speak to the other players while you are playing. The graphics rendering is basic as a result of the use of the public domain renderer called VR386. The demo runs on PC only and requires 386/387 or 486. USERS ARE ASKED TO CONCENTRATE ON THE SYSTEM CAPABILITIES, NOT THE GRAPHICS. Commercial applications such as STIMSLUM will have a much higher resolution and speed and will be texture-mapped. If you wish to have the demo emailed to you, please request it from: info@virtual.cuc.ab.ca Jim Durward Virtual Universe Corporation jim@virtual.cuc.ab.ca voice: 403-261-5652 fax : 237-0005 ------------------------------ From: rvw@laplace.math.purdue.edu (Rich Williams) Subject: Novel TeleMarketing Dialing System Needed Date: 8 Sep 1994 22:49:31 GMT Organization: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana I am looking for a Automated Dialing system that can be driven by a Novel Network based database. This is one of those pain in the *ss tele-marketing system, that take input from a database dials and once a real voice is detected switches the phone over to a Lot Lizard. I know of Unix based versions of this, but these folks want a Novel system version as the database and network already exist. So if you sell or know of someone who sells these systems let me know please. Contact me at rvw@cs.purdue.edu or (317) 494-4246. Thanks, Rich Williams rvw@math.purdue.edu Purdue University (317) 494-4246 Department of Mathematics #include West Lafayette, IN 47907 ------------------------------ From: psalzman@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Peter Salzman) Subject: Help: Computer Voicemail Hard/Software Date: 8 Sep 1994 08:42:02 GMT Organization: California State University Sacramento I am desperately looking for the needed hardware and software that is used in computer voice mail and telepersonals services. Specifically, my roomate and I would like to start a telephone dating service where people call up, leave messages in other peoples boxes, record their own messages, etc etc. Would some kind soul tell me what I need for this? If someone has actually done this I would be appreciative of any tips you can give me, like system requirements, drive requirements, etc. Since I cross posted this to a slew of groups, the best thing would be to email me. If anyone wants the information, I'd be glad to forward it. Thanks so much, peter ------------------------------ Subject: Cable & Wireless Won't Give Me Their Rates From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Reply-To: uunet!drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Date: Fri, 09 Sep 94 08:08:02 EDT Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 Called this LD provider about DDD service and they wouldn't even talk to me about rates until they saw a copy of my phone bill! I was impressed when I found out that they deliver ANI on interstate calls, but now I'm not so sure if I'm still "impressed." Ignoring for the moment that they stand a good chance of losing a customer every time I audit a customer's long distance billing where Cable & Wireless is the PIXC, would anyone be familiar with this vendor's switched-access wats rates? aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 1994 13:34:16 +0000 From: dermot@nt.com Subject: Wanted: Information on CTI Reply-To: dermot@nt.com Organization: Northern Telecom, GALWAY, Ireland [Please note correct email reply address is gidxw01@nt.com] I am interested in finding some information on computer telephony, eg TAPI etc and wonder if anyone could point me to where I could find some, ideally in the vein of "An Idiot's Guide ...". Thanks for the help, DERMOT WALL EMAIL : gidxw01@nt.com Northern Telecom Galway Ireland ESN : 570 3334 ------------------------------ From: nyarko@ee.ualberta.ca (David Nyarko) Subject: Help: Universities to Pursue Telecomm Managemant Grad Studies Date: 9 Sep 1994 14:21:24 GMT Organization: Computer and Network Services, U of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Hi, Could I have some pointers to Universities in Canada and the US for pursuing a postgraduate program in Telecomms Management. Please email responses. This posting is on behalf of a friend without internet access. David Nyarko email: nyarko@bode.ee.ualberta.ca Dept. of Electrical Engineering Tel:(403)-492-5877 (Office) University of Alberta, (403)-431-0408 (home) Edmonton, AB, CANADA Fax:(403)-492-1811 ------------------------------ From: kalagher@mitre.org (Dick Kalagher) Subject: Audiovox MXT-950 900 MHz Phone Date: Fri, 09 Sep 1994 13:43:49 -0500 Organization: The MITRE corporation Has anyone tried this phone? I saw it at the Price Club and it looks really nice. Its a small flip phone (smaller than the Panasonic, I think) that would easily go in shirt pocket. It has an LCD display that apparently lets you store names for speed dialing. Claims to have 40 cahnnels but it doesn't say whether it hops over the channels or somehow selects the best one. Even has nine different ringer tones and music while on hold (don't know how this works, though). The best part is it is only $199 which is a great price for a 900 MHz phone. ------------------------------ Subject: Area Code 562 May Arrive Early Date: Thu, 08 Sep 94 21:08:49 PDT From: Craig Milo Rogers According to an item on p. D2 of the Thu 8 Sep 1994 edition of the {Los Angeles Times}, areac code 310 is in jeopardy of running out of numbers. Consequently, area code 562 may be activiated within a year. Craig Milo Rogers ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #363 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22712; 14 Sep 94 18:40 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12612; Wed, 14 Sep 94 13:31:53 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12604; Wed, 14 Sep 94 13:31:50 CDT Date: Wed, 14 Sep 94 13:31:50 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409141831.AA12604@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #364 TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Sep 94 13:31:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 364 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Symposium - Personal Communication Systems (Carl E. Krasnor) Jeffrey Smulyen to Chair U.S. Delegation to ITU Conference (Nigel Allen) Status of V5.1 V5.2 Development/Deployment (Larry Svec) Information Needed for Frame-Relay Device Driver (Pete Kruckenberg) Transatlantic Cellular (Raymond Okonski) Mixed Services, Same Premises (T. Stephen Eggleston) ICRC Bosnia Appeal (NetSurfer) Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection (Peter Li) Book Review: "Netiquette" by Shea (Rob Slade) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America OnLine. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: krasnor@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Carl E. Krasnor) Subject: Symposium - Personal Communication Systems Date: 13 Sep 1994 15:17:44 -0400 Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada PERSONAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PCS) A One-Day Symposium Friday, September 30th, 1994. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario CANADA Health Sciences Centre Room 1A1 Ewart Angus Centre 8:30 am - 4:00 pm Sponsored by the Telecommunications Research Institute of Ontario (TRIO) and the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) at McMaster University 1. PURPOSE: Personal Communication systems (PCS) are becoming an important element of the world's Wireless Communication Network. This Seminar is designed to brief participants on the origins of these systems, on the status of their deployment in the world, and on the future directions they may take. Participants will be specifically informed about the current R & D on which the development of these systems depends. 2. FORMAT Experienced speakers will make presentations on the various issues that are relevant to PCS. Many opportunities will be given to participants to address questions to speakers. A roundtable discussion on the future trends of PCS involving leading technology developers and planners will be followed by exchanges with participants. All will have a chance to see, touch, and experiment with an operational Personal Communications System as part of the CRL Tour. 3. PARTICIPANTS This symposium is recommended for all persons in industry, government, or academe, who are concerned with the planning, development, deployment management and marketing of PCS. 4. PROGRAM 8:30 am Breakfast - Blue Cafeteria, Ewart Angus Centre "Wireless Communications Opportunities in China" Keynote Speaker: Prof. Song Junde Dean of Graduate School Beijing Univ. of Posts & Telecommunications (BUPT) Beijing, PRC. AM PROGRAM ROOM 1A1 EAC McMaster Health Sciences Centre 10:00 Welcome & Intro. Mr. Peter Leach TRIO Dr. John Litva CRL, McMaster 10:15 Dr. John Litva CRL Director "Origins of Personal Communications" 10:45 Coffee Break 11:00 "Future Directions" (Round Table discussions) Chairman: Dr. John Litva Dr. Tony Bailetti Dr. Andrew Beasley Prof. Song Junde Mr. P. J. Quelch Mr. Mike Lazaridis Mr. Peter Leach MID DAY 12:00 - 2:00 PM CRL Tour Demonstration of Operational PCS Hands-on PCS for Participants Sandwich Lunch CRL B102 PM PROGRAM 2:00 pm "Intelligent Antennas for PCS" Dr. John Litva CRL Director, and Prof. Elect. & Computer Eng. McMaster University 2:30 pm "Microstrip Antennas for Wireless Communications" Prof. David Pozar Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA 3:00 pm "Signal Processing Techniques for PCS" Dr. Max Wong Professor, Elect. & Computer Engineering, and CRL McMaster University. 3:30 pm "Unified Approach to Predicting Propagation in an Urban Environment" Dr. Henry L. Bertoni Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications, Polytechnic University Brooklyn, NY. 11201, USA. REGISTRATION FORM September 30th, 1994 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS NAME: _____________________ COMPANY:___________________ ADDRESS:__________________ CITY: ___________ PROV.:____ POSTAL CODE:______________ TELEPHONE:_________________ FAX:_______________________ E-MAIL:____________________ SYMPOSIUM FEES: - TRIO Affiliates $100.+ GST - Non-Affiliates $200.+ GST - Grad Students $ 50. + GST Please send this form with cheque to: Kathy Mhoney, Conference Registrar Telecommunications Research Institute of Ontario (TRIO), 340 March Road, Suite # 400, Kanata, Ontario. K2K 2E4. Phone: 613-592-9211 Fax: 613-592-8163 Carl Krasnor, Communications Research Lab, McMaster U., Hamilton, Ont. CANADA krasnor@McMaster.CA VA3CK Tel:(905) 525-9140 x24171 FAX:(905) 521-2922 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 1994 03:42:56 -0400 Subject: Jeffrey Smulyen to Chair U.S. Delegation to ITU Conference Organization: Internex Online, Toronto From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Here is a press release from the White House that may be of some interest. I downloaded it from the PR On-Line BBS in Maryland at 410-363-0834. I do not work for the U.S. government. President Clinton Names Smulyan to Chair Delegation to the International Telecommunication Conference at State Department Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2100 WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 -- President Clinton today announced his intention to appoint Jeffrey H. Smulyan with the personal rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as the Head of the United States Delegation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Yoto, Japan, September 19 - October 15, 1994. In his capacity as Head of the United States Delegation, Mr. Smulyan will advance U.S. proposals to the Conference and promote U.S. interests in the development of international telecommunications. The ITU is the United Nations specialized agency devoted to telecommunications standardization, radio frequency management, and telecommunications development. Mr. Smulyan is founder and Chairman of the Board of Emmis Broadcasting Corporation, which currently owns seven radio stations in the United States. Mr. Smulyan was born April 6, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in history and telecommunications from the University of Southern California in 1969 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California School of Law in 1972. -30- Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org ------------------------------ From: svec@rtsg.mot.com (Larry Svec) Subject: Status of V5.1 V5.2 Development/Deployment Date: 13 Sep 1994 14:28:55 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group I am looking for information on the implementation of the V5.1 and V5.2 interconnect standards such as the following: 1) Are there any PTTs or Switch vendors who have deployed trial systems or commercial systems using either interface? 2) Are there any switching or other products available now that utilize this standard? 3) The V5 specs are quite substantial in features and functionality; are there any recommendations being made as to a subset or rollout of features that are being implemented by PTTs and switch vendors. Any information in general regarding these specifications would be appreciated. I would also like to talk to or correspond with other people involved in the development and deployment of this spec. Thank you in advance, Larry D. Svec - Motorola Inc. work: 708-632-5259 fax: 708-632-5213 home: 708-526-1256 e-mail: svec@sand.cig.mot.com ------------------------------ From: kruckenb@sal.cs.utah.edu (Pete Kruckenberg) Subject: Information Needed for Frame-Relay Device Driver Date: 14 Sep 1994 12:51:20 GMT Organization: University of Utah Computer Science Department I'm going to be writing a driver for use with the freeware Unix clone, Linux, using a v.35 ISA board. I need to get as much information as possible about frame-relay, including standards, specs, as well as "lay-man" descriptions of it. Also very valuable would be any sample code in C, Basic, Pascal, Modula, assembler, or pretty much any other language which pertains to frame-relay, regardless of which platform or OS it was written for. I would also like to know of any other frame-relay-related Internet resources (newsgroups, mailing lists, etc) that are available. I would appreciate any help I can get in finding this information as soon as possible. Also, anyone who would be interested in coaching me through some of the questions I might have is encouraged to contact me with their suggestions and advice. Please respond by private email to pete@dswi.com, or the address on this message. I will keep these newsgroups posted on my progress. Thank you, Pete Kruckenberg School: kruckenb@sal.cs.utah.edu University of Utah Work: pete@dswi.com Computer Engineering For even more addresses, "finger pete@dswi.com" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Sep 94 19:32 BST From: buzby@cix.compulink.co.uk (Raymond Okonski) Subject: Transatlantic Cellular Reply-To: buzby@cix.compulink.co.uk We all know that when crossing the Atlantic (in either direction) there are going to be problems with fixed or mobile comms systems. I have a UK collection of cellular phones: Analogue ETACS (an AMPS derivative), Digital GSM 900MHz and DCS 1800MHz. None of which will work if I take them across the 'pond'. With so many active cellular accounts, I am unwilling to purchase yet another phone, but when I come over to the US, I want the flexibility of mobile comms, but am unsure as to the best course of action - arrange a reciprocal deal to anyone coming to Europe (so they can borrow one of mine - *and* pay the bill!) or attempt to source one of those Airport booths and try to rent one for the duration. I'll be spending a month in the Georgia/Florida areas later this year, if anyone can recommend the best way to obtain a loan/rented phone for the duration and the network covering the area, I would be most grateful. I can be contacted at bbuzby@cix.compulink.co.uk. Raymond Okonski ------------------------------ From: nuance@access.digex.net (T. Stephen Eggleston) Subject: Mixed Services, Same Premises Date: 14 Sep 1994 11:41:21 -0400 Organization: Nuance Data Systems, Alexandria, VA 22304 Reply-To: nuance@access.digex.net In article , Jerry Leichter wrote: > In recent issues of the Digest, OEM (Our Esteemed Moderator) has: > a) Defended the practice of some Telco's in refusing to provide both > measured and unmeasured service at the same location on the > grounds that this would let people choose the cheaper alterna- > tive on a call-by-call basis, which is not the "intent" of the > various charging schemes; [deletia] My local carrier did not want to install a measured phone in my residence, which already has three unmeasured lines. The new phone was for my daughter, who is living here while she is in college, and would be in her name, not mine. The explanation was that the two services would not be provided in the same RESIDENCE. I faxed them a copy of a cancelled check from my daughter for her RENT. (50.00 per month) Still, they said that it was in the same physical building. I told them, that she had her own entrance, but they said that doesn't matter, since I was the owner. Then, I asked ... So, if I own a multi-family residence, I can't mix services, correct? YES, was the reply. When I asked them about apartment buildings, duplexes and boarding houses, the lady got very confused. She told me "that was different," but could not explain the difference. I GOT the line. (NOT for the purposes of avoiding charges, but I COULD run an extension into MY part of the house if I wanted to.) Just another $.02 from The Eggman Steve Eggleston Internet:nuance@access.digex.net Nuance Data Systems (703)823-8963 CIS:72040,713 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 05:46:40 HST From: NetSurfer Subject: ICRC Bosnia Appeal [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although not telecom related, I thought this was important enough that it should be passed along. If it annoys you, then ignore it. If you are as concerned as many of us, then give some consideration to what *you* can do to help. PAT] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 8 Sep 1994 23:11:38 +0100 (WET DST) From: Michel Veuthey To: peace@csf.colorado.edu Subject: ICRC BOSNIA APPEAL Address by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross to Ambassadors and Representatives of Permanent Missions at Geneva 7 September 1994 Bosnia-Herzegovina: civilians hostages of political interests The conflict in the Balkans has been going on for three years now - three long years of terror and suffering for the civilian population, but also three years of tireless endeavour on the part of the humanitarian agencies. Three years during which the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been working alongside other organizations to try and alleviate the suffering endured by the countless victims of the conflict. Sadly, the many efforts made by the ICRC have failed to meet with the response it had hoped for. This state of affairs is unacceptable. I solemnly wish to declare this to the international community as a whole, through you. For three years now, civilians have been the bargaining chips in what is known as the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The population is being terrorized, threatened and subjected to constant harassment. People are being forcibly displaced, transferred and exchanged. For three years now, the arbitrary detention of civilians, hostage-taking, summary executions, forced labour of civilians on the front lines are taking place with total disregard for the most elementary principles of humanity. Despite the ceaseless efforts made by the ICRC, which remains at the disposal of the parties to find humanitarian solutions to these problems, horror is still a daily fact of life in Bosnia-Herzegovina. More than 2,000 people have been forced to leave the town of Bijeljina in recentweeks. They have been driven from their homes in terror, stripped of everything they owned, subjected to brutal treatment and compelled to cross the front line. In the Banja Luka area, minorities are being subjected to harassment and discrimination every day. Having lost all hope for the future, they have no choice but to leave. In Central Bosnia, too, minorities left without any prospect of an acceptable life are leaving the Zenica region. In other places like Gorazde and Srebrenica, entire populations are encircled, confined to a few square kilometres of land and forced to survive in appalling psychological and material conditions. In the Bihac area, tens of thousands of displaced civilians are hostage to the belligerents' political interests. In most of these situations it is the Muslim civilian population that is the principal victim of an abominable policy. These facts are extremely serious, and that is why I have taken the liberty of asking you to come to the ICRC today so that I could tell you this myself. The very way in which this war is being waged constitutes a negation of the roots of humanitarian law. The fact that these odious practices are repeatedly being committed, coupled with the absence of any prospect of a solution, is gradually turning human suffering into a routine occurrence, thereby dulling people's conscience and threatening to undermine the very foundations of humanity. We cannot accept a policy that advocates the forcible exclusion of minorities. What indeed will become of them, prevented as they are from seeking refuge abroad and abandoned to their fate among an often hostile majority, if nothing is done to ensure that their rights are respected in the places where they live or if nothing is done to enable them to leave in total safety, freedom and dignity? In the face of this intolerable situation, the ICRC once again calls upon the parties to the conflict, and in particular their respective leaders and populations, to assume their moral and political responsibilities. Above all it appeals, through you, to the community of States to see that there is an immediate end to these crimes, whose gravity and magnitude amount to a negation of humanitarian law and of the most fundamental human rights. It is of the utmost urgency that the international community find solutions taking due account of the inalienable rights of the individual. The International Committee of the Red Cross reminds all the States Party to the Geneva Conventions of their collective obligation to ensure that the provisions of humanitarian law are respected in all circumstances. We cannot continue to watch the erosion of the very foundations of the law without taking practical action. The ICRC is counting on a prompt and determined reaction on the part of the international community. ------------------------------ From: peterli@dev.gdb.org (Peter Li) Subject: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - Genome Data Base (GDB) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 04:10:42 GMT Hi folks, I have this problem with my telephone line, it drops everynight around 11:00pm. I wonder if someone on the net can help me out. Here is the scenerio: I have two lines to my house; two pairs of wire on a single four wire cable. I use a modem on one of the lines to dial in to my system at work. Every night, the line is dropped, then for about one minute, I could not get a dialtone. Bell Atlantic sent out technicians during daytime twice and found no problems with the line. I have unplugged all extensions and answering machines, and the problem still happens. I tried a "loop-back" test, i.e. using the bad line and called my other line, no modem, just voice, and the line is still dropped. So the problem is not modem related. And the most peculiar thing is that the line is always dropped around 11:00 pm. After the line recovers, everything is fine for hours. My suspicion is that nothing is wrong physically with the wire, but something is happening at the switching center in the telephone company. The people who answer the problem number (611) doesn't seem to know anything about it and nor do I. If any of you have an idea why this is occurring, please respond so that I might be able to jarr some engineer in Bell Atlantic to get this fixed. (Switching to use the other line is out of the question, that one is my wife's line :-). Thanks in advance, Peter Li email: peterli@gdb.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am curious ... during the minute or so when you get dropped and cannot get dialtone on the one line, what is the status of the other line? What happens if you dial the (dropped, no dialtone) line from your other one? Rapid busy signal perhaps, or a regular busy signal? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 18:51:15 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Netiquette" by Shea BKNTQUTT.RVW 940601 Albion Books 4547 California Street San Francisco, CA 94118 info@albion.com "Netiquette", Shea, 1994, 0-9637025-1-3, U$19.95 ms.netiquette@albion.com The word, "etiquette," we are told in the book, comes from the French word for "ticket". It is your entree, or passport, to proper society. Given the human propensity for exclusivity, however, large sections of the populace take great pride in a reverse snobbery by proving that they don't care about the "right" society, and have no intentions of following its rules. Rebels have a disproportionately high representation on electronic networks. All that this proves, of course, is that different cultures have different specifics in terms of etiquette: netiquette can be much more rigid and picayune than arguments about which fork to use. Nevertheless, as Shea points out, there are some common sense guidelines that form the basis of netiquette. The fundamental principles could be applied to entering any society: lurk (use your eyes and ears first), learn (pay attention to what is going on and find the acceptable, and unacceptable, patterns), and, live and let live. The contents, after an introduction to networking concepts, cover the usual basics of netiquette with the usual list of rules, some discussion of email, email style, discussion groups, and flames. It expands beyond that, however, to information retrieval, significant violations, corporate, home and school etiquette, and discussions of sexual relationships, privacy and copyright. (It is interesting to read the coverage of advertising on the net from a work published just prior to the deluge from Canter and Siegel, who, in their refusal to abide by net dictates, or to admit the net could *have* dictates, give a whole new meaning to the term "self-centred".) Shea's treatment is not, as the cover blurb states, the only book to offer guidance in this area, but is certainly the most complete. While the material is definitely of use to the newcomer, long time net denizens will note a lack of familiarity with certain aspects of computer mediated communications. The advice, for example, to wait a few days before replying to a flame, or composing a flame in reply to an "ignorant" message, is of no use to busy net communicators. The standard time management advice applies -- once you pick it up, don't put it down until you've dealt with it. I tend to get one or two flames per week in response to these reviews, and, inevitably, the messages betray the fact that the flamer hasn't even read the message. However, after a careful review to ensure that there isn't some point to take, I'd rather delete such messages without replying, instead of wasting my time composing a reply in order to try to convince the Internit that he, she or it was wasting my time. (Alternately, if you don't like my solution, forward the flame to Canter and Siegel, thus killing, or at least aggravating, two nits with one flame.) There is also little analysis of the social forces behind flammage. Users are often told to be temperate, don't flame, use smileys and don't be abusive. The "rules of correspondence" too often fail to demonstrate how easily electronic communications can generate misunder- standings. Shea's book is better than most because it covers more related territory, but some up-front explanation of the mechanics involved would have been helpful. Although a brief discussion of netiquette is now a standard fixture in net guides, a work of this larger scope is long overdue. A note asking for suggestions implies corrections and additions in a later version. I look forward to such future editions and the salutary effect on net traffic that this, and they, will have. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKNTQUTT.RVW 940601. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Sept. '94) Springer-Verlag ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #364 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08465; 15 Sep 94 18:29 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06473; Thu, 15 Sep 94 12:43:06 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06466; Thu, 15 Sep 94 12:43:02 CDT Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 12:43:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409151743.AA06466@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #365 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Sep 94 12:43:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 365 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection (Chris Hardaker) Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection (Travis Russell) Re: 1957 Note on Pagers (Martin McCormick) Re: 1957 Note on Pagers (David Breneman) Re: 1957 Note on Pagers (John Botari) Re: Mixed Service, Same Premises (Noel Moss) Re: Secretary, Dept. of Telecom (India) Replaced (H. Shrikumar) Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" (clawsona@yvax.byu.edu) Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" (Bradley Allen) Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" (museums@aol.com) Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" (Douglas Reuben) Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier (Carl Oppedahl) Eye Catching Names (Andrew C. Green) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection From: HARDAKER@clear.co.nz (Chris Hardaker) Date: 15 Sep 94 08:35:34 EDT In response to Peter Li's trouble -- Telecom In New Zealand has deployed a cute little system called MITS (Don't ask me what it stands for). This system consists of one test set per 10000 lines (This lines are grouped by equipment not phone number). This little system accesses the line via the test cross connect found on the mother board of all Line Modules (NEAX 61 Generic siwtches) and runs a routine test of the cable and terminal block. This test consisits of capacitance, A-B A-Ground and B-Ground resistance and noise. During this test the line is unavailable to the customer. During deployment of this system Telecom had two major problems with the system. The first was during the capacitance test, the older phone bells 'tinkled' and the second was some systems ignored the busy line condition and just interupted the call in progress. To achieve it's test schedule (one test per night per line) the system kept a rigid schedule and you could set your watch by your phone 'tinkle'. If your local service provider has something similar, this could be a line of investigation. Chris Hardaker Network Management CLEAR Communications Auckland New Zealand Ph +64 9 9124286 DDI Fax +64 9 9124451 Email HARDAKER@CLEAR.CO.NZ ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection Date: 14 Sep 1994 18:13:58 -0400 Organization: Oppedahl & Larson In peterli@dev.gdb.org (Peter Li) writes: > My suspicion is that nothing is wrong physically with the wire, but > something is happening at the switching center in the telephone > company. The people who answer the problem number (611) doesn't seem > to know anything about it and nor do I. If any of you have an idea why > this is occurring, please respond so that I might be able to jarr some > engineer in Bell Atlantic to get this fixed. (Switching to use the > other line is out of the question, that one is my wife's line :-). Yes, I suspect that there is some sort of automated line testing going on. You will *never* get a meaningful response from 611 on this sort of thing, I predict. Call 611, and ask them to arrange for a frame foreman to call you back. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY oppedahl@patents.com ------------------------------ From: russell@tekelec.com (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: Help Needed on Losing Telephone Connection Date: 15 Sep 1994 12:50:35 GMT Organization: Tekelec, Inc. In article , peterli@dev.gdb.org (Peter Li) says: > I have this problem with my telephone line, it drops everynight around > 11:00pm. I wonder if someone on the net can help me out. Here is the > scenerio: I have encountered many strange problems such as this one, and have never had any success in getting them fixed through the normal channels. I have since developed a standard rule of thumb. If 611 cannot fix the problem after two visits, I ask for the first line supervisor. This draws a lot of attention within the rank and file. I then explain the problem to them. Chances are, they are checking your line at the wrong end. There needs to be some testing at the other end. If the first line supervisor cannot find the problem, and the trouble occurs again, I then escalate to the second level manager. This raises big flags in the C.O. and almost always has positive results. Problems of this nature are difficult to find. When a technician gets dispatched on this type of problem, they have no other recourse but to test the line and log a NTF (No Trouble Found). Thats how the system works. Escalation puts more visibility on your unique problem, and will get the necessary resources at the 11th hour to at least monitor the problem from the C.O. Frankly, I am a little surprised (not really) that the telco did not do this already, since this is a repeat trouble. Good Luck! Travis Russell russell@tekelec.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 94 15:58:58 CDT From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick) Subject: Re: 1957 Note on Pagers Organization: Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 20:58:53 GMT One of the very popular paging systems between the late fifties and early eighties was a system in which the transmitter plaid a continuous loop of tape which ran for 30 seconds or so in which the answering service operator read a list of subscriber's ID's with short messages for them. The tape for the RadioCall paging Service in Oklahoma City which used to be on 35.58MHZ went something like: "This is RadioCall Paging Service in Oklahoma City paging: 124R Call home. 316 Call Bill at 555-2703. 614 813 257 Over." The transmitter used 250 Watts of AM and frequently interfered with any sound systems in the down-town area that weren't well protected against RF. The voice messages were supplemented with tone-only signalling which was sent, as needed. I don't believe that there were any receivers which used a tone-activated muting circuit so the tones were for a different class of service such that when the beeper went off, one had to call the answering service to find out the message. In the sixties and seventies, there were four frequencies which were used for these systems. They were 35.22, 35.58, 43.22, and 43.58 Megahertz. When sporadic E skip caused the VHF low band to open wide, I can remember hearing paging systems from all over the United States and even one in South America, maybe Chile or Argentina since there was a 50HZ power supply hum on it. As a shortwave listener and later a ham, it was a great way to tell when the band was open and to where because most of the tape-loop paging systems identified themselves as to their city. By the mid to late seventies, the tape loop systems began to go out of service in droves. They were replaced by the kind of direct-dial access services that we have, today. I can remember that by 1980, when there was a sporadic E opening, one could hear all kinds of dial-up systems, but no more continuously-running tape loops. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group ------------------------------ From: daveb@jaws (David Breneman) Subject: Re: 1957 Note on Pagers Date: 14 Sep 94 22:51:50 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA Carl Moore (cmoore@ARL.MIL) wrote: > Wilmington (Del.) Morning News, Tuesday, April 9, 1957; page 27, > column 6 of 8 > CALLING DR. KILDARE. BOSTON (AP) -- A $10,000 doctor-radio paging > system has been installed at Beth Israel Hospital. Pocket radios are > now standard equipment for all physicians serving the hospital. A > doctor's code number is beeped to the radio clipped to his pocket. > This signal comes from a transmitter installed near the telephone > switchboard. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My first experience with pagers was > around 1960 or so when I was working at the University of Chicago and > they installed a paging system in the hospitals. My first personal pager > was a few years after that when Illinois Bell started selling a service > called 'Page Boy'. It was just a beeper without voice or text capability. ^^^^^^^^ Sure that wasn't "Bell Boy"? That's what US West called theirs, anyway. And, of course, it was a nice tie-in because it had the once-familiar Bell logo on it! The one my mother had (she ran the local blood bank lab, and they all took turns being "on call" in case of an emergency -- the person on call got the pager) was about the size of a current VCR remote control, and had to be left in a charger base over night. David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com System Administrator, Voice: +1 206 881-7544 Fax: +1 206 556-8033 Product Development Platforms Digital Systems International, Inc. Redmond, Washington, U. S. o' A. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yep that was my error. "Bell Boy" was the telco name for the unit on a national basis. All the telcos were then in the Bell System and they all used "Bell Boy". The pager itself came from Motorola, and Motorola's name for the unit was "Page Boy". Very same unit; just a different metal cover on the front with a Bell logo and telco's name for the device. If you got yours through an answering service which bought them direct from Motorola then it said "Page Boy". If you got your unit from the telco -- even though it was identical, and in some instances on the very same frequency, but with different 'cap codes', then it had their logo and name instead. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Botari Subject: Re: 1957 note on pagers Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 10:31:47 CST Back around 1986/87, when I was living in Toronto, a friend of mine (who worked for what was, at that time, still CNCP Telecommunica- tions -- now Unitel) still had one of those early tone-only pagers referred to by Pat in his comments. His was a Bell Canada "Bellboy"; Bell had gone out of marketing its pager service some years previously, but they were still supporting their few remaining users ... and the pager truly was quite large -- about 6 x 2 x 1 inches, so the only practical place to carry it was in the inside pocket of a blazer or suit jacket. (Even so, it lent one a bit of a lopsided look ...) My friend had evidently been carrying the same one since the late '60s (he was one of the technical people in CNCP's store-and-forward mes- sage switching division ... but _that's_ another by-gone technology ...) John Botari Environment Canada - Informatics Saskatoon, SK, Canada jb@desoto.wxe.sk.doe.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, they were quite large by today's standards. My tone-only pager was a very long (six inches?) rather slender thing; when I got a voice unit it was rather large and bulky and weighed about a pound. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nmoss@slacc.com Subject: Re: Mixed Service, Same Premises Organization: SLACC STACK BBS - St. Louis, Missouri Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 09:10:59 EST In issue 364 of the digest, T. Stephen Eggleston related his problems in obtaining both measured and flat rate service on the same premises. I am in Southwestern Bell territory and operate a BBS for a local computer user group. The system is located in my residence. Approximately one year ago, I contacted SWBT to inquire about converting five of the lines used by the system to measured service from flat rate service (These lines are in a hunt group). I anticipated difficulty with the request but the SWBT rep stated that it would not be a problem if those five lines were billed on a separate bill under the pilot number for the hunt group. Consequently, I have two flat rate lines and five measured lines at the same premises and receive two separate bills. No problems and no hassle from SWBT! Noel Moss nmoss@slacc.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 20:03:37 -0400 From: H. Shrikumar Subject: Re: Secretary, Dept. of Telecom (India) Replaced Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Systems Bombay India In article anil@axcess.net.in wrote: > Just a few hours ago, the Government of India reshuffled secretaries > to the various departments. Perhaps the most surprising change was > that relating to the Department of Telecommunications which has been > in the news for the last several months, due to it's (vocal) (ex) > secretary, the Chairman of the Telecom Commission, India, for his > progressive (read heretic) reform agenda. So it did finally happen ! Yup .. Vittal was also very high profile, (as was Sam Pitroda before him). But Vittal was an old hand at the Indian style of bureaucracy, and knew how to work it in its unique way, so one thought he would last longer. > N. Vittal has been replaced by A.K. Thakkar. Vittal will go back to > his earlier full-time job as the Secretary of the Department of > Electronics. I wonder if it means that the Dept. of Telecom would go back to its earlier full-time role of a ordained-monopoly-with-guaranteed-profitability- no-matter-what. And if the Department of Electronics will go back to its earlier fulltime job as ordained-foil-to-the-DoT ! I would suppose it is too late for that (thankfully). Already it is getting competitive to complete a Delhi-Bombay call via the US. (No kidding, I have actually done that! And you get a free conference with a soul in the US as a bonus :-) And during the brief telecom-spring just past, enough resources have been invested by more than one multi-national-in-partnership, in lobbying for various basic voice service proposals, which run into several billions of dollars. The giant machinery of a mega-corp like Reliance is on the act, ... so the combined forces are probably too strong to counter. However, the loss of a vocal arguer, especially one who preferred bringing high visibility to discussions, rather than parleys behind the closed teak door, would be surely felt. The coming months will say ... Compared to these swinging of the bureaucratic yo-yo, the big cable-IXC-LEC wars in the US seem like a straight Greek play -- build-up, climax and conclusion. Someone will buy the other, and they will live happily ever after. Out there, what you have is more like a unending soap, season after season of the same stuff -- changing relationships, swinging partnerships, with no purpose other than to keep sponsors pouring in, ... and no scriptwriter in his right mind wishing to scribe an end-game. :-) shrikumar ( shri@cs.umass.edu, shri@shakti.ncst.ernet.in, X.400 G=Shrikumar S=Hariharasubrahmanian P=itu A=arcom C=CH (yea right :) ------------------------------ From: clawsona@yvax.byu.edu Subject: Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" Date: 14 Sep 94 18:35:43 -0700 Organization: Brigham Young University Well, you have a couple of options with your problem. The easiest is to just leave the phone at home and get a pager. Really. What possible consequence would stem from not being able to talk to somebody for the five minutes that it would require to find a pay phone? That way would be cheaper as well ... ------------------------------ From: ulmo@panix.com (Bradley Allen) Subject: Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" Date: 14 Sep 1994 22:43:15 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC At least Cellular One is better than LA Cellular in regards to fraud prevention, in my experience: I was a paying customer of LA Cellular, and regularly could not receive, or even make, calls using the >only< cell tower I ever used, simply because I had the combination of living, working, playing, eating, shopping, bureaucrating and breathing exclusively in western Hollywood and eastern West Hollywood. I remember many times standing at a payphone and calling my own number ten times with signal strength high and call contention low, and two out of the ten calls would sometimes actually ring on my phone. Replacing the phone with an identical model once, and with another model another time, didn't help. I currently have a claim with the CPUC -- apparently the first with LA Cellular according to the Accounting Dept?! I hardly think so ... anyway, I have to call and see its status. While I get some strange behaviors such as this from Cellular One NYC, thank God it is not >nearly< as bad at LA Cellular, seeing as how 100% of my income comes via calls placed >to< my cellular phone. BTW, the failures usually come in various forms -- with LA Cell, it was trunk busy, forward to voicemail, or an intercept saying I'm not in the coverage area (the last one was rare) when receiving, or no-circuit-available tone when originating, or being unable to reset the forwarding during non-daylight times (the worst!). With Cell One, it is mostly in the form of intercepts saying I'm not in the coverage area (even though I have voicemail) receiving, and my problems with Cell One have been so much less than LA Cell that I can't even remember what other kinds of problems I've had (although I have had a few others). While NYNEX seems to have better coverage in some areas of Manhattan (my primary everything area), I'm scared to deal with them. Bradley Allen , desperately waiting for a land line so I don't have to pay for $600 monthly local receiving call bills ... or for calling-party-pays-call cellular receive or CID or ... ------------------------------ From: museums@aol.com (MUSEUMS) Subject: Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" Date: 14 Sep 1994 23:44:08 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) I am sorry that you are having so many problems. I am just starting a job with the company and I was not aware that there was such a serious problem. Maybe they should do a thorough check to see if your ESN is on some sort of barring lists. I knew that *350 does not work in Canada ... it is in the book ... but you can call customer service to turn that on. What is the fraud protection thing? Do they make you turn it on ... please explain it throughly. I don't know what it is. Thanks, Richard ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: Re: Cell One NY/NJ is Becoming "Hell One" Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 15:25:45 PDT On Thu Sep 8 18:06:15 1994, stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) wrote: > A couple of months ago, I posted my dissatisfaction with attempting to > use my cell phone in Montreal, Canada while roaming from NY with a > "Fraud Protection Feature" on my account. [...] The resolution was to: > A: Have me call customer service before I plan to travel to Canada > again to have them remove my FPF before I travel there. > B: Make a notation on my account so that when I call under condition "A" > I won't get a hard time. > So I believed them. [...] > Saturday night in Toronto, I tried to make a call and I alternately > got a re-order or a CanTel operator. When trying to call in from a > pay phone, I got my voice mail. Ok ... if you tried to dial OUT and got a re-order/fast busy or operator, then I would say that they just didn't remove the Fraud Protection Feature. But you SHOULD have been able to RECEIVE calls and use the Do Not Disturb commands of *350/*35. They DO work in Canada, and all over the NACN, for that matter. (And also in CT and Western Mass for CO/NY customers roaming on Bell Atlantic/Metro Mobile). Did you have Do Not Disturb set to not allow calls while roaming, ie, *35? This would explain why your calls went to voicemail. Yet you SHOULD be able to hit *350 EVEN IF you have the Fraud Protection Feature engaged, and thus bring calls into the Cantel/Toronto system. > I tried to activate call delivery (*350) and that code was not valid in > Toronto. The CanTel rep couldn't tell me what the equivalent code was > there and he wouldn't/couldn't connect me to Cell One NY. The code IS *350 to turn on call delivery. Note that you and most everyone else would NOT need to use this if McCaw were to show a bit more elacrity in having unanswered calls in roaming markets bounce back to your home voicemail. I've found that even in US NACN systems like Albany that frequently the *350/*35 mechanism is either slow or totally inoperative, and thus can't receive calls or force them back to voicemail based on my current needs. This would all *not be necessary* if calls were to bounce back to voicemail between markets where the DOJ does not prohibit this, and NYC <-> Albany would be one of them. > I went down to a pay phone (Bell Canada, with the neat two-line display), > and I called 1-800-242-7327 (CellOne NY customer service). I got the > menu choices and was holding for a rep for about 30 seconds when a > recording came on to tell me that the number I dialed could not be > reached from my calling area. BUT I HAD!!! Unless the Millenium (?) Bell Canada phone was defective, I can't understand why you got that. I've called CO/NY a number of times from Quebec and Ontario, and always got through. Can someone verify that it still works? If not, I'll call them and ask them when they removed it when they are obviously having so many problems in Canada. > [...] I called Cell One's Paramus number and was lucky enough to find that > their switchboard has a voice response option to reach customer > service. Send Cell One/NY the bill for these calls, and explain to them that you couldn't call them any other way. > The rep there tried calling my phone a few times (at one > point she said, "Let me try another way. Hold on."), put me on hold, > and returned to tell me that Toronto IS a NACN city, but because of > the large amount of fraud in the NYC area, I am in a "Pooled Region". > This means that CanTel's system sees that my home area code (516) is > in a high-fraud area and won't complete calls. Nice, eh? "Imagine No > Limits" indeed!!! (The limit is when you reach the Canadian border). Sounds like nonsense to me. I would suggest: 1. Next time you get a rep who doesn't seem too helpful, immediately ask to speak their manager and/or someone in the tech department. Although most CO/NY customer service reps are above average for the cellular industry, very few of them ever seem to use their phones, let alone use them while roaming, and have very little knowledge of what goes on out there. 2. If you are indeed being denied service due to fraud, call CO/NY, tell them the reason you got service with them is because you wanted to receive calls automatically in Toronto, and that whether or not there is a lot of fraud on your range of numbers, YOU want YOUR phone active there. (They can do this, for a very limited range with YOUR number in it.) If they chose not to allow you to automatically roam there due to fraud, tell them they are modifying their contract with you and that you wish to cancel service immediately with NO cancellation penalty to you. (I doubt it will come to this, but just in case...) 3. It sounds to me like you are having a problem with the Fraud Protection feature in addition to the problem with *350/*35 for call delivery which I reported in the Digest over a year ago has not yet been fully fixed. When I was trying out the feature, I noticed a degree of conflict between the two (Fraud Protection and Do No Disturb), but there wasn't a high enough correlation to determine any sort of pattern which I could report to CO/NY. But when I got rid of the Fraud Protection Feature, things went back to more or less normal, and I am encountering only sporadic (although highly annoying) *350/*35 problems in Canada and elsewhere on the NACN. I would suggest that you tell CO/NY to once and for all REMOVE the fraud protection feature from your account PERMANENTLY, or at least until they get their system fixed. I did this, and they totally understood why I was asking to do it and agreed that since I did roam a lot it made sense to do it. You can verify that the feature has been removed if you try to activate/deactivate it in the NY (00025) system and get an error recording. In general, the Fraud Protection Feature has always been buggy -- CO/NY initially wanted it to work everywhere (or everywhere that had auto call delivery). But when they instituted this feature last year, their customers could not place calls in Philly and the rest of ComCast, Connecticut/Western Mass, and some other NACN markets (I had trouble in LA, but LA Cellular was very happy to bill me for lot of calls that just got a re-order ... utter slime down there! LA Cell is an embarrassment to the industry and if they fall into the Pacific as a result of the next unfortunate quake we can take some solace in the fact that it wasn't a total loss! :( ). So eventually CO/NY (which I believe is the east coast test market for the fraud protection feature) decided to implement the feature ONLY within their system. Presently, it should only have an effect on CO/NY customers in the CO/NY system. It may also work in other *Ericsson-based* NACN systems, but it will not have any effect systems operating on other switches, like the Motorolas in ComCast's system. I'm not even sure why they have Fraud Protection -- anyone can clone a phone in NY and then drive to ComCast and make free call from there! Perhaps its easier to spot roamer fraud? I've suggested in the past that McCaw make greater strides towards having ALL NACN markets respond appropriately to the Fraud Protection codes and have a HIGH degree of confidence in the reliability of the feature while roaming before rolling it out. Yet my experiences with the feature were so disapointing that I immediately cancelled it, and its a shame to see that so little progress had been made. The feature is a useful one, and had I been in charge of the project (:) ) I'd make a more diligent effort to implement it in the US and Canada without any of the problems which initially occurred. > CellOne NY/NJ is probably _THE_ most expensive carrier in the country, You should be glad you don't live in LA! Pac*Hell and LA Cell are THE WORST carriers the country -- the FCC should throw away their licenses and start all over again. (Pac*Bell is *slightly* better than LA Cell, though ...) > doesn't offer discounted/unlimited weekends, and they can't provide > dependable roaming. What's the deal!?? Well, I wouldn't go that far: CO/NY has the most comprehensive and low-cost roaming airtime package in the northeast (home airtime, no dailies from Boston to Poughkeepsie to NYC to DC), with reliable call delivery to most of these markets (except Boston, which is WAY behind schedule; Litchfield, CT, which McCaw owns, beats me why no call delivery; and Poughkeepsie. NYNEX has delivery to all of these markets.) CO/NY also offers the use of all of your features in MOST of these markets (no call-waiting in CT yet :( ), AND, if you are in NJ or any ComCast system unanswered calls received while roaming WILL bounce back to voicemail, which is something that NYNEX can't offer. (NYNEX NY also has some pathetic excuse about not offering call forwarding while roaming due to fraud ... yeah, right ...) So I wouldn't say that Cell One/NY is all that bad. What I will say is that despite the good deal of progress which they have made towards making roaming more seamless, they still have a long way to go. The fact that they are STILL having problems with Do Not Disturb (*350/*35) and/or Fraud Protection in Canada many months if not years after being put on notice about this is inexcuseable. What's even more inexcusable is run-around you got when you tried to call them and assist them in correcting the problem for you. All I can say is that if and when *I* run my own cellular company (sure...:) ) my customers will never get silly, ill-informed answers, and I will make sure that advertised features, such as call delivery, worked properly BEFORE I enticed customers to subsribe to my service. Doug Reuben dreuben@netcom.com / CID Technologies / (203) 499 - 5221 P.S. If anyone else is experiencing problems like the above in Canada or in other NACN markets, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Thanks! ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Security Deposit From Local Phone Carrier Date: 14 Sep 1994 17:36:44 -0400 Organization: Oppedahl & Larson In ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) writes: > dong@umiacs.umd.edu writes: >> Does anybody know any information about the regulation for >> local phone company charging security deposits? > This varies from telephone company to telephone company, and > individual state public utility commissions may have their own rules > as well. In New York State, the PSC has set a standard list of questions the telco is allowed to ask, and if they get the requisite answers no deposit may be imposed. (The PSC regs list exactly how the answers are to be scored.) In recent years, however, various rules have changed so that the telco is no longer at risk for unpaid long-distance bills -- the long-distance carrier takes the risk. Thus the telco is only at risk for the local calls. This, I believe, is the simplest explanation for why New York Telephone no longer bothers to ask the questions, and yet does not bother to ask for a deposit. Despite all this, New York Telephone is quite insistent that the potential new customer reveal his or her Social Security Number. The customer who wants to get new service without having to reveal the number has to put up quite a fight. Generally the way to shut up the representative who is so pushy about the SSN is to (!) offer to pay a deposit instead. Since New York Tel apparently no longer has convenient mechanisms in place for taking deposits, the rep is stuck, unable to pass the red-faced test; unable to fabricate a compelling reason, given the willingness to pay a deposit, why it is essential to get the SSN. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY oppedahl@patents.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 05:46:02 CDT From: Andrew C. Greeb Subject: Eye Catching Names woody writes (quoting from Bell News, Bell Canada/Bell Ontario, 29 August 1994): > Name display - an option for use with Call Display, one of our > SmartTouch[tm] services - will allow customers to see the name in > addition to the telephone number of the person or business calling > them. Idle thought occurs: Presumably the name displayed is the official billing name of the calling party? Is there a character limit to the length of the displayed text? If I were a telesleaze marketer, it would be nice to take advantage of this feature by going into business under the name "POLICE DEPARTMENT Services, Inc.", "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Calling, Inc.", or perhaps the more desperate "ANSWER THIS PHONE, Inc." Just wondering. :-) Andrew C. Green (312) 266-4431 Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com 441 W. Huron Chicago, IL 60610-3498 FAX: (312) 266-4473 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It has been tried, but the company always loses. Federal law forbids the use of any name which implies, to any person with reasonable intelligence, that the user of the name is connected in any way with the federal government. Nor can you use acronymns or abbreviations which make that implication. For example, a company known as Fat Boy, Inc. could not use 'FBI' as an abbreviation. Here in Chicago several years ago, a fellow started a company called 'The Phone Company' and ran a boiler room operation getting people to sign up for extended warranties on the phones they owned. If you bought one of his warranties you got a monthly bill which very closely resembled your bill from Illinois Bell, even to the extent of having such verbiage as 'other charges and credits' and 'monthly service in advance' (for your warranty coverage) printed on it. As might be expected, Illinois Bell sued him and won the case. They admitted he had the right to repair telephone instruments and offer warranties for the same -- subject to other applicable laws and regulations -- but they vigorously objected to his use of the name 'The Phone Company', which, as it turns out they do not have copyrighted. Telco does not own the phrase 'The Phone Company', but the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Bureau here none the less contended that such a name was misleading, and forbade him to use it. This story appeared in detail here in TELECOM Digest in 1989. Whatever else you do in life, one thing you do NOT do is claim to be a police officer or a government employee/agent unless you really are one. And where large companies and/or utility services like telco, gas, electric and water are concerned, you tread very lightly when it comes to making claims or using similar sounding names. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #365 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09990; 15 Sep 94 20:55 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11902; Thu, 15 Sep 94 14:55:11 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11892; Thu, 15 Sep 94 14:55:06 CDT Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 14:55:06 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409151955.AA11892@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #366 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Sep 94 14:55:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 366 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Members of Ontario's Information Council (Joan McCalla) Colorado NPA 303 Split (Jim Hebbeln) Colorado Assigned New Area Code (Jeff Shaver) 24-Hour Callback Lines Needed (Bruce Hahne) EDI Recommmondation (Phil Khan) Modem Handshake Between Canada and Chile (James Piercy) The Deep Jungle: PLUS, CIRRUS, etc. (Michael O'Brien) Singapore Reaches Digital Milestone! (Thomas Ho Inn Min) Block Local Calls to 800 Number (James Deibele) GTE Mobilnet Woes (Dave Rand) ADSL - What Does it Stand For (Ken Adler) Using Non-ISDN Modems and Fax Machines With ISDN? (Andrew E. Page) Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? (Stan Schwartz) Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? (Wes Leatherock) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mccallj@gov.on.ca (Joan McCalla) Subject: New Members of Ontario's Information Council Organization: Government of Ontario Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 14:06:49 GMT FOUR NEW MEMBERS EXPAND INFORMATION COUNCIL TORONTO - Four new members have been appointed to the Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure, reflecting its expanded role to include the computing sector, Economic Development and Trade Minister Frances Lankin announced today. "These new appointments will add a wide range of computing industry expertise and knowledge to the council. This will link computing and telecommunications to help build an information infrastructure for Ontario's future economic and social well-being," she said. "Assisting these high tech industries is one of several initiatives we have undertaken to foster the growth of various sectors of the economy by helping them become more competitive and create the high skill, long- term jobs of the future." New members on the 20-member council are: Jim Hayward, Vice-President, Consulting of CGI, Toronto Benjamin J. Mair, President and Founder of Quantum Leap Inc., Toronto Ruth Songhurst, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Mortice Kern Systems Inc., Waterloo Jean-Pierre Soubli Ottawa. "We welcome these industry leaders to our council and look forward to their valuable contributions to advancing Ontario's information technology sector and the development of the province's information infrastructure," said council chair Jim Coombs. Representing a partnership between business, labour, and communities, the council is an advisory body to the provincial government on developing strategies to promote the development and use of information technologies. The council recently released its first annual report, Full Speed Ahead, linking telecommunications and computing. The council will also launch a public awareness campaign about the importance of building on the information infrastructure. Bios of the new members are attached Contact: Lucy Rybka-Becker Minister's Office MEDT (416) 325-6909 Martine Holmsen Marketing & Public Affairs Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (416) 325-6687 Joan McCalla Information Infratrsucture Branch MEDT (416) 326-9627 New Members of the Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure Jim Hayward With a background in engineering, psychology and management consulting, Jim Hayward is Vice-President, Consulting of CGI in Toronto. Jim served as Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Computing Sector Strategy for Ontario and is Acting Director of Information Systems for Spar Aerospace. He has worked on organizational development and training in information systems for such companies as Noranda, Bramalea and Ferranti-Packard as well as Canada's nuclear power industry. Jim is co- founder of Gellman, Hayward & Partners and is active as a member of several charitable boards and committees. Benjamin J. Mair Benjamin Mair is President and Founder of Quantum Leap Inc. of Toronto, a leading interactive multimedia company serving the consumer and professional markets. Prior to 1989, he was a co-founder and Vice-President, Marketing for Heritage Communications Inc. following extensive sales and engineering experience with such companies as LSI Logic Corp., Intel and Litton Systems of Canada. He is co-founder and Chair of the International Multimedia Development Association. Benjamin served on the advisory committees developing strategies for two Ontario sectors, the computing and cultural industries, and is a member of an advisory committee to Canada's Information Highway Advisory Council. Ruth Songhurst Ruth Songhurst is a principal and Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Mortice Kern Systems Inc., a high-profile Waterloo-based software development firm. Under her leadership, MKS launched Internet Anywhere, a mass market software program to provide easy Windows access to Internet mail and news. Ruth was active in forming a computer technology network in Canada's "technology triangle" of Guelph, Cambridge and Kitchener- Waterloo. Her firm, MKS, has been cited for three consecutive years by Profit magazine as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies and by Software magazine as one of the top 100 software companies to watch. Jean-Pierre Soubli Jean-Pierre Soubli International in 1994 following a 17-year career with the company. During this period he occupied a series of increasingly responsible management positions. Prior to joining SHL, he worked for Canada Post Corp., Carleton University and Northern Telecom. Jean-Pierre is active in a wide range of business, university and charitable organizations. He is on the Board of the Canadian Advanced Technology Association, the Carleton Education Network and the Ottawa-Carleton Development Corporation. He is also a member of the Carleton University Presidential Advisory Council and served as campaign chair of the United Way/Centraide Ottawa-Carleton in 1989-90. Backgrounder: The Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure An advisory committee to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade on developing an information infrastructure (computing and telecommunications); Consists of 20 business, labour and community representatives; Established in 1993; held inaugural meeting May 28, 1993; Original mandate: to campaign for an Ontario information infrastructure under the province's telecommunications strategy; Mandate later broadened, on recommendation of the Computer Sector Advisory Committee, to include computing sector strategy; Issued first annual report, Full Speed Ahead, in July 1994. New, broadened mandate: Raise public awareness of information technology; Advise on development of Ontario's information infrastructure and development of information technology industries; Recommend new computing and telecommunications initiatives under the government's Ontario Network Infrastructure Program, the Sector Partnership Fund and similar programs; Advise on the Ontario government's use of information technology; Four members from computing industry added to council in Sept. 1994 to support new mandate. The Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure Membership List Chair: Jim Coombs, former President and Chief Executive Officer ofSaskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel). Vice Chair: Don Tapscott, President of New Paradigm Learning Corporation. Vice Chair: Sheelagh Whittaker, President of EDS Canada. Members: Andrew K. Bjerring, President and Chief Executive Officer of CANARIE (Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research Industry and Education). Dr. Barbara Cameron, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Atkinson College in York University. Kim Cameron, a co-founder and the Vice-President of Technology of ZOOMIT Corporation and BCH Information Systems Inc. Desmond Cunningham, Chairman of Gandalf Technologies Inc. and past Chairman of the Canadian Advanced Technology Association. Douglas Cunningham, Vice President and Director, Investment Banking of Wood Gundy Inc. Brian Davey, a Deputy Grand Chief for the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation. Jim Hayward, Vice-President, Consulting of CGI. Richard Long, Administrative Vice-President, Ontario Region of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP). John D. MacDonald, retired senior executive in information technology with Bell Northern Research, Northern Telecom Canada Ltd and NT Limited. Benjamin Mair, President and Founder of Quantum Leap Inc. and Chair of the International Multimedia Development Association. Janice M. Moyer, president and chief executive officer of the Information Technology Association of Canada. Hasan Y. Naqvi, President/owner of CM Inc. Rory O'Brien, Programme Manager at Nirv Community Resource Centre in Toronto. Kirk Reiser, Manager of the Computer Braille Facility at the University of Western Ontario. Ruth Songhurst, a principal and Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Mortice Kern Systems Inc. Jean-Pierre Soubli Harriet Velasquez, Vice President, Delivery Program at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:16:59 From: jim@Telcom.OTC.ColoState.EDU (Jim Hebbeln) Subject: Colorado NPA 303 Split U S West announced September 14, 1994, that Colorado Area Code 303 will be split into two NPAs 303 and 970. Permissive dialing to NPA 970 will begin April 2, 1995. Mandatory dialing of NPA 970 then begins October 1, 1995. NPA 303 will continue to serve the Denver Metro calling area, Boulder, Longmont, Fort Lupton, and surrounding suburbs. (Relative to the rest of the state, this is a "little" circle about 80 miles across.) New NPA 970 will serve Northern Colorado (Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Sterling) and the Western Slope (Grand Junction, Durango, Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs). Jim Hebbeln 303-491-1014 (970-491-1014!) Colorado State University Telecommunications Fort Collins, CO 80523 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 22:37:34 -0600 (MDT) From: Jeff Shaver Subject: Colorado Assigned New Area Code According to the late news on KCNC TV (Denver, Colorado) 9/14/94, Colorado has been assigned an additional area code. The map indicated that 303 will shrink to serve mainly the Denver metro area. Everything else that was previously served by 303 will be switched to the new area code, 970 (basically all of northern and western Colorado). Area code 719 will not be affected. The change is to take effect beginning April 2, 1995. jshaver@panesu.esu14.k12.ne.us ------------------------------ From: hahne@netcom.com (Bruce Hahne) Subject: 24-Hour Callback Lines Needed Date: 15 Sep 1994 05:16:34 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I'm doing some investigation on behalf of a company which wants to purchase two to four callback accounts (more in the future) which will be used 24 hours a day to call from Japan to the U.S. They want to pay one flat monthly fee in exchange for the right to use the call-back circuits continuously. I'm aware of numerous companies offering per-minute rates, but I don't yet know of anybody offering the same at a per-month rate, hopefully with a sizable discount over the standard per-minute rates. If you work for a company which could offer such a flat rate for callback accounts, please feel free to contact me. Yes, I'm aware that normal human beings in this situation would go talk to the phone company to get leased lines, but due to numerous stupidities in Japanese telecommunications law, this needs to be done via call-back technology or something very similar. These lines will be used to bring Internet access into Japan, so if you can offer this service you'll be helping us poor net-deprived folks in Japan to get more connected. Thanks, Bruce Hahne hahne@acm.org Work: +81-3-5330-9380 Fax: +81-3-5330-9381 ------------------------------ Subject: EDI Recommmondation From: phil.khan@uttsbbs.ness.com (Phil Khan) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 94 08:59:00 -0800 Organization: The Transfer Station BBS, Danville, CA - 510-837-4610/837-5591 Reply-To: phil.khan@uttsbbs.ness.com (Phil Khan) Hello All ! Does anyone know a good PC EDI package (under dos or windows) that can be used to receive orders from other EDI packages "Directly"? P.S. "Directly" <==> Does not need to retrive them from third party EDI mail box (IBM EDI info exchange for example). Your recommendation is greatly appreciated. The Transfer Station BBS (510) 837-4610 & 837-5591 (V.32bis both lines) Danville, California, USA. 1.5 GIG Files & FREE public Internet Access ------------------------------ From: jpiercy@nbnet.nb.ca (James Piercy) Subject: Modem Handshake Between Canada and Chile Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:37:53 GMT Organization: NB*Net Here's a question that I am sure has a simple answer. One of our computers is now in Chile. It has a 14400 Sportster modem (internal) being controlled by PcAnywhere for Windows. This hookup worked fine here in Canada at 14400 V42.BIS. The computer is now installed in Chile and the modems will not handshake. There was one exception when we did manage a handshake and established a PcAnywhere session at 9600 BAUD (Modem speed set back from my end). The software worked flawlessly throughout this session. Handshake did not sound normal on this occassion however, but we did hear the "white noise" of the digital communication. Have tried many times since with no "white noise" and no joy. Audio quality on the line is good. Answer tone sounds normal, but gets cut off prematurely and is followed by a steady tone for 30 seconds or so and then the dial tone on my end. Oh yes, the Chileans have been able to dial into the modem from within Chile, and get as far as the request for a password, so they are definitely past the modem handshake. They report no problem to do this. I would really appreciate any input that I can get on this. Thanks, Jim Piercy ------------------------------ From: obrien@aero.org (Michael O'Brien) Subject: The Deep Jungle: PLUS, CIRRUS, etc. Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 13:57:05 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation I recently took a trip up through Nevada and Utah and discovered a highly unpleasant fact: Banks in that strip of territory have started putting fees on their ATM machines up front. In the past, fees for ATM transactions have generally been levied by one's own home bank. But with these banks, you can get hit up both at the front end AND the back end. I decided that a little consumer advocacy was called for, and called my credit union to see if they wouldn't register a complaint with Cirrus. Not only wouldn't they do that, they wouldn't even give me the phone number of the Cirrus network. In fact, they didn't even seem to see what my point was. Their attitude was that banks could join any network they pleased, and the notion that the network might require certain things of these banks (like, no front-loaded fees) was so completely alien to them that they didn't even know what I was talking about. That's when it occurred to me that the operations of networks like PLUS, Cirrus, et al. are closed shops. The public never sees them and we never see them. On this list we know that ATM machines are (or at least used to be, last I heard) gussied-up 4270 terminals running the old IBM polling protocol, but about Cirrus and the like, I've not heard a word. Anybody got the skinny on these nets? Phone numbers? Advocacy groups? Is there any oversight at all? Mike O'Brien obrien@aero.org ------------------------------ From: tho@iscs.nus.sg (Thomas Ho Inn Min) Subject: Singapore Reaches Digital Milestone! Date: 15 Sep 1994 01:06:26 GMT Organization: National University of Singapore From a recent issue of {Straits Times}, Friday, Sept 2 1994, p. 2 (Life! section): "Telecom goes 100 per cent digital" Singapore's telecommunications system took another big step towards the 21st century yesterday. At a ceremony officiated by Mr. Mah Bow Tan, Minister for Communications and the Environment, Singapore Telecom commemorated the total digitalisation of its telephone network. This makes the Republic one of the first countries to have such a network. Telecom's transmission network and all its 28 telephone exchanges are now digital. Dr. Thomas I. M. Ho WWW WWW http://biomed.nus.sg:80/people/tho.html WWW WWW Senior Fellow National University of Singapore Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Internet: tho@iscs.nus.sg ------------------------------ From: jamesd@teleport.com (James Deibele) Subject: Block Local Calls to 800 Number Date: 15 Sep 1994 15:32:41 -0700 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 We have been asked to submit a bid to a government agency that wants to make information available all over the state. We currently have service in two major cities (well, as Oregon goes -- this ain't New Yawk) and hope to be in others by the end of the year. In the interests of cutting costs, we'd like to things up like so: we publicize a voice 800 number. The voice 800 number gives the Portland number, the Salem number, and a data 800 number for people who don't live in Portland or Salem. So far so good. The cost reduction comes (we hope) by not allowing someone in Portland or Salem to use the data 800 number. We supply (if necessary) a list of prefixes that we don't want used to the phone company providing the 800 data number. If someone in Portland tries to use the 800 number they get a recording or a busy signal or something. They never get through. There are a lot of advantages to having an 800 number -- a data line -- to promote. But I'm afraid that it will be very expensive and a lot of people who call a local number either won't realize it or just not care -- it's "free" right? I'd appreciate hearing whether this is possible and who might be able to deliver it. I thank you and the taxpayers will thank you. :-) jamesd@teleport.com "7104 newsgroups & nothing on ..." Full internet (ftp, telnet, irc, ppp) available. Voice: (503) 223-4245 Portland: (503) 220-1016 2400, N81. Login as "new" to setup an account. Vancouver: (206) 260-0330 Salem: (503) 364-2028 FAX: (503) 223-4372 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Restricted 800 numbers, available from only certain areas, are very common. This should provide no problem for your local telco to implement. Callers not entitled to reach the number usually get an intercept saying 'the 800 number you have called is not dialable (or reachable) from your calling area.' PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 06:04:00 PDT From: dlr@daver.bungi.com (Dave Rand) Subject: GTE Mobilnet Woes I currently subscribe to Cellular One for my cellular telephone service. Recently, I purchased a new telephone for my wife, and (on the advice of the dealer), signed a one year contract for GTE Mobilnet service. When I first started out using cellular telephones, about two years ago, I used GTE. I found at that time that they were charging two to three TIMES the AT&T standard rate for intra-state calls, and also had a significant markup on international calls. I was told by GTE (then as now) that GTE does not rate long distance calls, but simply passes on the bill to the consumer from AT&T. This is not true. I was finally able to convince a GTE supervisor to call AT&T to verify the rates on a number of my calls, and they were very surprised to find that I was correct, GTE was in fact billing several times the AT&T rate. The error was dismissed as having "an old billing tape loaded". I was issued a credit of over $100 -- for calls dating back at least ten months. Can you imagine a billing tape loaded incorrectly, for ten months? I then asked about correcting the bills of the thousands of other customers affected by this "error", and I was told that it would be too hard to do. When I subscribed with GTE again, I was very suspicious. I called multiple times, and was given various conflicting information. Each person that I spoke to was absolutely convinced that they were correct. 1. We use AT&T for our long distance service, and you are billed by them - call AT&T for rate information. 2. You are billed your regular airtime rate, plus your regular airtime rate for long distance (ie: 0.75/min airtime plus 0.75/min LD for a call to Australia!). 3. We use AT&T or Sprint, whichever is cheaper for the call you make. We look at the time of day, and the place that you are calling, and make the selection for you, based on the cost of the call. (But they were unable to tell me how much any call in particular would cost -- the CSR got very upset when I pointed out that they could not route the call the cheapest way unless they knew how much it would cost). 4. You may select either AT&T or Sprint for your long distance service, and be billed directly by them. You may also use a calling card. 5. We charge the AT&T business rate plus a 3% surcharge. 6. We buy time in bulk from AT&T and Sprint, and bill you for the time that you use. But we don't know exactly how much we charge (the only correct answer). This one was from a supervisor. Since those conversations, I have asked for a copy of the rate tariff that GTE uses to bill calls. GTE Mobilnet sent me a copy of the California intrastate portion of the tariff, and I have confirmed that this agrees with the current AT&T rate information for calls within California (rougly 0.15/0.14 day, 0.13/0.11 evening and 0.12/0.10 night). They told me (verbally, and on the FAX) that they are not required to file a tariff for interstate and international calls. I find this unlikely, but I do have it in writing. They have still been unable to tell me how much three sample calls that I have provided will cost me. I have confirmed that GTEM does resell long distance, and should be able to provide long distance rate information. Further, GTEM does not offer Equal Access, and has no plans to do so. If anyone else subscribes to GTE Mobilenet in the Bay Area, and uses long distance services (including Follow-Me-Roaming), please get in touch with me for the latest information. ------------------------------ From: ken@hk.net (Ken Adler) Subject: ADSL - What Does it Stand For? Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 01:09:07 Organization: Penril Datability Networks (Asia/Pacific) In the context of teleco network ... which is the proper translation of this acronym: asynchronous digital subscriber loop asymetric digital subscriber line. A short explanation of each would be appreciated. Thanks, Ken [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is just a reminder to readers that the Telecom Archvies has several acronymn/glossary files available. If you want them, you can use anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu to get them. When logged in, cd telecom-archives/glossaries. On the other hand you can also use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service to request individual entries from the glossary files. Your entry would look like this: mail to tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu. The subject does not matter. REPLY yourname@site (this must be first) GLOSSARY argument GLOSSARY argument END (this must be last) 'argument' is the acronymn you are searching for, as in this example: GLOSSARY MFJ or GLOSSARY ISDN. Do not use periods or spaces between the letters. When your email hits the script at MIT which handles the archives inquiries, several of the glossary files will be grepped looking for what you want, and the answers returned in email to you, generally within minutes or less. Try it out for fun. If you need a copy of the help file showing how to use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service in general, just write me and ask for a copy. I will probably print it here soon anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ From: aep@world.std.com (Andrew E Page) Subject: Using non-ISDN Modems and Fax Machines With ISDN? Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 16:57:10 GMT I am going to be adding a second phone line to my office. I'm considering ISDN since I've checked and it is available in my area. However there are a couple of things that I need to know. Can exising(e.g. non-ISDN) modems (V.42bis etc) and fax machines be used with ISDN voice channel? Many of my online services, clients and colleagues do not have ISDN. In order to communicate with them I would need to be able to use non-ISDN modems and faxes. Andrew E. Page (Warrior Poet) Mac Consultant Macintosh and DSP Technology ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? Date: 15 Sep 1994 07:40:35 -0400 Organization: Oppedahl & Larson In ulmo@panix.com (Bradley Allen) writes: > Does anybody know where to send my payment for my NYNEX bill? > I have all this cash and a NYNEX account that's due around now, and I > can't find an address to pay it. I'm worried they're going to turn > off my phone! > The billing line, 212-890-2100, is busy every time I call. > I called the administrative offices, and after holding for 25 minutes, > they told me an address at 412 W. 36th St. I went there and it was > closed. The Manhattan telephone directory has a place (pages 33 and 34) that lists all the places you can go to pay your bill in person. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY oppedahl@patents.com ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? Date: 15 Sep 1994 08:40:59 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't really believe some of the mail > I get from one day to the next. This is a good example. I would suggest > to our correspondent that you wait until NYNEX renders a bill for the > service. There will be an envelope enclosed to be used for payment, and > an address on the statement enclosed. I don't really think they are > going to cut you if you wait until their bill arrives and then pay it > in a timely way upon presentation. Is there something I am missing here > somewhere? PAT] Pat: Maybe this person has a past due bill. I don't know how Ameritech works, but NYNEX has become fairly strict about due dates and service restrictions. They also no longer publish payment center locations in the local directory (they're usually stationery stores and supermarkets and they change very often). Bradley: Call the NYNEX President's Help Line at 1-800-722-2300. I'm sure that someone there will have a location list for you. Stan ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 10:19:28 GMT Subject: Re: Where Do I Pay my NYNEX Bill? Have you looked in the telephone directory? Many telephone companies have a list of offices which accept payment and payment agencies in the information pages at the front of the directory. Many telephone company business offices have a "night depository" (but usually available day and night) where bills can be paid; often there is such a depository at the administrative offices. As a matter of fact, probably the question most asked of the security desk at the administrative office is "where can I pay my bill?" But of course Pat's correct; if they haven't even sent a bill yet, and haven't called asking for advance payment because of high toll, it's unlikely they're worried at all or planning to cut off your service. In any event, the Public Service Commission undoubtedly has rules requiring notice to, probably in writing, before they can cut off your service. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Around here, you can either go to one of a couple actual telephone company offices to pay or you can pay at an agency. Usually the agencies handle all utilities, not just phone. A few are 'online' with the utilities, meaning as soon as you pay them it is immediatly recorded at the telco business office. Most agents however are 'manual' and they have to submit batch payments to the utility companies each day. The trick, for an old deadbeat like me is to pay at an online agency so the payment will be recorded immediatly (thus avoiding a service cut) but the check does not get deposited until it actually reaches telco sometimes a week later! I generally go to the Howard/Ridge Currency Exchange to pay my utility bills. The agent there has an online terminal to IBT. I pay by check and take my reciept over to the payphone to call the IBT collection office to give them the payment advice, 'transaction XXX by agent YY in the amount of $$$'. The IBT collector looks it up on his terminal at the same time. That of course prevents the cut which was pending, usually for the same or next day; or if I was cut it gets me turned back on usually within an hour or two. But Howard/Ridge *used to* only batch the paperwork and checks twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday. I'd pay on Tuesday just after the batch was cut so my check got held over until Friday, with IBT actually getting it the following Tuesday. If they were running behind in the remittance room, the check would not hit my bank until a few days later. It took no effort at all to get seven to ten working days 'float', meaning I paid my phone bill whether the money was in the bank or not! Then one day Howard/Ridge had a sign posted on the wall: "No More Stalling!" with a smiley face drawn on the sign. It said henceforth all checks in payment of Illinois Bell accounts would be deposited *same day* direct to the Federal Reserve without recourse to Howard/ Ridge. Sure enough, I paid on Tuesday and the check *hit my account on Wednesday, with Illinois Bell getting the NSF condition on their system on Thursday*. Even though I made the check payable to IBT (Howard/Ridge refuses to accept checks payable to themselves for any of their utility clients) the agent had deposited it direct. The endorsement on the back said 'pay to the order of the payee named, Howard/Ridge as agents of payee, no recourse'. The federal reserve endorsement was there as well. When IBT called me just two days later to say my check had not cleared and I had until five that afternoon to show up with cash in hand at the agency I was astounded. I went with the money, but it happened to be one of the days each month when the State of Illinois welfare checks are issued (Illinois Department of Public Aid is also a client of Howard/Ridge) and even with four agents on duty the line stretched out the door and down Howard Street for half a block as the welfare mothers with their squalling brats and the food stamp recipients waiting to get their money and rations for the month stood in line with all the deadbeats waiting to get their phone or gas/electric service turned back on. No more stalling, indeed! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #366 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10213; 15 Sep 94 21:07 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12969; Thu, 15 Sep 94 15:25:07 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12961; Thu, 15 Sep 94 15:25:02 CDT Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 15:25:02 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409152025.AA12961@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #367 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Sep 94 15:25:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 367 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson First Northwest Internet Business Conference (Internet Group) New NACN Systems in NY With Voicemail; Some Bugs (Douglas Reuben) AT&T "You Will" Ads on Internet (Andrew B. Myers) NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (Sanjiv Narayan) Cellphones and Smoke Alarms (John R. Covert) Looking For DTMF to Ascii Encoding Schemes (Goh Tiong Hwee) Old Western Electric/Telephone Items for Sale (Russ Pate) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: igi@halcyon.com (Internet Group) Subject: First Northwest Internet Business Conference Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 02:58:49 -0800 Organization: Internet Group THE INTERNET WAY OF BUSINESS At last the business conference like no other ... learning to sell services and products via the global Internet. The Internet Way of Business will be an overview for entrepreneurs seeking a clear, forthright presentation on commercial use of the most powerful information and communications tool in the world -- the Internet. September 21, 1994 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Shoreline Community College Free parking 16101 Greenwood Avenue North Check-in : 7:45 Seattle, Washington 98133 USA Lunch 12:30 pm Sponsors: Internet Group, Inc. Microsoft Digital Equipment G.T.E. Corporate Computer,Inc Northwest Nexus NovX Systems Integration Ballard Computer KUOW 94.9 FM Puget Sound Business Journal Shoreline College Foundation Participants will join other professionals and executives to * grasp the Internet as a strategic business tool * witness local firms creating revenues on the Internet * reach beyond boundaries to a new customer base * observe Internet technology applied in daily commerce * conduct toll-free intercontinental business research * recognize Seattle as the port of Internet trade * clarify pending telecommunications legislative issues * win software, services, books, and other prizes * locate Internet training consultants and facilities * find ways to reduce their communications overhead * learn why their enterprises may be Internet ready Presented by Internet Group, Inc. POST: 93 Pike Street, Suite 308 Seattle, WA 98101 USA E-MAIL: igi@halcyon.com GOPHER: gopher.seattle.wa.us TEL: 206.236.9559 or 206.780.2245 FAX: 206.842.6974 SEATTLE AREA LODGING Ramada Inn (North Seattle, off hwy.I-5) 2140 N. Northgate Way; Rates $86-99;Tel 1.800.228.2828 or 206.365.0700 Edgewater Inn (Seattle waterfront) Pier 67;Rates $145; Tel 1.206.728.7000; Mayflower Park (downtown Seattle) 4th & Olive Way;Rate $100-110; Tel 1.800.426.5100 Stouffer Madison (downtown Seattle) 515 Madison; Rates $119-164; Tel 1.800.468.3571 --------------COPY & E-MAIL REGISTRATION---------------- THE INTERNET WAY OF BUSINESS September 21, 1994 Seattle, Washington USA Name__________________________Title_______________Company___________________ Address_____________________________________________________________________ Nature of Business_________________________________________________________ Telephone_____________________________FAX___________________________________ E-Mail________________________________ Names of additional attendees: ________________________________________________ Size of company (Check one) : __1-10 __10-50 __50-100 __100-200 __ 200+ FOR RESERVATIONS: CALL: (206) 236-9559 or (206) 780-2245 FAX (206) 842-6974 MAIL : INTERNET GROUP,INC., 93 Pike St., Suite 308, Seattle, WA 98101 Fee: $125 per person (lunch included). After Sept. 14, fee $150. Payment for each attendee required with reservation. Total paid $_________ ____Check enclosed, payble to Internet Group, Inc. ____Charge to credit card Name on Card :_________________ Exp. date ______ ____MasterCard___VisaCard #__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ Refunds are only applicable to cancellations received in writing by 9/14/94. THE INTERNET WAY OF BUSINESS: FEATURED SPEAKERS: Bret Arsenault Architecture Engineer, Microsoft Mr. Arsenault's extensive knowledge of multiple operating systems and networking technologies accounts for his strategic role in assisting Microsoft in their overall enterprise networking strategy. Bruce Chapman President, Discovery Institute Mr. Chapman's long career in public life has included service as director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Ambassador to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna, Austria, and head of the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation. Doug Dix Publisher, Communicating As a former Bell Labs communications expert, Mr. Dix's early Internet experience was with the original ARPANET. Communicating is published bi-monthly for the Puget Sound region. Herb Effron President, Seagopher Inc. After a military and defense career,Mr. Effron currently seeks to enable the Seattle public and commercial interests successful access to Internet communications. Rex B. Hughes VP Marketing, Corporate Computer Inc. Specializing in systems and market integration for premier northwest firms, Mr. Hughes has keen interest in showing US businesses how to re-define themselves for a worldwide Internet presence. Stan Kopec, Jr. Network Consultant, Network Integration Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) With twelve years of LAN/WAN networking experience Mr. Kopec currently delivers presales consulting to Digital's clients. Jenni Livingston Product Manager Business Network Services, G.T.E. Ms. Livingston is responsible for strategy development and implementation of GTE's Internet programs. She was a featured speaker at Spring Internet World '94 and Interop '93. Ed Morin Founder & President, Northwest Nexus Mr. Morin directs the full service Internet connectivity of Northwest Nexus, a major regional Internet provider. He has administered network infrastructure for major corporations such as Motorola, McCaw, Tektronix, and University of Washington. Bob Rican G.T.E., Network Technologies Solutions Consultant An EE consultant currently assisting GTE sales force with planning long range technology solutions, Mr. Rican brings broad experience within the Northwest telecommunications industry. Martin Rood CEO, Rood Nissan Volvo Mr. Rood has established Dealernet on the Internet for automobile dealers to provide information about products and services to present and potential customers. Tom Rose Senior Applications Engineer, G.T.E. Northwest As an applications engineer Rose works in support of all GTE consultants. With 25 years experience, he develops vital technical solutions for major GTE projects. Walter Taucher President, Corporate Computer Inc. Mr. Taucher designed and implemented the largest Microsoft LAN Manager (district wide Internet) for Issaquah School District. His company built and managed the network infrastructure for the 1992 Goodwill Games, Seattle. Dr. John G. West, Jr. Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute Director of educational programs at Discovery Institute, Dr. West heads Discovery's program on religion, liberty, and civic life. Stuart White President, NovX Systems Integration Mr. White, former domestic account manager for Perot Systems, directs one of the first national integrator, NOVX, a subsidiary of Spry, Inc. ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: New NACN Systems in NY With Voicemail; Some Bugs Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 03:02:37 PDT I just got finished in a recent TELECOM Digest submission noting how there were still problems with the NACN in terms of turning on and off Call Delivery via *350/*35 and how this would not be necessary if roaming calls bounced to voicemail, and the VERY next day I find two new systems on the NACN which seem to do this! I noticed that the Cellular One of Upstate NY (01513) and Cell One/Orange County, NY (00479, a Vanguard Cellular Property) are now on the NACN! Cell One/NY and other NACN customers can now get call delivery in these two areas automatically. These two systems mainly cover the Western side of the Hudson River from the CO/NY (00025) system to the hick Catskills (01515) system just below McCaw Cell One/Albany (00063) system. There is a good deal of spillover to the Eastern side of the Hudson, into the Cell One/Dutchess County system, particularly north of Poughkeepsie. The Cell One of Upstate NY (01513) system is located in Kingston, NY, about 25 miles north of Poughkeepsie and on the western side of the river. It's coverage extends pretty far west and covers the New York State Thruway (I-87) from south of where the Catskills system leaves off to where the Orange County system begins (I think Cell One/Dutches may bleed in a bit between the two). It also comes in on the east of the river immediately north of Poughkeepsie. This system has all the standard McCaw recordings with the standard male voice, and all switch codes begin with "KI", and in "KI-32", etc. (Is it a McCaw system, or a recently acquired one? I don't remember the same switch messages from a month or two ago ...) The Cell One/Orange County (00479) system as starts just north of where the CO/NY (00025) system leaves off, in a line running more or less along US-6, near Bear Mountain, all the way north until the Catskills (01515) system. (01515 is a little hick system which for the longest time didn't have Nationlink/Roam America, and basically sat on Thruway/US-9 corridor roamer traffic. CO/NY customers don't get Nationlink anyhow, but I would have used it with my other accounts until the equally lousy "B" side (Valley Cellular, 01516) got Follow-Me-Roaming, which they recently did, thankfully! But of course no connection with NYNEX's auto-call delivery network, God-forbid! ;) ). I didn't notice the McCaw switch recordings on the Orange County system, although they may also have them. All features work VERY nicely in both systems -- they are truly seamless, and you would be hard-pressed if you didn't know the SIDs to tell that you weren't in the NY/00025 system! (They don't seem to be Ericssons as far as I can tell, and no clicks, so not a Motorola EMX; maybe some Northern Telecoms?) Call-delivery is instant: once you register your calls come up to you immediately. Call-Waiting works very nicely, and there isn't that IS-41 RevA problem where if you get two calls within a minute or so the second one gets bounced right to voicemail (as happens with Philly which is connected via IS-41 RevA). The call-waiting tones are slightly different -- two short Motorola-like beeps, but much faster and more "clean" sounding. Call-Forwarding is also excellent, and response time, like the rest of the NACN is immediate. (Well, almost , see below...) BUT the best part -- which solves something I've been complaining about for a long time -- is that unanswered calls WILL go back to voicemail! This also includes unanswered Call-Waiting calls, which is something new to me. (In ComCast, the only other system(s) on the NACN which I know of that do this, the new EMX 7.2 software they have been trying out in conjunction with IS-41 RevA will NOT let a call-wait bounce back to voicemail, which can be annoying if you are on an important call and don't want to interrupt it to answer the call-waiting/second call.) I tired this extensively in both systems and it works VERY well. Thus, if you take your phone and roam on either system, it will function in EVERY WAY the same as it would in your home NACN market, which in my opinion is a very important and productive step forward! So finally Cell One/NY is catching up with NYNEX, which has had its (pathetically slow and awkward) version of call-delivery set up for a long time, especially to Orange County. It is now possible to drive up from Wilmington, DE to NYC and then up the Thruway all the way to Albany and get automatic call delivery and all your features AND unanswered calls bounce back to voicemail! (Well, some things like Call Waiting still don't work south on NYC, but as soon as ComCast puts in EMX generic 7.2 [when?] this should be fixed. In addition, unanswered calls while in Albany will NOT bounce back to voicemail, unless things have changed since last month.). There is of course that gap at the Catskills system where nothing will work, but other than that you are pretty much covered all the way! As to the bugs: 1. The Upstate 01513 system hasn't put in the correct confirmation codes: Each time you enter a feature-code (sorry for the EMX lingo :) ) like *71,*72,*350, etc, you get a "KI-32" error code, yet your home NACN switch will respond and obey whatever command you issued. IE, it just SEEMS like your command wasn't processed, when in fact it was. 2. The amount of ring time is a BIT too short. I don't mind it too much -- I usually answer on the first ring or so, but normally you get five carphone rings (what you in the car hear) before it bounces to voicemail. In the two systems here, there are usually only four. Not a big deal, it just may take getting used to. 3. The *350/*35 codes aren't EXACTLY immediate. I'm noticing a one-minute or so lag time between issuing the command and having call-delivery turned "on" or "off". This is NOT a big issue here since you don't really need to use the feature: As I noted above, calls DO bounce back to voicemail, so I doubt many people will use it. (As if many people use *350/*35 anyhow.. :( ) 4. The most notable "bug" seems to involve registration back in your home system. I tried this three times, ie, register in the Orange County/00479 system and then come back to the NY/00025 system and see if I get calls. Each time, I didn't, and calls were STILL being sent up to the Orange County system even though I was in the NY/00025 system. I even placed a call to 611 (Customer Service), and then called myself while on hold, and got Call-Waited just fine. However, any call placed to me when I was not actually on CO/NY's air STILL went up to Orange County. I tried *35, and all this did was force calls to voicemail and then after I turned delivery back on calls went right back to Orange County. I recall a similar problem with cross-Long Island Sound registrations between the NY and the Rhode Island (00119) system, and having a similar problem. For some reason, the Home Location Register (?) seems to lose track of you, and you stay registered in the last system you were roaming in even though you came back to NY and registered and even forced a registration by placing a call! This was also a frequent problem a few months ago if you were caught roaming in Philly or DE at the same time CO/NY was doing switch work back home. You'd get back to NY, but no matter what you could not get calls -- they would all go down to Philly and then bounce over to your voicemail (unless you were ON the phone in NY, in which case for the duration of the call you could get calls via Call-Waiting). An easy way to correct this is to turn your phone completely off for at least ten minutes, and then power back up again. You should then be correctly registered in the NY system and be able to receive calls normally. This is a bit awkward, however, and it would be nice if they could work on this so that the above procedure is not necessary in the future. (The CO/NY system was having trouble this weekend, so I may have been caught in Orange County during system work in NY, I dunno. This may no longer happen once the problems are cleared away in NY.) I assume roaming charges are standard NACN: no daily, 99 cents per minute at all times. However, it would be in CO/NY's interest to add the 00479 system to its "Extended Home Rate" area, as it already has done with the non-call delivery (yet..) US Cellular/Poughkeepsie (00503) market. NYNEX gives its customers a slight discount in their Orange County (00404) system. Anyhow, overall, a VERY impressive addition to the NACN. I'm glad to see that McCaw and I have similar interests in terms of total- seamlessness, especially when it comes to unanswered calls bouncing to voicemail. Now let's see if they can get their software upgraded so that they can do this on the NACN's Ericssons! :) (I've been told that the software for either the Ericsson or the SS7 links between them won't currently allow for this, yet Cantel does it within Canada and non-SS7 (?) linked Ericssons, such as NY<->Newton, NJ seem to do this just fine, so why can't whatever software be upgraded so all non-DOJ constrained NACN sites do this as well?) BTW, I think ALL of Vanguard is going on to the NACN. I was driving over the I-95 Havre deGrace bridge where you pick up the Harrisburg system for a second it IT responded to *350 with a confirmation tone! So many other systems (DE 00123, PA 00029 and DC/Baltimore 00013) mesh with each other there that it was hard to tell what was going on, though. I'll try out the Vanguard properties in northeastern PA (00103, the old "Vanguard/Cellular One Supersystem") and see if they are on the NACN as well. Maybe I'll stop at Havre deGrace on the way down to DC next time and see if Harrisburg is on the NACN if I can get a clear signal. Doug Reuben dreuben@netcom.com / CID Technologies / (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Sep 94 15:10:08 EDT From: myers@hogpa.ho.att.com (Andrew B Myers) Subject: AT&T "You Will" Ads on Internet AT&T YOU WILL ADS ON INTERNET; USERS CAN ENTER SWEEPSTAKES NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 1994 -- AT&T's YOU WILL(SM) ad campaign, which has captured the nation's attention in magazines, and on TV and radio for the past two years, has a new home in cyberspace. It's called "youwill.com." The YOU WILL campaign, created by N W Ayer, New York, is now appearing on the Internet, where users not only can watch and listen to the award-winning ads on their computers, but also look at AT&T products, locate nearby AT&T Phone Centers and enter a sweepstakes to win a trip and prizes. Featuring the voice of actor Tom Selleck, the YOU WILL campaign takes a whimsical look into the near-future when information technologies now being developed at AT&T will soon enhance the way people work, live and play. For instance, have you ever renewed your drivers license at an ATM? Have you ever studied with a classmate thousands of miles away? Have you ever installed a phone on your wrist? "You will," say the ads, as they dramatize what technology can do for you. The various capabilities in the YOU WILL campaign are based on actual technologies under development by AT&T. The new AT&T Internet site was created by Adam Curry, formerly of MTV, now an independent producer and head of OnRamp, Inc., a New York-based agency. Internet "surfers" can access the youwill.com site directly through the Internet's most user-friendly multimedia resource, the World Wide Web (http://youwill.com/), via the popular Metaverse site (http://metaverse.com/) and through several well-known "What's New" lists, including: o Stanford University's Yahoo Net Lists: Commercial Contests (http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Economy/Business/Corporations/Contests) o Commercial Services on the Net (http://tns- www.lcs.mit.edu/commerce/whatsnew.html) o Yellow Pages of Internet Commercial Sites (http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Yellow/Overview.html) o Global On-Line Directory (http://www.cityscape.co.uk/cgi- bin/srch2html?type=Any&Field=Business&Location=Any) Sweepstakes winners will be selected in a random drawing from among all entrants received either via the Internet or by mail. A drawing will be held on Oct. 3 by MediaAmerica Promotions, Inc., an independent judging organization. The grand prize is a five-day, four-night trip for two to experience the Chameleon motion-based activity simulator in a U.S. location to be determined at a later date. The trip includes round-trip air transportation, ground transfers, first class hotel accommodations and local sightseeing, as well as the virtual reality ride (total value approximately $4,000). AT&T YOU WILL T-shirts will also be awarded in 31 daily sweepstakes drawings. Odds of winning will depend on the number of entrants. Since the site was set up Aug. 31 on the Internet, where news travels quickly, more than 30,000 Internet users have stopped by to check out youwill.com. Users looking for a nearby AT&T Phone Center supply their area code and are presented with a list of stores in their area. The site also provides descriptions and full color images of five popular AT&T consumer products, including a Speakerphone 870, a Digital Answering System Speakerphone 1545, a Mobile Cellular Telephone 3050, a Cordless Telephone 9100 and a Digital Cordless Telephone 9120. AT&T's corporate YOU WILL campaign broke last year and was extremely successful in showcasing the information superhighway and branding AT&T as a technologically innovative company. In addition to raising awareness for AT&T technologies, it was named one of the top 25 commercials of 1993 by consumers in a survey by Video Storyboard Testing, and so far has won two ADDYs, the first annual David Ogilvy Award for the most effective campaign supported by research, and the 1994 PCIA (Personal Communications Industry Award). # # # CONTACTS: Andrew Myers - AT&T, 908-221-2737 (office), 908-522-9485 (home) Kevin Tedesco - Ayer, 212-474-6003 (office), 908-654-7325 (home) ------------------------------ From: Sanjiv Narayan Subject: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls Date: 15 Sep 1994 12:27:37 -0700 Organization: UC Irvine Department of ICS I have noticed a strange thing here since I became a NYNEX customer in Marlboro, MA. They have a local calling area (approximatly five mile radius) within which I can place unlimited calls for a flat charge. However if I call a number outside my local calling area (but still ** within ** my 508 area-code), a recording asks you to redial with a '1' prefixed before the seven-digit number I am calling. Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, right !!? It becomes very cumbersome when you have to redial the number with the '1' prefixed. I never had a similar problem with Pacific Bell in So. California. The only time a '1' was required was when I dialed a number in another area code. If a number was outside your local calling area, Pacific Bell simply billed you for it. No redialing was ever required. The NYNEX customer service person I spoke to simply said that is the way things are set up. Anybody know why NYNEX will not complete a call outside my local calling area (but within the same area code), unless I dial a '1'. Sanjiv Narayan Viewlogic Systems Inc. Marlboro MA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 17:41:56 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Cellphones and Smoke Alarms So here I am, sitting in a waiting room, and my pocket rings. So I answer the phone and step out into the hallway to talk to the caller. It's some idiot looking for Jim Covert and wondering if I know him. I don't. Fire alarm goes off and I head for the door. While I'm outside, various doctors come out to look and see if they can see smoke, and ask me if I've seen any. Not many people come out; apparently the building has a lot of trouble with false alarms. I take a look at the alarm annunciator, and it indicates the hallway I was in when the alarm went off. Hmmmmm. Concord firemen arrive, and I ask them, as they're getting out of the truck, if they have ever known a cellular phone to set off a smoke detector. They say, "No, but it's an interesting theory." We head for the hallway indicated by the annunciator, and note that the red LED is blinking on the smoke alarm right where I was standing. john ------------------------------ From: thgoh@iss.nus.sg (Goh Tiong Hwee) Subject: Looking For DTMF to Ascii Encoding Schemes Date: 15 Sep 1994 08:35:09 GMT Organization: Institute Of Systems Science, National University Of Singapore. Hi, I am looking for pushbutton phone (DTMF) to alphanumeric conversion schemes used for say alhpanumeric pagers. For example to transmit "A" press "*2", "B" press "02" , "C" - "#2" and so on. My phone has the letters "ABC" above 2, "DEF" above 3 and so on. Dont know what happened to the "Z" though, can't find it anywhere. I need schemes for "A-Z", "0-9", end-of-line, space, backspace. What I am looking for are schemes already in use. Hence copies of actual manuals or instruction sheets or pages of phone books would be most helpful. As I need the info urgently, I am willing to pay a small amount for cost and trouble. Please email me directly. Thank you for your kind attention. TH Goh [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most voicemail systems use '1' for the letters Q and Z. PAT] ------------------------------ From: news@mlb.semi.harris.com Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 07:44:44 EDT From: rmp@cica.mlb.semi.harris.com (Russ Pate) Subject: Old Western Electric/Telephone Items for Sale Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 11:44:38 GMT Organization: Harris Semiconductor, Melbourne FL Old Western Electric/Telegraph Items for Sale Western Electric Tubes Rare 1918 WE 215A "Peanut Tubes" 1 New in original WE boxes, $25 each 1 used , good filament, $15 1 used, questionably good, $10 1 socket for above, $10 9 pin tubes - $1.25 each or offer 10 X 417A, 7 in original WE boxes 3 X 403A (6AK5) 1 X 420A Other Tubes 1 WE 323B in Original WE Box $5 Telephone Operator's Breastplate/Headset Old switchboard operator's breastplate/headset with neck straps, plugs and cloth covered cords, well marked as Western Electric and never used from the late 1930's I would expect. $30 each for a complete set. I also have two floor-type switchboards that these would go with. They are large and heavy and are $250 each, tough to ship. Telegraph Keys Several J-44 military keys: One Complete - $25 Several Complete except for grip knob, $20 each. About 10 missing the entire lever assembly, but otherwise complete, $10 each. Some of these military keys have a switch on them marked voice/code. All prices plus postage/shipping PS. I also collect/restore old telephones. I have a number of candlestick, cradle and wall phones available for sale. Send SASE for list/brochure on old telephones or email inquiries: Some examples of telephones currently for sale: 1924 Mongomery Ward oak wall phone, working with dial mounted inside - $285 1915 Kellogg all original, not modified to work, $300 1923 Black Automatic Electric dial Candlestick working, $300 1924 Western Electric 202 oval base desk cradlephone working $175 Please email or call collect with any old telephone items for sale (pre 1950). Russ Pate, WB4VVN 235 Sandpine Road Indialantic, FL 32903 (407) 777-1759 email - rmp@mlb.semi.harris.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #367 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23981; 16 Sep 94 20:09 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05763; Fri, 16 Sep 94 15:39:06 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05756; Fri, 16 Sep 94 15:39:03 CDT Date: Fri, 16 Sep 94 15:39:03 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409162039.AA05756@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #368 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Sep 94 15:39:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 368 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson UCLA Short Course on Adv Comm Sys Using DSP (William R. Goodin) UCLA Short Course on Optical Fiber Communications (William R. Goodin) The Industry of the Future? (Sid Shniad) Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (Daniel E. Ganek) Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (Fred Goldstein) Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (Paul A. Lee) Some Bell Canada International Rates Change (Dave Leibold) Bell Canada Goes A-Trashing (Dave Leibold) Re: Cellphones and Smoke Detectors (Douglas Reuben) Now AT&T is _Lying_ About True-Voice (Nick Sayer) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BGOODIN@unex.ucla.edu (William R. Goodin) Subject: UCLA Short Course on Adv Comm Sys Using DSP Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 12:42:02 Organization: UCLA Extension UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing", November 14-18, 1994, on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors will be Bernard Sklar, Communications Engineering Services, and Frederick Harris, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University. This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital communications. It differs from other communications courses in its emphasis on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to the implementation of communication systems. This makes the course essential for practitioners in the rapidly changing field. Error-correction coding, spread spectrum techniques, and bandwidth-efficient signalling are all discussed in detail. Basic digital signaling methods and the newest modulation-with -memory techniques are presented, along with trellis-coded modulation. Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and baseband transmission, bandpass modulation and demodulation, digital signal processing tools and technology, non-recursive filters, channel coding: error detection and correction, modulation and coding trade-offs and bandwith-efficient signaling, signal conditioning, adaptive algorithms for communication systems, spread spectrum techniques, and multiple access and cryptographic techniques. Each participant receives a copy of the text, "Digital Communications-Fundamentals and Applications", by Bernard Sklar. ___________________________ For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: BGOODIN@unex.ucla.edu (William R. Goodin) Subject: UCLA Short Course on Optical Fiber Communications Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 18:29:45 Organization: UCLA Extension On October 25-28, 1994, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Optical Fiber Communications: Techniques and Applications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Tran V. Muoi, Optical Communication Products, Del Hanson, Hewlett-Packard, and Richard E. Wagner, Bellcore. This course offers a review of optical fiber communications fundamentals, then focuses on state-of-the-art technology and its applications in present and future communication networks. The course begins with the major building blocks of optical fiber communications systems ( fiber and passive components, sources and transmitters, detectors and receivers). Actual design examples of fiber optic links for short-haul and long-haul applications are studied, and recent technological advances in addressing problems due to fiber loss and dispersion are presented. Recent developments in local and metropolitan area networks to support multimedia traffic and their evolving architectures and standards are fully covered. The treatment on telecommunications systems includes various technological options for subscriber networks, exchange networks, and the global undersea networks. Network architectures evolving from the traditional telephone and CATV networks are contrasted. Technology trends and directions for realizing the so-called information superhighway are examined as well. Finally, optical networks using wavelength routing and multi-wavelength cross-connects are presented. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:58:15 -0700 Reply-To: pen-l@ecst.csuchico.edu From: D Shniad Subject: The Industry of the Future? Turmoil in de-regulated phone industry -- "On the eve of divestiture [in 1984], AT&T was the world's largest private employer with over one million employees ... Since divestiture AT&T has eliminated some 140,000 bargaining unit jobs, while it has established and purchased major nonunion subsidiaries ... Since October 1993, major corporate restructurings accelerated [among the Regional Bell Operating Companies or RBOCs, the companies that were created as a result of the AT&T divestiture] ... US West announced the elimination of 9,400 jobs ... Bell South said it was eliminating 10,800 jobs ... GTE announced the elimination of 17,000 jobs ... Pacific Telesis said it would downsize by 10,000 jobs at Pacific Bell ... AT&T declared it would eliminate another 15,000 jobs on top of already scheduled force reductions of 6,000 operator and call servicing positions and 7,500 jobs at Global Information Solutions, formerly NCR ... Ameritech said it would reduce its workforce by 6,000 ... NYNEX ... scaled back its plans to eliminate 22,500 jobs to 16,800 positions ... "From the standpoint of labor-management relations, this massive industrial restructuring is in jeopardy of severing the traditional link between high productivity growth through rapid technological change and rising employee incomes with employment security. When compared to the decade prior to divestiture, post-divestiture productivity growth has fallen by one-half as networks are duplicated and many of the one million employees in the industry now face chronic insecurity, displacement, and stagnating incomes. Breaking the industry's social contract through this uncoupling may have serious long term consequences for productivity, service quality, and stable labor-management relations." "Telecommunications Labor-Management Relations One Decade After the AT&T Divestiture," a paper presented by Jeffrey Keefe, Institute of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, and Karen Boroff, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, at the conference on "International Developments in Workplace Innovation: Implications for Canadian Competitiveness," Park Plaza Hotel, Toronto, June 15 and 16, 1995, pages 1-5. Sid Shniad [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Sid, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the changes in the telephone industry over the past decade have never been seen before and will never be seen again. Even with the massive reductions in work force over the past decade, telco still remains the largest employer anywhere. Trying to simply grasp the numbers involved is difficult. Where do you think it will go from here? Will there still be further cutbacks, or 'downsizing'? Will it finally get to the point all the telcos in the world eventually employ only a dozen or so people among them with the computers doing all the rest of the work? PAT] ------------------------------ From: ganek@apollo.hp.com (Daniel E. Ganek) Subject: Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 14:34:31 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA In article Sanjiv Narayan writes: > Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough > to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and > complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless > of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, > right !!? In NE dialing "1" first means it's a toll call, i.e. it'll cost you something extra. Be glad they now tell you exactly what they're looking for. Less than a year ago the message was "Your call can not be completed as dialed, please try again". Of course, I would I'd get flustered and would forget whether I had dialed a "1" or not. It would usually take me three tries to get it right. :-) dan ------------------------------ From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls Date: Fri, 16 Sep 94 12:18:23 EDT > However if I call a number outside my local calling area (but still ** > within ** my 508 area-code), a recording asks you to redial with a '1' > prefixed before the seven-digit number I am calling. > Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough > to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and > complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless > of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, > right !!? > Anybody know why NYNEX will not complete a call outside my local > calling area (but within the same area code), unless I dial a '1'. You're dealing with the intersection of two issues. The more important one is the North American Numbering Plan, which changes at year-end. In the past, area codes could not have "0" or "1" in the middle, so the phone company could usually tel by the second digit whether you were calling in-area or out-of- area. IF your local area had "interchangeable" (0/1 in middle) prefix codes, this didn't work, but neither Massachusetts 508 nor some northern California areas did this. As of 1/1/95, area codes can "look like" prefix codes. Thus Alabama will get 334, Colorado 970, etc. Thus it is NECESSARY for area code calls to be preceded by a "1", so that "334" is interpreted as "local area 334" and "1334" is interpreted as "area code 334". What is PROHIBITED is the use of "1+prefix" for in-area long distance. Thus 1334 now means, in Mass., "a toll call to prefix 334 in my home area", but as of 10/15 that's verboten. There are two practical ways to implement this. One is to use "1+" for area code calls only, while in-area toll never dials 1. The other is to use "1+area code" for all TOLL calls and all OUT OF AREA calls (even local, as in 508 to 617 near the border), and 7-digit for LOCAL in-area only. NYNEX wanted to do the former but got pressured into the latter. Thus you will dial 1-508-369 to dial Concord 369 from Marlboro, rather than today's 1-369. Given this new numbering plan, NYNEX' switching systems will no longer be able to tell you "you need to dial 1" when it's unambiguous what you mean. Today, the dial-1 restriction is simply an artifact to prevent people from making toll calls without knowing it. Soon, it'll be that OR, at times, a way of indicating that the next three digits are an area code, local or not. Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@bbn.com <- note new address! Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 15:31:55 -0400 Subject: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls From: Paul A. Lee Organization: Woolworth Corporation Subject: Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls In TELECOM Digest Volume 14 Issue 367, Sanjiv Narayan wrote (in part): > ...if I call a number outside my local calling area (but still ** > within ** my 508 area-code), a recording asks you to redial with a '1' > prefixed before the seven-digit number I am calling. > Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough > to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and > complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless > of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, > right !!? > It becomes very cumbersome when you have to redial the number with the > '1' prefixed. I never had a similar problem with Pacific Bell in So. > California. The only time a '1' was required was when I dialed a > number in another area code. If a number was outside your local > calling area, Pacific Bell simply billed you for it. No redialing was > ever required. The use of a '1' as a dialing prefix varies, depending on LEC practice, local calling area layout, and regulatory requirements. In many parts of the country, prepending long distance dialed numbers with a '1' has always been required as an indication to the caller that toll charges would be incurred. However, the practical use of the initial '1' has been to flag the three-digit string that follows it as an area code. In many instances, until recently, the pattern of area code numbers (NPAs) and exchange numbers (COCs) has made it possible to keep '1+' dialing as an indication to the caller that a given call is either local or toll. Originally, NPAs all had a first digit of 2-9, a second digit of 0 or 1, and a third digit of 0-9. COCs had 2-9 for the first AND second digit, and 0-9 for the third. In the early 1970s, areas that were then running short of available phone numbers started assigning COCs with a second digit of 0-9 -- overlapping the pattern used for NPAs. In some metropolitan areas, careful coordination of number assignments makes 10-digit local calls to adjoining area codes possible. The proliferation of phone numbers for "new technology" services has brought about geographically smaller NPAs and overlay NPAs, and has accelerated the upcoming deployment of interchangeable NPAs (no longer requiring that the second digit be '0' or '1'). With the distinction between NPAs and COCs gone, the use of an initial '1' to flag an area code in the dial string becomes crucial. Conversely, *absence* of the initial '1' denotes a seven-digit phone number. With the imminent revisions to the North American Numbering Plan, the use of the initial '1' as a toll call flag had to be reconsidered by telcos and by state regulators. Number assignments and patterns were determined by Bellcore under the auspices of the FCC, but the means of dialing those numbers was left up to each LEC, subject to state regulatory requirements. Some state PUC/PSCs relented and dropped the requirement that a toll call begin with a '1', while others continued to require the distinction, and still others allowed either means. The regulatory requirements then have to be addressed by the telcos, based on the numbers assigned in their service area. Here in Wisconsin, for instance, the '1' is held to indicate a toll call AND an area code, so toll calls within a given area code must be dialed with '1' plus all 10 digits, and local calls to a different area code must also use 1+10. In Pennsylvania, the option was left to the telcos, so there are parts of the state where a toll call within the same area code can be made with just the seven-digit number, and other parts where 1+10 digit dialing is required for toll calls within the same area. Throughout World Zone 1 (Canada, the U.S., and most Caribbean islands), you should be able to minimize dialing frustrations and wrong numbers by trying your call according to the following: If the call you wish to make is to a number in the same area code, dial seven digits. If the area code is different, or if seven digits doesn't work, dial 1+10 digits. If your call gets intercepted and the intercept message does not give dialing instructions, try dialing 10 digits. And, if all this seems complicated or frustrating, just remember that this is STILL the world's least complicated numbering plan and dialing plan for the size of the phone network and the geographic area involved. Paul A. Lee Voice 414 357-1409 Telecommunications Analyst FAX 414 357-1450 Woolworth Corporation CompuServe 70353,566 INTERNET <=PREFERRED ADDRESS* ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 16 Sep 94 07:18:58 -0500 Subject: Some Bell Canada International Rates Change Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from Bell News, 12 Sept 94] Overseas rates revised -- Some went up, some went down. We're talking overseas rates to six destinations that took effect on September 1, following interim approval from the CRTC. Rates decreased by 13 per cent on calls to Hong Kong, one of Canada's most frequently called overseas destinations. Rates to Ireland decreased by 16 per cent. Rates increased for calls to: Vietnam (9 per cent), Iran (14 per cent), Saudi Arabia (22 per cent), and Cuba (36 per cent). We're advising customers to minimize the impact of the increases by calling during discount periods and by using our long distance savings plans such as Teleplus Overseas[tm] or Advantage Preferred[tm]. The changes reflect Teleglobe Canada's recent rate revisions to its International Globeaccess Service Tariff (GAT). The GAT represents the wholesale rates charged by Teleglobe to Canadian carriers, including Bell, for carrying overseas traffic. ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@f730.n250.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 16 Sep 94 00:31:38 -0500 Subject: Bell Canada Goes A-Trashing Organization: FidoNet: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from Bell News, 12 Sept 94 - content is Bell Canada's] Knowing our competitors can be a trash-act -- One person's trash is another person's treasure. And we're recycling our competitors' trash into 'gold'. That's right, the sales team, MCSs, associates and other employees in the 905 area code now have a systematic way of sharing competitive information gathered from customers, friends and other sources. It's called the Competitive Trash-Bin. "The information will be collected locally and funneled to your FMS (Field Marketing Specialist) team who, in turn, will feed the information up into the company to departments like product management who can then better support our people with superior sales tools and realistic pricing," says Bruce Simpson, of the 905 FMS team. And so far, more than 200 pieces of paper with competitor information have been collected. "Along the way we are building a district library of competitive knowledge, initiating local marketing campaigns and developing training which is both focused and relevant," says Bruce. The team is looking for any kind of information, from proposals, contracts, competitors propaganda, letters, advertisements, brochures, bills and even newspaper clippings. "Terminal or network, business or residential, big or small, we want it all," says Bruce. Employees in the 905 area can pick up a Competitive Trash-Bin label (bright red) in any one of six sales offices. All they have to do is fill it out, attach it to the 'trash', and drop it in the bin. You can block-out the customer's name or add any comments regarding the situation or your approach. There are also trash-person-of-the-month awards, with cash prizes rewarded to frequent contributors. "We are really going to be able to help everyone keep current with what's happening behind enemy lines," says Bruce. ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies) Subject: Re: Cellphones and Smoke Detectors Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 02:24:43 PDT On Thu Sep 15 14:41:56 1994, covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert) wrote: > So here I am, sitting in a waiting room, and my pocket rings. [...] > Fire alarm goes off and I head for the door. While I'm outside, > various doctors come out to look and see if they can see smoke, and > ask me if I've seen any. Not many people come out; apparently the > building has a lot of trouble with false alarms. > I take a look at the alarm annunciator, and it indicates the hallway I > was in when the alarm went off. Hmmmmm. > Concord firemen arrive, and I ask them, as they're getting out of the > truck, if they have ever known a cellular phone to set off a smoke > detector. They say, "No, but it's an interesting theory." Happens to me all the time at Brown University. They used to have a detector very low, near a payphone. While I was on the payphone, I got a call, and the alarm went off. This happened a few times; we finally figured out it was the .6 watt cellphone. They have since moved the detector elsewhere, generally to high ceilings where the signal is so attenuated so that it will not set the detectors off. It also happens near "safety outlets" in bathrooms, which have a trip in case you drop an AC appliance into water. Interrogations, incoming, and outgoing calls (especially on the three watt models) tend to set these off. Doug dreuben@netcom.com / CID Technologies / (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ From: nsayer@quack.kfu.com (Nick Sayer) Subject: Now AT&T is _Lying_ About True-Voice Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest'. Date: 16 Sep 1994 03:43:30 GMT AT&T's latest "True Fraud^H^H^H^H^HVoice" ad has reached a new low in deceptive practices. The add features a rediculous sort of "control room" full of CRTs showing silly waterfall displays of a lady singing their "True Voice" song, though the audio of her singing is quite low in level and has the bass attenuated slightly. This is supposed to be characteristic of a telephone call. They then engage in a before and after. At the point of change, the following all happen: The volume jumps up by probably 20-30 dB. A choir jumps in and starts accompanying the singer. The singer hits a high point in the song. The attenuated bass is put back. The result is a beautiful, broadcast-quality stereo sound. If they're trying to imply that that is what a long distance phone call sounds like (which _despite_ truevoice is _still_ constrained to roughly 300-3000 Hz), then it's nothing short of outright fraud. Business as usual, eh AT&T? Nick Sayer N6QQQ @ N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NOAM +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest' URL: http://www.kfu.com/~nsayer/ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #368 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03621; 20 Sep 94 17:23 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10696; Tue, 20 Sep 94 11:25:15 CDT Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10688; Tue, 20 Sep 94 11:25:12 CDT Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 11:25:12 CDT From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9409201625.AA10688@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V14 #369 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Sep 94 11:25:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 369 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Yet Another NYNEX Blunder (Wes Leatherock) Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (John Dean) Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls (Al Varney) Multi-User Demo Update (Jim Durward) Vanguard NACN Addition - Roaming Ripoff! (Cid Technologies) First Virtual: Address Required (Kim Prisk) Special Wireless Workshop (Terry Sterkel) Satellite Comms Problems (Abdul Rehman Gani) Historical Revisionism by Pacific Bell (Linc Madison) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu Date: Mon, 19 Sep 94 19:44:23 Subject: Re: Yet Another NYNEX Blunder In article <779506137snz@detroit.freenet.org> aa931@detroit.freenet. org writes: > One other point... this is in response to a previous comment, but I don't > remember who wrote it: When the telco says that they cannot or do not do > something because it is prohibited by tariff, _ask them to FAX or send you > the page(s) from the tariffs that contain that prohibition_. You have the > right to see this information, and in at least one case I was able to call > a telco's bluff by asking them to send me the tariff that justified an > action they had taken (wrongly, as it turned out). -=> Quoting John Higdon <=- JH> This is excellent advice. Some years ago, some irate parent complained JH> about my "voice BBS" which is inhabited primarily by loser teenagers. ... [text deleted] ... JH> I asked the gentleman to fax me the appropriate tariffs and we would JH> read them together. This he did, and after examining the five JH> applicable pages that described business vs residence service, he had JH> to conclude that my operation fully qualified as residence service. Many LECs will not send you a copy of the tariff or parts of it. It varies by company and often by the individual you talk to (and that's often because of the particular circumstances). They take the position that you can inspect the tariff in their offices or at the commission, but they are not required to make you a copy. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.ed ------------------------------ From: bd80519@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu (John Dean) Subject: Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls Date: 20 Sep 1994 02:27:46 GMT Organization: Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Sanjiv Narayan (narayan@thoth.ICS.UCI.EDU) wrote: > Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough > to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and > complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless > of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, > right !!? Hello, The reply you received from 'ganek@apollo.hp.com' was exactly what I was going to say. I live in a small rural town that has always required a '1' to be dialed for any call that is a toll call within and out of my area code. Just recently, they have eliminated that, allowing me to dial just the seven-digit number as long as it is still in my (914) area code ... Bye, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 21:00:30 +0500 From: varney@uscbu.ih.att.com Subject: Re: NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls Organization: AT&T Network Systems In article Sanjiv Narayan writes: > Here's my question: If the NYNEX switching equipment is smart enough > to figure out that I need to dial a '1', why does it not go ahead and > complete the call anyway. I am willing to pay for the call regardless > of whether I redial with a '1' prefix or they complete it for me, > right !!? The problem isn't NYNEX, it's NYNEX doing business in Massachusetts. The MA PUC believes most customers want to use "1+" as an indication of "I know I am making a non-free call". Thus some callers will receive the announcement and say "I'm not calling that number unless it's FREE!!". On the other hand, NYNEX doing business in New York, Maine and New Hampshire uses "1+" solely to indicate a ten-digit call is being placed. Rhode Island follows the lead of Massachusetts on this issue, even though they must be tempted to declare the whole state "local". > It becomes very cumbersome when you have to redial the number with the > '1' prefixed. I never had a similar problem with Pacific Bell in So. > California. The only time a '1' was required was when I dialed a > number in another area code. If a number was outside your local > calling area, Pacific Bell simply billed you for it. No redialing was > ever required. Your p