Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05491; 9 Nov 90 4:43 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa18254; 9 Nov 90 3:03 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa23723; 9 Nov 90 1:58 CST Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 0:59:48 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #801 BCC: Message-ID: <9011090059.ab24517@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Nov 90 00:59:33 CST Volume 10 : Issue 801 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson UK Telephone Costs [Clive Feather] British Telecom Special Service Codes [Clive Feather] Wrong Number Nightmare [Arun Baheti] What Must 900 Sleazoids Say About Charges? [John Murray] Trivia Question About Butt Sets [David Barts] NT SL-1 Me{Meridian 1} vs. Mitel SX-200D [Bill Cerny] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Clive Feather Subject: UK Telephone Costs Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 7:34:00 GMT [More material from my British Telecom phone bill inserts.] I thought US readers might like to compare their phone costs against ours! Here is a complete list of British Telecom charges for installation, rental, and calls. It does not include equipment rental, as that is a free market (for example, of the three phones in my house (all on one line), one is a Taiwanese phone I was given as a birthday present, one is a UK made answering machine bought in a typewriter shop, and one is a BT made phone bought in a department store). All numbers are in pounds sterling, and exclude Value Added Tax at 15%. For US readers, this means that the number 1.00 means about $2.25. Note that BT bills quarterly, not monthly. ==== British Telecom charges from 1 September 1990. Installation (including up to 100 man-hours of work): Residential Business New customer, new line 129.26 141.65 Existing customer, new line 110.78 123.20 Take over existing line 19.65 19.65 Rental per quarter: Residential 17.13 Residential party line 15.69 Business 27.75 If a residential user uses less than 120 units (see below) in a quarter, then the rental is reduced by 0.058 per unit below this number. This will reduce the rental to 10.17 or 8.73 per quarter if no outgoing calls are made. Star services (all per quarter): Tone dialling FREE (US readers please note) Call Diversion 3.48 Call Waiting 3.48 Three-way Calling 3.48 Code Calling 3.48 (free if the above three services are all taken) Call Barring 6.09 Charge advice 0.05 per call Reminder call 0.10 per call (even if not answered) Dialled calls are charged in units. Each unit buys a certain amount of time, depending on the time of day and the distance between the two parties. A billed unit costs 0.044. From a BT payphone, a unit costs 0.10 (but this includes VAT). Inland calls: There are three time bands and 7 distance bands. The time bands are: P (peak) Monday to Friday 0900 to 1300 S (standard) Monday to Friday 0800 to 0900 and 1300 to 1800 C (cheap) All other times The distance bands are: L The same area code and adjacent area codes a All other calls less than 56.4 km b1 Calls over 56.4 km where Mercury are a serious commercial threat (some 232 bidirectional routes, of which 125 are to/from London) b Other calls over 56.4 km m Calls to mobile telephones I Calls from Great Britain to the Irish Republic p1 Premium rate services (US 900 numbers) Distances are between a nominal point in each area code, not the actual subscribers. Calls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are at rates b1 or b. Calls between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are at rates L, a, b1, or b as appropriate. The non-distance based calls are as follows: Dialling code 0800 is free calling. Dialling code 0345 is billed at rate L. Dialling code 0055 is billed at rate a. Dialling code 0066 is billed at rate b. Dialling codes 0030 to 0039, 0077, 0860 are billed at rate m. Some calls with dialling codes 0831 and 0836 are billed at rate m. Dialling code 0898 is billed at rate p1. The time bought for one unit, in seconds, is: C S P L 240.0 85.0 60.0 from normal phones L 120.0 85.0 60.0 from payphones a 81.8 35.1 26.25 b1 51.5 31.0 23.25 b 38.8 24.8 18.6 m 12.0 8.0 8.0 I 10.8 8.0 8.0 p1 9.2 6.9 6.9 International: There are 13 distance bands (each country belongs to one band). Those bands marked "(only)" include only the countries named. Otherwise the countries listed are examples. 1 All European Community countries, Switzerland 2 Austria, Hungary, Sweden 3 Turkey, Libya, Iceland 4 (only) USA and Canada 5 (only) Other NANP countries (i.e. +1 809) 6 Australia, New Zealand 7 (only) Hong Kong and Singapore 8 Cuba, Romania, South Africa, USSR, Qatar 9 Israel, Egypt, Syria 10 Brazil, Panama, Namibia, Iran 11 (only) Japan 12 (only) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka 13 Angola, Bolivia, China, Fiji, Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea Most distance bands have a Standard time band and a Cheap time band. Calls to the NANP (bands 4 and 5) have a Peak rate between 1500 and 1700 on Monday to Friday. The time bought for one unit, in seconds, is: C S P Duration of Standard time band 1 9.00 7.20 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday 2 6.65 5.45 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday 3 5.15 4.35 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday 4 5.15 4.35 3.95 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday ) except 1500 to 5 4.68 3.95 3.59 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday ) 1700 (Peak rate) 6 3.80 3.05 0700 to 1430 and 1930 to 2400 daily 7 3.80 3.05 0800 to 2000 daily 8 3.55 2.90 0800 to 2000 daily 9 2.68 2.30 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday 10 2.65 2.25 0800 to 2000 Monday to Friday 11 2.26 2.15 0800 to 2000 daily 12 2.22 2.15 0800 to 2000 daily 13 2.19 2.15 0800 to 2000 daily Payphones: Payphones (COCOTs to US readers) require a meter pulsing service, which costs 6.08 per quarter. BT rent payphones at rates from 32.17 to 102.17 per quarter, or you can buy payphones for 150.00 or so. To quote the leaflet: "Call charges from some BT rented payphones may vary. In such cases the renter is required to display a notice near to the payphone stating the maximum price for certain types of calls and his or her name and address." Clive D.W. Feather | IXI Limited clive@x.co.uk | 62-74 Burleigh St. Phone: +44 223 462 131 | Cambridge CB1 1OJ (USA: 1 800 XDESK 57) | United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: Clive Feather Subject: British Telecom Special Service Codes Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 8:17:21 GMT I recently took up a free trial of some of British Telecom "Star Services". I was sent two manuals, one for "System X" (the local exchange equipment), and one for the AXE 10 (a.k.a "System Y") (which is apparently in use in some areas). These manuals listed the access codes for all services available. This table gives all the codes listed in the manuals. See below for key to abbreviations. Note that all codes end in #, parameters to the codes are mostly separated by *, and that "check" and "cancel" codes have the same code number but a different prefix to the "set up" codes. Set up features: [CD] *21*n# Divert all calls (dial tone changes) [CB] *261# Bar incoming calls (dial tone changes) [CB] *34x# Bar outgoing calls [AX] *40*n Charge advice (exchange calls back after the call ends) [SX] *40*n# Charge advice (ditto) *411# Charge advice on all future calls (ditto) [CW] *43# Set up call waiting [CC] *51*c*n# Set up abbreviated calling code *55*t# Set up reminder call [SX] *56*t*d# Set up regular reminder call (unlimited number of these) [CD] *61*n# Divert on no reply (dial tone changes) [CD] *67*n# Divert on busy (dial tone changes) Calling code calls: [CC] **c Calling code call [CC] **0 Redial last number (excluding calling code calls) Status checks on settings: [SX] *#001# Check which services are active [CD] *#21# Check diversion status and number [CB] *#261# Check barring of incoming calls (i.e. on or off) [CB] *#34# Check barring of outgoing calls (i.e. on or off) [CW] *#43# Check call waiting (i.e. on or off) [CC] *#51*c# Check calling code *#55# Check reminder calls [SX] *#56# Check regular reminder calls [CD] *#61# Check divert on no reply status and number [CD] *#67# Check divert on busy status and number Cancel features: [CD] #21# Cancel diversion [CB][AX] #261*p# Cancel barring of incoming calls [CB][SX] #261# Cancel barring of incoming calls [CB] #34x*p# Cancel barring of outgoing calls #411# Cancel charge advice on all calls [CW] #43# Cancel call waiting [CC] #51*c# Cancel calling code #55# Cancel reminder call [SX] #56*t*d# Cancel regular reminder call [SX] #56# Cancel all regular reminder calls [CD] #61# Cancel diversion on no reply [CD] #67# Cancel diversion on busy Pressing the "R" button on some phones causes a "time break" - on other phones, this can be done by pressing the handset rest switch *briefly*. This will put your current caller on hold (they get an announcement) and give you a dial tone. If you are in "one call" state (the normal situation), then all the above services are available, plus the following: *40# Turn on charge advice for this call [3W] n Set up second call If you are in "two call" state (either by setting up a second call, or because an incoming call is waiting), then the following codes can be used: [CW] 0 Reject all waiting calls until this call ends 1 End this call and switch to the other call 2 Place this call on hold and switch to the other call [3W] 3 Change to a 3-party call [3W] 5 Disconnect original call [3W] 7 Disconnect second call The manual does not make it clear whether "disconnect" means put the call on hold or end it. It also says that you cannot convert a waiting call to a 3-party call, but this may only apply if you have not paid for the [3W] service. If you hang up (clear down) after getting a dialtone through R, and there is still a call holding, the exchange will ring back. Key to abbreviations in the table: [SX] System X only [AX] AXE 10 (System Y) only [CB] Call barring service ) [CC] Code calling service ) There is an extra charge for each of these [CD] Call diversion service ) "packages". Codes not prefixed are part of [CW] Call waiting service ) standard telephone service. [3W] 3-way calling service ) c An abbreviated calling code: [SX] 3 to 29 [AX] 10 to 36. d 1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday, ... 7 = Sunday, 8 = Mon to Fri, 9 = daily. n A standard telephone number. p A 4-digit password notified to the subscriber (cannot be changed). t A time - 4 digits using the 24 hour clock. x 1 = all calls except 999 (emergency) and 151 (repairs). 2 = [SX] all calls except charge rates L and p1. 2 = [AX] all calls except charge rate L. 3 = international calls. 4 = operator services except 999 and 151. 5 = Star services (except #34 codes). 6 = [SX] charge rate p1 calls. It is permitted to have more than one *34x# in operation. Clive D.W. Feather | IXI Limited clive@x.co.uk | 62-74 Burleigh St. Phone: +44 223 462 131 | Cambridge CB1 1OJ (USA: 1 800 XDESK 57) | United Kingdom ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 12:31 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: Wrong Number Nightmare Seeing someone else's wrong number story has prompted me to appeal to the listing in hopes that someone has a creative idea at solving my problem... One of the lines in my house in So. Cal. is 213/xxx-xxxx. It turns out that a car dealership in Downey (I am in Torrance) has the same line, but in the 714 for its Orange County customers. Most people, however, just assume that Downey is alwasy 213, and it doesn't help that it appears as 213 on many of the firms business cards. For a LONG time, we received calls and msgs on our answering machine (no, people didn't listen to the msg telling them that this was not the Car Lot; in fact the problem is compouneded by the fact that the line is apparently the car place's Spanish line!)... We have complained to the phone company and to the dealership to fix the problem, but everyone seems to think that we should pay to have our line changed or simply wait for their or simply wait for their cards, flyers, etc to cycle through in a year or so... sigh. I consider myself polite, but after getting 15 wrong numbers and messages asking "When can I pick up my truck?" (in Spanish and English) a day, I am beginning to grow tired of the whole game. Any ideas? I've already tried threatening the car dealer with the idea that I would begin to be rude to the wrong numbers and not refer them to the 714 area code. Someone? Anyone? It is amusing in one sense to listen to people on my answering machine (which makes no mention of cars) telling me about their trucks, billing problems, and car loan difficulties, but enough is enough. :-) Arun Baheti NBaheti.ElSegundo@Xerox.COM SABahe@Macalstr.EDU ------------------------------ From: John Murray Subject: What Must 900 Sleazoids Say About Charges? Date: 8 Nov 90 16:50:38 GMT Organization: SCRI, Florida State University What are 900-number operators required to tell the public about the charges for their services? I ask this question out of curiosity, sparked by an unsolicited letter I recieved today: "Your $5,000 limit Gold Card has been approved! Call our customer service operators RIGHT AWAY! at 1-900-xxx-xxxx(*)" ..and down at the bottom in tiny little type it says "(*) .95 charge per minute..." BUT (and here's the specific question) there's no mention of a minimum charge for the call. (most scum like this charge about $45 for the call) Are they required to tell us when there is a minimum billing of, say, 45 minutes? Not that I ever had any intention of calling, of course. This was obviously a look-alike card that is trying to seem like a Visa gold or an AmEx gold. A 2-in-1 attack on people without much common sense. Disclaimer: Any opinions above have little or nothing to do with reality. John R. Murray murray@vsjrm.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Research Inst. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 11:07:51 pst From: David Barts Subject: Trivia Question About Butt Sets Obscure Telecom Trivia Question No. 608: Why are butt set leads colored red/black/green instead of red/green/yellow? David Barts Pacer Corporation, Bothell, WA davidb@pacer.uucp ...!uunet!pilchuck!pacer!davidb ------------------------------ From: bill@toto.info.com (Bill Cerny) Subject: NT SL-1 Me{Meridian 1} vs. Mitel SX-200D Date: 8 Nov 90 01:58:04 GMT I need to replace a 12 trunk by 32 station PBX with either the NT SL-1 (Meridian 1) or the Mitel SX-200D (constraint: Dialogic has cards that speak to these switches; my v-mail software needs to talk to the PBX). The NT SL-1 is winning thus far. Please e-mail comments (or telephone number if you prefer to air your druthers), and I'll provide the consensus in a forthcoming article. Bill Cerny bill@toto.info.com | attmail: !denwa!bill ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #801 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06769; 9 Nov 90 5:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa28887; 9 Nov 90 4:06 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab18254; 9 Nov 90 3:03 CST Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 2:11:45 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #802 BCC: Message-ID: <9011090211.ab08869@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Nov 90 02:11:27 CST Volume 10 : Issue 802 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Multi-Line Voicemail Boards [Robert J. Woodhead] Voice Activated Calling Cards [Arun Baheti] A New Type of 976 Fraud [David B. Whiteman] Help Needed With Term Paper on Email Snooping [Brian Hoffman] X.25 Software for PCs Running DOS or Xenix [Steve Corso] Source Needed For Line Simulator [Tom Lowe] Digit Overload in Dallas/Fort Worth [Dave Close] Differences Between Usenet and Altnet [Dennis G. Rears] Re: Cincinnati Area Notes (Was: Zone Maps Are Desirable) [Andy Jacobson] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System [Peter Thurston] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System [Vance Shipley] Re: CALL FOR VOTES: comp.dcom.fax [JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert J Woodhead Subject: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards Date: 7 Nov 90 04:31:44 GMT Organization: Biar Games, Inc. A couple of months ago I inquired about voicemail boards for the PC. Thanks to all that responded. I ended up getting a Bigmouth board from Talking Technologies of Alameda, CA [415-522-3800] for about $225. This board turns any old PC into a voicemail center, and the menu-driven software that comes with it (quite powerful) lets you set up voicemail boxes, phone trees, do voice questionaires, store and auto-forward voicemail, etc, etc, etc. I'm quite happy with it, but now I have a slightly more complicated bit of hardware on my Xmas shopping list. What I need is a board that has the following features: * Can handle four or more calls simultaneously. * DMTF detection, audio recording and playback. * PC compatible * Hopefully buffers incoming and outgoing sampled audio on the board so as to reduce the strain on the host machine. * Good low-level interface software library, in UNIX/XENIX if possible. * Also, it would be nice if more than one of these boards could be plugged into a single PC. Anyone got any leads on such a beastie? Oh yeah, if there is a multiline box that talks to it's host over Ethernet, that would do the trick too. Thanks in advance, Robert J Woodhead, Biar Games, Inc. !uunet!biar!trebor trebor@biar.UUCP ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 12:27 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: Voice Activated Calling Cards In V10 #794 (I am, believe it or not up-to-date on my reading for once) there is mention of a voice activated calling card system from Sprint. I recall a few years ago that there was a company (All-Net?) that allowed people not at touch-tone phones to "speak" their card numbers into a machine, one digit at a time, and then the destination number the same way. It then asked for verification with yes/no prompt. It worked quite well, and I don't remember any big complaints about overheard numbers, etc. Does anyone remember this as well, or have any more information? Arun_Baheti.ElSegundo@Xerox.COM Sabahe@Macalstr.EDU ------------------------------ From: "David B. Whiteman" Subject: A New Type of 976 Fraud Date: 7 Nov 90 08:18:10 GMT Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA Well the 976 people discovered a new way of fraud today: The hospital I work at leases a block of digital pagers from a local paging company. Each of these pagers has its own seven digit normal phone number -- when you dial the pager phone number you are suppose to enter the phone number you want the person to call back to, or in our hospital's case extension. This number then appears on the display on the pager. Well today a group of pagers, all of them with phone numbers in sequential order were each beeped with the message to call a 976 number. Obviously, a 976 company just autodialled the pager exchange. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 21:44:46 EST From: Brian Hoffman Subject: Help Needed With Term Paper on Email Snooping Organization: Columbia University I am currently writing a term paper on the legal and moral aspects of employers reading employee's e-mail. Right now, I am concentrating on the Epson America case referenced in last week's PC-Week. I would like some more sources of information. If anyone has seen an article on this or a related subject, please send me the citation. I am also interested in articles about the whole LoD - Jackson Games -Etc. fiasco. Please mail replies. Thank you for the time. Brian Hoffman brian@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu ------------------------------ From: mcnnet!steve@umich.edu Date: Thu Nov 8 10:33:08 1990 Subject: X.25 Software for PCs Running DOS or Xenix I am looking for software that will permit me to make a PC running DOS or Xenix handle X.25 calls (from a host). The host would be placing call requests to me and once the call has been set up I would then need to accept data streams from that host. Is there any software that can do this? I know I would have write some application code to handle the data. I would be glad to consolidate any responses I get and report back to the group. Thank you, Steve Corso mcnnet!steve@umich.edu ------------------------------ From: tel@cdsdb1.att.com Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 16:42 EST Subject: Source Needed For Line Simulator I need to find a source for a Line Simulator. I have seen some out there, but I have some specific needs. I am going to be using it to connect a telephone to a device that is not designed to have phones connected directly, but rather be connected to a dial tone line. The device can sense presence/absence of line current. One side is going to have a phone. It might be a speaker phone, so the unit must provide sufficient power to handle that. One simulator that I tried out didn't have enough power to run a speakerphone. It must also provide enough power to run an OPX (Off Premises Extension). When the phone is taken off hook, One of two things should happen: Ideally, a talk path should be setup, complete with battery. No ring is necessary. An alternative would be to have a ring with a programmable duration, such that I can make it very short. Now, the most important requirement is that when the phone is put onhook, battery must be removed from the other end, either until the phone is taken back offhook, or for a short interval. If you know of such a device, please let me know ASAP. I can be reached at 908-949-0428. EMAIL: tel@hound.ATT.COM Thanks! Tom Lowe AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ ------------------------------ From: Dave Close Subject: Digit Overload in Dallas/Fort Worth Date: Thu, 08 Nov 90 23:19:36 GMT Reply-To: davec@shared.sfs.UUCP (Dave Close) Organization: Shared Financial Systems In the Dallas/Fort Worth area of North Texas, two area codes are adjacent. The Dallas metro area is a part of the 214 area code; the Fort Worth metro area is a part of the 817 area code. Neither metro area completely occupies its area code. All phones in each city have unlimited toll-free calling to all other phones in the same city. The phone system recognizes that many folks in Dallas and Fort Worth have a frequent need to call the folks in the other city. It is possible to obtain a "metro" number which is considered a local (non-toll) call from and to all other numbers in both metro areas. Until two years ago, metro numbers in either city could be reached from both cities by dialing only seven digits. (Many businesses did not bother to mention their area code in advertising.) Now it is always necessary to dial the area code when calling from one side of the metro area to the other. However, a zero or one prefix is only required when the call is a toll call. Metro numbers, which still exist, are reached with 10 digits; non-metro numbers require 11 digits. If you attempt to call a metro number by dialing all 11 digits, you get a recording which says, "We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a one or zero when calling this number." The message is misleading because what it really means is, "...It is not PERMITTED..." In effect, a caller must know whether a call is a toll call before dialing, or suffer the inconvenience of redialing. IMHO, the first two words of the recording couldn't be more accurate! The situation is slightly complicated for exchanges on the boundary between the cities. Those phones can make toll-free calls to adjacent non-metro exchanges on the other side of the line. So a call from a non-metro exchange in downtown Fort Worth (not on the boundary) to a non-metro exchange in Grand Prairie (just across the line toward Dallas) requires 11 digits. A call from any exchange in Arlington (on the boundary toward Fort Worth) to that same exchange in Grand Prairie requires 10 digits and fails with 11 digits. The use of a leading one or zero to distinguish a toll call is at least consistent. When calling from within the metro area to outside the metro area but still within the same area code, it is necessary to dial all 11 digits. I've encountered other places that used the leading digit to distinguish toll calls but I thought it was being phased out. I think that it is an overload on the leading digit for it to both introduce an area code and distinguish toll calls. Dave Close, Shared Financial Systems, Dallas My comments are my opinions and may not be shared by Shared. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 11:10:25 EST From: "Dennis G. Rears (FSAC)" Subject: Differences Between Usenet and Altnet Pat: This doesn't belong in the TELECOM Digest but it was brought up there. Why on USENET is comp.* considered respectable but alt.* considered the "black sheep". It's a real pain for me to read USENET so I don't keep up with it. Dennis [Moderator's Note: One difference between the two is that on Usenet, there is a more formal procedure for starting new groups which involves calling for a discussion regarding the new group and taking a vote to detirmine if it is really wanted or not. Generally, most sites receive most Usenet newsgroups, 'talk.*' being sort of an exception. On the other hand, the alt.groups are formed by anyone at anytime. No permission required. If you know how to do it, you can set one up even if no one but yourself ever posts in it. Many of the alt groups are just downright silly, and intended as jokes from the beginning, witness the spate of alt.big.boobs and similar groups in recent months started by parties unknown. Many sites do not receive the alt groups. In addition, the alt groups generally tend to be harder for a sysadmin to justify to his superiors when s/he is called upon to do so at budget request time, or following a flame war where everyone trashes the postmaster with mail at the same time, etc. If the topic is worth having a group established, it will generally withstand the scrutiny of Usenet debate and voting. Still, many groups would not be on Usenet today had they not proven themselves to be popular and worthwhile after a period of time on Altnet. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Nov 90 18:34 PST From: Andy Jacobson Subject: Re: Cincinnati area notes (Was: Zone maps are desirable) In response to : My knowlege of the Cincinatti area code/prefix biz I must admit is limited to notes in the front of the phonebook. The directory listed as I remember at least a couple of prefixes which could be reached from either 513 or 606. These were located "on the map" in both the areas for Ky, and Oh adjacent to the river. These were the only prefixes on the map that were listed to more than one geographical region (by map region number). I remember trying one of the numbers (from the Dayton area) and finding that I did not need the 606 area code to call it (It was a a business in Ky, if I remember) I don't remember how it was listed in the book (as requiring 513, or 606). It may be that what I'm thinking of was a early version of what we now have in the way of 976 numbers that are the same in two area codes. (I see a lot of ads for 976 numbers that are the same in 213 and 818.) As well, it could be more like a "choke" prefix, as many radio stations use. Which are in some cases the same prefixes in adjacent area codes. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 09:52:56 GMT From: Peter Thurston Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System (Various bits on who runs the Saudi phone system) I seem to remember when interviewed for a job at (the then) Philips TMC (In Malmsbury, UK) their pride and joy was the Saudi contact. We waw videos showing how many times round the moon their cable installations could reach. The switches were Philips PRX. I got thge impression that the contact involved the whole country, but then again ... it WAS a promotional video. On a different tack, somewhere I remember being told that internal calls in Saudi Arabia are all free? Peter Thurston MRC-APU Cambridge PRESTEL MAILBOX 095452219 [Moderator's Note: Speaking of Saudi Arabia and admittedly taking some privileges as Moderator, it now appears war is imminent, based on President Bush's remarks Thursday. Bad, bad news ... Whatever; I hope it does not go on for years like Viet Nam which I remember all too painfully, all too well. I guess Bush will do what he must do, but let's -- as the Post Office stamp cancellation used to say -- pray for peace. I feel pretty disheartened by it all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System Organization: SwitchView - The Linton Technology Group Date: Wed, 07 Nov 90 14:29:25 GMT In article <14369@accuvax.nwu.edu> HWT@bnr.ca (Henry Troup) writes: >So the central office switches will be a mix of 1-ESS and DMS-100/200, >as my memory of the Saudi connection is that it goes back twenty years >or so. From what I am told by some people who were involoved in that project you can add SL-1 PBX's to the list of "CO" equipment used! Vance Shipley vances@ltg ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Nov 90 14:25:24 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES: comp.dcom.fax > The establishment of 'comp.dcom.fax' would affect this group since it > is likely some messages which previously would have appeared in > telecom pertaining to Fax will no longer appear here. > I do not believe there is sufficient traffic in the subject matter of > Fax at this time to warrant a separate group. While I agree with some of PAT's arguments about the creation of comp.dcom.fax (note there already is an alt.fax with some regular traffic), I disagree with his recommendation to vote NO because: While it is true, that it would lose the vast knowledge available from the many readers of telecom. However, I don't recall seeing many fax-related messages in the Digest (most on switches and the like), while there are, on average, a few messages per day on alt.fax. PAT could 'fix' this loss by cross-posting himself (unless this is a violation of some Usenet tenet). This would enable him to perform is usual function of keeping signal to noise at a reasonable level while still keeping the information available. Of course I don't know if he wants more work to do ... However, the bigger issue in my mind is the volume of mail to the digest and the volume from it. Unless PAT is willing to commit to publishing ALL the fax-related messages, then some may be lost due to the winnowing and editing process he must, of necessity, do. And the digest volume and frequency present a lot of material to weed (no insult intended) through to find fax-specific information or replies. The fact that telecom is moderated also imposes a time buffer to the response process. Since I think PAT, himself, can fix the losses resulting from the creation of the new group, with apologies to all who are just now recovering from the pre-election deluge, I say vote YES. Jeff Sicherman [Moderator's Note: Thank you for your opinion, but PAT has no intention of taking on the extra work. As it is, I screen over a hundred articles daily for telecom, of which you see a minimum of 12-15 on days when I am too busy to do more than one issue, and perhaps 40-50 on days when I do several issues. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #802 ******************************    Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15988; 10 Nov 90 21:02 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa06268; 10 Nov 90 19:23 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa12223; 10 Nov 90 18:19 CST Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 18:11:02 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #803 BCC: Message-ID: <9011101811.ab10359@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Nov 90 18:10:38 CST Volume 10 : Issue 803 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Recording Adaptor/Phone [Jeff Sicherman] Learning Your Own Phone Number (Revisited) [Fred E.J. Linton] A Zero Length Phone Number! [Tony Fisher] Re: 911 Botch-up in Detroit [Sander J. Rabinowitz] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [Alain Fontaine] Re: Time Protocol, was Re: AT&T ISDN Set Question [Rob Elkins] PacTel Modem Line Charges [Arun Baheti] Re: Request INFO Sources About ISDN [Mike Olson] Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support [John Higdon] Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group [James Deibele] Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Distinctive Ringing Fax/Phone Switch [Tad Cook] Who Owns 800-878? [Dean Riddlebarger] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 13:19:18 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Recording Adaptor/Phone I am looking for a two line phone that will support easy attachment of a tape recorder. Already have the Radio Shack recorder controller but that is a single line device and requires a three way adaptor and line switch (also from RS) to make it work. Wires all over the place. Would prefer a phone with some built-in capability or perhaps some adaptor that fits between the phone base and handset, like a headset adaptor. Can anybody suggest something? Jeff Sicherman jajz801@calstate.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: 10-NOV-1990 13:40:52.68 From: "Fred E.J. Linton" Subject: Learning Your Own Phone Number (Revisited) About a month ago someone suggested 1-800-666-6258 as a number that "... gives you a lot of advertising bla-bla AND your phone number ..." I tried it this morning: "... number has been changed ... new number is 817-877-5629 ..." Tried the new number as well -- ring, no answer. Oh well ... Fred (CT) ------------------------------ Date: 8 Nov 1990 10:58:21 GMT From: fisher@minster.york.ac.uk Subject: A Zero Length Phone Number! > St Helena (290) has three digit numbers! A pedant could claim that the Vatican City State has even shorter telephone numbers - viz. zero digits long. The country code is +39 66982, and the "country" has only one telephone number, which is: . Tony Fisher Dept. of Computer Science, The University of York, York YO1 5DD, U.K. Tel. +44 904 432738 or 432722 Janet: fisher@uk.ac.york.minster Internet: fisher%minster.york.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk UUCP: fisher@minster.UUCP (..!uunet!mcsun!reading!minster!fisher) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 911 Botch-up in Detroit Date: 7 Nov 90 01:21:47 EST (Wed) From: sander@anet.ann-arbor.mi.us (Sander J. Rabinowitz) In a TELECOM article of 3 November 1990, woody wrote the following: > An Associated Press report mentioned an incident in Detroit where a > girl (age 7) phoned 911 to report that her brother was being beaten. > She was told by a 911 operator to "get off the phone" and her call was > basically ignored. The operator's insistence that the girl hang up > interfered with the girl's pleadings for assistance. Readers of the original article know, of course, that the incident ended quite tragically. I believe that there are three other aspects to this case which need to be mentioned. (1) About one or two nights after the incident occured, I heard a recording of the actual 911 call played over WKBD-TV (Detroit TV50). In the first several seconds of the call, it appeared as though she was asking for someone at the "Ten O'Clock News". This fact alone does not excuse the 911 operator, although I cannot help but wonder how many Detroit 911 calls come from children playing with the phone, and whether the operator thought this may have been another such call. (2) I don't believe Detroit's 911 system is one where the caller's address is automatically relayed to the dispatcher -- in other words, the caller would be required to calmly relay his/her location to the operator. This not only complicates efforts to send help quickly (even a highly competant operator may not be able to get this information out of a seven-year old in time), but increases the chance that prank 911 calls may go through (since I suspect it would be more difficult to pinpoint their source). (3) (Disclaimer: This point is mostly speculative, but I don't believe it's way off the mark) I think it would be safe to say that Detroit is understaffed across the board insofar as emergency personnel is concerned, and that the problem extends to 911 operators. None of these points excuse the actions of the 911 operator, but I believe they point to a much larger problem involving Detroit's emergency services. I also believe that if the status quo continues, it's entirely possible that the above tradegy will repeat itself. Note: The First Amendment and all relevant disclaimers apply. Sander J. Rabinowitz | !sander@attmail.com | +1 313 478 6358 Farmington Hills, Mich. | --OR-- sjr@mcimail.com | *** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Nov 90 11:31:39 +0100 From: "Alain FONTAINE (Postmaster - NAD)" Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind CCIR Report 517 does indeed describe to procedure for introducing a 'negative' leap second, but it was never actually needed. Please note that there were also June 30 leap seconds in 81, 82, 83 and 85. Should raise some concern among anti-alcoholic leagues 8-). And don't forget to buy bottles in time for the Dec 31, 1990 leap second! AF ------------------------------ From: Rob Elkins Subject: Re: Time Protocol, was Re: AT&T ISDN Set Question Organization: DuPont Engineering Physics Lab Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 17:15:58 GMT In article <14292@accuvax.nwu.edu> roeber@cithe2.cithep.caltech.edu (Frederick Roeber) writes: >In article <14267@accuvax.nwu.edu>, coffland@roxanne (Doug Coffland) >writes: >RFC-1059 "Network Time Protocol (NTP)" describes (or at least points >to the paper describing) the algorithm used to solve this problem in >the IP network time protocol. Last I checked, RFC's can be ftp'd >from nic.ddn.mil. My EE Professor David Mills (Univ Delaware) is the creator of NTP. Brillant Man. His stuff is (was) available via anon FTP from louie.udel.edu Rob Elkins E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Co, Inc Email: elkinsra%mlvax%dupont.com@csnet-relay Voice: 215-339-6253 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 12:19 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: PacTel Modem Line Charges You might try arguing with your PacTel rep if they are charging you for supposedly higher-wuality lines for your data connections. The lines are the same as their voice grade, and after a few minutes of intense conversation with my rep a few years ago, I was able to con- vince them that I didn't want/need the "special" lines, and that I would suffer through with normal voice grade lines. They will try to squirm their way out it, but you should push them on it ... its worth the money savings. ------------------------------ From: Mike Olson Subject: Re: Request INFO Sources About ISDN Date: Thu, 08 Nov 90 13:03:48 PST In <14447@accuvax.nwu.edu>, holos0!wdh@gatech.edu (Weaver Hickerson) writes: > I'm interested in finding what types, if any, of AT bus hardware is > available/in the works for ISDN, as well as simply learning more about > the service. If you have shelf space to burn and want the info for free, you can call Advanced Micro Devices and ask for their ISDN databook. They tell you what sort of ISDN chips they manufacture and sell, and give a reasonably good introduction to the topic. Best of all, it's free; they even pay shipping, on the assumption that you're more likely to buy their chips if you know they exist. To order, call 800 538 8450 and ask for x2264. They have data books and app notes on just about everything digital that goes on; ask specifically for stuff on ISDN. Other chip manufacturers almost certainly offer the same service, so you could try your favorite, if you want. By the way, for folks outside the US, call +1 408 732 2400, same extension. No affiliation with AMD (except I have their ISDN databook)... Mike Olson, UC Berkeley ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support Date: 8 Nov 90 13:56:07 PST (Thu) From: John Higdon hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu writes: > Higdon has a HUMBLE OPINION??!? No, but seriously, they recently > instituted this for support of MS DOS ONLY ... all their applications > support is free. Oh, I see. The "product" that put them on the map (other than a BASIC) is treated as a second-rate stepsister. The company has to protect itself from all those unwashed masses who might actually have some legitimate problem (oh, but how could they--DOS is perfect, right?) > Gee, *I* haven't had these problems. What makes Higdon so special? > But he often has problems communicating with phone companies and toll > carriers too... Well "Gee", that's wonderful for you. Of course, I deal with telecommunications and computer companies day in and day out without much difficulty. It's my job. I don't write about the successes much because it's pretty dull, but the failures are sometimes worth mentioning. The reason Microsoft stands out as being a stinker is because it ISN'T the norm. I have had great success dealing with dozens of hardware and software vendors. NOT with Microsoft. And the underlying problem seems to stem from how they handle telecommunications. > There is an advantage though to living within toll-free calling of > them (Seattle). Maybe if you had spent $15.00 on 900 charges getting nowhere rather than making a free local call, you would have a different view. > Also, if you want to follow up with a particular > support person, they will give you their network username. Roger. And when I called back to talk to this "particular person", the person that answered told me that he couldn't locate any "username" such as the one I gave. So I ended up relating the whole problem once again to this person. Yes, I had the correct name. > You can really blow their mind by getting on usenet and addressing your > followup communication to username@microsoft.uucp. I have done this, > and it ALWAYS gets a quick phone call, especially from the NEW folks > over there. It is a fast growing company, so the majority of support > folks are "new." When I offered to communicate with the original person via e-mail, there was much hemming and hawing and I was discouraged from doing this. At any rate, when I get home this weekend, I'll try to e-mail the username that I was origially supplied. And then I'm going to look for a different platform to handle my requirements. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ From: James Deibele Subject: Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group Organization: TECHbooks of Beaverton Oregon - Public Access Unix Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 19:18:15 GMT In article <14366@accuvax.nwu.edu> TERRY@spcvxa.bitnet (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr) writes: >In article <14335@accuvax.nwu.edu>, our Moderator writes: >> [Moderator's Note: I don't think you are correct. I think anywhere you >> enter the loop if that line is busy (i.e. you are in fact calling from >> it) the incoming call will continue forward in the hunt group. The >> exception would be as Mr. Levenson points out in the next message. PAT] > I know of several methods of setting up "hunt groups". Not all of >these are available on all switches: Thanks for an informative posting on hunt groups. Unfortunately, it seems that GTE has what you described as "single-entry hunt" where there's only one number per hunt group and the rest of the numbers can't hunt. Or that's what GTE tells me this time. I think I'll call back and talk to one or two more people to make sure that's correct. It would be nice if there was a "wizard" number that you could call and find out whether something was technically feasible or not. I have this nagging feeling that there's probably a way of doing what I want, but that the first- line people aren't used to handling things that way. They do have a "call when busy" feature (if number X or Y or Z is busy, call number A), but it's several dollars a line per month while the hunt group is free. Thanks to the people who suggested possible problems when calling from within the hunt group. That wasn't the situation in this case (I was calling from another phone line), but I confess that I never would have thought of such a thing as causing a problem. Public Access UNIX (503) 644-8135 (1200/2400 N81) --- Read alt.books.technical ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group Date: 9 Nov 90 13:53:45 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14335@accuvax.nwu.edu>, vances@xenitec.on.ca (Vance Shipley) writes: > One common mistake made when testing hunt groups is to use a member of > the hunt group to make the test calls. If you call line X from line X > you will get a busy, it will not hunt. You may have observed this on a #5 x-bar. The LDN, even, dialing itself will get a busy, so it is not a night answer issue in this case. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Distinctive Ringing Fax/Phone Switch From: tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) Date: 9 Nov 90 17:34:10 GMT In article <14425@accuvax.nwu.edu>, inesc!jmc%eniac@relay.eu.net (Miguel Casteleiro) writes: > In article <14293@accuvax.nwu.edu>, dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.atc. olivetti.com (Rahul Dhesi) writes: > > I recently purchased a fax/phone/modem switch that claims to do just > > that. [...] It is supposed to be able > > to select one of two devices based on distinctive ringing. > Can someone please explain how do this devices work? Do they answer > to the phone line, and then decide based on the tones what type of > call is it? And then, do they simulate the calling tone to the fax > and the modem? If so, aren't this tones diferent from country to > country? No, the beauty of it is that they don't have to answer the phone, because they can tell from DISTINCTIVE RINGING what device the call is for. So I have the telco assign 555-0001 to my voice calls, 555-0002 for my modem calls, and 555-0003 for my fax calls. The telco sets it up so that all calls coming into my line when 0001 is dialed result in normal ringing cadence, 0002 causes a double ring, and 0003 causes a triple ring. The fax/phone/modem switch will divide the call among one of three outgoing RJ11 jacks according to the ringing cadence. In the example above, the numbers don't have to be consecutive. The telco just assigns three different telephone numbers to one line, and each one causes a different style (rhythm) ringing. > In short, suppose that I have a dumb fax and a dumb modem, can I > interface one of this devices between one phone line and them? Yes ... assuming that your telco offers DISTINCTIVE RINGING as a feature. One manufacturer of these devices is ITS Communications of Endicott, NY. They make the AutoLine Plus. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ From: Dean Riddlebarger Subject: Who Owns 800-878? Date: 9 Nov 90 14:28:05 GMT Organization: Truevision Inc., Indianapolis, IN Which carrier "owns" the 878 exchange for 800 service? [Hint: I already know it's not AT&T.] On a larger scale, does anyone have the latest list of 800 exchange assignments? Thanks. Dean Riddlebarger Truevision, Inc. [317] 841-0332 dean@truevision.com uunet!epicb!dean ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #803 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17685; 10 Nov 90 23:15 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14433; 10 Nov 90 21:33 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa32417; 10 Nov 90 20:25 CST Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 19:31:22 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #804 BCC: Message-ID: <9011101931.ab11525@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Nov 90 19:30:05 CST Volume 10 : Issue 804 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Strange "Calls To" [Carl Moore] Re: Strange "Calls To" [Jim Youll] Information Wanted About Aggregation [George Poynor] SDN For Anyone! (was Re: Mysterious LD Fraud) [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Broken Phone While Out of Town [Ron Heiby] Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed [Andy Jacobson] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [Louis A. Mamakos] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [James M. Turner] Thanks For the Responses [Joel Disini] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 15:53:10 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Strange "Calls To" What carrier handled the calls that bgsuvax!jyoull@cis.ohio-state.edu (Jim Youll) wrote of here? What does "aggregator" mean? >My last phone bill listed long distance calls to Cleveland, etc. >but also showed calls to : > WASZ 2 MD > PHSZ 43 PA >These calls were handled by an aggregator. Any idea why the funny >destination names, and what they mean? Moderator's Note: Carl, the answer to your question follows in the next three messages. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 17:25:24 -0500 From: Jim Youll Subject: Re: Strange "Calls To" The calls were handled by a company called "Afford A Call". They used to be called "Litel" but that's irrelevant. I think I understand this correctly, and hope that I used the correct terminology to describe what they do. Basically, an aggregator buys a chunk of service from ATT or somebody who is actually a long distance provider, and receives a discount for the volume purchase. They then resell smaller bites of the bandwidth to guys like me at a miniscule profit and hope that I stay with them for a long time. Then they go out of business and I switch to someone else. They are starting to offer 800 service and some other features like six-second billing, but that's mainly a function of their billing software, not the route the calls take. Jim PS: Remember that this information is worth approximately 10% less than you paid for it, due to inflation. [Moderator's Note: Hey! That's not nice to say. The subscribers here pay premium rates for this little journal. PAT ------------------------------ From: George Poynor Subject: Information Wanted About Aggregation Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 16:37:24 CDT We are being besieged by aggregators (aggravators ?) promising jillions of dollars in savings on our long distance bills. Can anyone comment on this phenomenon? George V. Poynor N9JTD | UUCP: {obdient | spl1 | tellab5}!wheaton!poynor Wheaton College | Voice: (708) 260-5019 (Office) ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: SDN For Anyone! (was -Re: Mysterious LD Fraud) Date: 9 Nov 90 15:24:24 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14303@accuvax.nwu.edu>, gutierrez@noc.arc.nasa.gov (Robert Michael Gutierrez) writes: > [BTW ... is this a chain hotel??? That would explain how they can > get/afford AT&T SDN.] Yes it was. BUT need not have been. You don't in ANY WAY need to be big or chain related these days to be using SDN. You just have to be using an AGGRAGATOR/RESELLER that has an SDN. You have probably been getting calls from them and not known what they were. Just simply ask if they are using SDN. There are many different ways these folks get money out of you. The smarter ones are NOT grouping you under a multi-location watts plan and then getting you to pay them a slice of your savings. Much better for them to get an AT&T SDN, and select the arrangement where the bill for your usage goes to YOU directly, but at a discount THEY control. The remainder of the discount, and any bonus 'deals' gets credited to their AT&T account and their own calls get to use that money. Of course AT&T occasionally sends them a 'refund' check for overpaying. All totally legal. SDN allows that. For instance, a hotel chain of independantly owned properties could get whopping discounts and the central group could cover their 800 and other network expenses servicing the chains reservations, etc. The separation allowed for here also lets anyone open an office and start peddling membership in his group. It is an easy sell - you pay him nothing, he gets you 21 or 25% off your AT&T bill from dollar one. His money slithers back a while later from AT&T. There is some sort of limit of 400 locations per month that can be added to any SDN. Some AGGRAGATOR/RESELLER (is there a better name for these useful sleezes) have more than one SDN. These are not configured for neat translation or international corporate network schemes, but are simply giving plain phone service at discount. SDN provides for such things as city-pairs being defined. A monthly charge of $200 gets better rates from any 'on-net' calls between these. I assume the big AGGRAGATOR/RESELLER watches for traffic patterns that allow him to subscribe to 'features' that maximise how much he gets beyond what he lets you get. Note well that YOU PAY HIM nothing! He, to get the biggest deals has to sign up for four years, and wants to stick you the same way. You can probably get a contract that lets you bail out any time. Just dig your heels in. They typically get you 21% starting at dollar one, not at dollar 2000 or what ever. If they know there are others after you, you should have NO PROBLEM getting 25%! There is plenty left beyond that for them to get fat on. Your even knowing what SDN is proves to him he better offer you the his better deal. BTW AT&T has useful promos. It used to cost BIG $$ to start an SDN, but now not so. You may want to look at starting your own if you are anything other than tiny. Right now, til sometime in December, AT&T is waiving their T1 installation charges for folks connecting that way. Some promos get 'extended' but they have to be careful that they don't get accused of lowering the tariff permanently without re-filing. They ARE working hard to get SDN to grow very fast. The A/R may not bother to mention these promo deals, but cost him nothing for you to use them if they are currently available. AT&T credit cards get discounts this way, too. There are MANY facets to SDN, and there are remote access schemes for staff from home, and depending on whether you let AT&T control passwords etc., you or they get fraud responsibility. They can get SO TIGHT that if you give your wife your access number to reach you on the road, and you use it elsewhere within certain time intervals, it gets invalidated. And small business *owners* joining an A/R's SDN might consider having their home phones included in the SDN. The assumption is that all LD calls from home would be for business use. For best discounts in a large chain operation where there are no problems splitting the bill up, you get billed at one location. The A/R would opt to have AT&T be responsible for getting bills to you. This may be changing come January, but some A/Rs have made seperate deals with the AT&T owned company that will be handling billing then. AT&T wants to save what they pay the LECs now for billing servises, I guess. The GREATEST SCHEME for J.Q.Public would be for some entity like the Audubon Society to set up an SDN that ALL members could join simply by paying the annual membership! Their membership would GROW FAST! The big rub here is that you NEED a base of heavy usage to get your monthly minutes way up so all get the best discount, but there is the darn 400 added sites per month limit that currently could kill this idea. I would MUCH RATHER have the extra discount I can't get go to some worthy cause than into the greedy A/R's pocket. There is very little effort they have to expend to do it! Failing that, I have heard that there is at least one SDN set up for 'members' that gives ALL discounts to the users - is a 0 profit one. I assume it is some professional society or trade group, but the AT&T staffer mentioning it was not allowed to say who/what it is! Does ANYONE know? AT&T has to be in a love/hate relationship with the A/Rs. AT&T is getting back a LOT of business under conditions that AT&T could not possibly themselves offer to those same small users. THEY are the dominant carrier, and MCI and Sprint etc would do everything possible to stop them. The A/R does what he wants. Who has an uncle that is on the Subject: Re: Broken Phone While Out of Town Date: 8 Nov 90 23:59:57 GMT Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com (David Tamkin) writes: >repair at 509-2510. (It's still in 312.) ... >through to IBT Repair. Is that the number Ron Heiby couldn't reach? That number doesn't sound familiar, but I threw out my page of notes taken as I went though the mill several times. >Now, what I don't understand about Ron's story is why his wife >couldn't pick up the line that worked and dial 611 from it to report My wife absolutely *detests* dealing with phone repair, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, etc., etc. Thus, it falls upon me to arrange for things to be fixed when they break. Also, she didn't think of it. The line that was working is the Answering Machine and Modem line, which only I really make any use of (unless you count phone solicitors who leave messages or refuse to). Anyway, thanks much for the number. It's in my "Day-Timer", now! Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Nov 90 02:42 PST From: Andy Jacobson Subject: Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed In TELECOM Digest V10 #796: Bob Yazz writes: >A new prefix had opened up in San Diego, and I got the number xyz-y000 >(that's XYZ Y-thousand). Early that Autumn, Neiman-Marcus >(Needless-Markup to those who know them) opened up shop. They got >xyz-y100 (XYZ Y-one-hundred) and I started getting their calls on my >answering machine. >The next day at work (How did they get my work number?) I received a >call from an AT&T Longlines Division Account Manager who was most >eager to "help solve Our problem". She told me that Neiman-Marcus's > She also wanted me to change my number. I did >NOT want that. Neiman's claimed they had already printed up too many >I finally changed (for free) my number to abc-1200. Everyone was very >very gracious. The VP was so apologetic about "all this Hey, don't do it. If you give up a phone number, next they'll want to build their store on your house just because their customers drive by your corner. (Ok, ok, I wont flame.) But I would never give up a phone number, especially a good one like that Let me tell you how I deal with a similar situation. My number is 213-X9Y-X000 in west L.A.. The Shadydump hotel in Marina Del Ray has listed 213-X0Y-X000. Because their customers are ignorant of NXX's having 1 or 0 as second digit (they must still be living back in the days when area codes were .... well ... you know ... area codes), they're somehow convinced that they wrote down a "9", when it really is "0". I really can't otherwise see how they could convert zero into a nine. Well, I really enjoy making reservations for them at $99.99 a night single occupancy. Then there was the woman who before even saying hello at 4:45AM announced that she was calling from West Germany (Aaaah, now a chance for the LD carrier to gouge away.my revenge ) -and wanted to conf-- ... I told her in no uncertain terms that she had the wrong number and summarily hung up on her. Well, she called back_twice_ (Hey, its her deutschmark!) The second time I told her in even less uncertain terms. The third time I just answered politely with the name of the hotel, and put her on hold. Four or five minutes later her patience timed out. She tried back again (brilliant!) This time she got the ring"XXXXXhotelholdplease" softclick response. Another four minutes of that winking LED, that got rid of her good! Let's see, that's about four 'first minutes', and eight additional from FRG, and its the middle of the afternoon there. My opinion is : F***em! If Neiman Markup, or Snears has dumb customers, take their orders! Take their credit card numbers! Tell them what the prices are. Tell them where the store is located! When they wind up at the city dump, they have no one to blame but themselves. You have every right to give 'em grief. The stores have ___NO___ right to even suggest that you change your number. Remember, their stock is trading on the AMEX, not yours. You're trying to live your life. Make the most of it. If the stupid customers ever get to the store, let'em beat up the manager. If it's in their business interest to not lose customers, and not tie up management, they'll make the effort to straighten people out. Then again, maybe the store would be willing to pay you a fat monthly fee to redirect their lost sheep. You might just let them know what their options are. Another point raised was: >The Directory Assistance voice computer didn't say Y-one-hundred, it >said Y-one-oh-oh. I don't know how 411 gives it, but it seems that the bell system intercept can say things like "XY hundred" and "X thousand." The GTE one here does not. [Moderator's Note: We had a series of messages on this some time back, with people who received the wrong number calls deliberatly giving phalse and misleading information to the caller. Some people thought it was very unethical to deliberatly give phalse information to the person who dialed a wrong number. But still, it can be a nuisance when there are a lot of calls like that. My new technique is to let them hang up, then punch *69 and call them back, advising them to take care in the future with their dialing. That really freaks them out since they wonder how I could possibly have known their number! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 90 08:34:25 EST From: "Louis A. Mamakos" Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind Organization: The University of Maryland, College Park >Leap seconds are never removed. Well, none have ever been removed *yet*. The Network Time Protocol has a leap-second warning field in the packet, which indicates a leap second will occur at the end of the current day. There are provisions for both adding and deleting a leap second. louie ------------------------------ From: "James M. Turner" Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind Date: 8 Nov 90 09:54:07 EST hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net (Toby Nixon) writes: >One very nice program is "Professional TIMESET" by Dr. Peter Petrakis >of Life Sciences Editorial Services, 1236 River Bay Road, Annapolis >MD 21401. Not to toot my own horn, but I've just posted a Unix tool called utcclock to alt.sources and comp.protocols.time.ntp, which calls this number and sets your clock accurate to about +/- 50ms. Name: James M. Turner Company: Kendall Square Research Email: turner@ksr.com, ksr!turner Phone: (617) 895-9400 ------------------------------ Subject: Thanks For the Responses From: "Disini SW, Emmanuel Disini,PRT" Date: 09 Nov 90 10:28 GMT I'd especially like to thank the group for all the great answers provided to my inquiry - I have never received such a comprehensive response before (I was asking about MNP drivers for MS-DOS). Since they probably cc'ed their replies here, I shall not repost them but I would especially like to thank: Javier Henderson Toby Nixon Ken Donaldson Bob Falcon Sincerely, Joel Disini ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #804 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa18808; 11 Nov 90 0:11 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa20623; 10 Nov 90 22:37 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab14433; 10 Nov 90 21:34 CST Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 20:26:28 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #805 BCC: Message-ID: <9011102026.ab14757@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Nov 90 20:25:48 CST Volume 10 : Issue 805 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [David Lemson] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Glenn F. Leavell] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Adam M. Gaffin] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Ken McGlothlen] Re: Broken Phone While Out of Town [John Cowan] Re: Wrong Number Nightmare [John Higdon] People Unclear on the Concept [Ed Greenberg] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Lemson Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 18:13:57 GMT 0003209613@mcimail.com (Sandy Kyrish) writes: >I'm interested in knowing just how successful Prodigy *really* is. >1. Prodigy claims nearly 500,000 subscribers. What's the turnover >rate? Do people "buy the yellow box", keep Prodigy for awhile, and >then cut it off? And what is this 500K number really based on; boxes >sold/given away, or active bill-paying subscribers? First off, I had Prodigy for about five months ending in August, 1990. So, I haven't been on in a few months. I have kept track of it in things like alt.bbs, though. I get the impression that the 500,000 is just a bit of an exaggeration, or possibly a prediction that was supposed to have come true by now, but hasn't. >2. Is anything besides the e-mail/BBS service really popular with >subscribers? Is the shopping at home/banking at home making a dent? I went to the home banking service, and read that in my area (St. Louis at the time), there was only two banks that would service me. They were nationwide services. If you bank with IBM Credit Union (you have to be an IBM employee), I think there's no service charge. Most of the other banks will charge you. It's just not worth it to me. My main banking is done with a mutual fund management corp., and they have an 800 number with computerized auto-attendant that can do about anything I want. As for the E-mail, it was pretty good. It was quite cheap for the ability to send mail to so many people. Problems: You have to move the cursor down to "PgDn" to make a new screen or to scroll to the new screen. "Screens" are about 15 rows by 60 cols., and take FOREVER to scroll, even at 2400 bps. I asked them MANY times if they would ever install MNP on their modems. "Duhh, what's MNP? We already have a PROPRIETARY ERROR CORRECTION SCHEME! We can't tell you anything about it!!!" This was to Harold Goldes, the so-called "Technical head of Prodigy". After I explained what MNP was, and they saw that it would require capital outlay. NO WAY would they spend more money so that we would have greater speed. Problem now: in a few months, they are going to start charging something like $.25 per E-mail message over about 30 per month. Gag. Advice: Stick with Internet. Prodigy's messages have a four or five screen limit, too. Grocery services were supposed to be good. In STL, we had Schnuck's, and the prices were exactly the same as the shelf price, plus a $8 flat fee for pick-up (they're ready for you ahead of time) or about $15 for delivery. A good deal for someone who can't get out, and they do carry several thousand items on-line, and will even accept coupons on delivery orders. >3. What do you think people are really responding to with Prodigy -- >the ability to access information, the ability to finally put their PC >to good use, the e-mail/BBSs, or something else? It's mainly people who don't know why they ever bought that $500 Hayes Smartmodem 1200 so many years ago. It's for people who don't know that BBSs provide almost the same thing for much cheaper. (Well, not the SAME, but at least they don't censor your messages on BBSs that much.) >4. Do you/did you use it, and how do you/did you like it? Yes, I used it when I was writing to four people at once each day. If they made me pay extra for all that, I doubt I'd use it. Now that I have Internet and can write without a monthly charge, I prefer that. >[Moderator's Note: I'm hearing some bad news about Prodigy lately. So >'they' say, several users recently were summarily evicted from the >service after they sent email to other users criticizing the service's >plan to begin charging for 'excessive' amounts of email. Does anyone >have any details on this? PAT] I've heard the same thing. People posted "public" messages asking people to boycott the Prodigy advertisers! (Each Prodigy screen features an advertisement for an on-line store or special feature, in case you didn't know -- and this adds to the VERY SLOW service) So, Prodigy kicked about three or four accounts off. The executive interviewed said, "Yeah, we did it, they went after our advertisers, and we don't stand for that." Make up your own minds. David E. Lemson UofI Computing Svcs Student Consultant Internet : lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu University of Illinois, Urbana ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service From: "Glenn F. Leavell" Organization: University of Georgia Economics Department Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 18:57:32 GMT In article <14478@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0003209613@mcimail.com (Sandy Kyrish) writes: >I'm interested in knowing just how successful Prodigy *really* is. [ stuff deleted ] >[Moderator's Note: I'm hearing some bad news about Prodigy lately. So >'they' say, several users recently were summarily evicted from the >service after they sent email to other users criticizing the service's >plan to begin charging for 'excessive' amounts of email. Does anyone >have any details on this? PAT] I too have read this information, but, alas, I did not save the source, and I don't remember what the source was. So, I will try to remember a few things about what I read. A group of Prodigy users recently tried to form a boycott of all Prodigy advertisers (Prodigy is cheaper than services like CompuServe becuase they run ads at the bottom of the screen). This boycott was in response to a recent Prodigy rate increase, particularly a plan to begin charging for e-mail messages that exceeded some limit X per household. This group of boycotting users began sending e-mail to all subscribers trying to rally converts to their cause. Prodigy likened this mass mailing to "junk mail" and eventually removed the instigators from the system. I understand that Prodigy now has a rule that the subject of the rate increase and boycott are not to be mentioned in any mailings or postings on the system, and that any messages that do mention them will be returned to the sender. Once again, I must state that I don't have the source of this information. I do not guarantee any of this information. Does anyone else have any corrections, clarifications, or additions? If much of this is true, it raises some possibly interesting questions: If Prodigy is returning messages to the sender based on content, does this mean that they are reading all messages sent on the system? Is this "right"? Is this the same as censorship? Becuase Prodigy is a private service, are they allowed to censor non-offensive material? But, they are using a common-carrier (the phone) as their only access method. Does this have any bearing on the situation? Glenn F. Leavell glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu 404-542-3488 Systems Administrator University of Georgia Economics Department. 147 Brooks Hall. Athens, GA 30602 [Moderator's Note: Having telco as the transport mechanism would not change things either way: after all, telco is not the one reviewing and/or deleting mail. Whether or not Prodigy is a common carrier remains to be seen. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Adam M Gaffin Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Organization: The World Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 04:12:09 GMT Tis true that a number of Prodigy users have been kicked off -- I've talked to three of 15 now. The company claims they were harassing other users and (gasp!) advertisers by sending out increasingly obnoxious e-mail messages by the bushel. The users, organized into something called the Coordinated Defense Campaign, say they were only letting people know about the impending e-mail charges (25 cents per message above a monthly free maximum of 30) and that they did not send to anybody who didn't want to hear from them. I've written about this, so if anybody wants copies of the article, let me know. Adam Gaffin Middlesex News, Framingham, Mass. adamg@world.std.com Voice: (508) 626-3968 Fred the Middlesex News Computer: (508) 872-8461. [Moderator's Note: Adam, it has been awhile since we ran one of your columns from the News here in the Digest, so by all means send along your article and we will post it here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ken McGlothlen Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 10 Nov 90 20:57:18 GMT Organization: Dubious. In article <14478@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0003209613@mcimail.com (Sandy Kyrish) asks: | I'm interested in knowing just how successful Prodigy *really* is. [...] | 1. Prodigy claims nearly 500,000 subscribers. What's the turnover rate? Do | people "buy the yellow box", keep Prodigy for awhile, and then cut it off? | And what is this 500K number really based on; boxes sold/given away, or | active bill-paying subscribers? Personally, I suspect that the number of *active* users numbers less than a quarter of that. Whoever's sending out Prodigy's mail tends toward the redundant, to put it nicely. I'm still receiving stuff from them, after having cancelled several months ago. Heck, they even billed me for four months after I had cancelled (no, I didn't pay them for those four months). Duplicate that sort of behavior a few thousand times, and you have oodles more people that are being charged for your services. | 2. Is anything besides the e-mail/BBS service really popular with | subscribers? Is the shopping at home/banking at home making a dent? No idea. The E-mail aspect wasn't terribly useful to me, but then, even after about six scans of areas where I knew people, I hadn't seen a single person I knew or wanted to contact. Perhaps that's changed now, but ... | 3. What do you think people are really responding to with Prodigy -- the | ability to access information, the ability to finally put their PC to good | use, the e-mail/BBSs, or something else? The advertisements. On the television, it looks pretty good -- spiffy, colorful, whizbang, and fast. In person: | 4. Do you/did you use it, and how do you/did you like it? Yep, I did use it, for a few months. The first thing that struck me was that it was sure awfully slow. Configuration was easy enough, but the graphics were painfully slow, and the characters flowed across the screen at a speed slightly better than a 300bps modem (from a 2400bps connection). The characters were big, which meant that it filled up a screen faster than your average 80x24 screen, but I basically read along with the text as it was printed, and then had to wait for it to accept my input and wait for it to think about the next page. The menus were poorly organized. There was no way to get a simple list of keywords downloaded. Execution -- I can't stress this enough -- was really, really slow. And with EVERY SINGLE SCREEN, it took up some more time and space to barrage me with yet *another* advertisement. When I heard that any public posting made on Prodigy was filtered by the staff, that was just another point against it. The only semi-useful thing I got out of it was trying to navigate EASY SABRE to see if I could reserve an airline ticket. Again, here, the menus were poorly organized, frequently *almost* redundant (to wit, two menus allowed you to see *exactly* the same information, except for one little item -- I had to abort the reservation process and go off to inspect the flight number again), and in general, barely useful. The vast majority of the board is an electronic advertisement. The usefulness of the news services was amazingly limited (I could have gotten the same thing on television with much better graphics, more detail, and at higher speed), the games were ... well, mediocre ... and there was no way to just simply download a file. I would have killed by the end of it to be able to dial in with Kermit, and just see ASCII characters, but no ceegar. USENET. Can't touch that. As I said, their billing department doesn't seem to be on its toes, either. | [Moderator's Note: I'm hearing some bad news about Prodigy lately. I heard the same thing from a different source that currently uses Prodigy, if that helps. :) Still, it wouldn't surprise me -- Prodigy seems to really like being in control. Ken McGlothlen mcglk@cpac.washington.edu mcglk@cpac.bitnet ------------------------------ From: John Cowan Subject: Re: Broken Phone While Out of Town Organization: The Logical Language Group, Inc. Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 19:24:33 GMT In article <14329@accuvax.nwu.edu> Bill Huttig writes: >[Moderator's Note: That's very nice of them [ATT], if in fact they still do >it. I know prior to divestiture the long distance operator would >contact 'inward' in your community and that operator would turn in the >report. Who knows now ... PAT] Sure 'nough, they do. I had reason to believe that my father's phone was out of order one fine night some months ago. He lives in Bethlehem PA (Bell of PA -- Bell Atlantic) and I live in NYC (New York Tel -- NYNEX). Dialling 10288-0 got me an operator who got me an operator who got me a number in 215-land. I called it and filed a report. Bingo. cowan@marob.masa.com (aka ...!hombre!marob!cowan) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Wrong Number Nightmare Date: 9 Nov 90 11:18:30 PST (Fri) From: John Higdon "Arun Baheti " writes: > We have complained to the phone company and to the dealership to fix > the problem, but everyone seems to think that we should pay to have > our line changed or simply wait for their or simply wait for their > cards, flyers, etc to cycle through in a year or so... sigh. I > consider myself polite, but after getting 15 wrong numbers and > messages asking "When can I pick up my truck?" (in Spanish and > English) a day, I am beginning to grow tired of the whole game. Any > ideas? I've already tried threatening the car dealer with the idea > that I would begin to be rude to the wrong numbers and not refer them > to the 714 area code. Someone? Anyone? Time to actually implement "the final solution". Tell the callers that the dealership has probably gone out of business (with the implication that maybe they have lost their money!) or any other smart-aleck comment that you may deem appropriate. If that doesn't seem to help, then you will have to convince GTE that it really would be in its best interests to give you a free number change. (I'm surprised that even GTE would insist that you pay for a number change to avoid harrassing calls, but then GTE never ceases to amaze and astound.) In any event, remember that you are the innocent victim here and under no circumstances should you have to pay for a car dealer's (especially a car dealer's!) negligence. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 11:46 PST From: Ed_Greenberg@3mail.3com.com Subject: People Unclear on the Concept I dropped by the local Burger King the other day, for my ration of fast breakfast. Outside is a brand spanking new COCOT. Inside is a sign that states, "We do not give change for the phone." Now, given that the BK is in it for the cash, why discourage usage? This COCOT allows use of AT&T. Dialing 10288 causes the phone to say "Thank you" and then it outdials 102880. This fact is indicated on the instruction card. "Card Calls completed by Com Systems. To use AT&T dial 10288" I'm impressed. edg Moderator's Note: Perhaps the answer is they know they will make just as much money anyway without the extra effort of making change. The poor devils who have to use the phone can simply use the change they were planning to use to get on the bus instead, and go somewhere else to look for bus fare money. When you go to that sort of dump to eat, why are you surprised by anything they say or do? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #805 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa19896; 11 Nov 90 1:24 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa26791; 10 Nov 90 23:41 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab20623; 10 Nov 90 22:38 CST Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 21:51:17 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #806 BCC: Message-ID: <9011102151.ab07790@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Nov 90 21:50:38 CST Volume 10 : Issue 806 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards [Dave Levenson] Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards [Alex Novickis] Dialogic vs. AT&T Voice Power vs. ... [Jim Gottlieb] Re: Is the "V&H" Tape Still Available? [Bob Stratton] Re: Former 312-Area Ringback Prefixes [Norman R. Tiedemann] Re: Searching For a Battery [Barton F. Bruce] Re: DTMF Decoder Wanted (or Chips/Schematics) [Tad Cook] Re: Request INFO Sources About ISDN [Arnold Robbins] Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Telecom Art [Peter da Silva] Re: Voice Activated Calling Cards [Steve Rhoades] Re: Digit Overload in Dallas/Fort Worth [Carl Moore] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards Date: 9 Nov 90 22:51:29 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14492@accuvax.nwu.edu>, biar!trebor@uunet.uu.net (Robert J Woodhead) writes: [comments about bigmOuth PC voice equipment] > I'm quite happy with it, but now I have a slightly more complicated > bit of hardware on my Xmas shopping list. What I need is a board that > has the following features: > * Can handle four or more calls simultaneously. > * DMTF detection, audio recording and playback. > * PC compatible > * Hopefully buffers incoming and outgoing sampled audio on the board > so as to reduce the strain on the host machine. > * Good low-level interface software library, in UNIX/XENIX if possible. > * Also, it would be nice if more than one of these boards could be plugged > into a single PC. Check out Dialogic Corp. of Parsippany, NJ. They offer two, four, and twelve-line cards, with MS-DOS and UNIX system software (drivers and libraries). These cards detect and generate touch tones, play and record voice, and detect ring. Add-ons allow this equipment to work with DID trunks, T-1 circuits, interoffice (MF) trunks, voice- recognition boards, and an audio switch matrix. The latter, with some adaptors that include telephone set interfaces, ringing power supplies, etc., allows your PC to become a full PBX if you need that much functionality. > Anyone got any leads on such a beastie? Oh yeah, if there is a > multiline box that talks to it's host over Ethernet, that would do the > trick too. Put their cards in your PC and let the PC (running DOS or UNIX) talk to the rest of your network. No, I don't work for Dialogic. Westmark is a value-added reseller of their voice products, which we embed in our voice-response banking applications. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: Alex Novickis Subject: Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards Date: 11 Nov 90 01:11:08 GMT Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA In article <14492@accuvax.nwu.edu> biar!trebor@uunet.uu.net (Robert J Woodhead) writes: >A couple of months ago I inquired about voicemail boards for the PC. >Thanks to all that responded. I ended up getting a Bigmouth board >from Talking Technologies of Alameda, CA [415-522-3800] for about >$225. This board turns any old PC into a voicemail center, and the >menu-driven software that comes with it (quite powerful) lets you set >up voicemail boxes, phone trees, do voice questionaires, store and >auto-forward voicemail, etc, etc, etc. >I'm quite happy with it, but now I have a slightly more complicated >bit of hardware on my Xmas shopping list. What I need is a board that >has the following features: >into a single PC. >Anyone got any leads on such a beastie? Oh yeah, if there is a >multiline box that talks to it's host over Ethernet, that would do the >trick too. There's a company in Los Gatos, CA called VICOM or maybe VYCOM and they used to have a 64 line card for the PC, however I believe it only did voice out, DTMF in type stuff. They may have more of such stuff ... this was made for mass termination lines, e.g. 900 or 976 use. Alex P. Novickis, Real Time systems demi-guru. (W) 408-370-4541 ALINK:alex.n (PAGE) 989-6678 {amdahl,claris,pyramid,sun,decwrl,well,ubvax,ames}!apn@apple.com,apn@nonvon ------------------------------ From: Jim Gottlieb Subject: Dialogic vs. AT&T Voice Power vs. ... Date: 11 Nov 90 01:44:54 GMT Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles We have been using Dialogic voice boards for several years now and have several hundred in service. Yet I am not completely happy with them and would like to hear about the competition. Specific complaints include bad ring-detect circuitry (shout into the phone and the board goes off-hook) and the lack of a hybrid circuit to prevent output audio from finding its way into the touch-tone receiver (the board will often not hear a touch-tone from the user if pressed at the same time as speech is being played). The other four-port boards that I know of are the AT&T Voice Power board, and a similar board from Rhetorex. How do these compare? Unfortunately, Rhetorex does not provide Unix drivers. Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: or V-Mail: +1 213 551 7702 Fax: 478-3060 Voice: 824-5454 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 10:54:10 EST From: Bob Stratton Subject: Re: Is the "V&H" tape still Available? >There used to be a mag tape called a "V&H" tape that you could get >from AT&T for about $43. It had every NPA-NXX code, the location's >name, and its Vertical and Horizontal coordinates. This is from my 1989 Bellcore Catalog of Technical Information: - NPA-NXX Vertical and Horizontal Coordinates Tape - This tape contains for each active NPA-NXX in the North American Numbering Plan, the industry type data applicable to that point. The data contained includes the vertical and horizontal coordinate, the LATA or LATA-like code, the place, name, and time zone indicators. This tape is available monthly and contains, in addition to a data set, two data files: 1) a complete master of all active NPA/NXX's and 2) a file of only the updates made since the last issue. NPA/NXX V + H Coordinates Tape $320.00 To place orders or to obtain further assistance, contace the TRA (Traffic Routing Administration) Hotline on 201-829-3071, or: Bellcore Traffic Routing Administration 435 South Street, Room 1J321 Morristown, New Jersey 07960-1961 I hope this helps. Bob Stratton | dsc3rjs@nmdsc{20 | 10}.nmdsc.nnmc.navy.mil [Internet] Stratton Systems Design | dsc3rjs@vmnmdsc.BITNET [BITNET - only if you must!] | +1 703 823 MIND [PSTNet] Disclaimer: The above opinions are mine alone - Who else would want them? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 12:01:31 EST From: Norman R Tiedemann Subject: Re: Former 312-Area Ringback Prefixes Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In article <14476@accuvax.nwu.edu>, the Moderator notes: > [Moderator's Note: Well actually, the correct numbers are 1-571 > through 1-577. No area code, but you must use 1 plus the appropriate > three digit code for your CO (571 through 577) plus the last four > digits of the phone you want to ring back. For example xxx-2368 would > be rung back by dialing 1-571-2368 (or 572, 573, whatever applies in > your office -- test 'em all to find out which!) The corect combination > will return dial tone. ... Here at Bell Labs in Naperville, we have ISDN from IBT. This ring back does not work through ISDN. Interestingly enough the phone number voice back (1-200) works. Actually, it voiced back your number very quietly and then give a loud annoying fast busy. You have to pull your ear away fast after the number. Anytime I try the ring back, it rings and then I get the intercept tone and the "To call a number outside your area code, dial 1 plus area code ... To call a number within your areacode just dial the seven digit number." I also noted that the touchtone test will not work if you do not subscribe to touch tone service. (Or at least I couldn't get it to work at home.) If anyone knows how to ring back through ISDN, I'd be interested in finding out how. Norm Tiedemann AT&T Bell Labs IH 2G-419 att!ihlpy!normt 2000 Naperville Rd. normt@ihlpy.att.com Naperville, IL 60566 ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Searching For a Battery Date: 9 Nov 90 13:01:44 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14268@accuvax.nwu.edu>, pssc@cdp.uucp writes: > I am looking for a type of battery (D cell, 1.5 volts) I've not seen > in a long time. It is an Everready but is only one-half the height > of a standard D cell. Would anyone know if these are still You maybe should ask the manufacturer of the product it goes in for a current recommendation. You haven't given enough info to really pin down what you have, but maybe this will help. An EVEREADY # E94 (USASI Designation - L80) is 1 11/32" diameter (same as a "D"), but is 1 13/64 overall length. > I've tried calling Union Carbide and the response has been "we never > made one." It is, of course, sitting on my desk. But, sadly, long > dead. Ask for EVEREADY's "Battery Applications - Engineering Data" handbook. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: DTMF Decoder Wanted (or Chips/Schematics) From: tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) Date: 9 Nov 90 17:16:09 GMT In article <14411@accuvax.nwu.edu>, BRUCE@ccavax.camb.com (Barton F. Bruce) writes: > If you are just tinkering, go to Radio Shack. They have TT decode > chips, but are hardly where you need to go if you are going to make a > product. Radio Shack no longer carries the SSI DTMF receiver. But you can contact SSI directly at 714-731-7110. Or you can get Teltone's DTMF receiver from them at 206-827-9626. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ Reply-To: arnold@audiofax.com From: Arnold Robbins Subject: Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN Date: 9 Nov 90 14:42:36 GMT Organization: AudioFAX Inc., Atlanta In article <14447@accuvax.nwu.edu> holos0!wdh@gatech.edu (Weaver Hickerson) writes: >I'm interested in finding what types, if any, of AT bus hardware is >available/in the works for ISDN, as well as simply learning more about >the service. At SuperComm '90 this past spring, AT&T had a huge "booth". One of the things they showed was an ISDN card for the AT bus. So, I know it exists. However, my experience has been that AT&T is *SO* large that finding someone who knows what you want so that you can order it is next to impossible. Good luck, Arnold Robbins AudioFAX, Inc. 2000 Powers Ferry Road, #200 / Marietta, GA. 30067 INTERNET: arnold@audiofax.com Phone: +1 404 933 7612 UUCP: emory!audfax!arnold Fax-box: +1 404 618 4581 ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed Date: 9 Nov 90 18:17:00 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14374@accuvax.nwu.edu>, dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com (David Tamkin) writes: > This is no 100% cure-all solution, but it may help: as long as Dave > and Dan have an answering machine, they should start their OGM with, > "Sears Roebuck & Co.'s telephone number has been changed to XYA-5600; Perhaps the following would prove useful: "If you have a problem and want BETTER service, call J .C. Penney at xxx.xxxx" Followed, after a modestly long pause, by some suitable message for callers to Dave or Dan. ------------------------------ From: peter da silva Subject: Re: Telecom Art Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 18:08:56 GMT The locations of most users can be found by examining comp.mail.maps: the location of most sites are given, with street address and latitude and longitude. These maps are updated and posted monthly. Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. peter@ferranti.com ------------------------------ From: Steve Rhoades Subject: Re: Voice Activated Calling Cards Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 19:18:05 GMT In article <14493@accuvax.nwu.edu> SABAHE@macalstr.edu (Arun Baheti ) writes: >Sprint. I recall a few years ago that there was a company (All-Net?) >that allowed people not at touch-tone phones to "speak" their card >numbers into a machine, one digit at a time, and then the destination >number the same way. It then asked for verification with yes/no I remember a couple of companies about ten years ago that had this system. One in particular, I think it was called Travelnet, comes to mind. It was sort of a favorite phreaker thing to play with, especially from coin phones. Most of the coin phones in Los Angeles were rotary at that time. The major difference in these old systems and the new Sprint service is Sprint uses voice-PATTERN recognition along with regular voice recognition. i.e. In the old systems, it didn't care who you were, just as long as you uttered something resembling digits. With Sprint's service, the uttered digits are supposed to match ones you've previously recorded. I am curious how their system would work from a noisy location, like outside an airport. It seems that the additional outside noise might cause errors in the system. Internet: slr@tybalt.caltech.edu | Voice-mail: (818) 794-6004 UUCP: ...elroy!tybalt!slr | USmail: Box 1000, Mt. Wilson, Ca. 91023 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 16:32:43 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Digit Overload in Dallas/Fort Worth responding to Dave Close : >However, a zero or one prefix is only required when the call is a >toll call. What do you mean by "zero"? Pay phones in Delaware, Maryland, and nearby have instruction cards suggesting 0+ for LOCAL calls if you are out of change. The only difference among these cards is that if the area has NNX prefixes only, it'll say 0+number, but if the area has NXX prefixes it'll say 0+areacode+number. In Dallas/Fort Worth area, 214 has NXX prefixes and is just now being split to form 903, with Dallas metro area remaining in 214; 817 has NNX only as far as I know, but it has (right?) the same instructions for toll and 0+ as does 214, for the sake of area-wide uniformity (like "statewide uniformity" for 201/609 in New Jersey). In Washington DC area (now requiring areacode + 7D on local calls crossing areacode boundary, apparently similar to what you have in Dallas/Fort Worth area), at least on the pay phones you can optionally add the leading 1+; this, by the way, would help you out if you are bringing in a programmed phone from an area where the DC area was long distance. But you are saying I cannot put in the leading 1+ if the call in Dallas/Fort Worth area across areacode line is local. >I think that it is an overload on the leading digit for it to both >introduce an area code and distinguish toll calls. I'm not sure what you are talking about. With or without local calls across an area code boundary, you should NOT have your own or nearby area codes as prefixes! This reduces confusion for advertisements, word of mouth, etc. going across areacode border, and makes it possible to drop the leading 1+ for out-of-areacode local calls which can no longer be just seven digits. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #806 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23824; 11 Nov 90 4:23 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa03257; 11 Nov 90 2:46 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa04233; 11 Nov 90 1:42 CST Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 0:43:25 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #807 BCC: Message-ID: <9011110043.ab25101@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 11 Nov 90 00:43:10 CST Volume 10 : Issue 807 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Turkey City Codes [Jim Rees] Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets [Jim Rees] Re: Want to Build SNA Gateway [Tom Wiencko] Re: What Happens When 800 Fills Up? [John R. Levine] Re: What Happens When 800 Fills Up? [Jeff Sicherman] Transatlantic Computer Traffic via Satellite [Frederick Roeber] Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address [William M. Gilroy] Call-Waiting Disable [Arun Baheti] Latest 900 Scam [Syd Weinstein] Copy of Videotape Wanted [Tom Streeter] Re: X.25 Software for PCs Running DOS or Xenix [Michael A. Shiels] Real-Time Information Over Networks [Tony Goodloe] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rees@pisa.ifs.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: Turkey City Codes Reply-To: rees@citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 22:25:52 GMT In article <14460@accuvax.nwu.edu>, clive@x.co.uk (Clive Feather) writes: >Clearly, 905 is a subset of 90, but the phone user will find the >information under "Cyprus", not under "Turkey". In other words, we're >all in agreement. My phone book lists just plain Cyprus as 357 (that's the Greek half, although the book doesn't say so). It doesn't list the Turkish half at all, either under Cyprus or Turkey. Presumably this will change in next year's book as our government tries to cozy up to Turkey in view of the serious situation in the Arabian Gulf (formerly the Persian Gulf). By the way, if you want to give me a call to discuss this, the country code for the People's Republic of Ann Arbor, Michigan is 1313. [Moderator's Smirk: I'll let that last paragraph go through this time; but watch how you talk about our friends at umich.edu! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: rees@pisa.ifs.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets Reply-To: rees@citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 23:20:37 GMT In article <14486@accuvax.nwu.edu>, davidb@pacer.uucp (David Barts) writes: >Why are butt set leads colored red/black/green instead of >red/green/yellow? Wire color codes -- one of my favorite questions! I can't answer this one, but this has always amused me: Electricity <100v Electricity >100v Telephones Ground Black Green Yellow Neutral -- White Red Hot Red Black Green I've used electrician's terms here. Telephones are actually balanced line, so there isn't that big a distinction between tip and ring, at least not at the subscriber's end. Note that someone used to automotive electrical systems will electrocute himself when he grabs the black wire in his house fuse box, thinking it's ground. And an electrician will disable all his phones when he connects the green telephone lead to ground. How did all this come about? ------------------------------ From: Tom Wiencko Subject: Re: Want to Build SNA Gateway Date: 10 Nov 90 18:34:26 GMT Organization: Wiencko & Associates, Inc. In article <14474@accuvax.nwu.edu> mcia@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Mike Ciaraldi) writes: >I'm trying to set up a gateway system to route between workstations >connected by Ethernet and an IBM mainframe host connected by a 56kb >line running SNA/SDLC. There are about 547 ways to do this. I'll outline a few. >What I have working now is a Sun 4/330 with a Systech communications >board and software from SSI. The software provides 3270 terminal >emulation and 3770 RJE emulation. The custom routing software uses >something from SSI called "HLLAPI", the High Level Language >Applications Program Interface. This gives us a standard set of >subroutines for sending keystrokes, querying fields on the emulated >3270 screen, etc. HLLAPI is just the programmatic way of getting into the SNA data stream. This is not a protocol by itself, it is merely IBM doublespeak for an interface library to the communications subsystem. >I've been able to handle 200+ simultaneous 3270 sessions, plus card >reader, punch, and printer emulation like an RJE terminal. >I'm looking for a hardware/software solution that provides the same >functionality, but with lower performance (say, 20 sessions) and cost. The easiest way to do this is to equip your mainframe with TCP/IP and run TN3270 across your Ethernet (or Token Ring) to a 3172 controller. Alas, this is not an SNA solution. A lot depends on what devices are where: are the workstations local to the mainframe, or are they remote (you imply that they are remote). If they are remote and you absolutely must have an SNA link, the problem is different. You would need some device which can act as a gateway from your workstations to SNA. You can do this with Token Ring with a 3174 remote controller, but I don't believe this works on Ethernet. There are several third parties who have other gateway solutions, but as I tend to live in an IBM world, I have no names handy (but SSI could probably point you in the right direction). >The comm board we use is only available for the VMEbus, so we can't >plug it into a SPARCstation. I found some comm boards for the S-bus >that provide synchronous communications, but so far haven't found one >that provides HLLAPI compatiblity or RJE. >What I don't need is a package that just opens a 3270 emulation screen >on a Sun screen; I need to get to the emulated screens from my program >so I can digest them and send them to the workstations. This does make things more complicated. This is a good reason to try to do this with TCP/IP, as most TCP/IP implementations come with a socket library which would allow you to do this easily. >Right now I'm mostly interested in a Sun-based solution, but I'd >consider other platforms if porting my HLLAPI-based C code wouldn't be >too hard. And I need RJE support, of course. IBM's RS/6000 has a thing called SNA Services which might be just the ticket. It supports this stuff six ways from Sunday. It has *no* application code with it (it is just an API) so you can roll your own any way you want. If you want RJE or 3270 emulation, you can get software to do that from SSI or TPS (I can get you addresses and phone numbers on request). >Any suggestions? Anyone done something similar? BTW, is there a >newsgroup that would be a better choice? Thanks. comp.protocols.ibm maybe? Tom Wiencko & Associates, Inc. (404) 977-4515 {backbone}!emory!stiatl!vta!wiencko!tom ------------------------------ Subject: Re: What Happens When 800 Fills Up? Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge MA 02238 Date: 9 Nov 90 09:23:30 EST (Fri) From: "John R. Levine" In article <14468@accuvax.nwu.edu> is written: >Has any particular plan been made for what to do when the North >American area code for toll-free calls, 800, fills up? According to the chart in the Telecom Archives, of the 800 possible prefixes in NPA 800, 434 are assigned to a carrier, leaving 366 totally empty. Of those 434 prefixes, none to my knowledge are full, and some appear to be empty as well. Since you never dial an 800 number without the area code, it should be possible to assign the 1XX and 0XX prefixes as well. So at this point, 800 is less than half full, maybe less than 1/3 full. At some point in the next few years when the network is upgraded, the current system of routing 800 numbers by prefix will change to route by full number, allowing numbers to be reclaimed from carriers who haven't used up the ones they have. By the time 800 fills up it will be well past 1995, and I expect they'll use a prefix like 880 or 888. It may seem that 800 will fill up quickly with the advent of residential 800 numbers, but do keep in mind that the fact that half of the contributors to telecom have one doesn't say much about the public at large. I'd get one myself if only I could figure out a use for it. Just like a cellular phone. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!esegue!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Nov 90 21:05:01 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Re: What Happens When 800 Fills Up I think the problem posed by this question goes beyond the issue of just 800 numbers: > Has any particular plan been made for what to do when the North > American area code for toll-free calls, 800, fills up? It would be > nice if a code that was somewhat similar had been reserved for > splitting it. Given that 700, 801, and 900 are all in some sort of > use, the best choice would seem to be 810. > What fraction of the 800-number namespace is currently allocated? The escalating splitting of municipalities into multiple area codes, the proliferation of faxs and cellular phones that will exacerbate this suggest that the once adequate phone numbering system is getting out of hand and is unequal to the load of modern telecommunications possibilities. The resulting confusion of phone numbers versus geographical areas occasioned by the splitting and the uncertainty of charges is just once manifestation of it. The proliferation of services such as call forwarding, call waiting, and the like also reflect, to some degree, a addressing scheme that is focused on the hardware rather than the user and becoming confusing and difficult for the average customer to manage, especially in any informed way. Like the awkwardness of programming many VCR's, I think this will leave much of the network's potential underexploited. (Except by us expert readers of TELECOM Digest :-) What are the telephone companies, research institutions, regulatory agencies, or anyone else doing to address this. To what extent may ISDN provide some solutions to this (I can think of a few). Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ From: Frederick Roeber Subject: Transatlantic Computer Traffic via Satellite Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Date: 10 Nov 90 12:23:25 PST It has been mentioned that recently much transatlantic computer traffic has been routed via satellite because of a broken undersea cable. I just called Washington from Switzerland and got a `half-duplex' connection (pardon the computer term; I mean when one person was speaking, the other direction was cut off.) From the delay, it was clearly a satellite link. However, I also traced the Internet link between Geneva and Pasadena, and the long delay I've seen recently (that I figured was the transatlantic hop) has disappeared! Does anybody know what's going on? Frederick G. M. Roeber | e-mail: roeber@caltech.edu or roeber@vxcern.cern.ch r-mail: CERN/SL-CO, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland | telephone: +41 22 767 5373 [Moderator's Note: The message we got was that one of the repeaters in the cable was out. A ship was on location to work on it. A private message sent to me Saturday night said the repairs are apparently finished and the cable is back in service. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 10:44:09 EST From: William M Gilroy Subject: Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories I was wondering how and where I would obtain a listing by street of every telephone number on that street. I want something like this: 1 Oak st (201) 555-1212 2 Oak st (201) 555-1212 3 Oak st (201) 555-1212 I assume that this information is available somewhere. Can it be purchased from the phone company (RBOC I guess)? Or do I purchase it from some other company. What forms does it come in (magtape, floppy disk, paper listing)? Any pointers will be appreciated. If there is enough interest I will summarize to the net, if not I will just mail the summary to the people who request it. Thanks in advance, Bill Gilroy (908) 949-2566 wmg@pixels.att.com [Moderator's Note: Criss-cross directories usually have two parts, the first being a listing like you describe; the second being a listing in telephone number order. Most public libraries have at the least a copy of the criss-cross for their own community, frequently in the Business Department or the Reference Department. The most prolific publishers of criss-cross directories are Haynes, R. L. Polk, Dressers, and City Publishing Company of Independence, KS. CPC seems to be strong with listings for Florida. Haynes is strong with the northeast US cities. Donnelly Directory (a subsidiary of several telcos) also has lots of criss-cross books also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 13:33 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: Call-Waiting Disable I'm having trouble disabling the call waiting feature in the Twin Cities area. While the standard methods (*70 and 1170) are listed in the phone book, and the phone company claims vehmently that these methods will work, I continue to receive "call not completed" messages whenever I try. The normal methods work in SoCal (Pac*Tel), so I am beginning to wonder ... Does anyone else have experience with the Twin Cities system? [Moderator's Note: Two assumptions are in order: (1) You *do* have Call Waiting on the line in question (not just 'think you do'), and (2) the serving CO is equipped with the proper generics. For example, here in the Illinois Bell LATA almost everyone has *70 available. But the folks in Mor(t)on Grove -- Moron Grove is the sister city of the People's Republic of Ann Arbor, yuk, yuk! -- do not have it. The generics on their switch are different. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Syd Weinstein Subject: Latest 900 Scam Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 15:59:28 EST Reply-To: syd@dsi.com Well, an autodial computer just dialed every one of our trunks in order to advertise an 1-900 scam for 'a free hotel stay', of course its $5.00/minute on the 1-900 number if you call to claim, and it will take at least three minutes to claim. They gave a name, although I am sure its an alias, but does anyone know who owns 226 in the 900 exchange (ie what carrier). The machine was capable of dialing more than one number at once, as lines would ring before the preceeding one hung up. A real nusiance to watch every line in order ring. They just set the entire exchange to be dialed in sequence. Of course, what's neat is that 9900 is high enough that in most exchanges it used to be reserved for payphones. Such fun, such fun. Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator Datacomp Systems, Inc. Voice: (215) 947-9900 syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd FAX: (215) 938-0235 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Nov 90 11:52:23 EST From: Tom Streeter Subject: Copy of Videotape Wanted Several months ago at the Nat'l Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Atlanta, there were several panels featuring representatives from various RBOCs talking about their plans for broadband video delivery into the home. At one panel (which I unfortunately missed) a tape was shown which featured a demo of a proposed service. I think it was produced by Northern Telecom (but I could well be in error on that). It caused a bit of a stir among some broadcast station owners who were not really aware of the potential for such services. Does anyone have any info on how I could track down this tape (or others like it)? It would be helpful for a class I'm teaching next term. Tom Streeter streeter@uga.cc.uga.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: X.25 Software for PCs Running DOS or Xenix Reply-To: "Michael A. Shiels" Organization: MaS Network Software and Consulting Date: 10 Nov 90 08:39:57 EST (Sat) From: tmsoft!mshiels@uunet.uu.net In Montreal, Quebec, Canada there is a company called EICON technologies. They have a very good X.25 card and interface API. ------------------------------ From: Tony Goodloe Subject: Real-Time Information Over Networks Date: 9 Nov 90 16:06:59 GMT Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL I'm looking for reference works on doing things like voice and realtime data transmission over non-deterministic networks like ethernet. Anyone have any pointers? Thanks, Tony ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #807 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12499; 12 Nov 90 0:57 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa06525; 11 Nov 90 22:54 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14694; 11 Nov 90 21:49 CST Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 21:07:02 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #808 BCC: Message-ID: <9011112107.ab28151@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 11 Nov 90 21:06:30 CST Volume 10 : Issue 808 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson What Price, Cellular? [Larry Rachman] GTE Mobilnet Restricts International Dialing Nationwide [George Goble] Infra-Red and Lan Bridges [Andrew A. Beveridge] Is There a Listing of AT&T (Corporate) 800 Numbers? [Jeff Sicherman] A Phone Set Wiring Question [Dave W. Hamaker] CENTREX/10BaseT Conflict [Gene N. Cartier] Frank and Phunny Phone Call Tapes Wanted! [Mike Danseglio] AFRICOM-CCDC/91: Conference on Computer Communication [Pierre Laforgue] UTP-THIN Warning [John Kemp] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 09 Nov 90 07:00:25 EST From: Larry Rachman <74066.2004@compuserve.com> Subject: What Price, Cellular? In a recent issue of the Digest, John Higdon writes: >Much has been said concerning various cellular operators and what >appear to be outrageous charges. Quite honestly, most cellular charges >are way out of line. However, what you are seeing is the marketplace >at work. With all due respect, that's not how I see it. What I see is a government-imposed duopoly artificially driving prices up into the highest atmospheric layers. Sure, demand has been high, but that doesn't that usually drive prices down, not up? >At the moment I am roaming in the much-maligned LA area PacTel system. >These are the slimes who charge for call attempts even if it's the >system's fault that the call bombs. They charge roamers $0.70/min >during the day.. In suburban Long Island (NY), I'm paying $0.95/min during the day, when in HOME mode. I live near the north shore of Long Island; despite being five miles from the nearest cell site, I roam to Connecticut from my driveway. ("...we know about the problem, sir, but the Connecticut signal is stronger, there...) >But don't expect rates to come down any time soon. Those who find the >system convenient and helpful will use it; those who do not think the >charges are worth it will not. The providers are NOT hurting for >customers. When someone complains that the charges are outrageous, >he's right. I'll bet the rates would drop like a rock if the opportunity to provide service was opened up to more competition. These phones are getting down into the $300-$400 range even without the kickbacks; there's no technical reason why they shoudn't be as omnipresent as leather seats and air conditioning. They should be making life convenient and safe for the general population, not just the affluent (and us telecom hackers). Surely, new technology would make it possible to have a multitude of carriers in a given area. But could it be done with existing phones, by clever reconfiguration of the System ID, and Default Calling Channel? (I don't know; it is left as an exercise for the reader). Nearly every phone I've opened had the EPROM socketed. Of course this all presumes no *political* impediments, which may not be realistic. When you've invested several hundreds of millions of dollars cellular physical plant, and buying up other cellular companies (and licenses), you're not about to let go without a *protracted* legal battle. >And when he refuses to subscribe, that's natural selection >at work. Piffle! Its more like when a bunch of new homeowners petition for a moratorium on construction, to keep the 'rabble' out of the neighborhood. Larry Rachman, WA2BUX 74066.2004@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: George Goble Subject: GTE Mobilnet Restricts International Dialing Nationwide Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network Date: Wed, 7 Nov 90 15:14:47 GMT I received notice last month that GTE Mobilnet was dropping the ability to direct dial international calls from cell phones, even if you were roaming on somebody else's system. All they cited was rising "fraud". The notice said that operator made calls on credit card, etc. would still be possible though. What kind of "fraud" do you think is going on? I thought "bandit" roamers and all that were pretty well under control with "positive verification" now? The local switch engineers say that bandits can sometimes get one call off before being shutdown (maybe a long one?) All the local switch operators knew about the dialing restriction was that it was "national", and they were not given a reason other than what we got. Just think of all the scanner bait of people passing credit card numbers on voice now! This sounds far less secure to me, but "somebody else" gets stuck with the charges, not Mobilnet. ghg [Moerator's Note: The more I think about it, the more I realize what a good deal Ameritech Cellular is: very inexpensive rates and an excellent signal. Re international dialing on GTE, I suspect you will still be able to zero plus the calls through the desired carrier; i.e. 01 + overseas number + calling card number. While you can't fool all the phreaks all the time, translating the sounds of a card number being entered requires more effort than copying down with a pencil what you hear on the scanner when a subscriber passes the card number to an operator. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Friday, 9 Nov 1990 19:39:28 EST From: "Andrew A. Beveridge" Subject: Infra-Red and Lan Bridges Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center We are trying to connect our building to a campus Ethernet, which then goes on to TCP/IP. We cannot draw a cable under the street. (Or if we can it will take us ten years to find out.) The computer center is about 1/4 mile away. We understand the Infrared is the way to go. 1) What is the cost of such a set-up, and who would be a good vendor? 2) Can Infrared simultaneously handle voice (like from a bunch of phones for a PBX. We have priced one set-up out to around 18k. Plus a spare Laser Gun or whatever they are? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please E-mail me direct, and I will put up a summary. Andrew A. Beveridge Department of Sociology Queens College and Graduate Center City University of New York 209 Kissena Hall Flushing, NY 11367 718-520-7093 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Nov 90 21:04:05 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: List of AT&T (Corporate) 800 Numbers Wanted Having seen several AT&T 1-800 services mentioned in the Digest, is there a comprehensive list of all or most of them available anywhere ? Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ From: "Dave W. Hamaker" Subject: A Phone Set Wiring Question Date: 10 Nov 90 02:51:46 GMT Reply-To: "Dave W. Hamaker" Organization: The Wollongong Group, Palo Alto, CA I recently remodeled my home and, as a consequence, redid most of the inside wiring. Like many computer-oriented people, I have two phone lines: one for people to use, and one for modem connections. Since I now had four-wire cable going everywhere, I decided to put the modem line on the black-yellow pair connected to the outside modular jack connector pair of each jack intended for normal phone use (I wired separate jacks in the computer area). I expected single-line phones would ignore the yellow-black pair, unless rewired internally. I figured it might be useful to have the modem line available at all jacks, even though I didn't plan to take advantage of this. I was subsequently surprised to discover that one of my telephone sets, a standard-looking single-line touch-tone desk model purchased from the equipment-selling arm of my local telephone conglomerate (PAC*TEL and Pacific Telesis, respectively), would take both lines off hook when in use. It didn't seem to actually use the modem line; the person using that phone wouldn't hear what transpired on the modem line while it stayed off hook for the duration of the call. When I finally figured out what was going on, I opened up the phone set and disconnected the yellow-black wire pair. I wove the disconnected wires into the wire nest in the phone to keep them from flapping about and shorting something. I think I may buy a two-wire line cord and reconnect the wires so they are securely tied down again. While I've uncovered the reason for some occasional strangeness, and I've restored things to normal, I remain puzzled as to the why of the PAC*TEL phone. I thought one of our more expert readers might know. The phone seems to be made by COMDIAL and the black wire was connected to a terminal labeled "L1," while the yellow wire was connected to a terminal labeled "G." I can give more detailed info on the device if I know what to look for. Any ideas? Dave Hamaker dwh@twg.com ...!sun!amdahl!twg-ap!dwh ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 09:25:43 MST From: "Gene N. Cartier" Subject: CENTREX/10BaseT Conflict We are considering migrating one of our branch offices from an old NBI word processing system to a state-of-the-art system based on DEC 5000's running Ultrix and using X-Windows Terminals. The current environment uses one twisted pair in a six conductor sheath to support the NBI connection an additional pair is used to provide phone service via CENTREX from the telco. I have planned to support the new system using 802.3 using 10BaseT connections. The penny pinchers want me to use the existing wiring. This means that the 802.3 and CENTREX conductors will be in the same sheath. I remember reading somewhere that this is not a good idea because CENTREX ringing will poke holes in the data because of voltage differences. Even though it is more expensive I have recommended that we recable. Am I being an alarmist? Does anyone have any experience in this area and better yet can anyone provide me with some hard copy references that I can use to defend my position or ease my concerns. I'll consolidate all responses and post them. Thanks, Gene Cartier SRA CORP SRA@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (703) 558-7507 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Nov 90 07:46:06 EDT From: Mike Danseglio Subject: Frank and Phunny Phone Call Tapes Wanted! To anyone and everyone! I am in search of any copies (except the one I have!) of the 'Frank and the Phunny Phone Call' tapes. You remember, the ones where they victimized Francis J. Haynes up in Fairfax, Virginia? Someone(s) got onto his cable pair at his local green-box and connected him with various people and places. Sometimes his phone would ring, and sometimes they'd divert his outgoing phone calls to a third location (usually a Seven-Eleven!). The only one I have is an edited (deleted the dead-end calls and time-consuming dialings) First tape. From what I understand, there were at least three more editions. Anyone know where I can find them? P.S. Vinnie G.: if you're out there, send me mail NOW!!! Mike Danseglio BitNet: dansegli@ucf1vm Computer Services / I & R Support InterNet: dansegli@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu University of Central Florida UUCP: dansegli@bilver.UUCP [Moderator's Note: Some time ago we touched on this topic, of telephone pranks which harass innocent users. I still do not think it is funny, or phunny. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Pierre LAFORGUE Subject: AFRICOM-CCDC/91: Conference on Computer Communication Date: 9 Nov 90 17:27:37 GMT Reply-To: tuniscni!africom@uunet.uu.net Organization: IMAG Institute, University of Grenoble, France >From: belhadj%tuniscni@imag.fr (Belhadj Yahia Ezzedine) SCOPE AFRICOM-CCDC /91 is an international conference that will focus on computer communication technologies in the developing world. The aim of this conference is to report the progress achieved in these fields and to give participants the opportunity to explore the new horizons thus opened up to developing countries. It is not reserved for a specific category of attendee but is aimed at a diversified public of users, designers, researchers, planners and managers of information systems. TOPICS A) NETWORKS -Planning, network operation and managemnent, pricing policies. -Last-mile problems. -ISDN evolution, intelligent networks, academic and research networks. -High capacity networks. -Planning for the unexpected or disasterous, architectures and designs for risk managemnent in data and telecommunication networks. B) APPLICATIONS -Research and academic network applications. -Government networks -Corporate communications. -Banking, international trade, commercial partners. -Electronic data interchange(EDI). -Skills training requirements of specialists as well as of users in the field of communications. -International Cooperation in this field. C)TELEMATIC SERVICES AND MEDIA -Messaging and teleconference systems; the role of satellites. -Technical information networks. -Security, and impacts on development. Authors are invited to address one or more of the following issues of relevance to developing countries : cost effectiveness of technology, adaptation of existing communication networks, local manufacturing opportunities, standards, appropriate technologies and applications for developing countries, multi-language systems, education and training, socio-political issues... INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS Full papers (between 3000 and 8000 words should not have been published elsewhere and submitted in five copies). The first page should include the title of the communication, the author's (') full name, affiliation, address, telephone, telex and fax numbers, electronic mail and an abstract (200 words maximum). The conference organization will hold the copyright of accepted papers which will be published in the conference proceedings. IMPORTANT DATES Today Fill in and mail the enclosed reply form. 1st December 90 Deadline for the reception of papers by the programme committee chairman. 14 February 91 Notification of acceptance. 1st April 91 Deadline for the reception of final copy by the programme committee chairman. INFORMATION Centre National de l'Informatique 17,Rue belhassen ben chaabane 1005-El Omrane Tunis, TUNISIA Telex: 13904 CENINF - Fax: 781.862 E-mail: africom@tuniscni.uucp F.KAMOUN F.RACHDI Programme Committee Organizing Committee Chairman Chairman Phone # (216) 1 782.996 Phone # (216) 1 782.774 Pierre LAFORGUE laforgue@imag.Fr ------------------------------ From: John Kemp Subject: UTP-THIN Warning Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Fri, 9 Nov 90 21:12:11 GMT This is a warning if you are planning on installing an Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) repeater and using UTP-THIN transceivers to extend your network... UTP-THIN has problems with existing platforms !!! In particular, we have a Vaxstation 2000 in a Local Area Vaxcluster running the DECNET protocol that repeatedly drops and reestablish connections for up to a minute. And we have seen an IBM RS/6000 320 come up and subsequently lose it's connection network after a number of hours. The connection is never reestablished. Both machines worked fine on AUI-THIN repeater segments. Putting the IBM on an AUI-UTP transceiver appears to have corrected the problem. It should also be noted that two MacII's were on the same segment with the IBM when UTP-thin was being used. On the Vaxstation, it was the only station on the net. Various cable lengths were tried. Cable continuity was checked in both cases. Moral: don't count on UTP-THIN transceivers! If you do, you had damn well better try before you buy, and even then, if you add a different type of machine to the segment you may be hosed. Our system was a Plexnet repeater with Plexit 10baseT UTP-THIN transceivers. (Your mileage may vary. I am only speaking from painful experience.) You have been warned. john kemp internet - kemp@uiatma.atmos.uiuc.edu decnet - uiatmb::kemp univ of illinois bitnet - {uunet,convex} dept of atmos sci !uiucuxc!uiatma!kemp 105 s gregory ave phone - (217) 333-6881 urbana, il 61801 fax - (217) 444-4393 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #808 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13127; 12 Nov 90 1:35 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa00152; 11 Nov 90 23:58 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab06525; 11 Nov 90 22:54 CST Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 22:41:07 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #809 BCC: Message-ID: <9011112241.ab14231@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 11 Nov 90 22:40:57 CST Volume 10 : Issue 809 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users [Middlesex News via Adam M. Gaffin] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Tad Cook] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [John Higdon] Genie Star*Services [Jeff Sicherman] Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN [David Lemson] Re: British Telecom Special Service Codes [Tony Walton] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Adam M Gaffin Subject: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users Organization: The World Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 17:11:25 GMT Hi, Pat, You asked for it, so here goes :-) What follows is a news story and a column. Since the story ran, Prodigy restored the account of the "Prodigy Nine'' and then, a few days after that, pulled them again! The total number is actually now up to about 15. At least one of them also lost access to his checking account and there is a question about how these people can get what's left in their mailboxes. ---------- {Middlesex News}, Framingham, Mass., 11/2/90 Prodigy Pulls Plug on Electronic Mail Service For Some By Adam Gaffin NEWS STAFF WRITER Users of a national computer network vow to continue a protest against censorship and a new charge for electronic mail even though the company kicked them off-line this week. Brian Ek, spokesman for the network, Prodigy, said the ``handful'' of users had begun harassing other users and advertisers on the service and that some had even created programs ``to flood members' `mailboxes' with (thousands of) repeated and increasingly strident harangues,'' he said. But leaders of the protest say they sent only polite letters -- approved by the company's legal department -- using techniques taught by the company itself. Up to nine of them had their accounts pulled hips week. Protests began in September when the company said it would cut unlimited electronic mail from its monthly fee -- which includes such services as on-line airline reservations, weather and games -- and would charge 25 cents for every message above a monthly quota of 30. Ek says the design of the Prodigy network makes ``e-mail'' very expensive and that few users send more than 30 messages a month. But Penny Hay, the only organizer of the ``Cooperative Defense Committee'' whose account was not shut this week, said she and others are upset with Prodigy's ``bait and switch'' tactics: the company continues to promote ``free'' electronic mail as a major feature. She said Prodigy itself had spurred use of e-mail by encouraging subscribers to set up private e-mail ``lists'' rather than use public forums and that the charges will especially hurt families, because the quota is per household, not person. Ek said relatively few members protested the rate chqange. Gary Arlen, who publishes a newsletter about on-line services, called the controversy ''a tempest in a teapot.'' Hay, however, said the group now has the backing of nearly 19,000 Prodigy users -- the ones advertisers would want to see on-line because they are the most active ones on the system and so more likely to see their ads. The group is also upset with the way the company screens messages meant for public conferences. Other services allow users to see ``postings'' immediately. ``They are infamous for this unpredicible and unfathomable censorship,'' Hay said. ``We feel what we are doing is not censoring because what we are essentially doing is electronic publishing,'' Ek said, comparing the public messages to letters to the editor of a family newspaper. Neil Harris, marketing director at the competing GEnie service, said many people would feel intimidated knowing that what they write is being screened. He said GEnie only rarely has to deleted messages. And he said GEnie has picked up several thousand new customers from among disgruntled Prodigy users. ---------- "Conversations with Fred," {Middlesex News}, Framingham, 11/6/90. The story is bizarre but true, swears Herb Rothman. Seems Prodigy, the network run as a joint venture by Sears and IBM, wouldn't let somebody post a message in a coin-collecting forum that he was looking for a particular Roosevelt dime for his collection. Upset, the man called ``member services.'' The representative told him the message violated a Prodigy rule against mentioning another user in a public message. ``What user?'' the man asked. ``Roosevelt Dime,'' the rep replied. ``That's not a person!'' the man said. ``Yes he is, he's a halfback for the Chicago Bears,'' the rep shot back. Rothman is one of those alleged compu-terrorists Prodigy claims is harassing other users and companies that advertise on the service by sending out thousands upon thousands of increasingly hostile messages in protest of a Prodigy plan to begin charging users who send more than 30 e-mail messages a month. Rothman and the others say they sent very polite messages to people (Penny Hay of Los Angeles says her messages were even approved by the Prodigy legal department) telling them about the new fees and urging them to protest. What's really happening is that Prodigy is proving its complete arrogance and total lack of understanding of the dynamics of on-line communication. They just don't get it. People are NOT going to spend nearly $130 a year just to see the weather in Oregon or order trips to Hawaii. Even the computerphobes Prodigy wants to attract quickly learn the real value of the service is in finding new friends and holding intelligent "discussions'' with others across the country. But Prodigy blithely goes on censoring everything meant for public consumption, unlike other nationwide services (or even bulletin-board systems run out of some teenager's bedroom). Rothman's story is not the only one about capricious or just plain stupid censoring. Dog fanciers can't use the word ``bitch'' when talking about their pets, yet the service recently ran an advice column all about oral sex. One user who complained when a message commenting on the use of the term ``queen bitch'' on ``L.A. Law'' was not allowed on was told that ``queen b***h'' would be acceptable, because adults would know what it meant but the kiddies would be saved. So when the supposed technology illiterates Prodigy thinks make up its user base managed to get around this through the creation of private mail "lists'' (and, in fact, many did so at the urging of Prodigy itself!), Prodigy started complaining of "e-mail hogs,'' quietly announced plans to levy charges for more than a minute number of e-mail messages each month and finally, simply canceled the accounts of those who protested the loudest! And now we are watching history in the making, with the nation's first nationwide protest movement organized almost entirely by electronic mail (now don't tell Prodigy this, but all those people they kicked off quickly got back onto the system -- Prodogy allows up to six users per household account, and friends simply loaned their empty slots to the protest leaders). It's truly amazing how little faith Prodigy has in the ability of users to behave themselves. Other systems have "sysops'' to keep things in line, but rarely do they have to pull messages. Plus, Prodigy is just being plain dumb. Rothman now has a mailing list of about 1,500. That means every time he sends out one of his newsletters on collectibles, he sends 1,500 e-mail messages, which, yes, costs more for Prodigy to send over long-distance lines and store in its central computers. But if they realized their users are generally mature, rather than treating them as 4-year-olds, Rothman could post just one message in a public area, that everybody could see. Is this any way to run an on-line system? Does Prodigy really want to drive away the people most inclined to use the service -- and see all those ads that pop up at the bottom of the screen? Prodigy may soon have to do some accounting to the folks at IBM and Sears, who by most accounts have already poured at least $750 million into "this thing.'' -------------- With your computer and modem, you can reach Fred the Middlesex News Computer anytime, day or night, at (508) 872-8461. Set your parameters to 8-1-N and up to 2400 baud. [Moderator's Note: Thank you very much, Adam, for sharing these items with us. Please keep us posted if further information goes in your paper. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service From: tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) Date: 11 Nov 90 02:53:02 GMT In article <14478@accuvax.nwu.edu>, TELECOM Moderator notes: > [Moderator's Note: I'm hearing some bad news about Prodigy lately. So > 'they' say, several users recently were summarily evicted from the > service after they sent email to other users criticizing the service's > plan to begin charging for 'excessive' amounts of email. Does anyone > have any details on this? PAT] The {Wall Street Journal} has had several articles concerning Prodigy recently. Apparently there was an outcry when the "moderators" at Prodigy started deleting postings on controversial topics. They said it was a "family" type service, and I imagine they wanted to avoid the kind of flamewars that have developed elsewhere. So when the deletions were criticized, their response was that users could still email whatever they wanted to each other. Of course, this is not the same as posting to a public forum. At the time they announced that, there were no email charges. Then recently they started charging for email. When a number of people started questioning this, they found themselves cut off from the network. It should be interesting to see how this develops. Remember that when you post to a Prodigy, it may SEEM like a public forum ... but it is actually controlled by IBM and Sears. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 11 Nov 90 12:46:44 PST (Sun) From: John Higdon Today's {SJ Mercury} had a scathing editorial on Prodigy and also included a concise cronology of events leading up to the latest fracus. Some time back, the service had a version of "newsgroups". There arose some spirited discussions and debates between religious fundamentalists and gay people. You know, the stuff that you see debated ad nauseum on TV. The Prodigy czars decided that this would be offensive to their reference "little old lady from Pasadena" and pulled the plug on the discussion group. The enterprizing users discovered a way around this and a way to keep the discussion away from the Prodigy censors. They formed "mailing lists" (a la TELECOM Digest) using the e-mail service of the system. When the Prodigy dweebs discovered this, they broke their "flat rate promise" and announced the charging of $0.25 for each message over thirty in any given month. Conveniently, this would only affect the "mailing list" people. When the mailing lists started buzzing with discussion of this latest outrage, the Prodigy morons started pulling the plug on users. Users hinted that a boycott of Prodigy advertisers might be in order, and things really got nasty. "We're not going to post something designed to destroy our business." Users who mentioned "boycott" got their accounts pulled. Prodigy gestapo have repeatedly said that the service is a private business. It is their toy and they will play with it any way they like. Apparently, they have decided that it is to be an online shopping service and nothing else. And from what I've read, it is inferior to simply using a catalog's 800 number (as least it's more expensive, if not slower). If this is "what the PC was invented for", then you can take PCs and... I have a question: is it true that the Prodigy interface doesn't allow any of the material that comes in online to be printed or saved as files? If this is the case, then what ever benefits over and above an online "shopping channel" the system may possess would be pretty well negated. I ask this after having just seen a Prodigy commercial that touts an online encyclopedia. If you can't print anything, then I would assume that you would have to have an awfully good memory or be able to write fast. Is it all as bogus as it appears? Do you "really gotta get this thing"? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 13:49:37 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Genie Star*Services Since Prodigy has come up recently in the Digest, does anybody have any experience with the new Genie Star*Services - a $4.95/mo flat rate competitor to Prodigy. Offers a subset of regular Genie services (email specifically excluded as yet, I believe). Besides being cheaper I'm considering recommending it because of the speed considerations: none of the graphics that slows down Prodigy and would like to hear about actual comparisons. Jeff Sicherman jajz801@calstate.bitnet ------------------------------ From: David Lemson Subject: Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 05:30:13 GMT arnold%audiofax.com@mathcs.emory.edu (Arnold Robbins) writes: >In article <14447@accuvax.nwu.edu> holos0!wdh@gatech.edu (Weaver >Hickerson) writes: >>I'm interested in finding what types, if any, of AT bus hardware is >>available/in the works for ISDN, as well as simply learning more about >>the service. >At SuperComm '90 this past spring, AT&T had a huge "booth". One of >the things they showed was an ISDN card for the AT bus. So, I know it >exists. I remember seeing on Hayes (the modem people) 800 BBS an announcement for their new ISDN Card. It was going to have full "narrowband" (read: present 'standard') ISDN compatibility, and should have been introduced by now. I believe the number to Hayes' BBS is (was?) 800-US-HAYES. Perhaps someone from Hayes reads this and will comment on a confirmation, price, etc. David E. Lemson UofI Computing Svcs Student Consultant Internet : lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu University of Illinois, Urbana ------------------------------ From: Tony Walton Subject: Re: British Telecom Special Service Codes Date: 11 Nov 90 03:02:56 GMT Organization: Olivetti Systems & Networks Ltd, U.K. clive@x.co.uk (Clive Feather) writes: >I recently took up a free trial of some of British Telecom "Star >Services". I was sent two manuals, one for "System X" (the local >exchange equipment), and one for the AXE 10 (a.k.a "System Y") (which How on earth did you get hold of this? It took me about three weeks to convince my local BT "service" centre that my local exchange (081 446) had become digital. A couple of weeks later they (grudgingly) let me have a leaflet which mentioned "Charge Advice" and "Reminder Calls" as being "free" (ie no extra rental). It did not, however, give details of the codes needed to access these services. A few calls later I found an operator who had heard of *55* and the *40* / *411# services (reminder calls and charge advice calls). Unfortunately no-one mentioned *56* (repeated reminder) - this explains the "spurious" reminder calls I've been getting ever since I played about with the star services and which BT have been unable to explain :-( >This table gives all the codes listed in the manuals. This is exactly what I have been trying to wrench from BT for several months now. Thanks, Clive. Has anybody any idea why BT seem so loath to release any information about the services which they offer? As I recall their leaflet made no reference to call barring (I may be wrong here - I don't have the leaflet handy). [Moderator's Note: Is BT a lot like the American telcos in this respect, that they try to keep their customers from speaking directly with anyone who actually knows anything? Here in the States, it is a very fortunate subscriber indeed who can get past the several layers of supervision in the Business Office and speak with an actual technician or central office person. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #809 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14098; 12 Nov 90 2:36 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa15099; 12 Nov 90 1:03 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab00152; 11 Nov 90 23:58 CST Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 23:32:24 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #810 BCC: Message-ID: <9011112332.ab24975@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 11 Nov 90 23:32:14 CST Volume 10 : Issue 810 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards [Brian Gordon] Re: A New Type of 976 Fraud [Tad Cook] Re: Copy of Videotape Wanted [John Higdon] Re: Who Owns 800-878? [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed [David Lesher] Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets [Tim Pozar] Re: DTMF Decoder Wanted (or Chips/Schematics) [John Murray] Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group [John Higdon] Re: Call-Waiting Disable [Roy M. Silvernail] Re: Call-Waiting Disable [George Pell] Re: Call-Waiting Disable [halcyon!ralphs@sumax.seattleu.edu] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Brian Gordon Subject: Re: Multi-Line Voicemail Boards Date: 11 Nov 90 04:58:09 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. I don't remember ever seeing info on phone/voicemail stuff for a Mac. Does such a beast exist? Is the Mac (e.g. Mac II) alive in the telecommunications world? Brian G. Gordon briang@Sun.COM (if you trust exotic mailers) ...!sun!briangordon (if you route it yourself) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: A New Type of 976 Fraud From: tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) Date: 11 Nov 90 03:04:36 GMT In article <14494@accuvax.nwu.edu>, dbw@crash.cts.com (David B. Whiteman) writes: > Well today a group of pagers, all of them with phone numbers in > sequential order were each beeped with the message to call a 976 > number. Obviously, a 976 company just autodialled the pager exchange. Sounds like the antics of some jokester, rather than fraud by a 976 "information provider." I'll bet if you look into this, you'll find that the number is for "Call me ... I'm Michelle." Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Copy of Videotape Wanted Date: 11 Nov 90 11:19:54 PST (Sun) From: John Higdon Tom Streeter writes: > Several months ago at the Nat'l Association of Broadcasters (NAB) > convention in Atlanta, there were several panels featuring > representatives from various RBOCs talking about their plans for > broadband video delivery into the home. Unfortunately, I don't have the info you want, but I'm glad you brought this up. Coincidently, a number of us have been subjected to the self-serving arguments from both the RBOCs and the Cable Clowns. An insert in the Falcon Cable bill (Victorville) decried the possibility of allowing telcos to carry video to homes. The gist was that if they were allowed a foot in the door, then they would put the valient traditional cable companies out of business and then would jack up rates. While there may be a shred of truth here, no cable company that I have seen has a whole lot of room to talk about "value". Most of them have removed the "import" channels (remember why we used to subscribe to cable?) and replaced them with stuff off the satelite that they either get paid to carry or can charge subscribers to view. At night, these channels carry one "infomercial" after another. So does broadcast TV, but we'll talk about the demise of broadcasting slime some other day. In essence, cable TV has a soft, cushy racket. The quality of service is steadily going down and the price is going up. Why would they be motivated to have it any other way? Most of the audience is captive. On the other side of the aisle, there is the spectre of cable companies (and others) supplying dial tone. RBOCs are so terrified of this that they won't even admit publically that this is possible. If this could come about, then maybe stodgy Pac*Bell could get a kick in the posterior. While Patrick is talking about nailing nuisance callers with '*69', we in Pac*Belland are lucky to get dial tone off of 35 year-old crossbar switches. Ironically, I just came back from the rural desert area that is served by Contel -- and digital switches loaded with features and services. GTE will put an end to that soon. This is not to mention all of the currently self-serving tarrifs that are in place. I have been informed that there are no more pairs currently available to get additional lines into my home. Could it be delivered on T1? Sure, but it would cost $300/month PLUS all of the normal phone charges. What? Use two pairs to do the work of fourteen, saving all that EXPENSIVE copper, and the customer has to pay for it? It is fascinating to watch these two players go at it. Each is capable of providing the service of the other but regulations currently stand in the way. Wouldn't it be fun to watch telcos and cable companies go toe to toe? Things could be a lot better -- in both arenas! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: It sounds to me like you are wishing a plague on both their houses! :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 11-NOV-1990 04:52:19.27 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: Who Owns 800-878? [In response to Dean Riddlebarger's question as to what company owns 800-878...] Dean- I think it is Allnet. I called 800-878-9970 (-99xx is USUALLY not used in many 800 prefixes), and heard the recording saying that the number was not in service. Normally, I can tell from the message which company operates the 800 prefix, especially if it is Sprint or MCI. They seem to use the same voices and styles of recordings for their 800 services as they do for their regular long distance service. This time, I wasn't sure, but fortunately they had a number to call for Customer Service. A call to the number resulted in "You have reached Allnet customer service...". So the company that provides the actual LD service is probably Allnet; I'm not sure if Allnet "owns" that prefix or just services it for some call- aggregator (for lack of a better term) type outfit that deals in 800 numbers...(ARE there such things?) It took a really long time to connect, and my switch (1ESS) didn't "click" for about seven seconds after I dialed the last digit of the 800 number, which is usually a good indicator that you are not using an AT&T 800 number. (AT&T 800's "click" right away - the "other" ones seem to take a lot longer just to get out of my local switch...). Hope this helps ! Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu drueben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: Wrong Number Suggestions Needed Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 8:14:12 EST Reply-To: David Lesher Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers David Tamkin writes: |"If you have a problem and want BETTER service, call J .C. Penney at |xxx.xxxx" |Followed, after a modestly long pause, by some suitable message for |callers to Dave or Dan. When Carterphone first hit, lots of garbage answering machines showed up all at one. [Come to think of it, there STILL are lots of garbage -- but I digress] Well it seem that the local rep. for one of the International Record Carriers (those folks that carry intl. Telex, telegrams, etc, traffic) called up his competitor and got an answering machine. Hmmmm, what's this? What neat things does it do? For MANY weeks afterwards, Company A's OGM said: We're busy, call Company B I do not imagine that *that* machine was used for long ;-} wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (305) 255-RTFM ------------------------------ From: Tim Pozar Subject: Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets Date: 11 Nov 90 20:32:03 GMT Reply-To: Tim Pozar Organization: Late Night Software (San Francisco) In article <14551@accuvax.nwu.edu> rees@citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) writes: >I've used electrician's terms here. Telephones are actually balanced >line, so there isn't that big a distinction between tip and ring, at >least not at the subscriber's end. Other than battery polarity? Some sets will not power the DTMF encoder unless they are wired in the proper polarity. Tim uunet!hoptoad!kumr!pozar Fido: 1:125/555 PaBell: (415) 788-3904 USNail: KKSF-FM / 77 Maiden Lane / San Francisco CA 94108 ------------------------------ From: John Murray Subject: Re: DTMF Decoder Wanted (or Chips/Schematics) Date: 12 Nov 90 00:22:13 GMT Organization: SCRI, Florida State University In article <14411@accuvax.nwu.edu>, BRUCE@ccavax.camb.com (Barton F. Bruce) writes: > If you are just tinkering, go to Radio Shack. They have TT decode > chips, but are hardly where you need to go if you are going to make a > product. In article <14544@accuvax.nwu.edu> tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) writes: >Radio Shack no longer carries the SSI DTMF receiver. But you can >contact SSI directly at 714-731-7110. Or you can get Teltone's DTMF >receiver from them at 206-827-9626. Hmm ... check your local Radio Schlocks anyway! Just today I saw three or four1 of the DTMF decoder chips on the clearance racks in a local Schlock for, oh, 4.95 or so (the original price was a little above $10.00). Disclaimer: Any opinions above (or below) have nothing to do with reality. John R. Murray murray@vsjrm.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Research Inst. ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Logistics of Setting up a Modem Hunt Group Date: 10 Nov 90 20:19:49 PST (Sat) From: John Higdon James Deibele writes: > Or that's what GTE tells me this time. I think I'll call > back and talk to one or two more people to make sure that's correct. > It would be nice if there was a "wizard" number that you could call > and find out whether something was technically feasible or not. Even if GTE set up a "wizard" line, the information that would be dispensed would be misleading, harmful, and just plain wrong. As you have already discovered, the temptation with GTE is to use the "mass action" theory which holds that if you make enough inquiries and average the responses, the answer that emerges will approach the truth as the number of attempts approaches infinity. Not true. It is a bad theory when applied to GTE. It is likely that NONE of the responses obtained from GTE personel bear any resemblance to reality. From personal experience it is possible to say that if you want to determine anything about GTE's system, you will have to use a back door approach. It is necessary to befriend a sympathetic employee who will give you the straight poop. But it is a one-shot affair; usually such a person goes on to work for a real company before you get a chance to pick his brain again. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Call-Waiting Disable From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 12:40:36 CST Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN SABAHE@macalstr.edu (Arun Baheti ) writes: > I'm having trouble disabling the call waiting feature in the Twin > Cities area. While the standard methods (*70 and 1170) are listed in > the phone book, and the phone company claims vehmently that these > methods will work, I continue to receive "call not completed" messages > whenever I try. The normal methods work in SoCal (Pac*Tel), so I am > beginning to wonder ... Does anyone else have experience with the Twin > Cities system? I think I qualify. The line I use (which actually belongs to a roommate, else the damnable feature wouldn't be there at all) has Call-Waiting. It is indeed 100% fatal to a modem connection. I have no problem, though, disabling it with *70. In fact, my outbound UUCP poll batch file can be told whether or not the poll is 'nukeable' and will select the dialing prefix accordingly. Pat's note is timely ... do you _actually_ have Call-Waiting on your line? (i.e. have you ever been C-W beeped during a conversation?) If you are simply losing modem connections, perhaps the problem lies elsewhere. Roy M. Silvernail now available at: cybrspc!roy@cs.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: George Pell Subject: Re: Call-Waiting Disable Date: 11 Nov 90 19:54:19 GMT Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or. In article <14557@accuvax.nwu.edu> SABAHE@macalstr.edu (Arun Baheti ) writes: +I'm having trouble disabling the call waiting feature in the Twin +Cities area. +[Moderator's Note: Two assumptions are in order: (1) You *do* have +Call Waiting on the line in question (not just 'think you do'), and +(2) the serving CO is equipped with the proper generics. Actually, there is one more assumption to be made, and that is that disable call waiting is included in your call waiting package. This is not the case with GTE here in the Pacific Northwest. I have to pay $1 a month extra for Cancel Call Waiting. geo ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Call-Waiting Disable From: halcyon!ralphs@sumax.seattleu.edu Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 19:49:32 PST Organization: The 23:00 News Here's a toy for those systems that can't get call-waiting to disable. Feel free to hack on this (I was always one for taking the hardest path to a solution): 1 ' 2 'CW.BAS 5 'This short program solves the problem of call waiting interrupting 6 'a communications session. Just run this before your communcations 7 'program. It remains in effect until you reset your Hayes Smartmodem. 8 ' 10 'NOTE: I think I found this on CompuServe quite a while ago. 11 'Submitted by ralphs@halcyon.uucp with absolutely no gurantees. 12 'Keep flames at home. Check your smoke detector. 13 ' 30 COLOR 15,9 31 CLS:LOCATE 12,18 32 PRINT CHR$(7);"Setting Hayes Smartmodem 1200 for Call Waiting" 35 OUT 1020,4:GOSUB 110:OUT 1020,3:GOSUB 110 40 OPEN "COM1:1200,N,8,1,DS" AS #1:GOSUB 110 50 MSG$="ATS10=100"+CHR$(13):GOSUB 100:GOSUB 110 70 CLOSE 71 LOCATE 12,1:PRINT SPACE$(80) 72 LOCATE 12,22:PRINT CHR$(7);"Now execute comm program" 80 SYSTEM 100 FOR X=1 TO LEN(MSG$):PRINT #1,MID$(MSG$,X,1);:NEXT 110 FOR X=1 TO 1500:NEXT 120 RETURN 125 ' 130 ' Line 35: Port 1020 (3FC) is the MCR (Modem Control Register). The 131 ' bits are described on page 6-9 of the Hayes Smartmodem 132 ' 1200 manual. First CALLWAIT sends a 4, which enables the 133 ' interrupt line drivers, and allows the UART to interrupt 134 ' the controller. If there are any problems with the serial 135 ' port, this command should generate some kind of error. 136 ' OUT 1020,3 will reset the modem and is equivalent to 137 ' power off/power on. This must be held for at least 50 ms. 138 ' This is done using the timing loop at line 110. 139 ' 140 ' Line 40: Open the COM1 port for 1200 baud, no parity and 8 bit words 141 ' using buffer #1. 142 ' 143 ' Line 50: Sends a command to the modem. The AT is the ATtention code, 144 ' which must precede all modem commands. The S10=100 is 145 ' described on page 6-7 of the manual. It allows the carrier 146 ' signal to momentarily disappear. The S10=100 sets the time 147 ' interval for which the carrier may be lost. This interval 148 ' is adjustable in tenths of a second. [Moderator's Note: This of course simply sets one of the S Registers to a longer time out value ... long enough that the call waiting tone won't disconnect you, although it may very well damage the data getting transferred at the same moment. The other hangup (pun intended) is how do you get the *other end* to hang around for those milliseconds while you are gone? In the situation where this program would be the most helpful -- calling a BBS -- wouldn't the sysop of that board have to have the modem on that end likewise adjusted before the adjustment on your end would be of any real help? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #810 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15390; 12 Nov 90 3:38 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac18823; 12 Nov 90 2:08 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab15099; 12 Nov 90 1:03 CST Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 0:48:11 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #811 BCC: Message-ID: <9011120048.ab10291@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Nov 90 00:47:59 CST Volume 10 : Issue 811 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: 911 Botch-up in Detroit [John Palmer] NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission [Link Letter, via John Palmer] Re: CALL FOR VOTES: comp.dcom.fax [Ofer Inbar] Re: More on MCI Mail Rate Increase [Steve Forrette] Re: $4 Per Day Roaming Charge [Steve Forrette] Cellular Sleaze [Jack Winslade] *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [Andrew M. Boardman] Need Help With Scheduling Software [Christine Paustian] N00 Exchanges, Anywhere? [Steve Kass] Routing and Termination Algorithms [Anthony Lee] What a Combination! [Toby Gottfried] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cat@tygra.ddmi.com (CAT-TALK Maint. Account) Subject: Re: 911 Botch-up in Detroit Date: 11 Nov 90 14:13:46 GMT Reply-To: jpp@tygra.ddmi.com (John Palmer) Organization: CAT-TALK Conferencing Network, Detroit, MI In article <14512@accuvax.nwu.edu> sander@anet.ann-arbor.mi.us (Sander J. Rabinowitz) writes: "An Associated Press report mentioned an incident in Detroit where a "girl (age 7) phoned 911 to report that her brother was being beaten. "She was told by a 911 operator to "get off the phone" and her call was "basically ignored. The operator's insistence that the girl hang up "interfered with the girl's pleadings for assistance. Detroit 911 has been very helpful and quick during the times that I had to call them (the guy next door is a drunk who was thrown out of his house by his wife. Every now and then he comes back, waving a gun at her and threatening to kill her and her two children). "(2) I don't believe Detroit's 911 system is one where the caller's "address is automatically relayed to the dispatcher -- in other words, "the caller would be required to calmly relay his/her location to the "operator. False. The Detroit 911 system has full ANI capabilities. When a call comes in, the address of the calling number is displayed on the operators CRT. Both times when I have called, the operator has said "so the trouble is one house north of " without me saying a thing. "(3) (Disclaimer: This point is mostly speculative, but I don't believe "it's way off the mark) I think it would be safe to say that Detroit is "understaffed across the board insofar as emergency personnel is "concerned, and that the problem extends to 911 operators. That's probably true. King Coleman (Young) likes to divert funds to other more important areas like building more convention space downtown. (By the way -- ignore the recent ABC broadcast which depicted Detroit as a wasteland. It is yellow journalism at its worst. We have a few political bad apples to get rid of, but the city is much nicer than some other cities like NYC, LA and Chicago). ------------------------------ From: cat@tygra.ddmi.com (CAT-TALK Maint. Account) Subject: NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission Date: 11 Nov 90 15:03:34 GMT Reply-To: cat@tygra.UUCP (CAT-TALK Maint. Account) Organization: CAT-TALK Conferencing Network, Detroit, MI In article <14555@accuvax.nwu.edu> roeber@cithe2.cithep.caltech.edu (Frederick Roeber) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 807, Message 6 of 12 "It has been mentioned that recently much transatlantic computer "traffic has been routed via satellite because of a broken undersea "cable. [questions about Internet links overseas] The following article appeared in the U-M Computing Center News (October 25, 1990, V 5, No 18, Pg 10) ----------------------- NSFNET DEMONSTRATES INTERCONTINENTAL ISO TRANSMISSION [Editor's note: The following article is reprinted, with modifications, from the September 1990 issue of the Link Letter (Vol 3, No 4), published by the Merit/NSFNET backbone project] At the end of September, partners in the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) announced a succesful demonstration of intercontinental data transmission using the International Standards Organization Conectionless Network Protocol (ISO CLNP). The international exchange of ISO CLNP packets was demonstrated betweeen end systems at the NSFNET Network Operations Center in Ann Arbor and in Bonn, West Germany, using the NSFNET backbone infrastructure and the European Academic Supercomputer Initiative (EASInet) backbone. The prototype OSI (this, I think is a typo - it should be ISO) implementation is intended to provide wide area connectivity between OSI networks, including networks using the DECNet Phase V protocols. The new software was integrated into the NSFNET's "packet switching" (data transmission) nodes by David Katz and Susan Hares of the Merit Computer Network, with support from IBM's software developement departments in Milford, CT and Yorktown Heights, NY. NSFNET is the first federally supported computer network to acheive international ISO CLNP transmission on an operating network, according to Merit's Hans-Werner Braun, Principle Investigator for the NSFNET Project. The Prototype ISO implementation is being designed to coexist with NSFNET's operational Internet Protocol (IP) network, and is a significant step towards offering OSI services on the NSFNET backbone. Eric Aupperle, President of Merit and acting director of ITD Network Systems, says that "the demonstration shows that we're capable of transporting OSI traffic. Now we're working to deploy this experimental service as fast as possible." An implementation of CLNP was first demonstrated by Merit/NSFNET staff at the InterOp '89 conference. That implementation of CLNP was originally developed as part of the ARGO project at the University of Wisconsin, Madision, with the support of the IBM Corporation. by Ken Horning DTD Network Systems. ------------------------------ From: Ofer Inbar Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTES: comp.dcom.fax Date: 12 Nov 90 04:25:46 GMT Organization: Brandeis University Computer Science Dept Just a note to people considering voting on this: This is not an official vote as per Usenet guidelines, since the CFD and CFV did not appear in news.announce.newgroups; consequently, you will find that it will likely get low propogation. Also, it will make things more confusing if someone later tries to create this group 'officially'. Whether or not you like the guidelines, realize that there are newsadmins who will not create an 'unofficial' newsgroup. So you might want to forget this and start over again with a CFD, this time in news.announce.newgroups as well as here. Yes, I know, there was an official CFD a while back, but the poster withdrew it and it has long since expired anyway, without vote. Cos (Ofer Inbar) -- cos@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu WBRS (BRiS) -- WBRS@binah.cc.brandeis.edu WBRS@brandeis.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 03:11:32 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: More On MCI Mail Rate Increase Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <14334@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon writes: >Microsoft is a company that could probably have all of its phones >disconnected and not suffer a reduction in communication capabiltiy. John, you may be interested to know that Microsoft's LEC is GTE! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 12:50:42 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: $4 Per Day Roaming Charge Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <14378@accuvax.nwu.edu> you write: >What about roaming in foriegn countries (HK in particular)? I remember a few months back that someone posted an article about foreign roaming, and that one of the systems in Hong Kong was compatible with the North American standard. All you needed was a credit card for billing, and you were set! [Moderator's Note: I think the expert on this would probably be John Covert. He has written before about cell phone use in Germany. Maybe he can add to this thread. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Nov 90 19:46:25 EST From: Jack Winslade Subject: Cellular Sleaze Reply-to: Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha, Ne. 402-896-3537 I'm writing this primarily to the rep's of the various cellular operators I've seen in this conference lately, although I would like to share the comments with all. In article <14280@accuvax.nwu.edu>, (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: >Wouldn't they make more money in the long run by encouraging the cell >phone to be used as often as possible, rather than tacking on charges >that tend discourage use? In article <2.273BB2E3@iugate.UUCP> (Jim Rees) writes: > But the people who set cell phone rates don't have much incentive > to lower rates, especially when they enjoy a duopoly ... companies > are so sleazy that I would rather not have to deal with them. Not are they only getting the same reputation (here) as AOS services and COCOT owners, but in the consumer world, they are being put in the same class (spelled sleezoid) as streetcorner 'credit' car lots and late-night 'infomercials'. (Cellular operators, are you still listening ??) Contrary to what industry people may think, consumers ARE noticing such things as: o Nonuniform rate structures. Some people seem to get reasonable rates, others (more like the norm) pay through the nose. Often times Mr. Joe Consumer pays more than businesses do, kind of the reverse of hard-wired telco pricing. Rates vary considerably even for the same service from the same vendor. It's often times 'who you know' that will get you a good rate. o Unbundling of charges and nickle-diming. Contrary to the fact that yes, it may USE certain resources, since day one, it's been CUSTOMARY in the telephone industry NOT to charge for such things as busy signals, no-answers, call setup time, etc. People do not mind paying a fair price for services rendered, but they do object to such drek as double airtime for 3-way calls, airtime for forwarded calls, extortive (and double-billing of) roamer charges. o Mass-marketing and kickback schemes using almost any dealer who has a pulse. One Omaha tire dealership now throws in a free cellular phone with the purchase of four new tires. Of course they do not mention the service commitment and non-bargain airtime pricing until they have to. This does not do any good for the image of the industry. The bottom line is that if the cellular industry does not clean up its act voluntarily, consumers will start demanding that the industry will become regulated to one degree or another. I don't think any of the cellular operators want that. Good Day! JSW [1:285/666@fidonet] DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Jack.Winslade@f2.n285.z1.fidonet.org [Moderator's Note: On the other hand, telcos have never had uniform local rates; they have recently been unbundling their charges with the 'nickle and dime' approach; and they have been pushing their new feature services heavily -- to the extent that in Chicago at least, about half the time there is no installation fee for any of the Custom Calling features, just to get people signed up as quickly as possible. With telco also, what you know detirmines many times what you pay. So why should the cellular companies be different? And unlike the telco, where they come one to a community with little or no choice in the matter for John Consumer, at least the cell operators come in twos and the consumer has 'twice as much' choice among them. I'd look for the day to come when telco begins charging for incomplete call attempts just like some of the cell guys do now, saying it uses up resources to attempt to make the connection, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 04:40:24 EST From: "Andrew M. Boardman" Subject: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? There are all sorts of methods these days for maintaining IP connections over dialup lines, so the idea has been raised of normally dialled calls as an alternative to leased lines, i.e., just making one "permanent" phone call for one's connection. If one utilises untimed service of some sort, the economic advantage in enormous. My questions: - What would one's local phone company think of this? - In the expected case that they aren't too fond of losing out on the megabucks for a leased line, do they have legal ground telling you to stop? - Since some uucp sites have so much traffic that they can spend days on one call anyway, has anyone ever heard of previous telco complaints in this area? ------------------------------ From: ckp@cup.portal.com Subject: Need Help With Scheduling Software Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 06:30:50 PST Has anyone had any experience with a scheduler for ACD staff that is both effective and efficient? The product we are currently struggling with is called NAMES-10, it's an MS-DOS based package marketed by AT&T. It's extremely difficult to use and our supervisory staff spends an excessive amount of time attempting to get it to meet our needs. We have a situation here where the tail (software) is wagging the dog (organization). Any and all recommendations are welcome. Within reason, money is no issue at this point in time. We need something that will help us cover our volumes effectively, without dooming our supervisors to endless attempts to 'fool' the system into meeting our needs. Many thanks. Christine ckp@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 19:51 EDT From: Subject: N00 Exchanges, Anywhere? Are the N00 prefixes used anywhere in the US? I get quite a variety of messages from NJ Bell territory when I dial them. Here's a summary: 200-xxxx : "The number you have reached, two-oh-oh-ex-ex-ex-ex, is being checked for trouble. Please try your call again later." 300-xxxx : "We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is not in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again." (rings before message) 400 to 600: "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialled. Please check the number and call again." (interrupts after 3 digits) 700-xxxx : "We're sorry. You must first dial a 1 when calling this number. (800,900) Will you please hang up and try your call again." (Rings right after seventh digit is dialled. 1+ is not necessary within area code 201, but this makes a bit of sense.) 1-700-xxxx :"We're sorry. Your call did not go through. Will you please try your call again?" (Probably waiting for 11 digits) Steve Kass -- Dept of Math and CS -- Drew U -- Madison NJ 07940 -- 2014083614 ------------------------------ From: Anthony Lee Subject: Routing and Termination Algorithms Date: 12 Nov 90 04:08:14 GMT Reply-To: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au Could someone please explain the following routing and termination algorithms ? 1. Hunting, 2. bridging, 3. coverage, 4. least-cost routing. Are there others? Anthony Lee ACSnet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz TEL:+(61)-7-371-2651 Internet: anthony@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au +(61)-7-377-4139 (w) SNAIL: Dept Comp. Science, University of Qld, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Nov 90 17:27:06 pst From: Toby Gottfried Subject: What a Combination! Quoted from the Government pages of a local telephone directory: "CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES Congressional 24-Hour Voice Mail Service 2 Dollars Per Minute There is a Charge to Dial This Number ...... 900 740-3030" (followed by local office listings for area Representatives) No further comment. Toby Gottfried FileNet Corp ...!hplabs!felix!toby Costa Mesa, CA ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #811 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06109; 13 Nov 90 1:47 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa00284; 13 Nov 90 0:22 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa12963; 12 Nov 90 23:16 CST Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 22:28:09 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #812 BCC: Message-ID: <9011122228.ab11259@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Nov 90 22:28:00 CST Volume 10 : Issue 812 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users [John Higdon] Re: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users [Lou Judice] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Michael Graff] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Paul Jonathan Estalilla Go] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [akcs@ddsw1.mcs.com] Re: GEnie Star*Services [David Tamkin] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users Date: 12 Nov 90 00:48:52 PST (Mon) From: John Higdon Adam M Gaffin most correctly enscribes: > What's really happening is that Prodigy is proving its complete > arrogance and total lack of understanding of the dynamics of on-line > communication. They just don't get it. People are NOT going to spend > nearly $130 a year just to see the weather in Oregon or order trips to > Hawaii. > Even the computerphobes Prodigy wants to attract quickly learn the > real value of the service is in finding new friends and holding > intelligent "discussions'' with others across the country. Amen and Amen. Some years ago, when I had divested myself of the nightmare called Interconnect Telecommunications Systems (don't ask -- but some will anyway), I decided to get back into "computing". It had been some years since the Altairs and Imsais had been relegated to the garage for the purpose of dust collecting. It was necessary to go "au currant", and an IBM PC clone was obtained which sported a gold plate Hayes 1200 bps internal modem. Packed with the modem was the obligatory Compuserve intro package. I bit. Got my account going and after a number of months of playing with OAG, "weather in Oregon", and endless reading of news articles from the St. Louis somethingorother, discovered e-mail and discussion groups. And then I discovered CHARGES. You know, those which occur when you stay connected for long periods. But I had learned something: the real fun of connectivity was communicating with people--friends, strangers with common interests, even strangers that would like to string you up by your thumbs. But sitting online with the clock ticking seemed most inefficient. Then some friends introduced me to UNIX, and the rest, as they say, is history. For the free-wheeling, uncensored, internationally distributed, fully gatewayed, fast, and unmeasured Internet, the price of admission is a system, the software and a friendly (or several friendly) local business(es) who has a gigantic VAX or some such who enjoys being connected to smaller sites. No per-message charges. No censoring of news submissions (Moderation is not censorship). No advertising. Just mostly responsible people who can share ideas. But this is not the purpose of Prodigy. The purpose of Prodigy is to sell computers, products, services, and itself. The interaction of subscribers is not only secondary, but probably undesirable to those in charge. Other than the graphics (and the apparently restrictive interface), what would Prodigy offer over, say, Compuserve? Many banks offer online banking direct without a third party. OAG is available as a separate subscription. Games are available from many sources. Anyone who operates a computer network that aspires to greatness will have to remember that the real goal is communication. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 08:14:50 PST From: Peripheral Visionary 12-Nov-1990 1031 Subject: Re: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users I've been a Prodigy subscriber for about 6 months, and all I can say is that anyone with the PATIENCE to use Prodigy for anything more involved than getting a weather map is a better person than me. Really, try it sometime, and you'll see what I mean. ljj ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 14:26:55 PST From: Michael Graff Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Reply-To: graff@mlpvm2.iinus1.ibm.com After reading the Prodigy items in Digest issues 805 and 809, I think I'll take a stab at "this Prodigy thing." I'm an IBMer and a Prodigy subscriber, but I don't speak for either IBM or Prodigy. Sandy Kyrish asks where the claim of 500,000 subscribers comes from. My understanding is that it is the number of active userids. Prodigy charges a monthly rate per "household" which allows as many as six separate userids (one for Dad, one for Mom, and so on). So, not all of those 500,000 subscribers are paying. And some of them probably don't log on very often. But from Prodigy's point of view, it doesn't really matter who's paying and who isn't. They make their money by selling the ads that take up the bottom quarter of the screen. There's no charge for connect time. What are people responding to with Prodigy? For one thing, it's accessible. It's very easy to learn and get around. There are no cryptic commands as on the traditional online services like Compuserve. There's no charge for connect time, so there's no pressure to keep your usage down. The graphics are cute and fun. David Lemson mentions MNP. I don't think it would make any difference. Since Prodigy already has its own compression and correction schemes, adding another one wouldn't help. Glenn F. Leavell asks about Prodigy screening message content. Keep in mind that there are two kinds of messages on Prodigy. There are private messages that you send to an individual (email), and there are public messages that you post on Prodigy's bulletin boards. Prodigy screens the bulletins, but as far as I know, they leave the private mail alone. The exception on the private mail is if a subscriber complains about private mail received from somebody else, then Prodigy will get involved. Prodigy gets a lot of flap for screening messages on the bulletin boards, but to me it seems no different from Patrick screening messages for TELECOM. Ken McGlothlen talks about Prodigy's slow speed. Prodigy's new software is noticeably faster than the previous version. Also, your PC hardware makes a big difference, especially processor speed. Finally, perception has a lot to do with it. I find it generally reasonable on a fast XT clone. Also, it's easy to get a list of all the JUMPwords. If you JUMP INDEX, there is an option on that screen to print them all. As for navigation, I find it generally easy to get around. Eaasy Sabre (that's the correct spelling - it's run by American Airlines) used to be particularly clumsy, but they improved it a while back. I use it to check schedules, but I prefer to buy my tickets from a travel agent. The navigation of the bulletin boards is now in its third version, much better than before, but still a long way to go. Otherwise, most of the service is very easy to get around. Adam M. Gaffin talks about the person who sends 1500 email messages. I dare say, if he tried that on MCI Mail or Compuserve, he would go broke very fast. Tad Cook talks about how Prodigy is controlled by IBM and Sears. I really don't know how much actual control IBM or Sears puts on Prodigy. I've heard plenty of IBMers complaining about how Prodigy's handling of the email and censorship flaps is making IBM look bad, and IBM doesn't seem to be doing much to either distance itself or get Prodigy to straighten up. In any case, IBM's and Sears' control of Prodigy is probably less than the public perception. John Higdon asks about printing or saving information from Prodigy. Prodigy supports printing in some, but not all, areas of the service. It's a lot better now than it used to be. Prodigy doesn't directly support saving information to a file, but there are plenty of utilities around that can redirect print output to a file. I use one and it works well. As for the online encyclopedia, I understand that it's the same one used on PC-Link, GEnie, and other services. I've looked up a few things in it and found it to be pretty decent. With a print redirection utility, I have saved some items to disk. Jeff Sicherman mentions GEnie's new Star Services. Unlimited text email *is* included in the $4.95 monthly rate, and a lot of the heavy email users on Prodigy are jumping over to GEnie. Ironically, GEnie announced Star Services about the same time that Prodigy announced its new email charge. Michael Graff ------------------------------ From: Paul Jonathan Estalilla Go Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 11 Nov 90 01:14:31 GMT Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 I got my Prodigy start-up kit for free as a promo offer from Prodigy, and I am now in the one month "trial" period. (1) Prodigy is charging me $12.95/month + tax. Is this a new rate (as the LA Times article on Prodigy users says that the rate used to be $9.95/mo.)??? (2) My main use for Prodigy is to get stock quotes. Although their quotes are loooong delayed, they are better than waiting for tomorrow's newspaper. (3) I am still debating whether to stay with Prodigy or not; I have a Macintosh SE, and (a) it is SLOW; (b) I cannot take advantage of color; (c) AOL has a much better user interface, albeit the per hour charges. (4) I am very disappointed in Prodigy. Their databases do not give me the information I need, only traces here and there, and it is very hard to navigate through the thing!!! AOL's news reporting was much better, in my opinion. Paul Jonathan E. Go ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 22:03 CST From: BBS Public Access Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service There is a lot of discussion on the Well (San Francisco BBS) concerning Prodigy. Much flaming, but some informed commentary as well. Speculation has it the published subscription numbers (500,000) are bogus. One "subscription" may mean several family ID's - all of which are included in the 500,000 figure even though they may be inactive or fictional. Prodigy users who cancelled their subscriptions and then returned months later report their old IDs are still on the directory. This suggests that cancelled subscriptions are still counted in the 500,000. The current e-mail problem at Prodigy is related to their past problems with controversial message boards. Some months ago, Prodigy removed several controversial message boards that were generating flames. This was done presumably to avoid offending advertisers and preserve the "family" image. Users of the cancelled boards were outraged, but they apparently found a work-around with e-mail. Result: specialty mailing lists flourished and e-mail traffic exploded. Some of the people who were coordinating the mailing lists were sending thousands of e-mail messages every day. This created another problem for Prodigy, which responded by charging $.25 per e-mail message after the first 30 messages in a month. This is likely to put the kibosh on the mailing lists. My take on this is that advertising and interactive communications don't mix - if "interactive" means user-to-user interaction. Prodigy never had that sort of interaction in mind, though. ------------------------------ From: David Tamkin Subject: Re: GEnie Star*Services Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 11:54:08 CST Jeff Sicherman wrote in volume 10, issue 809: | Since Prodigy has come up recently in the Digest, does anybody have | any experience with the new Genie Star*Services - a $4.95/mo flat rate | competitor to Prodigy. Offers a subset of regular Genie services | (email specifically excluded as yet, I believe). On the contrary, email is specifically *in*cluded. Time spent on line composing, sending, and reading text email is covered in the flat rate during non-prime hours (evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays). Time spent uploading and downloading binary email, however, costs the usual $6/hour during non-prime time and $18/hour during prime time. | Besides being cheaper I'm considering recommending it because of the | speed considerations: none of the graphics that slows down Prodigy | and would like to hear about actual comparisons. Not only is GEnie far faster than Prodigy is said to be and not limited to proprietary terminal software available for only two machines, but also there is no constant barrage of advertising. (Lest I sound too praiseworthy, I'm not in love with GEnie but it's hard to make anything look bad in comparison to what I hear and know about Prodigy.) GEnie customers speculated that the new pricing was a response to Prodigy's and perhaps Delphi's rates, but then Prodigy raised its rates and surcharged higher volumes of outgoing email. As a general rule, Star*Services cover text email, information bases, and the text areas of non-tech roundtables. Computer-topic round- tables, real-time conversation, and file transfers still carry connect charges. During prime time, all of GEnie has a connect time charge. But to say "Star*Services are a subset of regular GEnie services" can be misleading. Star*Services are a proper subset of the whole of GEnie, yes, in that some parts of the system are not covered by the monthly fee and a connect time charge still applies in them. However, Star*Services are not a separately subscribable option (GEnie's original releases made that very unclear), and you cannot set up an account that is restricted by GEnie to staying inside the flat-rate areas (you can stay inside them by self-discipline, of course), nor can you opt out of Star*Services and pay connect charges in all parts of the system instead of the $4.95 monthly fee. GEnie personnel explained the conversion to me as follows: all GEnie accounts, starting October 1, 1990, are under the Star*Services plan. The choice given on line to existing accounts during August and September was between consenting to the new rate structure as of October 1 and having your account canceled as of October 1 if you didn't like the new arrangement (say, you used GEnie for a few minutes a month and didn't feel you would get $4.95 worth out of it under the new rates). That way people who simply stopped using GEnie as of October 1, 1990 (or hadn't been using it during August or September and didn't know about the change), wouldn't get charged the $4.95 a month unless they logged in and used the system. Anyone who hadn't consented to the change by September 30 and logged in on or after October 1 had (and still has) to pick the new rate structure or immediate cancellation. (By then all customers with valid addresses on file should have received hardcopy about the change.) Any actual use of the system on or after October 1 requires consent to Star*Services pricing. Pre-existing accounts for which the customer doesn't make a choice by March 31, 1991, will be deemed canceled. Also, in volume 10, issue 810, David Lesher attributed this to me: > |"If you have a problem and want BETTER service, call J. C. Penney at > |xxx.xxxx" > |Followed, after a modestly long pause, by some suitable message for > |callers to Dave or Dan. This is one time Mr. Lesher didn't get it straight from the horse's mouth, because I didn't write that! Barton Bruce did. Not only does Mr. Bruce deserve credit for his own words, but moreover those are words with which I disagree strongly: the wrong numbers are not Sears Roebuck's fault (as they would be if, say, Sears had distributed advertising with a misprinted telephone number) and should not be taken out on Sears. Now, "Sears Roebuck and Company's number is XY*A*-5600, but they won't sell anything to people who are so stupid that they can't even dial a telephone" wouldn't bother me a bit. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com [Moderator's Note: David recently attended an 'open house' sponsored by Centel at their central office here. Perhaps he will write an article for the Digest soon talking about the affair. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #812 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06241; 13 Nov 90 1:55 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab00284; 13 Nov 90 0:25 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab12963; 12 Nov 90 23:16 CST Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 23:01:35 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #813 BCC: Message-ID: <9011122301.ab27934@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Nov 90 23:01:03 CST Volume 10 : Issue 813 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Microsoft Support Sleeze (was: Microsoft Use of 900) [John G. DeArmond] Re: Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address [Bob Sherman] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [J. Stephen Reed] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [Greg Monti via John R. Covert] Re: People Unclear on the Concept [David Tamkin] Re: Telecom Art [David Tamkin] Re: British Telecom Special Service Codes [Jim R. Oldroyd] Re: ISDN Frame Relay Service [Ed Benyukhis] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "John G. DeArmond" Subject: Microsoft Support Sleeze (was: Microsoft Use of 900 ) Date: 11 Nov 90 06:45:16 GMT Organization: Radiation Systems, Inc. (a thinktank, motorcycle, car and gun works facility) john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: >Oh, I see. The "product" that put them on the map (other than a BASIC) >is treated as a second-rate stepsister. The company has to protect >itself from all those unwashed masses who might actually have some >legitimate problem (oh, but how could they--DOS is perfect, right?) >NOT with Microsoft. And the underlying problem seems to stem from >how they handle telecommunications. >> You can really blow their mind by getting on usenet and addressing your >> followup communication to username@microsoft.uucp. John, I agree with you 100% regarding Microsoft and their tech support. I'VE used Usenet in a slightly manner for resolving problems with Microsoft problems. A couple of years ago, I had a problem in which Microsoft C 5.1 would lock up my computers running Novell networking software code. I called Microsoft tech support and got a dweeb who suggested that the problem was Novell's (correct, as chance would have it) and told me that what I needed to do was trash Novell and buy Microsoft network or whatever. I got on the net and flamed Microsoft to a crisp and published Bill Gates' direct dial number (which I've unfortunately since lost) and suggested that anyone who disliked this degree of tech support should call him directly and complain. A day later I got a call from Jim Dosch who is the manager of Systems Language Support. He told me that the problem I was having was a known one caused by Novell's anet3.com TSR and that an updated version fixed the problem. He then gave me his phone number (206 882 6701) and asked that I call him direct with any future support problems. I've never used it since I solved the Microsoft support problem the old fashioned way - I switched to Turbo-C :-) Perhaps that number will be of use to you in the future. John De Armond, WD4OQC Rapid Deployment System, Inc. Marietta, Ga {emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd ------------------------------ From: Bob Sherman Subject: Re: Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 05:47:05 GMT In <14556@accuvax.nwu.edu> wmg@howard.att.com (William M Gilroy) writes: >I was wondering how and where I would obtain a listing by street of >every telephone number on that street. I want something like this: > 1 Oak st (201) 555-1212 > 2 Oak st (201) 555-1212 > 3 Oak st (201) 555-1212 There are at least two online databases that I know of that can be subscribed to (at rather high rates) that will give you such info. However you put in an address, and they then give you the names, addresses, and phone numbers of eight or ten addresses on both sides. On the other hand you can put in a phone number, it gives who listed to, and the same deal on the neighbors if you want it. One database claims 94 million listings, and the other claims about 114 million listings. The larger of the two is called "MetroMail" and I "think" it is operated by a sub of Donnelly.. bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu | bsherman@pro-exchange | MCI MAIL:BSHERMAN ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 06:23 GMT From: "J. Stephen Reed" <0002909785@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind David Tamkin (and others) have just rescued a small portion of my mental health! Tamkin recently responded to an item on the "leap second": >> [Philip Gladstone:] >> A point to note is that the leap second which is inserted (or >> removed) is the last second before 00:00:00 *GMT*. > Leap seconds are never removed. The whole reason that we have leap > seconds is that the second was redefined in the late 1960's by some > physical or atomic standard (just as the meter was redefined around > the same time and the inch followed); there was a choice between a > definition that was slightly too short for 1/86,400 of an average > solar day and having to add leap seconds occasionally and one that > was slightly too long with a result of needing to skip leap seconds > occasionally. I remember vividly being a callow lad of 13 on June 30, 1972, when the leap-second was announced in the papers for that night, as a curiosity item. It scared me to death! Why? Because I was credulous enough (as a brainy but unworldly kid would be) to take the AP wire reporter's explanation at face value. The way it was phrased, the explanation implied that the earth was not keeping pace with accurate clocks (True, in one sense, but far from the whole truth!) So I got out my dad's Bowmar Brain (arithmetic functions only, ten cubic inches, $299.95) to figure the number of seconds in a day, and then to divide that by five. (For the article predicted the need for a leap second every four to five years. This ended up being conservative, as someone else noted -- we've had ten or twleve since.) The quite natural result was that the earth would stop revolving in about A.D. 19252. (86,400 seconds/day divided by 5 being 17,280 years.) And, of course, this would be The End. Not in a geologic epoch, when the Sun turns nova, but in 700 human generations. I was scared stiff! As I matured, I suspected that something was wrong with that explanation of the leap second, but I put it at the back of my mind. Nonetheless, you don't shake pubescent fears that easily out of your subconscious. Later, I read that the mean solar day had been estimated to have shortened by as few as ten minutes over the past three billion years of geologic evidence. Still, though, this nagged at me. Thank you, Mr. Tamkin et al., for saving my mental equilibrium by stating the connection between clocks, the earth, and the leap second. Now on to more important things, like predicting when we'll "liberate" Kuwait. Steve Reed Liberty Network, Ltd. * P.O. Box 11296 * Chicago, IL 60611 0002909785@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 17:39:37 PST From: "John R. Covert 11-Nov-1990 2041" Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind From: Greg Monti Date: 5 November 1990 TELECOM Moderator writes: > In any event, do slow down and stay in step with the rest of us, > starting Sunday morning at 2:00 AM *whatever* time zone you are in. To > set computer clocks: > 1-202-653-0351 1200 baud (NAVOSBY) > 1-202-494-4774 1200 baud (National Bureau of Standards) Hmm, That second one is impossible. There is no 202-494 exchange nor is there one in 301 or 703 within the old "7-digit distance" of 202. Dunno the correct number, but Nat Bur Stds main number is 301 975-2000 in Gaithersburg, MD, if anyone cares to negotiate the bureaucracy to find it. :) Greg Monti, Arlington, VA; work +1 202 822-2633 [Moderator's Note: Well actually I meant to say area 303, as in Boulder, CO -- not 202. Thanks for catching it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David Tamkin Subject: Re: People Unclear on the Concept Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 22:43:11 CST Ed Greenberg wrote in volume 10, issue 805: | I dropped by the local Burger King the other day, for my ration of | fast breakfast. Outside is a brand spanking new COCOT. Inside is a | sign that states, "We do not give change for the phone." The operative word here is "outside." | Now, given that the BK is in it for the cash, why discourage usage? Because the BK franchisee doesn't own the COCOT. The landlord owns the COCOT. The BK franchisee got sick of being short of change for its own customers by the end of the day (and losing sales when customers walked out) because it provided change for the landlord's customers. The franchisee got sick of having its lines lengthened and its real customers forced to wait because its employees were tied up handling zero-profit transactions to help the landlord make money. The only money they owe the landlord is what is stated in their lease. COCOTS, by the way, should not be spanking. Spanked, yes. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com ------------------------------ From: David Tamkin Subject: Re: Telecom Art Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 23:03:40 CST Peter da Silva wrote in volume 10, issue 606: | The locations of most users can be found by examining comp.mail.maps: | the location of most sites are given, with street address and latitude | and longitude. These maps are updated and posted monthly. Well, that probably holds for .edu sites, but you're best off checking Organization: lines or .signatures. There are people who have remote logins to machines at the home office, and those of us who use the net on our own time actually place TELEPHONE CALLS (shock!) to *other* locations (fright!) to use a computer that is on the net rather than sitting at a terminal that is hard-wired to one. I have submitted to this forum from machines in Washington, D.C. and Cupertino, California. I could submit from one in Columbus, Ohio, and until a couple weeks ago could have used one in Sparkill, New York. Until last April I could have subscribed to DASNet and posted from a system in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Where I really am located in northeastern Illinois, there are three in Chicago, one in Villa Park, one in Palatine, and this one I am currently using in Wheeling. For nostalgia's sake, I'll include a defunct machine in Homer Township, Will County, Illinois, from which I used to submit. If by "most" Peter means "strictly more than 50%" I guess he's right, but as a mapping algorithm I don't think it will be correct often enough. Anyone mapping by that theory, please pretend that I always post from gagme; you'll be off by a negligible quarter-mile. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com ------------------------------ From: Jim R Oldroyd Subject: Re: British Telecom Special Service Codes Date: 13 Nov 90 02:45:27 GMT Reply-To: "Jim R Oldroyd" Organization: The Instruction Set, Waltham, MA Recently, olapw@olgb1.oliv.co.uk wrote: > clive@x.co.uk (Clive Feather) writes (various bits deleted): > How on earth did you get hold of this? It took me about three weeks > to convince my local BT "service" centre that my local exchange (081 > 446) had become digital. A couple of weeks later they (grudgingly) let > me have a leaflet which mentioned "Charge Advice" and "Reminder Calls" > as being "free" (ie no extra rental). It did not, however, give > details of the codes needed to access these services. > Has anybody any idea why BT seem so loath to release any information > about the services which they offer? As I recall their leaflet made > [Moderator's Note: Is BT a lot like the American telcos in this > respect, that they try to keep their customers from speaking directly > with anyone who actually knows anything? Here in the States, it is a > very fortunate subscriber indeed who can get past the several layers > of supervision in the Business Office and speak with an actual > technician or central office person. PAT] This reminds me of my own experiences with BT, when I lived in London several years back... Now, I used to work at Philips TMC - now AT&T/Philips Telecoms (who make central office switches), so I had access to lots of info about what switches BT had installed all over the country, and what features they offered. I later moved to London, to the (then) 01-386 exchange. Needing tone dialling, I looked in my (now out-of-date) book, and discovered that 368 did, indeed, support this option. Well, it took me about nine weeks and 30 or 40 calls to convince the BT customer service staff that this service really did exist. In the end, it was a Senior Supervisor (not just any old Supervisor) who was able to look up in her manuals the fact that 368 really did support tone dialling. And it took her about three minutes (while I waited on the phone) to enable the service. With delightful grace, she then waived the #10 change of service fee which would have been applicable! I did learn one thing from all this. If you want any real help from your local BT office (in London, anyway), call the 100 operator and ask for "XXX Engineering" (where XXX is your exhange). The operator will put you straight through, without question. Once there, ask for the Senior Technial Engineer - this may take a bit more effort if you don't know his/her name. Once you're through, the world's your oyster! Enjoy, Jim [Moderator's Note: I'm *still* trying to convince repair service attendants and Business Office people at IBT that I have Call Screening (*60) on my line. It works fine, usually, but there are a couple bugs that need attention. But they still insist that I don't have it on my line. One person today even offered to have it removed from my bill and credit issued (they do see it on the billing record) since " ... it is not a service we are offering yet ... and you should not be paying for something you are not getting ..." Sigh. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ed Benyukhis Subject: Re: ISDN Frame Relay Service Date: 9 Nov 90 14:29:48 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL In article <14396@accuvax.nwu.edu>, zweig@cs.uiuc.edu (Johnny Zweig) writes: > I was talking to Van Jacobson last week and he described a service his > local telco is going to offer real soon now in which the customer sets > up virtual calls using the D-channel and then dumps HDLC frames onto > the B-channel and they get routed by the CO switch. Zounds! This > sounds really neat -- the functionality of IP coming right out of the > funny-looking ISDN jack on the wall. > Does anyone know more about this service? I am mostly interested in > how reliable the frame delivery would be, whether frames would be > delivered in order, whether one could set up calls to the same > destination over both B-channels in a PRI (to crank out 128kbps to a > single other machine) and that sort of thing. The way you describe the connection and looking at the data transfer rate, you are referring to a BRI and not a PRI. The subject, of your post semms to suggest that you want to know more about Broadband ISDN services and recomendation. Frame Relay Service is really an OC-1 CCITT standard that is being implemented with laboratory equipment and in laboratory conditions at this point. If it is a BRI that you want know about, as it is currently implemented on some CO switches, here it is: B-channel connection can be provisioned with either packet or circuit services or both on-demand (ODB). All connections over the B-channel are set-up via D-channel Q.931 control messages. However, in the case of a circuit switched connection, layers 2-7 are not defined nor used. Users can/should provide their own synchronization and error control mechanisms. In the case of the Packet Switching over the B-channel, layer 2 is LAPB and layer 3 is X.25. You get your basic synch, error correction and the flow control with these two layers. Yes, PVC guarantees that frames will be delivered in order, and yes, both B-channesl can be routed to the same destination address. I am not really sure if this is what you are looking for of if it is different ISDN services you are interested in. Drop me a line if you want to find out more about ISDN or BISDN. Regards, Edward Benyukhis, Motorola, CIG (708) 632-4658 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #813 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07189; 13 Nov 90 2:54 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa31458; 13 Nov 90 1:30 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac00284; 13 Nov 90 0:26 CST Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 23:49:58 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #814 BCC: Message-ID: <9011122349.ab01574@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 12 Nov 90 23:49:45 CST Volume 10 : Issue 814 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination [Bob Yasi] Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination [Tom Gray] Re: Call-Waiting Disable [Andrew Boardman] Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Tom Wiencko] Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets [Miguel Casteleiro] Re: Massachusetts DPU Fees for COCOT Info [Barton F. Bruce] Re: GTE Mobilnet Restricts International Dialing Nationwide [John Higdon] Re: McCaw "Nationlink" vs. Follow Me Roaming [Lang Zerner] Re: Zone Maps are Desireable [Dave Levenson] Re: NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission [Mukesh Kacker] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Yasi Subject: Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination Date: 12 Nov 90 07:28:26 GMT Organization: Locus Computing Corp., Los Angeles > The service described above (called Cut Off on Disconnect around here) > is the removal of loop current for a few hundred milliseconds. The > exact timimgs of this cut off will vary greatly depending on the type > of equipment installed. My local central office has a DMS (100 or 200?) switch. The normal duration of the disconnect signal (called CPC around here) is 800 ms, or 0.8 seconds. This "signal" is the electrical equivalent of unplugging your phone for the specified duration. You can actually see it happening if you have a phone that lights up with led's using the power supplied by the phone line -- the led's turn off from the lack of power, then come back on again. But, some answering machines or other "customer provided" equipment does better with a longer signal. If you have the same switch as I do (and maybe even if you don't) you can call repair and they will set a software option for your telephone line and up the duration to 1200 ms, or 1.2 seconds. The service reps seemed to know about this as a general response to "My answering machine acts funny". In one of the conversations I had with an actual technical person in the CO, I asked if there were any other "software options" that were free. I was told there were none. Bob Yazz -- yazz@locus.com ------------------------------ From: Tom Gray Subject: Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination Date: 12 Nov 90 13:20:50 GMT Reply-To: Tom Gray Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. >>I'm wondering if anyone here knows exactly (or not so exactly :-) ) >>what the "wink", or I believe it is sometimes called "CPC" signal is. Tom Gray wrote: >The problem described here occurs on loop start lines on which no >answer supervision is provided. A call is answerd by a machine The Tom Gray now humbly writes perhaps I should truly read the question before I pontificate on telephone loop siganlling. The writer asked a simple question on how his answering machine worked. I replied with the mechanisms which would be used by expensive CPE equipment which needs to eliminate fraud and to maximize the use of trunks. My answer was true for CPE. For the question on answering machines, the machine detects the end of the conversation by detecting dial tone. When the calling party clears, the connection will be broken. The local office will time out and regard the off hook from the answering machine as an origination and provide dial tone. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 09:18:29 EST From: Andrew Boardman Subject: Re: Call-Waiting Disable >[Moderator's Note: This of course simply sets one of the S Registers >to a longer time out value ... long enough that the call waiting tone >won't disconnect you, although it may very well damage the data >getting transferred at the same moment. The other hangup (pun intended) >...how do you get the *other end* to hang around for those >milliseconds while you are gone? Most dialup services in my neck of the woods do configure their modems in this manner. Consider: when making a voice call, the CW tone momentarily disrupts the connection with noise. You have the option of ansewring or ignoring. When making a data call, you still get a disruptive burst of noise, allowing you the option of terminating your connection gracefully to answer or ignoring it. The functionality is maintained. ------------------------------ From: Tom Wiencko Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question Date: 12 Nov 90 13:46:58 GMT Organization: Wiencko & Associates, Inc. In article <14566@accuvax.nwu.edu> "Dave W. Hamaker" writes: >I expected single-line phones would ignore the yellow-black pair, >unless rewired internally. ... A long time ago it used to be that Princess phones used the yellow/black pair to carry a local DC voltage to power the little light which illuminated the dial pad. If this phone you were wiring has some sort of light on it, that is probably what the yellow/black pair is for. Tom Wiencko & Associates, Inc. (404) 977-4515 {backbone}!emory!stiatl!vta!wiencko!tom ------------------------------ From: Miguel Casteleiro Subject: Re: Trivia Question About Butt Sets Date: 12 Nov 90 20:31:12 GMT Organization: INESC - Inst. Eng. Sistemas e Computadores, LISBOA. PORTUGAL. In article <14551@accuvax.nwu.edu>, rees@pisa.ifs.umich.edu (Jim Rees) writes: > In article <14486@accuvax.nwu.edu>, davidb@pacer.uucp (David Barts) > writes: >> Why are butt set leads colored red/black/green instead of >> red/green/yellow? > Wire color codes -- one of my favorite questions! I can't answer this > one, but this has always amused me: > Electricity <100v Electricity >100v Telephones > Ground Black Green Yellow > Neutral -- White Red > Hot Red Black Green Well, here it's different: Electricity >100v Ground Black or Blue Neutral Yellow and Green (in stripes) Hot Brown The rest are the same colors! Miguel Casteleiro at INESC, Lisboa, Portugal. UUCP: ...!mcsun!inesc!jmc ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Massachusetts DPU Fees for COCOT Innfo Date: 12 Nov 90 17:49:58 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14471@accuvax.nwu.edu>, carols@world.std.com (Carol Springs) writes: > the Mass. DPU saying that they had a "package" of info for me, for > which the cost would be $45 if I wanted it. I immediately phoned to The Attorney General's Office maintains a consumer info service that is geared to getting info out of stubborn other agencies and giving it to the requesting consumer. I have gotten DPU stuff before this way when there was NO charge but NO WAY to get it other than going and reading it there. They got it internally and simply sent me copies! ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: GTE Mobilnet Restricts International Dialing Nationwide Date: 12 Nov 90 17:03:13 PST (Mon) From: John Higdon George Goble writes: > I received notice last month that GTE Mobilnet was dropping the > ability to direct dial international calls from cell phones, even if > you were roaming on somebody else's system. A call to Mobilnet's "competition", Cellular One (PacTel/McCaw) reveals that company allows international dialing. They also informed me that if I wanted to switch and break my "Business Club" contract with Mobilnet, they would help me. Business Club is Mobilnet's way of tying you into a year-at-a-time service commitment. You agree to stay on for a year (automatically renewable) and they will give you all custom calling and $5.50 off the normal monthly charge. Even if you don't use the custom calling, it's worth it to save on the monthly. Anyway, according to the Cellular One rep, by eliminating the international dialing, Mobilnet has themselves broken the contract in that you are getting less service than you signed up for. Then I called Mobilnet and pointed out that I was unable to place an international call the night before. She confirmed that due to "roamer fraud", it was necessary to restrict international dialing. She indicated that someone would call me back. Since this was obviously a front line person with no horsepower, I saved the speech. When I get that call back, I will point out that taking the easy way out and penalizing the customer is the least acceptable option. Why doesn't Cellular One have this problem? The answer could lie in the fact that unlike Mobilnet, Cellular One allows equal access. The customer deals directly with his long distance company and if there is any LD dispute, Cellular One is left out of the discussion and not holding the bag. My question will be to the Mobilnet rep, "Why doesn't Mobilnet allow equal access?" I haven't decided whether or not to actually switch carriers yet. GTE's attitude, as usual, is reprehensible. On the other hand, I make maybe 2 or 3 international calls per year and switching my TWO cell phones is a pain in the rear. The MicroTac I can do myself but the 6000 has the wrong head for self-programming. Perhaps I'll make that decision based on what this Mobilnet person says when my call is returned tomorrow. > [Moerator's Note: The more I think about it, the more I realize what a > good deal Ameritech Cellular is: very inexpensive rates and an > excellent signal. Re international dialing on GTE, I suspect you will > still be able to zero plus the calls through the desired carrier; i.e. > 01 + overseas number + calling card number. Patrick, it must be nice living in civilization. You have superior cellular service for a fraction of what we get reamed here. I just called my deep throat at Pac*Bell and found out that my crossbar MAY be replaced AS EARLY AS December, 1991. Think about that next time you play with your CLASS features! You are correct: international can be dialed '01+' and you get ka-bonged. And wonder of wonders, Sprint didn't even block my test call to Japan through their 800 number from my cell phone! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 19:20:52 PST From: Lang Zerner Subject: Re: McCaw "Nationlink" vs. Follow Me Roaming Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mt. View, CA Pat-- In article <14477@accuvax.nwu.edu> you write: >...I always give them my 'direct cell phone number' whenever they want to >have a good time or buy something from me: 911-6278. PAT] Did you mean to put a smiley-face in there, or are you advocating the tying up of 911 emergency trunks simply to have a good prank? Especially after the recent discussion here raising similar concerns about putting OUT-OF-ORDER stickers on COCOTs that violate PUC regulations, I am surprised that you have presented such a potentially damaging prank without mentioning the possible risk involved. Pat, I've come to expect you to be vigilant when it comes to responsible editing of comp.dcom.telecom messages (censoring numbers which are inappropriate to publish, for example), so I would not be at all surprised if I misunderstood what you wrote. However, if your intent really is to give your "victims" a little scare by having them reach the police when they call about illegal activity, you could at the very least give them the local NON-emergency number. Be seeing you. Lang Zerner [Moderator's Note: I know drug dealers are for the most part among the dumbest people alive. Very few of the 'street sales persons' -- whatever their 'product line or service' -- have a brain equal to the one God gave a goose; but do you think anyone is fooled by a message inviting them to have a good time by calling 911-2368? Yeah, you are probably right, there are some. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Zone Maps are Desireable Date: 12 Nov 90 23:34:20 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14382@accuvax.nwu.edu>, IZZYAS1@oac.ucla.edu (Andy Jacobson) writes: > Well, Cincinatti Bell (Not part of the old AT&T, and thus never > actually divested) does just that in their directory. They also list a > small number of prefixes right around the river that can be reached > from either the Ohio(513) or Kentucky(606) side without dialing the > area code. I assume they can do this as its all within their LATA. > Rather a nifty service if you ask me ... I don't remember what the > prefixes are, but I wonder if you could reach those numbers from > outside the LATA by dialing either 513- or 606- area codes. That has been done in many places, where a local calling area straddles an area-code boundary. I lived in the Washington DC metro area for the first twenty years of my life. Throughout that period, (well, going back to when DDD and area codes first turned up!) the local calling area included all of the DC (202), and portions of MD (301) and VA (703). Calls within the local calling area could always be dialed with seven digits, even if you were crossing two area code boundaries (such as from Prince George's County, MD (East of DC) to McLean, VA (West of DC)). It used to be possible to reach numbers in the Maryland suburbs from far away by dialing either 301 or 202. In the Washington area, that has just changed. It is now necessary to dial the area code when placing local calls which cross the area code boundaries. This frees up all of the prefixes in 202 for assignment in the 301 area code. It also frees up the prefixes in the nearby Maryland suburbs for assignment within the District. They haven't needed an area code split, but they needed a dialing plan change to accomodate growth. There are probably lots of other areas where local calls which cross an area code boundary can (or could) be dialed with seven digits. Can anybody point to other places where this is/was done. Have others changed as the DC has recently? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: Mukesh Kacker Subject: Re: NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission Date: 12 Nov 90 18:33:39 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. >At the end of September, partners in the National Science Foundation >Network (NSFNET) announced a succesful demonstration of >intercontinental data transmission using the International Standards >Organization Conectionless Network Protocol (ISO CLNP). The >international exchange of ISO CLNP packets was demonstrated betweeen >end systems at the NSFNET Network Operations Center in Ann Arbor and >in Bonn, West Germany, using the NSFNET backbone infrastructure and >the European Academic Supercomputer Initiative (EASInet) backbone. >The prototype OSI (this, I think is a typo - it should be ISO) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >implementation is intended to provide wide area connectivity between >OSI networks, including networks using the DECNet Phase V protocols. This is not a typo. OSI stands for "Open Systems Interconnectioni" which is broad suite of protocols for data transmission in computer networks following a seven layer model. The other suite of protocols normally used on NSFNET/Internet is called the Internet suite or commonly as the TCP/IP suite. ISO stands for "International Standards Organization" and is the standards body under which the OSI suite of protocols is being developed. However ISO is not limited to computer networking standards. The standards for the paper sizes used on your copier or the nuts and bolts sizes on your furniture were probably developed under ISO. ISO CLNP referred above is one of the Layer 3 (Network Layer) protocols in the OSI protocol suite. This set of standard protocols(OSI) is available in products from most major computer vendors including the ones made by my employer Sun Microsystems Inc. Mukesh Kacker OSI Engineer Sun Microsystems Inc. Mountain View, CA 94043 e-mail: mukesh@eng.sun.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #814 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08740; 13 Nov 90 4:05 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa30929; 13 Nov 90 2:35 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab31458; 13 Nov 90 1:30 CST Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 0:31:50 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #815 BCC: Message-ID: <9011130031.ab03868@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Nov 90 00:31:15 CST Volume 10 : Issue 815 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Ed Hopper] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Mike Van Pelt] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Toby Nixon] Re: Genie Star*Services [Mike Van Pelt] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System [Hakan Winkvist] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [John Higdon] Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Vance Shipley] First Issue: AT&T ACCUNET DataBriefs [Peter M. Weiss] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ed Hopper Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 07:23:18 CST Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Houston, Texas 713-997-7575 john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > I have a question: is it true that the Prodigy interface doesn't allow > any of the material that comes in online to be printed or saved as > files? If this is the case, then what ever benefits over and above an > online "shopping channel" the system may possess would be pretty well > negated. > I ask this after having just seen a Prodigy commercial that touts an > online encyclopedia. If you can't print anything, then I would assume > that you would have to have an awfully good memory or be able to write > fast. Is it all as bogus as it appears? Do you "really gotta get this > thing"? I tried Prodigy during its intro to Houston. True to the spirit (and a mean spirit it is) of Prodigy, you can print what "they" want you to print. At the bottom of each screen are several option buttons. If the prodigy.gods decided that you should be able to retrieve information, your airline schedule on SAABRE, for example, a "print" button appears, you can select that option and print the screen (as ASCII text). An MS-DOS print screen command didn't work, I believe. But then, what did you expect from IBM? After getting disgusted with Prodigy and still wanting a good source of wire service news and SAABRE access, I signed up with the online service of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, StarText. Also $9.95 a month, but you pay toll. Of course, if you're in Seattle, etc. the local news in Fort Worth is not of much interest. It was very useful, however, during the Panama invasion to dial up StarText and capture and print out the latest AP story. I'd post it on the (cork) bulletin board at work as they came in. I wish more papers did this sort of thing. Ed Hopper ------------------------------ From: Mike Van Pelt Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 13 Nov 90 02:33:04 GMT Reply-To: Mike Van Pelt Organization: Video 7 + G2 = Headland Technology I've got Prodigy; mostly because my sister-in-law in Denver has it, and I save more than $10/mo in phone bills for conversations between her and my wife. With the new charges, that may no longer be the case. The new charge of $ .25/message over 30 per month starts in January. This is made worse by the fact that email is limited to 48 lines, at about 40 characters per line. Yecch. Ginny and Barb typically send four or five letters per session to get everything said that they want to say. Then, whoever's receiving the message has to go through all manner of contortions to get the messages in chronological order. Mail is in your mailbox in "Last in, first out" order, and Prodigy provides a "NEXT MAIL" button, but no "PREVIOUS MAIL", so you have to go all the way back to the mail menu and manually select the previous message. I've glanced at a couple of the bulletin boards, but it is so *G*R*O*T*E*S*Q*U*E*L*Y* *P*A*I*N*F*U*L*L*Y* *S*L*O*W* that I haven't looked at them in months. I joined a mailing list at one point, but quickly gave that up. Again, it's **SLOW**, and very inflexible. Everyone on the mailing list has to create a "mailing list" alias specifying everyone on the list. And again, you can not easily read mail in chronological order. The $ .25/message charge doesn't only affect mailing lists; my sister-in-law sends several messages per day to various "modem pals." As for printing, you can print screens -- if, and only if, Prodigy saw fit to equip that screen with a "PRINT" button, or enabled the "COPY" function on the Jump Screen. You can print out your stock quotes, and the encyclopedia entries are printable. You can not save to disk with the Prodigy software, but there are shareware utilities that get around this. I sometimes run a TSR that diverts all print into a file, which works if the screens you're interested in are printable. There is also a utility that will print an "unprintable" screen, but I haven't used it. In general, if you're technically sophisticated enough to be reading TELECOM Digest, then you'll find that Prodigy is an insult to your intelligence. It resembles most of all those TeleText things in the airports. So, I'm trying to convince my in-laws to get a GEnie account or a Unix EMAIL account. If and when I'm sucessful, the Prodigy account goes. On the plus side, Ginny would never touch the computer until we got Prodigy. Now she's playing games on the PC, and even using Microsoft Word. Mike Van Pelt Headland Technology/Video 7 ...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 12 Nov 90 17:00:35 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article <14532@accuvax.nwu.edu>, glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu (Glenn F. Leavell) writes: > If much of this is true, it raises some possibly interesting > questions: If Prodigy is returning messages to the sender based on > content, does this mean that they are reading all messages sent on the > system? Is this "right"? Is this the same as censorship? Becuase > Prodigy is a private service, are they allowed to censor non-offensive > material? But, they are using a common-carrier (the phone) as their > only access method. Does this have any bearing on the situation? I am not speaking for Hayes here! Prodigy doesn't read mail sent directly from one subscriber to another. However, all forums/newsgroups/SIGs/(whatever they're called on Prodigy) are MODERATED, just like comp.dcom.telecom, and the moderator can reject any message they deem to be inappropriate. What happened in this case is that these folks' messages inciting a boycott were getting rejected by the moderators, so they (the agitators) started mass mailing messages to other users individually. When the recipients of these messages complained to Prodigy management, the senders were expelled. It's censorship, yes, but because it's not done by the government it is completely legal. There's no law against private censorship in this country; you don't have unrestricted rights to newspapers, radio, TV, etc. Using the phone as an access method doesn't change this at all; the phone company isn't doing the censoring. I think that since Prodigy moderates their forums/SIGs, they accept responsibility for the content. That puts them outside the realm of being a common carrier -- they shouldn't receive the protections a common carrier receives, but they also aren't required to carry anything regardless of content. Prodigy, after all, isn't a regulated monopoly with exclusive right to serve a particular territory, like your local exchange carrier. You CAN choose to use other services. As for their kicking people off the system for broadcasting individual messages: if their rules say you can't do that, then they're within their rights to terminate service. Compuserve has strict rules against employees of other information services recruiting users via Compuserve messages, too, and they'd probably squelch any public criticism that was as repetative and harrassing as (alledgedly) were these Prodigy messages. All those angry ex-Prodigy subscribers are perfectly welcome to move their business to Internet, FidoNet, Compuserve, Genie, or just about anyplace else. _I_ did, as soon as I got the first bill from Prodigy following the free introductory period. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ From: Mike Van Pelt Subject: Re: Genie Star*Services Date: 13 Nov 90 03:23:13 GMT Reply-To: Mike Van Pelt Organization: Video 7 + G2 = Headland Technology In article <14575@accuvax.nwu.edu> JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet writes: > Since Prodigy has come up recently in the Digest, does anybody have >any experience with the new Genie Star*Services - a $4.95/mo flat rate >competitor to Prodigy. Offers a subset of regular Genie services >(email specifically excluded as yet, I believe). Besides being cheaper Email is specifically *IN*cluded. For your flat $4.95/mo, you have unlimited Email, and unlimited use of the things on Star*Services, which includes most of the "chat" type Roundtables. What is excluded is mostly (1) file X/Y/Zmodem upload/download, (2) Realtime Conferencing (Like Compu$erve's "CB Simulator") and (3) all of the computer-related Roundtables. There's nothing different you have to do to access the non-flat-rate services. Just remember that when you enter one of those sections, the clock starts ticking. >I'm considering recommending it because of the speed considerations: >none of the graphics that slows down Prodigy and would like to hear >about actual comparisons. There isn't any comparison. It is vastly faster, as it's ASCII, not some graphics protocol. You can use your favorite terminal program. The commands might be confusing to a computer novice, but GEnie has a "Smart front-end" called "Aladdin" which takes care of all that for Email and Roundtable BBS'ing. Configuring Aladdin would probably be confusing for a computer novice, but using it is very simple. Start up Aladdin, hit "1" for pass one, and go out to dinner while it calls in and retrieves your email and all new messages on your roundtables, then hangs up. When you return, read and reply offline with a "mini-wordstar" type editor, then hit "2" for pass two, and go watch the Simpsons while your messages are sent. Very nice. I mostly use just the Star*Services, but Aladdin would be even more of a win if you're using the $6/hour services. Aladdin is free, except for the cost to download it via Zmodem or whatever, and there is no restriction on handing it out to others, so it may be available on your local BBS. You need version 1.30 for the new Genie command structure. I just hope the flat rate isn't a "bait-and-switch" ... Even if it is, and they go back to $6/hour, I think that with Aladdin it will be cheaper than Prodigy, no matter what your Email usage is. A disadvantage is that you can't use it between 7AM and 6PM, or they sock you for $18/hour. Mike Van Pelt Headland Technology/Video 7 ...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp ------------------------------ From: hw@tts.lth.se (Hakan Winkvist) Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System Reply-To: hw@tts.lth.se (Hakan Winkvist) Organization: Communication Systems, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 09:15:22 GMT In article <14369@accuvax.nwu.edu> HWT@bnr.ca (Henry Troup) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 792, Message 7 of 10 >Mike Doughney writes: >> It almost looks like American workers had a hand in its production; >Bell Canada built and used to operate the Saudi phone system, on >contract for the government. I think that the latest operations >contract went to someone else. >So the central office switches will be a mix of 1-ESS and DMS-100/200, >as my memory of the Saudi connection is that it goes back twenty years >or so. In Saudi Arabia existed a few years back following number of switches in the public telephone network: 4 Ericsson ARE 13 transit switches around 60 Ericsson AXE 10 as both local and transit switches. Some of the transit switches are used to switch cellular mobile traffic according to the NMT-450 system. around 10 Ericsson ARE 11 local switches. Philips PRX local switches, mostly rural. Philips/AT&T PRX-D/ESS5 Local switches 10 Hitachi local containerized switches. (Old crossbar switches) 2 AT&T ESS1A Used at the international airports in Jeddah and Riyadh. Hakan Winkvist ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Date: 12 Nov 90 02:14:54 PST (Mon) From: John Higdon "Andrew M. Boardman" writes: > "permanent" phone call for one's connection. If one utilises untimed > service of some sort, the economic advantage in enormous. My > questions: > - What would one's local phone company think of this? Pac*Bell used this as one of the justifications for charging for all business local calls on a timed basis. Long data calls were specifically singled out. > - In the expected case that they aren't too fond of losing > out on the megabucks for a leased line, do they have > legal ground telling you to stop? In the case of California, this would only apply to residence service. I recently discussed this hypothetically with an associate. Telco might not be able to tell you to stop, but you can be sure that a) they would eventually notice it; and b) they would find a surefire way to regrade the service to business. The telco may not take action against a single person or company, but you can bet that a number of "permanent" unmeasured local connections would probably send telco packing to the nearest PUC to get flat-rate service discontinued. > - Since some uucp sites have so much traffic that they can > spend days on one call anyway, has anyone ever heard of > previous telco complaints in this area? I have never heard of this happening. I am familiar with some larger sites in the area, and while the modems may be off hook a major portion of the time, it is never with one call. The longest UUCP calls last on the order of 20 minutes. Besides, a business would be measured and telco couldn't care less -- the meter would be running. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question Organization: SwitchView - The Linton Technology Group Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 17:44:22 GMT In article <14566@accuvax.nwu.edu> "Dave W. Hamaker" writes: >The phone seems to be made by COMDIAL and the black wire was connected >to a terminal labeled "L1," while the yellow wire was connected to a >terminal labeled "G." I can give more detailed info on the device if >I know what to look for. Any ideas? The telephone has been set up for A&A1 control. This is to interwork with a key telephone system, see last months postings on A&A1. vance ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Monday, 12 Nov 1990 12:11:49 EST From: "Peter M. Weiss" Subject: First Issue: AT&T ACCUNET DataBriefs "Welcome to ACCUNET DataBriefs! This is the first issue of our new quarterly newsletter dedicated to the AT&T ACCUNET Family of Digital Services." reads the introductory paragraph. Contents of the first issue: Innovative Center Optimizes Network Design Oil Company Gets More For Its Money Frame Relay Speeds Data Transfer Centers Focus on Service-Specific Rules Linking Distributed Information Departments Interview Product Update For more information, telephone: 1-800-247-1212 ext 381 Peter M. Weiss | pmw1 @ PSUADMIN | vm.psu.edu | psuvm 31 Shields Bldg - PennState Univ. University Park, PA USA 16802 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #815 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa09974; 13 Nov 90 5:36 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa12749; 13 Nov 90 3:40 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab30929; 13 Nov 90 2:35 CST Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 1:53:12 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #816 BCC: Message-ID: <9011130153.ab15137@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Nov 90 01:52:38 CST Volume 10 : Issue 816 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson ... And it Keeps on Ticking [Joel Shprentz] Modifying the NANP? (was: What Happens When 800 Fills Up) [Fred Goldstein] Charging For Incomplete Calls (was: Cellular Sleaze) [Henry E. Schaffer] Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? [Michael C. Berch] 900 Number Junk Mail [Danial Hamilton] George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers [Steve Forrette] CID Decoding Hardware Available [Bob Falcon] Special Section on Communications Technology (WSJ - Nov 9) [Werner Uhrig] Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [Jeff Wasilko] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joel Shprentz Subject: ... And it Keeps on Ticking Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 10:17:39 EST Following the good advice from you and Jim Rees, I got my Western Union clock running this weekend. F cells are a little hard to come by, so I bought two alkaline D cells with a holder and wired them to the motor solenoid and lamp circuits. The original battery wiring was not connected, so I'm not sure I got the polarity right. It works. The clockworks were in good shape. I wound and unwound the spring several times to spin off the dust (there wasn't much). The minute hand's final gear was off by one notch; I adjusted it to reset to :00 instead of :03. The clock case was covered with years of grime. A little cleaner and elbow grease made it presentable again. The glass rattled in the case because the clips inside were loose. I replaced each clip's dried rubber with foam weatherstripping. The clock has been running well since Sunday afternoon. It seems to keep good time -- I'll measure its accuracy during the next few days. The spring rewind motor runs for about 13 seconds each hour. Jim is sending me his circuit to generate hourly pulses from a cheap digital clock. The Naval Observatory is a local call, so I'm hoping to use my computer to synchronize the clock to its original time standard. Joel Shprentz Phone: (703) 848-7305 BDM International, Inc. Uucp: {rutgers,vrdxhq,rlgvax}!bdmrrr!shprentz 7915 Jones Branch Drive Internet: shprentz@bdmrrr.bdm.com McLean, Virginia 22102 [Moderator's Note: Your batteries won't last very long, unfortunately. Why don't you instead find a little AC/DC transformer which puts out about 3 volts at say, 500 m.a. Plug the transformer in the wall and run thin wire up behind the clock, and use it to power the motor which winds the spring. Also, rewire the contact which makes the little red lightbulb light (normally when the setting circuit is powered) so that it lights for the 13 seconds or so when the clock winds once an hour. Finally, by removing the cotter pin you'll find in the 'finger' which the setting circuit uses to jerk the minute hand into place, you'll change the grace period for setting from two minutes on either side of the hour to about 29 minutes on either side of the hour! (It still has trouble if the hand is right on the six.) Good luck, and enjoy it! PAT] ------------------------------ From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Modifying the NANP? (was: What Happens When 800 Fills Up) Date: 12 Nov 90 16:40:12 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article <14554@accuvax.nwu.edu>, JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet writes: >I think the problem posed by this question goes beyond the issue of >just 800 numbers: > The escalating splitting of municipalities into multiple area codes, >the proliferation of faxs and cellular phones that will exacerbate >this suggest that the once adequate phone numbering system is getting >out of hand and is unequal to the load of modern telecommunications >possibilities. The resulting confusion of phone numbers versus >geographical areas occasioned by the splitting and the uncertainty of >charges is just once manifestation of it. > What are the telephone companies, research institutions, regulatory >agencies, or anyone else doing to address this. To what extent may >ISDN provide some solutions to this (I can think of a few). Jeff points out a potentially serious problem. The North American Numbering Plan is very expandable and flexible, but the expansion is occuring more rapidly than (I suspect) was originally foreseen, and it's generating a higher pain level than the public seems happy with. Right now the plan says that NPAs are split when they get crowded. Thus West LA gets 310, Bronx gets 908, etc. Soon (after 1995) we'll be able to have NPA codes like 260, 420, etc.; these REQUIRE strict 1+ dialing rules to avoid ambiguity. (Some small NPAs have no NN0 codes, which gives them a little slack.) A possible solution, which to the best of my knowledge has not been seriously entertained by Bellcore (yet), is to use "overlay" NPAs. This is hinted at by 908, which gets Bronx plus Manhattan's cellular phones. An overlay NPA is geographically coterminous with another code, but comes from the NNX space (post-1995, of course). Residential and POTS numbers can be allocated from the remaining "traditional" pool; these aren't the ones causing the exhaustion. Business can pay extra for numbers in the traditional NPA, but default DID rates get you overlay numbers, which are also used for cellular, PBX trunks (beyond the listed one?), fax machines, data services, etc. Then we can stop splitting NPAs. Existing numbers remain intact, in general, but growth gets new numbers. The last few NYX codes (i.e., 710, 810, 909, 410) can be reserved for areas that really do need to split, after overlays reduce demand for current-NPA numbers. I wonder if the idea will sell. (The NANP discussion at ANSI T1S1 ended last year, due to lack of consensus, so I can't bring it up there.) Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ From: "Henry E. Schaffer" Subject: Charging For Incomplete Calls (was: Cellular Sleaze) Reply-To: "Henry E. Schaffer" Organization: NCSU Computing Center Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 21:24:48 GMT In article <14594@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1. fidonet.org writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 811, Message 6 of 11 >o Unbundling of charges and nickle-diming. Contrary to the fact that > yes, it may USE certain resources, since day one, it's been > CUSTOMARY in the telephone industry NOT to charge for such things > as busy signals, no-answers, call setup time, etc. ... >[Moderator's Note: ... I'd look for >the day to come when telco begins charging for incomplete call >attempts just like some of the cell guys do now, saying it uses up >resources to attempt to make the connection, etc. PAT] There has been a custom, rooted in history, of not charging for events which could be the fault of the phone company. This saves an enormous amount of controversy and wear and tear on good will of the telco. Dialing and receiving a reorder does indicate use of some telco resources, but also may indicate a telco problem (e.g., insufficient resources, fault in switching, ... .) Charging for this would cause resentment far beyond the amount of revenue it would generate. An example of this is the public attitude towards charges for no answer (due to lack of supervision available to some of the LD providers.) Because of this I predict that the telco and cell providers will all charge only for services actually (sucessfully) rendered. henry schaffer n c state univ [Moderator's Note: There have been many 'customs rooted in history' where the telcos in general, and the Bell System in particular are concerned. The judge tossed all that out in one fell swoop. History and traditions be damned, you might say. In the whole industry nothing works the way it used to. I'd like to think you are correct; it is very important than you be correct ... but I think we are going to see more and more rip-offs of an unsophisticated public. I do not mean Digest readers; I mean John Q. Public. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 18:28:06 -0800 From: "Michael C. Berch" Subject: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? I have read, from time to time, messages in TELECOM Digest which assert that it is supposed to be toll-free for a landline telephone subscriber with flat-rate service to call any cellular subscriber in whatever the regional cellular calling area is supposed to be. The only charge is airtime to the cellular subscriber. Indeed, I call a particular cellular subscriber often (a member of my staff) and have never been charged, either from my home or office. (I assume the office calls, being business service, are billed as Zone 1.) However, last month I called him from a coin phone (PacBell, not a COCOT) and was told the call was not free. I provided a calling card number and was connected. Afterward, I dialed the PacBell operator, explained my impression of the tariff, and asked for credit. She demurred, but I convinced a supervisor (or so I thought) and was toldI would get credit. Needless to say, there was no credit on my next bill, and the call was charged as a standard call to an Oakland NXX. Can anyone shed some light on this? Does it matter with whom the cellular customer has a contract (out here, GTE Mobilnet vs. Cellular One)? Are coin phones treated differently than normal residential or business service? Michael C. Berch mcb@presto.ig.com / uunet!presto.ig.com!mcb / ames!bionet!mcb [Moderator's Note: In Chicago, calls to cellular numbers are 'local' calls, meaning one untimed unit charge applies from residence phones. From IBT payphones you still pay 25 cents. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danial Hamilton Subject: 900 Number Junk Mail Date: 9 Nov 90 14:11:51 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL About a month ago, out of curiosity and a certain amount of naivete about the purpose of these companies, my wife called a 900 number in response to a card that came in the mail. I don't remember what the offer was, but my wife ended up disconnecting the call when she realized the value of the offer would soon be exceeded by the cost of the call. Anyway, we are now being deluged with similar offerings in the mail. I mean we are getting these things about three or four times a week. Most of them are postcards that say we have "Definitely won one of the following prizes ... Please call 1 900 xxx xxxx to claim your prize." There is always a one inch square that contains about 500 words in three point type, disclaiming the need to make a call ("You can mail us this card, but of course that will take weeks and weeks, so why not call and get your prize NOW!") and listing the prize odds as confusingly as possible, but always 1:1000000 for the cash prize and 1:1 for the junk prize. The cards aren't really a problem, they come in the mail, I drop them in the trash. I just wondered if the one time response flagged us as suckers for this kind of junk or is everyone getting flodded with these offers? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 04:18:03 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers The other day, while watching the election returns on TV, President Bush came on the screen. He was asking for the public's support of the USO. To make a donation, the viewer was asked to call a 900 number (Three or so dollars a call, I think). I suppose that it is the Commander-In-Chief's job to generate support for the armed services, but something just doesn't seem right about the President of the United States advertising a 900 number. ------------------------------ Subject: CID Decoding Hardware Available Date: 11 Nov 90 05:02:50 EST (Sun) From: Bob Falcon Hi Pat and all, This is from NOV. 5, 1990 {PC WEEK} : [page 73] Caller ID+Plus To Tap ID Phone Service A small Texas developer plans to tap into the telephone business application market next month with a contact-management system that uses [the] phone companies' new "caller ID" services. Caller ID+Plus, from Rochelle Communications Inc., consists of a hardware device that connects a PC's serial port [to] with a telephone [line] to access the caller-ID service. That service, formerly known as Custom Local Area Signaling Service [CLASS] ,automatically identifies an incoming call's phone number. It is currently offered for local customers in five states and the District of Columbia. If the caller's number has been stored on Caller ID+Plus' DOS based database software, a file is automatically called up on-screen that gives a user access to three windows: one that includes the caller's name, company and address; one that contains a list of prior contacts with the caller; and one that contains general information and any notes taken about the caller, said Gilbert Amine, the company's president. A new file can be created to store the number of a first-time caller, he said. The $249 package is slated for formal introduction at Comdex/Fall next week. It will be available late this month or in early December directly from Rochelle and through outlets, said Amine. Rochelle Communications, of Austin Texas, can be reached at (512) 794-0088. -------------- I thought this would be of interest to the readers of the Digest here. $249 may not be 'cheap' but it gives you the hardware to *PLAY* with. And who knows , someone may even find the software that comes with it useful . Catchya later, Bob Falcon [ Co-Sysop : Turbo 386 Remote Access ] [ (1:273/906) @Fidonet ] [ (215) 745-9774 HST/DS ] internet: bfalcon@rescon.uucp or bfalcon@alba2l.uucp uucp: [backbonesite]!bpa!alba2l!rescon!bfalcon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 1990 7:09:28 CST From: Werner Uhrig Reply-To: Werner Uhrig Subject: Special Section on Communications Technology (WSJ - Nov 9) Friday's {Wall Street Journal} contained a special TECHNOLOGY section. The contents are listed below. Reprints are available for $2 from: TECHNOLOGY Dow Jones & Company Inc. 200 Burnett Road Chicopee, Mass 01021 Table of Contents OPENERS 5 FACTS AND FIGURES Telecommunications trivia - from cellular phones to Yellow Pages to fax machines CUTTING THE CORD 6 WIRELESS WORLD A telephone in everyone's pocket: That's the daunting goal of the communications industry 16 NO VACANCIES The wireless revolution faces a major obstacle: There's no room on the frequency spectrum 18 ROCKET TO REALITY The hopes of the commercial-launch business plummet back to earth 21 PERPLEXING PRICING Cellular-phone users find that talk isn't cheap, and they're not sure why SIDE EFFECTS 23 NO PLACE TO HIDE The dark side of the telecommunications revolution: You're never out of touch. 27 PHONY POWER Technology leads to new absurdities in a Hollywood obsessed by the telephone 34 THE PARTY LINE When you speak on a cellular phone, the world may be listening in 39 MISTERY VOICE The person who answers your call to an 800 number probably knows more about you than you realize TOMORROW 42 FUTURE PHONES Someday your telephone won't ring, it will shout the name of the caller; it will also listen to you and obey your command 45 MOTOROLA ON THE MOVE The company is pushing a 77-satellite cellular system that would serve remote areas around the world 48 NINTENDO NATION The Japanese company's video-game players may be linked in a vast network 52 BABY BELLS GROW UP They await a key ruling before resuming their lobbying effort to win freedom from Judge Greene's control ESSAY 54 THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR You're in luck! Whereever you are, I can find you! ------------------------------ From: Jeff Wasilko Date: Mon, 12 Nov 1990 17:59:37 EST Subject: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? As I was catching up on my Digest-reading, a thought occured to me -- why are switch programs called 'generics'? Thanks, Jeff Wasilko RIT Communications ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #816 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01185; 14 Nov 90 4:42 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa23862; 14 Nov 90 2:56 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11940; 14 Nov 90 1:49 CST Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 1:00:50 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #817 BCC: Message-ID: <9011140100.ab22482@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Nov 90 01:00:42 CST Volume 10 : Issue 817 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Real-Time Information Over Networks [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Need Help With Scheduling Software [Bill Crane] Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN [Eric Smith] Re: Centel PBX - Strange Codes? [Lars Poulsen] Re: George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers [Werner Uhrig] Re: AT Bus Hardware For ISDN [Ed Hopper] Re: *Long* Phone Calls - What Does Ma Think [Christopher Ambler] Call Waiting in Twin Cities Area [Kevin Bluml] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Phone Numbers Indexed by Street Address Date: 13 Nov 90 01:43:49 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14556@accuvax.nwu.edu>, wmg@howard.att.com (William M Gilroy) writes: > I was wondering how and where I would obtain a listing by street of > every telephone number on that street. I want something like this: With NYNEX's extremely overpriced CDROM based product, one can simply scan up and down a street. Great fun finding neighbors you never knew you had. I don't know what the retreival capabilities of the more reasonably priced and wider area CDROM listings are. There is a YELLOW PAGES CDROM that doesn't mention street capability, but come to think of it that would be GREAT! I often know exactly WHERE something is, but don't know if it is listed under JUNK or ELECTRONICS or USED-COMPUTERS, and a street scan would let me recognise the name or category. Ask the folks at 1-800-45-SPEED for info if CDROM business listings are of interest. ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Real-Time Information Over Networks Date: 13 Nov 90 02:03:19 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14561@accuvax.nwu.edu>, ingr!b11!b11!goodloe@uunet.uu.net (Tony Goodloe) writes: > I'm looking for reference works on doing things like voice and > realtime data transmission over non-deterministic networks like > ethernet. Anyone have any pointers? I am very interested, too, but am looking for working hardware. The first such thing I would like to find would be a little butt-set like device capable of plugging into a thin-net BNC, an 10baseT jack, or an AUI connector on a tranceiver. The simple one should only be able to 'dial' its mate, presumably elsewhere in the building and plugged into a PBX extension. One could go off hook and dial from any wiring closet. The second device would be much more sophisticated, and would make use of enough compression to make using several such devices over a typical office's 56kb internet connection quite feasable. Imagine signature lines including a phone/voice-mail address that looked like 140.186.64.37! Anyone know of any? ------------------------------ From: chara!daysinns!bill@gatech.edu Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 16:13:38 EST Subject: Re: Need Help With Scheduling Software Organization: Days Inns of America In article <14596@accuvax.nwu.edu> you write: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 811, Message 8 of 11 >Has anyone had any experience with a scheduler for ACD staff that is >both effective and efficient? The product we are currently struggling >with is called NAMES-10, it's an MS-DOS based package marketed by >AT&T. My sympathy is with you. We also use(d) NAMES. >It's extremely difficult to use and our supervisory staff spends an >excessive amount of time attempting to get it to meet our needs. We >have a situation here where the tail (software) is wagging the dog >(organization). Yes, that describes NAMES perfectly. >Any and all recommendations are welcome. Within reason, money is no >issue at this point in time. We need something that will help us >cover our volumes effectively, without dooming our supervisors to >endless attempts to 'fool' the system into meeting our needs. Let me tell you what not to use. We have also used EMPS (marketed by Cybernetics Systems International in Miami). EMPS has a much better user interface than NAMES, so its easier to use, but the schedules it produces aren't worth a whole lot by our estimation. We scrapped EMPS in favor of NAMES, and are now scrapping NAMES as well. FYI, I work at the reservation center for Days Inns. We have an AT&T System 85 in Atlanta supporting 200 reservations agents, and two other System 85's in Knoxville supporting 400 more agents. Our center in Knoxville is about to purchase MPS by TCS. I have not worked with TCS, but I saw a demonstration that was given by one of their salesmen. I have some reservations about the product, but the folks in Knoxville were willing to go along with it. Two of us here in the Atlanta office are currently writing our own package (This software is being developed with our own resources away from the company). We feel especially qualified, having viewed the shortcomings of two other packages. Our product should be ready within four months, at which time we intend to market it. Just out of curiosity, what kind of setup do you have (how many agent positions, what kind of hardware, anticipated call volume, type of operation)? (Our product is not ready to be marketed, I'm just curious). Also, could I dig up the name of a TCS representative and send it your way? Bill Crane ...!gatech!daysinns!bill bill%daysinns@gatech.edu Days Inns of America Inc., Atlanta GA ------------------------------ From: Eric Smith Subject: Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN Date: 13 Nov 90 03:19:44 GMT Organization: Frobozz Magic Widget Company In article <14545@accuvax.nwu.edu> arnold%audiofax.com@mathcs. emory.edu (Arnold Robbins) writes: > However, my experience has been that AT&T is *SO* large that finding > someone who knows what you want so that you can order it is next to > impossible. No kidding! I want to get information on AT&T 7500 series ISDN data sets and voice terminals, and possibly to buy some. I called AT&T Direct. They never heard of them. They said that the 7500 series are "probably obsolete." I called AT&T Business Telephone Systems & Facsimile. I called AT&T PBX & Data Systems. I called the local AT&T Business Marketing Sales Office. People at each of these offices denied the existence of any 7500 series devices, although I suspect that some of the people I spoke to were using them. I know the local AT&T Microelectronics office has them. Each AT&T employee gave me another number to try. Eventually I spoke to one woman a second time, and she tried harder to help me. She was able to come up with a ComCode for the 7507 (105-678-304), at a price of $1080, but she didn't have any information on it, and AT&T's national parts center (or whatever it is called) doesn't carry them. The Business Telephone Systems people and the Business Marketing Sales Office people didn't want to talk to me because I don't own an AT&T PBX, or have an account with AT&T. If I were an AT&T stock holder, I would be very upset that they are trying very hard NOT to sell their products. Anybody got a good suggestion for a *responsible* person at AT&T to whom I can write? Eric L. Smith Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those esmith@apple.com of my employer, friends, family, computer, or even me! :-) ------------------------------ From: Lars Poulsen Subject: Re: Centel PBX - Strange Codes? Organization: Rockwell CMC Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 08:11:40 GMT In article <14463@accuvax.nwu.edu> gil@limbic.ssdl.com (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) writes: >At the office, we have a Centel PBX system. ... >If I dial '87' on the phone, I get a second dial tone. This isn't the >same as dialling '9' for an outside line -- it also sounds like a >standard dial tone. However, it performs some funky dialing depending >on what I do. For example -- if I dial NNX-YYYY-111-1111 it seems to >dial the standard NNX-YYYY -- but I do need to dial the 7 ones after >it. This sounds like the access code to a software defined network. Is your facility a pampered engineering unit in an otherwise cheapskate large corporation ? The data communications company that I work for, is owned by Rockwell, which is a large aerospace company. We recently were merged into Rockwell's MCI based software defined network. Where we used to dial long distance the same way as local (just hit "9" for an apparently outside dial tone, which was really generated by the PBX so that the numbers dialled could be validated/translated/routed), this will now only work for 911, 411 and a specified lit of local prefixes. Everything else must use the "COMNET" access, which is very much like the above. The "111-1111" corresponds to our personal access code, which is like a calling card. Our facility gets a phone bill from corporate telecom each month for each access code. So instead of going straight into MCI's local POP (point of presence), we now send them to Rockwell's switch in Seal Beach (near Long Beach) where the access code is validated, and then they are splashed to MCI down there. The obvious bad part is that it's a pain in the butt to remember yet another code. The good part is that we will increase our volume discount from about 15% to about 20% by joining a larger pool. My guess, is that when you dial as above, the calls get charged to some other division of your corporate parent. 111-1111 should not have been enabled; it's probably owned by the telecom unit as a test code. Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 1990 3:55:59 CST From: Werner Uhrig Reply-To: Werner Uhrig Subject: Re: George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers [ Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 816, Message 6 of 9 ] > The other day, while watching the election returns on TV, President > Bush came on the screen. He was asking for the public's support of > the USO. To make a donation, the viewer was asked to call a 900 > number (Three or so dollars a call, I think). I suppose that it is > the Commander-In-Chief's job to generate support for the armed > services, but something just doesn't seem right about the President of > the United States advertising a 900 number. Did you watch his LIPS ??!!?? :-)) (It May have been dubbed in after he was told to say 1-800-...) I keep seeing a sleezy 1-900 ad in the CBS Nightwatch program since a couple of nights ago also, but I failed to take note to see if it is the same ad Bush was on earlier (maybe someone told him he was supporting sleeze ?!? This one is hyping something like: "support our troops, let them know that you support them, call 1-900-mumble ... Operation Mail Call (sounds like paper, doesn't it?!!) And just during the last few seconds: $2.50 a minute I wonder if a very slow secretary is sitting on a PC and an impact printer sending letters to some APO-address now that ATT's free fax program is discontinued (if I remember my rumours right...) Internet: werner@rascal.ics.utexas.edu werner@astro.as.utexas.edu werner@cs.utexas.edu BITnet: werner@UTXVM UUCP: ...!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!werner OR ...!utastro!werner ------------------------------ From: Ed Hopper Date: Sun, 11 Nov 90 19:42:21 CST Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Houston, Texas 713-997-7575 Subject: AT Bus Hardware For ISDN arnold%audiofax.com@mathcs.emory.edu (Arnold Robbins) writes: > In article <14447@accuvax.nwu.edu> holos0!wdh@gatech.edu (Weaver > Hickerson) writes: > >I'm interested in finding what types, if any, of AT bus hardware is > >available/in the works for ISDN, as well as simply learning more about > >the service. > At SuperComm '90 this past spring, AT&T had a huge "booth". One of > the things they showed was an ISDN card for the AT bus. So, I know it > exists. > However, my experience has been that AT&T is *SO* large that finding > someone who knows what you want so that you can order it is next to > impossible. Just to avoid the inevitable "AT&T is so dumb they could sell ice cubes in the desert" BS, here are a couple of leads as to where you can and cannot find that card. I believe the card is a product of AT&T Network Systems. These are the guys who sell 5ESS and that sort of stuff to the LECs. The idea being that the LECs would sell it to endusers via their hardware subsidiaries. They also sell "7500" series ISDN sets the same way. The card may also be available via the PBX sales folks, but I doubt it (for a large enough order they could probably get it via the "special bid" procedure inside AT&T). There has existed for some time a similar card intended for the System 75/85/Definity DCP protocols. Last I heard, that card was not compatible with BRI (2B+D). There is also a slight possiblity that AT&T Paradyne has an offering in this area. The card is NOT, I repeat, NOT an AT&T Computer Systems product. Computer Systems does not sell DCE, period. Ed Hopper AT&T Computer Systems ------------------------------ From: cambler@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Fubar's Carbonated Hormones) Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 9:48:59 GMT John Higdon recently informed us: >"Andrew M. Boardman" writes: >> - Since some uucp sites have so much traffic that they can >> spend days on one call anyway, has anyone ever heard of >> previous telco complaints in this area? >I have never heard of this happening. I am familiar with some larger >sites in the area, and while the modems may be off hook a major >portion of the time, it is never with one call. The longest UUCP >calls last on the order of 20 minutes. Besides, a business would be >measured and telco couldn't care less -- the meter would be running. Well, I run a Usenet carrying BBS. The incoming line is measured service residential, and the outgoing line is flat-rate residential. I told the telco-order-taking-being that the measured service number would be for a *HOBBY* BBS (read: not business), and would never be called out on. Fine. I even got a personalized number (54-FUBAR... waited a year for the previous "occupant" to "vacate" ... even offered him $50 to swap ... but I digress). The outgoing line is for UUCP connections at 2400MNP (4800). While I don't carry a full feed, the calls HAVE been known to go up to 30 hours a shot. At one point, I can recall a transfer that went for three days (had been down for a while, and news was queueing up as fast as I could get it). This was all GTE, and I have since moved to San Luis Obispo, where we have Pac*Bell. Longest call here has been on the order of eight hours. But I can forsee such long calls again. On another aspect, my feed has told me that if I buy a pair of telebits, he'll run SLIP for me ... so I *WOULD* be on the phone 99% of the time ... but remember, this is all a hobby. I take no money for my BBS ... so what do you think the phone*co would say? ++Christopher(); --- cambler@polyslo.calpoly.edu --- chris@erotica.fubarsys.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 19:34:49 CST From: Kevin Bluml Subject: Call Waiting in Twin Cities Area In article <14557@accuvax.nwu.edu> SABAHE@macalstr.edu (Arun Baheti ) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 807, Message 8 of 12 >I'm having trouble disabling the call waiting feature in the Twin >Cities area. While the standard methods (*70 and 1170) are listed in >Does anyone else have experience with the Twin >Cities system? Pat's answer is correct I think. Each office (exchange) is updated seperately. Mine (612-722) does not yet have the disable capability. As noted in the US West phone book.. "You can deactivate Call Waiting ...by following the instructions below. HOWEVER (emphasis mine) it is not available in all offices. Call your service representative for information." Kevin V. Bluml - Cray Research Inc. 612-683-3036 USmail - 655E - Lone Oak Drive, Eagan, MN 55121 Internet - kevin@cray.com UUCP - uunet!cray!ferris!kevin ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #817 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03429; 14 Nov 90 6:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11831; 14 Nov 90 5:02 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa25378; 14 Nov 90 3:57 CST Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 2:51:10 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #818 BCC: Message-ID: <9011140251.ab05848@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 14 Nov 90 02:51:03 CST Volume 10 : Issue 818 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Bronx Area Code [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission [R.Kevin Oberman] Why Prodigy Will Make It, Regardless [Brendan Kehoe] Computer Accessible Phone Directory? [Nadim Massoud] Re: GTE Mobilnet and International Calls [Douglas Scott Reuben] T3 Equipment Info Needed [Ron Watkins] Talk to a Pioneer [Will Martin] The Real Meaning of ISO [Ole J. Jacobsen] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Servie [Randy Day] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 13-NOV-1990 12:05:41.30 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Bronx Area Code Just a quick note about the new Bronx, NY area code... I think the new are code is 917, not 908. After reading Fred Goldstien's post, I was pretty dumb, and called 908-555-1212 to see if I would get NY DA. Well, I got New Jersey Bell DA that cost a nice 60 cents! :-) I know, I know, I should know that 908 is the new area code for Jersey...! BUT, after making this silly mistake, I tried 1-917-555-1212, and rather than my phone dropping into the "We're sorry, your call can not be completed as dialed..." message right away, I got the * AT&T * recording saying that " Your call can not be completed as dialed...Please check the number and dial your call again ... 718-2T". I was calling LOCALLY (from NY Metro), not LD. Why does it do this? Was 917 assigned somewhere "LD" before? (I don't think it was ... was it?). Strange that we get an AT&T intercept rather than a NY Tel recording. (Note: I tried this from a DMS-100, a 5XBar, and a 1(A?) ESS, all of which had the same results!) On an aside, for those in the NY area, let's say I want to call Jersey DA, and dial it via 10NYT-1-201-555-1212. This routes the call over NY Tel's network, even though it goes across state lines. (This was mentioned in previous issues of the Digest.) So how am I billed? 60 cents? Or perhaps 40 cents? (what NY Tel charges for local DA above your three call allowance from residence phones). Just curious ... Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet P.S. THANKS (again) to everyone who responded to my question about "Wink/ CPC" signalling. I tried to respond to many of you, but my mailer bounced most of the .COM mail ... It does that occasionally. I DO appreciate the time you took to answer! -DR ------------------------------ From: oberman@rogue.llnl.gov Subject: Re: NSFNet Intercontinental ISO Transmission Date: 13 Nov 90 16:10:02 GMT In article <14625@accuvax.nwu.edu>, mukesh@eng.sun.com (Mukesh Kacker) writes: >>The prototype OSI (this, I think is a typo - it should be ISO) > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>implementation is intended to provide wide area connectivity between >>OSI networks, including networks using the DECNet Phase V protocols. > This is not a typo. OSI stands for "Open Systems Interconnectioni" > which is broad suite of protocols for data transmission in computer > networks following a seven layer model. The other suite of protocols > normally used on NSFNET/Internet is called the Internet suite or > commonly as the TCP/IP suite. OK. I guess I'll have to pick some nits here. OSI is a reference model for networking, not a protocol suite. It is an ISO standard itself (ISO 7498), and any set of protocols which fit this reference model is OSI. It does not imply interoperability or any such useful thing, but moves in that direction. For example, there are five different Transport Protocols that are ISO standards and fit in the OSI model, cleverly called TP0, TP1, TP2, TP3, and TP4. Each serves different purposes and political requirements. And just wait until you get to deal with the 50 or so address formats! Various bodies, governmental and otherwise, are writing "profiles" to specify just what protocols they will use and how. In the US and UK there is a "Government OSI Profile" that is mandated for most government systems. Unfortunately, UK GOSIP and US GOSIP don't interoperate directly bacause UK requires a different set of protocols at the lower levels then the US. There are enough options in the OSI world that everyone can have a standard network that won't communicate with anyone else's. > ISO stands for "International Standards Organization" and is the > standards body under which the OSI suite of protocols is being > developed. Reasonably accurate except that the name of the body is "The Organization for International Standardization", at least in English. The name "ISO" was selected because it "looks right" in a lot of languages without being an actual acronym for the name of the body in any language, thus avoiding offending either anglophiles or francophiles. This is the sort of silliness international bodies have to go through to keep users happy and why there are five Transport Protocols, of which only three are likely to ever be implemented and probably only two really used much. Of course, some country will probably select TP1 and a major computer vendor select TP3 just to be a pain :-). But enough OSI bashing. Given market forces some rational set of protocols should emerge and they may even work. And OSI does allow a lot of neat functionallity beyond what the TCP/IP suite allows. Just don't expect it tomorrow! R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov 415) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing and probably don't really know anything useful about anything. ------------------------------ From: Brendan Kehoe Subject: Why Prodigy Will Make It, Regardless Date: 13 Nov 90 17:24:48 GMT Reply-To: Brendan Kehoe Organization: University of Pennsylvania When all of this hit the fan, I called up a friend of mine who mentioned that he was using Prodigy quite a bit. Boy did HE have a lot to say. He said that very morning he'd mailed off his last check with a 3-page letter explaining why he was cancelling the service. From what he said, more than "9 or 15" people are disgruntled about all of this [censorship, email tariffs, etc]. He said he personally knew upwards of 200 people that chose to sign off the system at about the same time. But debating whether or not they should do all of this is, in my opinion, a pretty big waste of time. Why? Because of the market Prodigy's trying to hit. They're not aiming for the people that see the GEnie ads in Compute! magazine, or those that try out CompuServe with their intro kit; they're looking for the people that are walking through Sears' electronics department looking for a good deal on video tapes & happen to see this bright yellow box with people smiling all over it, right next to the computer they were given for Christmas. They don't want the people that have any kind of technical ability at all. They want those that still view computers as complete and utter mysteries never to be solved. And as long as they blitz the media & have it as widely distributed & available as it is now, they'll never have a shortage of customers. In about a month this will probably die down to a low murmur (though I'd LOVE to see this covered on the Today show, but I doubt it will happen), and they'll keep raking in the naive customers. Whatcha think? Brendan Kehoe | brendan@cs.widener.edu [ It's here, but it won't resolve yet ] For now: kehoe@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu | Also: brendan.kehoe@cyber.widener.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 02:52:14 EST From: NADIM MASSOUD Subject: Computer Accessible Phone Directory? Hi, I was wondering why there isn't (or is there?) a way to find a person's telephone number in the USA, by calling via modem. In France, any Minitel terminal owner (the terminal is free) can do this, with a variety of options in the search. Does anyone know if this is planned or already exists? I also would apreciate any comments about the future of Minitel in the USA. A Minitel is a videotext terminal. A regular minitel works at 1200/75 bau ds, and anyone with a phone can have on free in France. There are a few Minitel services in the USA ... emulations exist for various micros. [Moderato's Note: Actually, there are a few telco operated programs like this in the USA, but they seem to be few and far between. Illinois Bell has a service called 'Directory Express' which is like what you described above. It is tariffed for business customers, and at present has only a few. Primarily heavy users of directory assistance are interested, since the service costs quite a bit per hour of use monthly. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 13-NOV-1990 12:21:46.64 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: re: GTE Mobilnet and International Calls Hi- I too got a notice in my bill from GTE Mobilnet (San Francisco). They said that ALL international calls were blocked. Again being dumb I called up GTE (and after waiting for 20 minutes, as usual...), I asked if that included Canada. The sales rep. said "Yes, any call outside the lower 48 states..." (Does she really mean this? IE, we can't call Alaska and Hawaii direct? Doubtful...) I told her that I would like to call Canada at times, and that if I use my calling card, then I will get billed more because: (A)- There is an 80 cent surcharge on AT&T Card calls. (B)- If I dial 0+416-555-5555, I pay airtime, even if no one is there. IE, once I access AT&T's Calling Card system, charges begin, since AT&T's Calling Card system doesn't pass along answer superivision on a call-by-call basis. (I doubt that this is possible, or even desireable on their calling card system). So, if the number is busy, or there is no one there, I pay airtime anyhow, which I shouldn't have to. (IE, that's not what I bargained for in my Business Club or whatever they call it when I initially signed up for that type of account.) She seemed to know where I was coming from, and said "I see how this could be a problem for you ... I'll have a sales rep or manager call you back to see if we can arrange to let you make Canadian and 011 from YOUR mobile phone number." So I guess they can allow this from individual phones. I've noticed Metro One (the generally overpriced rip-off "A" outfit in New York, the one that has NO *611/611 number for Customer Service - you must dial the 800 and pay airtime - which as a recent poster here noted can be as high as 95 cents per minute! - but anyhow..) ... so Metro One in NYC has an option that you can toggle on or off at their switch to block "011" calls. (And other types of calls as well.). Could this be what GTE is doing? IE, it turned off "011" (and Canadian) access for everyone, and then turns in back on for those who complain on a case-by-case basis? If this is so, it sounds pretty silly to me... Yet they were VERY polite to me and almost apologetic about all this, and noted that since I roam a lot, it should not affect me too much, since they can only block such calls in their system, not in everyone else's. (IE, you can dial 011 and Canada from non-GTE system, it would seem ... It works fine from New York City's "B" System - NYNEX, and Connecticut's "B" system, SNET.) So hopefully I won't have to send GTE a letter about this! :-) And while John Higdon may be right that this is sort of a poor showing by GTE Mobilnet, he hasn't seen anything if you want to talk about *MY* favorite mobile company, Metro Mobile! :-) After sending them a *5* page letter asking WHY they charge airtime for Call-Forwarding, I got a call back on my answering system from a "Mr. Linderman". He said "Hello, Douglas? This is Mr. Linderman from Metro Mobile. I am returning your call ... errr ... letter ... errr calling about the letter you sent last week." That's it. No callback number, no extension. Metro Mobile has like 6 800 numbers, and a number for their main national heaquarters in New York City. I call ALL of them - no Mr. Linderman. THEN, as I am about to hang up, I am told "We do have a Chairman of the Board named that, but I *doubt* he would call *you*!" Err ... yeah, GEE! Thanks! I guess I should know that us peasants never get such calls! So compared to Metro Mobile of Connecticut, GTE Mobilnet/SF is a dream! (Not to mention Ameritech which sounds quite responsbile as well. Hmmm ... Since GTE also charges airtime for Call-forwarding (and waiting, and three-way, and voicemail - checking and receiving!) I wonder if I can 're-cycle' my Metro Mobile letter and send it along to GTE ... ?! The letter is sort of generic - just cross out the "Metro Mobile" and put "GTE" in there instead! :-) Should I *really* be spending more time complaining about cell service than I actually spend using the silly phone anyow??? :-( Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Ron Watkins Subject: T3 Equipment Info Needed Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 07:39:20 EDT I am in need of vender names, phone#numbers and description of their T3 products. I need a box to sit on either end of a fiberoptic cable and make ~24 T1 channels. Can anyone recommend such a beast? Thank you, Ron Watkins ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 8:11:41 CST From: Will Martin Subject: Talk to a Pioneer Reference the recent discussion of Telephone Pioneers: if you want to talk to a Telephone Pioneer, they staff the "Contact 2" consumer-assistance phone lines run by Channel 2 (KTVI) here in St. Louis. These lines are open for calls from 11 AM - 1 PM and 5-7 PM Central Time, at these numbers: 800-782-2222 314-282-2222 I don't know if there is any geographic limit on the 800 number; do these new 800 services still have geographic limits, or has the old concept of "WATS Bands" disappeared with the flood of competing 800-providers? I have no idea how busy these people are with the consumer-affairs service this is designed to provide -- if things are slow, they might be willing to chat about the Pioneers and telecom issues. If you have a consumer problem with a company in the St. Louis area, you can use these numbers to register a complaint or get information or maybe help with the difficulty. (The other two mjor network-affiliate TV stations in this region also have such lines, but they don't have the Pioneers, which is what makes this Telecom-related.) Regards, Will wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil OR wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 1990 8:28:22 PST From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" Subject: The Real Meaning of ISO Quick note: ISO does *not* stand for "International Standards Organization". It is *not* and acronym, but it does refer to the organzation whose official name is: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION. This "mistake" is perhaps the most common in the entire communications industry. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher ConneXions--The Interoperability Report Interop, Inc., 480 San Antonio Road, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94040, USA Phone: (415) 941-3399 FAX: (415) 949-1779 Email: ole@csli.stanford.edu ------------------------------ From: microsoft!randyd@uunet.uu.net To: nucsrl!telecom-request@uunet.uu.net Date: Tue Nov 13 12:56:54 1990 Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA I use Prodigy three to five times a week. I use it almost exclusively for stock quotes and for doing stock trades. I think the service is pretty primative, especially the mail servcies. The potential is there, but their execution is stone-age. The number of useful things you can do are very limited (for instance, the news part is a complete waste. You have to scan the news in the order they provide. There is no capability to scan headlines and pick the stories you're interested in, much less search-by-keyword capabilities.) The only thing that keeps me using Prodigy is that the fee is fixed. This is what I really respond to. Getting stock quotes/doing stock trades is much cheaper via Prodigy than via something like Dow Jones News Retrival (which I also subscribe to). Randy Day (Opinions expressed here are mine and mine only. They are not a reflection of my employer's opinion.) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #818 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23942; 15 Nov 90 3:58 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08730; 15 Nov 90 2:14 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa15899; 15 Nov 90 1:08 CST Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 0:59:15 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #819 BCC: Message-ID: <9011150059.ab30252@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Nov 90 00:58:26 CST Volume 10 : Issue 819 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [Fred R. Goldstein] Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [Jeffrey C. Martin] Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [Dave Levenson] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [Paul Gauthier] The Right Choice [Dan Breslau] More Splitsville [Jeff Sicherman] Re: N00 Exchanges, Anywhere? [Carl Moore] Northern Illinois CLASS Installation Schedule [Dan Veeneman] Need Info on ANSI X.12 [FEK101@psuvm.psu.edu] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? Date: 13 Nov 90 18:47:23 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article <14643@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) writes... >As I was catching up on my Digest-reading, a thought occured to me -- >why are switch programs called 'generics'? You had to own/manage a Rolm 7000-series CBX to really appreciate what a generic is! (No, it doesn't mean "cheaper than name-brand software".) Back in the '70s and early '80s I used to run a bunch of them. Some early computer-controlled telephone switches had highly customized software. You told the manufacturer what your hardware configuration was, how many of this and how many of that feature, how you routed your calls, your numbering plan, etc., and they linked an executable software module Just For You. At Rolm, this process was called "Sysgen", and produced a "configuration". Changing this required a "deconfiguration" (print it out with any changes made) and "reconfiguration". So, for example, if you wanted to changed the wired-for configuration to include more tie lines, DID trunks, or a different mix of ordinary/fancy phones, you had to reconfigure. Even changing a hunt group pilot number nominally took a six-week-plus reconfiguration cycle, though _certain_ things could be patched if you knew whom to ask. (And a few things could be changed using undocumented commands.) Needless to say, Rolm had "releases", but not "generics". A generic is a set of software that could be field-customized to meet the user's requirement. It may or may not have all the optional feature licenses, but it's generally configurable, so customers don't need factory intervention in order to set the machine up and maintain it. Most PBXs today as well as central offices use generic software. If there's another explanation, I'd be curious to hear it too. Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 17:07:51 EST From: Jeffrey C Martin Subject: Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In article <14643@accuvax.nwu.edu>, Jeff Wasilko writes: > As I was catching up on my Digest-reading, a thought occured to me -- > why are switch programs called 'generics'? Generic: adj, "relating to ... a whole group or class" (from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary). The word "generic" started out in the No. 1 ESS with its usual adjectival usage, as "generic program": i.e., a program usable in multiple central office environments, customized by changing "parameters" and "translations." Over time, people shortened the term to "generic" and started using the word as a noun. Here's a fairly early reference, from the September, 1964 issue of "The Bell System Technical Journal": No. 1 ESS: System Organization and Objectives By W. KEISTER, R. W. KETCHLEDGE and H. E. VAUGHAN (Manuscript received January 22, 1964) "This paper is an introduction to the No. 1 electronic switching system, a new general-purpose switching system developed for use in the Bell System. Organization and objectives of the system are outlined to provide a back- ground for the detailed technical papers which follow." 3.3 Programs "Approximately 90 programs totaling about 100,000 words are used to control the operations required for telephone service and to control the maintenance of the system. These programs, each an ordered set of instructions to provide a particular function, are stored in the program store. The call programs provide the solution to any problem a customer can present to the system, either directly or through some other switching system. An assembly of call programs must tailor-make a connection according to the demands of the customer. "Several approaches toward providing programs for a large number of different offices could be used. A generic program, which is the same for each office, with detailed differences listed in a parameter table, is the approach used in No. 1 ESS. The generic program includes all features for a large number of offices, covering sizes from 2,000 to 65,000 lines and means for handling growth and changing traffic conditions. This approach simplifies record keeping, because only the parameter tables which specify present size and operating conditions are unique to each office. Additional data which characterize a particular office are found in translation tables also in the program store. Typically, 18 different sets of translations are required in each office. These include directory number to equipment number translations for both lines and trunks, class of service, and special treatment for lines and trunks. "In the future, economics may dictate the need for several generic programs - for instance, one for small offices, one for large offices, one for four-wire offices, and perhaps some combinations of these..." This excerpt was from the lead article in a two-volume special issue on the No. 1 ESS switch. That special issue was a true classic. When I joined No. 1 ESS development in late '72, those two volumes were still the basic reference for bringing people on board with the switch, and I believe they remained so throughout its development life. They still make for pretty good reading. Jeff Martin ..tt!ihlpf!jeffm ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? Date: 15 Nov 90 04:59:26 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14643@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) writes: > As I was catching up on my Digest-reading, a thought occured to me -- > why are switch programs called 'generics'? The term comes from the early history of electronic switching. The switch required memory. Three kinds of memory. There is memory which contains the parameters which are customized for every installation. This has subscriber class-of-service, call-routing tables, and other such. It is called "Translation" because it is the tables that translate the dialed number into a physical route. Translation is where the custom features are enabled or disabled. It is writeable only from the administrator's console. The second kind of memory is called "status". (Earlier, it was called 'call-store'. It holds the details of the calls in progress right now: the digits you've just dialed, the state of your switchhook, and the map that indicates which trunks and links are idle, busy, or in maintenance mode. Status memory is where you look when you're debugging a central office crash. It is writeable by the operational software and may be readable by the administrator. The third kind of memory contains the operational software. It is identical in every installation -- the per-installation customization is in translation memory. Because it is always the same, it is called generic. It is ROM. Bell Labs writes it! (Or they did in the old days.) Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: Paul Gauthier Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada Date: Tue, 13 Nov 1990 14:01:29 -0400 In article <14595@accuvax.nwu.edu> amb@ai.mit.edu (Andrew M. Boardman) writes: [Why not make one *long* call rather than lease a line?] > - What would one's local phone company think of this? Many people have pointed out that the phone company would come after you right quick with some concocted reason to make you lose any advantage this scheme might have. If this is the case, why not simply rig the software to break the connection once daily and then redial. Maybe even less frequently depending on what duration the phone company would find distressing. PG ------------------------------ From: Dan Breslau Subject: The Right Choice Date: 13 Nov 90 17:30:43 GMT Organization: Codex Corp., Canton MA The following was sent to me by a friend of mine; I asked her if it would be OK to post it here. Her reply: > YES!!!! Put it on the USENET! And by all means, add US Sprint's 800 > number! It's 1/800-877-4646. Disclaimer: Neither the original writer nor I have any relationship with these companies, other than as customers. ----------- To all of you who are *still* using AT&T, I offer the following little story: Saturday, after working all day and late into the night, (3 AM, to be precise) I return home, trying not to wake the housemates, and collect my mail from the dining room table. Scanning through the usual junk mail and bills, I pause to read yet another solicitation from AT&T, telling me how they've changed, they're not the same since I've left them, and that I should come back. Now my parents still have AT&T (due only to the remoteness of their home -- the other companies don't reach that far north), and I have asked them if they've noticed any difference. All I get is stoney silence, before the usual "you-never-come-and-visit-anymore" sigh. Hmmm. I look over the letter. Right on the top, it says, in BOLDFACE TYPE, they've LOWERED THEIR RATES! "Wow!", I say, "can it really be true?" Then, a little memory creeps in and whispers: "Wait. Don't be duped." I walk over and pick up a copy of the {Wall Street Journal} from the previous week. (Wednesday's, I think.) Front page: AT&T INCREASES ITS LONG DISTANCE RATES. Now, I may not be a rocket scientist, but I can read. These two things do not add up. Truth in advertising? There is an "800" number on the letter. It's 3 AM. I go to the phone. I dial. It's really not like me to harrass a poor telephone operator who is only doing her job. Really. I'm a live-and-let-live kind of person. But it's 3 AM, and AT&T has just sent yet another sleazey piece of propaganda. The operator doesn't know anything about the rate hike or the mailer. She gives me to her manager, who is so programmed that I don't think he could tie his shoe without an instruction manual. ME: I have just received this letter from AT&T saying that they've LOWERED THEIR RATES. AT&T: That's right. We've LOWERED OUR RATES on long distance service. Would you like to change from your present carrier? ME: Well, perhaps. Do you read the Wall Street Journal? AT&T: No, ma'm, I don't. ME: Do you think that *your* supervisor reads it? AT&T: I have no idea. ME: I thought not. Why do you think that last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal would have an article on the front page saying that you've *raised* your rates? Is AT&T going to sue the Journal for libel? Would you like me to be a witness? AT&T: I don't know anything about a lawsuit, ma'm. ME: Well, now think for a minute. I read that AT&T was *raising* their rates just nine days ago. But you are telling me that AT&T has LOWERED THEIR RATES today. Am I supposed to believe this advertisement, or the Wall Street Journal? The manager then proceeded to tell me this long-winded story about how the mailer was printed weeks ago, and the advertising department might not have known that the *other department* that is in charge of rates would be raising them, but anyway, it's not much of a rate hike, only a few cents per minute, really, and it doesn't add up to very much when you get right down to it. And only a couple of other people had called to complain tonight, so what was the big deal? I thought of all the things I wanted to say, cleared my throat, and asked to be removed from any future mailings. I also asked if they would mail out an apology to everyone for lying to them about LOWERING THEIR RATES. Know what I got for an answer? *click* I suggest US Sprint. Great service, very, very inexpensive. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 13:00:47 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: More Splitsville PacBell and GTE just announced a proposal to split the current 714 area code (Orange, Riverside, and San Bernadino counties) in two, taking effect in January 1993. Boundaries are not firm (hearings will be held) but it is expected that Orange County (Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and many other attractions) will stay in the 714 code and the remaining counties will receive a new one. The newspaper article doesn't mention it but a TV report specified 909 and the area code list in the archives shows that as unassigned. The reason given was the proliferation of phone numbers (as with the 213-310 split for Los Angeles). This was probably exacerbated by growth rates of Riverside and San Bernadino (due to housing costs elsewhere) and the proliferation of cellular phones and faxes and modems in Orange County, which is a relatively affluent area. Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 9:38:22 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: N00 Exchanges, Anywhere? SKASS@drew.bitnet writes: >1-700-xxxx :"We're sorry. Your call did not go through. Will you please > try your call again?" (Probably waiting for 11 digits) With an attempt at 700-xxxx just above it which got a message saying you first had to dial a 1. It wasn't said in the message I am responding to, but 1 + 7-digit number should not work in an area using NXX (not NNX) prefixes. Try getting a Los Angeles area directory and looking up areas 213 and 818 for prefixes of the N00 form. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 15:52:24 CST From: Dan Veeneman Subject: Northern Illinois CLASS Installation Schedule I just got off the phone with an Illinois Bell supervisor, who told me that CLASS services for 708-639 (Cary, a far northwest suburb) will not be available until next year. She couldn't tell me exactly when it *would* be available, as she had not yet received the installation schedule for 1991. She stated that the list she is using now for 1990 was received by her office in January, and that they are "doing their best" to stay on schedule. Her example was Waukegan, which had a cutover date of October 15. BTW, ANAC (Automatic Number Announcement Circuit) for the 312 and 708 area follows the pattern 1-200-xxxx, where the xxxx changes approximately every other month (and yes, IBT is very tight-lipped about letting that number out). People I knew who had the number generally got it by looking over a service person's shoulder as he/she dialed it in to their buttset. Dan veeneman@mot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 1990 17:18:55 EST From: FEK101@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: Need Info on ANSI X.12 I am looking for information on EDI, specifically on ANSI X.12. I would greatly appreciate any information anyone could send me on the ANSI X.12 standards, or a phone number I may call to get the info. Thank you. FEK101 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #819 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24916; 15 Nov 90 5:06 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa01015; 15 Nov 90 3:21 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab08730; 15 Nov 90 2:15 CST Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 1:45:05 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #820 BCC: Message-ID: <9011150145.ab21736@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Nov 90 01:44:56 CST Volume 10 : Issue 820 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson New Area Code in Southern California [David G. Cantor] New Area Codes and International Dialing [Olivier Giffard] Cable and Wireless 800 Service [Douglas Scott Reuben] FAX Machine at Home: Options For Incoming Transmissions [Joel M. Snyder] Wrong Number Rights [Paolo Bellutta] Re: $4 Per Day Roaming Charge [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: People Unclear on the Concept [Kenneth Herron] Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Rich Zellich] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Subject: New Area Code in Southern California Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 11:43:20 -0800 From: "David G. Cantor" A partial quote from today's {Los Angeles Times}: "Faced with a shortage of phone numbers because of rapid growth in Orange County and the Inland Empire, GTE and Pacific Bell officials have decided to carve out a new area code out of the existing 714 area, officials said Monday. Phone company officials said they will announce today who among the region's 4.7 million customers will be affected by the split when it takes effect in January, 1993. Unlike past area code changes in the state, this one has a twist: For the first time, the phone companies will offer three proposed boundaries for the new area code and allow time for public response to help decide how the boundaries will look, officials said. . ." The new area-code number was not given. Together with the existing area codes, 213, 310 (already planned for West Los Angeles), 619, 714, 805, and 818, this gives Southern California 7 area codes. Perhaps it would be much simpler for all concerned if the telcos were simply to switch to 8-digit numbers for all of Southern California. Of course, it could then be given a two-digit "country code" :-). David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1555 Internet: dgc@math.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: Olivier Giffard Subject: New Area Codes and International Dialling Date: 14 Nov 90 17:08:09 GMT Reply-To: Olivier Giffard Organization: Chorus systemes, Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France I've just tried to dial a number in the 917 area code (non existent yet) from France. I got a French intercept message just after dialing the 7 of 917 saying that this code was not in service. What means has a switch in France to know that. There must be some kind of table to look up in; but then how is it updated? In particular I'm wondering whether area code 917 will be available from France the very second it is put in service. I suppose there must be some kind of cooperation between ?BellCore? and foreign Telecom companies? Can anyone comment on this? ------------------------------ Date: 13-NOV-1990 12:51:26.16 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Cable and Wireless 800 Service Hello again! I've noticed that Cable and Wireless's programmable 800 service hasn't been working too well lately. I've tried reprogramming numerous times, and each time it accepts the new number, but even hours later won't switch it over. I've spoken to customer service and to some higher-ups, and they said there is a general problem in the system, and they were looking into it. Has anyone else heard about this or had trouble using it lately? Also, since I was calling anyhow, I mentioned that I too was experiencing a problem with an early return of answer supervision. (A previous poster a long time ago -- the one who (thankfully!) mentioned C&W's programmable 800 service noted this as well). They sounded genuinely concerned, and are looking into that as well. (This is a problem if one calls the 800 number from a carphone or to a land number which is forwarded to the 800 number -- billing will start for such calls BEFORE you hear a busy, a ring, or someone picks up. You SHOULD only get answer supervision if someone picks up ... right?) Overall, though, I have been very impressed with their service and ig*9]pricing, and their staff are exceptional -- I'd put them at almost the same level as AT&T's, in some cases even better! And the fact that they are open 24 hours a day, and you can talk to a technician at 3AM if you need to is an added bonus! Once they get these (hopefully) temporary problems fixed, Cable and Wireless 800/Programmable is truly a superior 800 service provider! Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 1990 23:29:07 MST From: Subject: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions Telecom readers: I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that-use- the-phone. This week I invested in a FAX modem (Dove FAX if any of you care; works incredibly well for $280). But now I need some way to receive FAX transmissions at home. I think that there are four distinct options, which I will rank from most to least expensive. My query to you all is simple: what advice and information do you have to offer? Please send your feedback to me at jms@carat.arizona.edu, and I do promise to organize a summary for distribution through the Digest. Here are the options (are there any more?) 1. Get an extra telephone line. This is clearly the most desirable, but is also the most expensive. A $50 to $100 fee, plus a monthly fixed expense of $10 to $20 per month (note: all rates are given with a midpoint of the cost quoted me by US West or local merchants). 2. Get distinctive ringing. With this option, you have two telephone numbers, but only one line -- calls to number A ring differently from number B. The key here is that you can get a box (any suggestions which one?) for around $100 which will route calls to one jack or another (that is, voice phone or FAX machine) based on the ringing. Downsides: the $100 box; you can't use both devices at once; a monthly fee of $2 to $7 (plus possible installation fees of about $10 to $20, although U S West has a "special" until December 5). 3. No telco change, but get FAX/voice box. It seems that some FAX machines send a tone called CNG when they are calling. Note that this is different from modems, where the originating modem is silent until the answering modem says something. What this FAX feature means is that one could build a box to distinguish between the two. Several people already have (any suggestions as to which one?) for $60 to $100 which picks up the phone and listens for CNG tones, passing the call to the FAX if it detects CNG and to the phone/answering machine if not. Downsides: similar to (2), although there is no recurring charge. My big question on this option is, "how many FAX machines present CNG tones?" Is this something which all FAX machines built in the last two or three years have, or is this a feature which some FAX machines built even today don't have? Anyone know any more about this? 4. Null hypothesis. No changes. Downsides: you have to pre-arrange whenever you expect to receive a FAX. But, it's CHEAP! Again, please don't send replies to the list. Send them to me, and I will collect and summarize! If you just want a copy of the answers, look for it in TELECOM Digest late next week. Thanks in advance for any help and advice! Joel M Snyder, The Mosaic Group, 627 E Speedway, 85705 Phone: 602.626.8680 (University of Arizona, Dep't of MIS, Eller Graduate School of Management) BITNET: jms@arizmis Internet: jms@carat.arizona.edu SPAN: 47541::uamis::jms ------------------------------ From: Paolo Bellutta Organization: I.R.S.T. 38050 POVO (TRENTO) ITALY Subject: Wrong Number Rights Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 10:11:47 MET DST In TELECOM Digest V10 #804: Andy Jacobson writes: > My opinion is : F***em! If Neiman Markup, or Snears has dumb > customers, take their orders! Take their credit card numbers! Tell > them what the prices are. Tell them where the store is located! When > they wind up at the city dump, they have no one to blame but > themselves. You have every right to give 'em grief. The stores have > ___NO___ right to even suggest that you change your number. I hate flames, but this drove me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I found US people very kind, a different class I would say, compared to the rudeness of Italians (especially public services). And for the two (supposedly) wrong numbers problems my friends and I had in the US, I have plenty of good memories of your country. 1) The first time I came in the US I wanted to book the first night of stay. It was in Chicago, I had little money and decide to call a cheap hotel that was reported on a book I bought in Italy. I called four or five times before being fed up to be hung up without answer (a simple 'wrong number" would have reduced the number of calls). Now I suppose that the number PRINTED on the book was wrong. This caused little trouble since I had lots of numbers to call for lodging. 2) Two years ago, friends of mine visited the US for the first time. They visited the south west. They wanted to book a room in Page (border Utah - Arizona) and they called a motel. They called the number that was reported on the directory listing of the motel chain (I don't recall the name). They took the reservation, name, C.C. #. Being a bit late, they called again to be sure the reservation was held after 6pm. They arrived, after a 400 miles ride, at the motel in Page at 9pm. No reservation, no vacancy, nearest place: St.George. They arrived in bed at 4am next day. Do you still believe that if the number is PRINTED wrongly, you have the right to make fool of the people calling you? If so, think what would be your reaction to situation 2) in a country of which you barely understand the language? Paolo Bellutta (bellutta@irst.uucp) [Moderator's Note: I think if the number is incorrectly printed, and people like yourself for example, are victimized as a result it is indeed a shame. But the other victim is the person receiving an endless stream of wrong number calls. If anything, your own anger as a result of the inconvenience should be directed toward the business place which mis-printed it's literature. They are the ones who caused the confusion, are they not? But I do see your point, and Americans can be very rude at times to guests in our country. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 13-NOV-1990 13:06:03.51 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: $4 Per Day Roaming Charge Some Digest readers mentioned recently that the reason cellular roamers were assesed a "daily charge" was so that the roaming system could cover the costs of verifying with the roamer's home system if the roamer is a customer "in good standing", ie, has paid all the bills, etc. Although I agree that this is necessary and quite desireable, I would tend to argue (as have others) that $2 or 3 per day is WAY too high a charge for such a service. Not only is it too high, but roam rates in some systems (especially those set up along highways on the outskirts of large cities) tend to be SO much higher than a home customer pays that the profit from one 1 minute call alone will probably be enough to cover the costs of verification. (I'm not sure how true this is, but it seems that many smaller systems are set up, if possible, along the periphery of a larger system, generally along a stretch of highway, so that they can "get" customers who live in/use the larger system. IE, I'm driving south of Albany,NY, and once I leave the Albany system there is some system called "Cell One of Upstate New York" [upstate= south of Albany??!!?]) along I-87. This system stays in range for about 25 minutes, and had quite good coverage on the Thruway/I-87. They charge $3 per day to roam, and about 90 cents per minute! I doubt they charge their "home" customers (all 20 of them! :-) ) the same rate. So do they figure they will make a lot of extra $$$$ because they have one or two towers near the Thruway and will pick up Albany customers (or other cusotmers going along I-87) who don't realize that they are in a the "Upstate/Cell One" system?) Moreover, even though there may be costs associated with verification of a roamer, doesn't this occur BOTH ways? IE, although Metrophone/"A"/Phil. may charge ME $3 per day for roaming, Metro Mobile (my 'company') charges the same for Metrophone customers roaming in Metro Mobile's area. So why can't they just say "We'll verify your customers for free if you verify ours for free as well..."? Or do they both make too much money with this example of a 'nickel-and-dime surcharge' that they see no reason to end it? (I don't get charged if I use my Pac*Bell calling card in NY Tel territory for "verification", and NY Tel customer's don't get charged in California, besides local usage rates, or course. I'm sure NY Tel has to verify Pac*Bell cards [one would hope! :-) ], yet they don't charge anything extra. Why do Cell companies think they should be able to do this?) Finally, even if they should be allowed to charge for this, why is it that some companies, like Cell One/Boston, don't charge a daily roam charge? (They don't charge for Metro Mobile or Metro One (NY) customers; they may have other agreements with other carriers.) If they can work out a system where there is NO roam charge as in the case of Boston, what is to prevent this on a uniform, national basis?? Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Kenneth Herron Subject: Re: People Unclear on the Concept Date: 13 Nov 90 16:30:20 GMT Reply-To: Kenneth Herron Organization: U of Kentucky, Mathematical Sciences >I dropped by the local Burger King the other day ... Outside is a >brand spanking new COCOT. Inside is a sign that states, "We do not >give change for the phone." >Now, given that the BK is in it for the cash, why discourage usage? Fast-food cash registers are more secure than the usual models; it may be that the front-line workers can't open the cash drawer without ringing up a sale. Back when I worked at Arby's, we had the same problem when a coin-op car wash opened next door. Kenneth Herron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 13:10:40 CST From: Rich Zellich Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question I recently moved to a newly-built home, into which I had had two three-pair cables installed. One cable is for possible future use; currently I have two lines used on the other cable. On hooking up various phones I, too, found that one single-line phone would take *both* lines off-hook. This is a "novelty" phone - a slightly-undersized payphone lookalike, so it is not wired for any DC-operated lights, keyset use, or anything like that. It is also a fairly good phone, which I have been using as my main telephone for several years now. I haven't yet tried to disassemble it to see where the other two wires are going. What I would like to find is one of the little three-inch-long cords used to connect a phone to a wall jack, with only two wires wired for use instead of all four -- that should fix the problem without having to modify the phone. Of course, finding such a cord is turning out to be a problem ... I can't even find a four-wire one anywhere so far (without cannibalizing one from another phone, anyway). On the reverse side of the coin, I have a recently-acquired 6-outlet surge protector that also has a pair of phone jacks built in. *It* only has two wires connected, so I can't use it to protect both lines into one of my two-line phones (an old GTE telephone-terminal with built-in 300 baud modem). The phone/terminal has two single-line input jacks, and I have to split the two-line service at the wall jack (and feed only one of the lines throught the protector to the terminal), rather than at the output side of the surge protector. Guess the surge protector is worth about what I paid for it (under $10 from EggHead Discount Software on a super-sale deal). ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #820 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16234; 16 Nov 90 2:48 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa30581; 16 Nov 90 0:43 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa05973; 15 Nov 90 23:39 CST Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 23:00:13 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #821 BCC: Message-ID: <9011152300.ab18012@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Nov 90 23:00:00 CST Volume 10 : Issue 821 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson AT&T MAIL ACCESS Program Description [Nelson Bolyard] The Horrors of GTE (Was: Logistics of Modem Hunt Group) [Andy Jacobson] Comp.dcom.fax - Interim Mass Acknowledgement [Evan Leibovitch] Noise Reduction [Jeff Sicherman] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nelson Bolyard Subject: AT&T MAIL ACCESS Program Description Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 01:31:30 GMT Executive (:-) Summary: If you have and use AT&T Mail's "ACCESS" program for the PC or MacIntosh, please write a description of how it works, how you use it, how user-friendly it is, etc, and mail it to me or post it to the TELECOM Digest (comp.dcom.telecom). In article <14630@accuvax.nwu.edu> Mike Van Pelt wrote about the GEnie Star*Services, and provided a wonderful description of GEnies' program called Aladdin. Aladdin essentially allows you to forget that GEnie is an on-line service. Instead of perceiving yourself as logged into a computer far away, you interact with your own personal computer, and it deals with GEnie off-line (that is to say, behind your back, while you're not looking). Like Mike, I want to use e-mail to converse with a distant relative. Since I am already on the Internet, I want an e-mail service for my relative with a mail gateway to the Internet. GEnie's Star*Services e-mail has no such gateway (or so I have been told by one of GEnie's e-mail operations personnel, not a customer sales rep). So I chose AT&T Mail. $30/year, a few cents per message (I forget the exact amount), no connect time charges, 800-number so no toll charges. And they have a mail gateway to the Internet. AT&T has a pair of programs that they want you to buy to use AT&T Mail. Both are named "ACCESS", one is for the PC, one for the MacIntosh. Each reportedly costs about $150 (just went up, used to be about $100). I have been trying, unsuccessfully, for about six weeks to get some information on those programs. I have called 800-MAIL-672 about six times, and written numerous e-mail letters to people at attmail.com. So far, I've received three brochures, one of which has two sentences about ACCESS, one has one paragraph, and one (actually a sheet describing system requirements) that tells me the PC version is actually five TSRs, which take up a total of something like 350 K bytes (I think). One e-mail letter I got from someone at attmail.com told me that ACCESS provides only "glass teletype" terminal emulation, no VT-100 or other terminal emulation. So I know what it DOESN'T do, but what DOES it do? It has fewer ADVERTISED features than any other terminal emulation programs I can think of (like Procomm Plus) that cost less than one third of the price of ACCESS. Now I suppose, if its main purpose is to be like Aladdin and hide the interaction with the central mail hub from the end-user, that it's OK for it to not have good terminal emulation. But why should I have to make a wild-a**ed guess about what their $150 program does before buying it? Evidently, AT&T has NO brochures to SELL their expensive program! The only way to get the owners manual is to buy the product, and there's no satisfaction-or-your-money-back no-questions-asked 30-day guarantee. No demo version is available, and the local AT&T sales reps don't know about ACCESS and can't demo it. Every time I think about this, I remember something I read in an old TELECOM Digest article about "couldn't sell drugs at a Grateful Dead concert". So, please, if you use this ACCESS program and are willing to play AT&T sales rep, please tell me all about it. Or, if you're in the San Francisco Bay area, and are willing to do a demo, please call me. Nelson Bolyard nelson@sgi.COM {decwrl,sun}!sgi!whizzer!nelson 415-335-1919 Disclaimer: Views expressed herein do not represent the views of my employer. [Moderator's Note: You do *not* need those programs to use ATT Mail! I use one of my terminals and the printer attached to it and get along just fine. Some time ago, they tried to tell me I needed a PC to use the mail. Whether or not the program you describe, at the price offered is worthwhile or not is a judgment you need to make. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 03:38 PST From: Andy Jacobson Subject: The Horrors of GTE (Was: Logistics of a Modem Hunt Group) In TELECOM Digest V10 #810: John Higdon writes: >NONE of the responses obtained from GTE personel bear any resemblance >to reality. From personal experience it is possible to say that if you >want to determine anything about GTE's system, you will have to use a >back door approach. It is necessary to befriend a sympathetic employee Back in March I moved out of the locale my switch served. I wanted to keep my same number, and I of course with great dread called the GTE customer service office to inquire how. I was told I could either pay thousands of dollars one time plus hundreds a month for foreign exchange service, or I could get the handy feature "Remote Call Forwarding" (RCF) where my number would be permanently forwarded to a number of my choosing from the CO in my old neighborhood, but with no dial tone provided. On the surface this would seem like the solution. But as you might guess, it costs $80 one time, plus $25 a month, plus $0.05 per forwarded call (measured service). I _had_ basic non-measured POTS at $10 a month, and I was moving to the free call zone of the original switch. How could it be that it was so much more expensive to give me less service? All they were doing was not giving me a subscriber loop! As well, the residential CSO wouldn't handle it. I would have to completely switch my service to business class. I wasn't running a business, I just wanted to keep the same phone number on a three mile move. It was explained to me that only a business would want to keep their same number, and then only till the next directory came out. (I love having GTE tell me what I do not apparently have a right to want.) I was furious. I remember seeing in a phone book RCF was available for cheap. It was. It's called Pac*Bell. I called them up and was told that I could have it for $5 one time charge, and $2 a month, residential service, no problems, no questions asked. My number was unfortunately not in Pac *Bell-land though. How could GTE ream me like that for the same exact thing that Pac*Bell could do for cheap? I called the Public Utilities Commission. I explained the situation to the representative who apologized for being ignorant of what RCF was. The next day the fully briefed PUC representative told me that GTE never bothered to file a tariff for residential RCF, just business class, whereas Pac*Bell did both. So what could I do about it? Nothing. I can't make GTE file a tariff if they don't want to. I could file a formal complaint, but because it was not in reference to a filed tariff, it would most likely disappear in the cracks. Luckily, I had a friend in my old neighborhood who has now an extra outgoing line with free local calling. (The phone has no ringer and I use regular Call Forwarding). Maybe a month later, I'm on the phone with an AT&T rep about the cost effectiveness of buying a PBX. He tells me that the residential organization I represent could really save big on aggregate buying of LD service from AT&T (SDN I suppose). But what about local trunks? Well, if we only were in Pac*Bell land we could have them for $4 and some change a month. But in GTE land, it's $19.80 for the same damn thing. He confides in me that he has lost PBX sales in GTE land because of this factor. Who to? GTE of course! GTE's "CentraNet" (Centrex).that is, which is aimed at the PBX market, and priced per line lower than a simple non-DID outgoing trunk! Yes, GTE's got you coming and going. No doubt they're using their predatory power as common carrier to tariff PBX's out of cost effectiveness. (I should note too that it's not only AT&T's PBX, but it's also AT&T's 1ESS, and Centrex that GTE is peddling). GTE's edge however may be short-lived, as according to their CentraNet sales rep, GTE has no plans to upgrade their 1E switches, and thus no plans to offer ISDN. (I repeat from an earlier posting GTE = Generic Telephone Equivalent). All the above being bad enough, GTE's POTS is 10-20% more expensive than Pac*Bell, and GTE still uses it's status as local carrier to cross peddle it's trashy equipment. Well after 1984 they were pushing Sprint LD service down people's throats at their public offices. Still to this day GTE is doing it. (They slammed me to Sprint in July all by themselves. Sprint said GTE issued the order.) I personally think that the omission of GTE is one huge glaring error (among soooo many) of the MFJ. GTE gets away with so much that the BOC's can't, and wouldn't. A. Jacobson ------------------------------ From: Evan Leibovitch Subject: Comp.dcom.fax - Interim Mass Acknowledgement Date: Wed, 14 Nov 1990 00:32:07 -0500 The following 163 people have submitted valid votes either for or against the proposed group. Since no individual acknowledgements will be sent, this will be the only receipt for your vote. If you have submitted a vote but your name is not here, please re-submit it to: fax@telly.on.ca -or- uunet!attcan!telly!fax Thank you for participating. VOTES RECEIVED TO DATE (NOV 14): AMillar@cup.portal.com Allan D. Griefer Andy Jacobson Andy Malis Andy Rabagliati Andy.Linton@comp.vuw.ac.nz Atro Tossavainen Barton F.Bruce Bengt Larsson Bill Campbell Bob Clair Bob Sloane Bob Yasi Brain in Neutral Bryon Johnson Chip Hill Craig_Everhart@transarc.com DeadHead@cup.portal.com Dion Johnson Dmitry V. Volodin Douglas F. DeJulio Ed Basart Ed Braaten Ed Vielmetti Frank D. Cringle Fred E.J. Linton Geoff Twibell HAVANAMOON@cup.portal.com Harald Boegeholz Hardy Pottinger Ittai Hershman JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU (Programmin' up a storm.) James H. Thompson - HNL Jeff Beadles Jim Knowles John Mann Ken Dykes Kevin Purcell Larry Masinter Lars H}kedal Mark Alexander Davis Neon.Stanford.EDU!kaufman Olaf Brandt Peter Quirk Petri Helenius ROEBER@cithe2.cithep.caltech.edu (Frederick G. M. Roeber) Robin Schaufler Roger Fajman Samuel Lam Scott Kay Stefan Karlsson Steve Elias Steve Hayman Toby Nixon U5434122@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au Wingnut@cup.portal.com af747@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Stacie Simerson) asuvax.eas.asu.edu!stjhmc!stjhmc.fidonet.org!ddodell asv@hsi.hsi.com (Stan Voket) atlas.dev.abccomp.oz.au!peter atrc!mofh!alvant@alberta.uucp (alvan tom) att!akgua!akgue!wrg balden@wimsey.bc.ca (Bruce Balden) bandw!craig@uunet.uucp (Craig Goss) bgoldberg@cdp.uucp blair@obdient.chi.il.us (Doug Blair) bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) christopher williams clements@BBN.COM coplex!johnv@uunet.uucp (John Vaccaro) cvax.cs.uwm.edu!levine cxr5@po.CWRU.Edu (Cyndee Richards) dciem!jsitcom!brett dez@asr1.att.com (Daniel E Zuccarelli) dias@muztag.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Gihan Dias) dittman@skbat.csc.ti.com (Eric Dittman) djcl@contact.uucp (woody) dlr@daver.bungi.com (Dave Rand) dplatt@coherent.com dsrekrg@prism.gatech.edu (Rob Gibson) elsie.nci.nih.gov!ado esf00@uts.amdahl.com (Elliott S Frank) fjs@cobalt.cco.caltech.edu (Fernando J. Selman) fmsystm!macy@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu (Macy Hallock) foxtail!kravitz@ucsd.edu fr@icdi10.COMPU.COM (Fred Rump from home) friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US (Stephen Friedl) geertj@ica.philips.nl (Geert Jan de Groot) gsm@PWS.BULL.COM halcyon!ralphs@sumax.seattleu.edu hankm@gammalink.com (H. S. Magnuski) heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby) heinau@methan.chemie.fu-berlin.de (Vera Heinau) icsg8003@cs.montana.edu igloo.Scum.com!wmf@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Bill Fischer) inesc!jmc%eagle@relay.EU.net (Miguel Casteleiro) jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) jiro@trumpet.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (Jiro Nakamura NeXT Developer) jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) jon_sree@world.std.com (Jon Sreekanth) jonathan@comp.vuw.ac.nz klaus u schallhorn km@mathcs.emory.edu (Ken Mandelberg) laird@slum.mv.com (Laird Heal) lark@tivoli.com (Lar Kaufman) mac900@yaouk.anu.edu.au ("Mark Corbould") mcb@presto.ig.com (Michael C. Berch) mehl@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Mark M Mehl) meilchen@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Melchior A. Meilchen) merce@iguana.uucp (Jim Mercer) merk!cogsys!cam@uunet.UU.NET midway.uchicago.edu!pbhx mingo@cup.portal.com mje99!mje@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Mark J Elkins) mrm@Sceard.COM (M.R.Murphy) ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) nmrdc1.nmrdc.nnmc.navy.mil!rdc30med ocf.Berkeley.EDU!appel olsa99!tabbs!aris@ddsw1.mcs.com (Aris Stathakis) paolo@sixcom.it (Paolo Crini) parsley@PWS.BULL.COM peirce@gumby.cc.wmich.edu (Leonard Peirce) penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com (Mark Steiger) poirot@aio.jsc.nasa.gov (Daniel Poirot) polari!dwennick@sumax.seattleu.edu (Don Wennick) preuss@sutro.SFSU.EDU (Peter Preuss) rcsmith@anagld.analytics.com (Ray Smith) rhb3@cbnewsi.att.com rick@PAVLOV.SSCTR.BCM.TMC.EDU (Richard H. Miller) rk@theep.uucp (Robert A. Kukura) root%heurikon.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu (0000-Admin(0000)) rtc%westford.ccur.com@RELAY.CS.NET russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) sichermn@beach.csulb.edu (Jeff Sicherman) sjl@world.std.com (Scott J Loftesness) sl@wimsey.bc.ca (Stuart Lynne) troby@diana.cair.du.edu (Thorn Roby) uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu!syoon unix.cis.pitt.edu!tjw uunet!aspect!kevinc uunet!blackbox!cbradley (Chris Bradley) uunet!bywater!scifi!njs (Nicholas J. Simicich) uunet!cdl!pajari () uunet!consult!bob uunet!domain.com!mdv (Mike Verstegen) uunet!gammalink.com!mikes (mike spann) uunet!kksys.KKSYS.MN.ORG!gk (Greg Kemnitz) uunet!motcid!marble!ibbotson (Craig Ibbotson) uunet!motcid!void!marocchi (Jim Marocchi) uunet!paralogics!compsm!rlg uunet!pnet51.orb.mn.org!elec (Doug Renner) uunet!wubios.wustl.edu!phil (J. Philip Miller) uunet!yale!bronson!tan (Tan Bronson) uunet.UU.NET!decwrl!teda!attain!jxh vances@xenitec.on.ca (Vance Shipley) virtech!cpcahil@uunet.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) vu0425@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu well!wjwhite@apple.com (Bill White) wex@PWS.BULL.COM wmf@chinet.chi.il.us (Bill Fischer) yost@DPW.COM zawada@ecn.purdue.edu (Paul J Zawada) Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 13:01:22 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Noise Reduction Due to roommate pressure over phone hogging with modem use, I am putting another line in. However, I will be forced to accept the existing four-wire, non-twisted-pair that is currently installed, using the second line of the pair. Based upon previous discussions in the digest, I expect noise problems with the modem. What can I do to avoid or minimize this. Hardware solutions may include a new modem but nothing *too* expensive please. Jeff Sicherman jajz801@calstate.bitnet ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #821 ******************************   Received: from [129.105.5.103] by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa22347; 16 Nov 90 9:39 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11658; 16 Nov 90 7:48 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa15218; 16 Nov 90 6:44 CST Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 6:32:04 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #822 BCC: Message-ID: <9011160632.ab04965@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Nov 90 06:31:28 CST Volume 10 : Issue 822 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [William F. Thompson] Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? [Bob Sherman] Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination [Steve Forrette] Re: Cellular Daily Roaming Surcharge $4.00 per Day? [John Macdonald] Re: AT Bus Hardware For ISDN [Rick Rodman] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System [Carl Moore] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [John Higdon] Re: The Real Meaning of ISO [Henry Troup] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [Tom Neff] Re: Dealing with Telemarketers [Tom Neff] Re: Talk to a Pioneer [Richard Gehrig] Re: Modifying the NANP? [Carl Moore] Gratuitous Bashing vrs. Legitimate Complaints [Jack Dominey] Calling USA From Mexico [George S. Thurman] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 01:28:29 EST From: William F Thompson Subject: Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? Organization: Tex and Edna Boil's Prairie Warehouse and Curio Emporium From article <14643@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by Jeff Wasilko : > As I was catching up on my Digest-reading, a thought occured to me -- > why are switch programs called 'generics'? I always wondered that too (and I even develop software for them). But wonder no more - they're now called Software Releases. Bill Thompson AT&T Network Systems att!ihlpf!foz ------------------------------ From: Bob Sherman Subject: Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 09:59:32 GMT In <14638@accuvax.nwu.edu> mcb@presto.ig.com (Michael C. Berch) writes: >I have read, from time to time, messages in TELECOM Digest which >assert that it is supposed to be toll-free for a landline telephone >subscriber with flat-rate service to call any cellular subscriber in >whatever the regional cellular calling area is supposed to be. The >only charge is airtime to the cellular subscriber. A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO cell phones. In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they will be charged the air charges.. If you remember back a ways, it was always that way with the old mobile phone service on vhf/uhf channels. You told the operator you wanted to place a "mobile call" and they handed you off to the mobile operator, and you gave them the YJ, JP, JL or whatever number you were calling. The costs appeared on YOUR bill. Same if you make a call through the "marine operator". Seems to me that this could cut down on some of the junk calls that are being placed via random dialing through the cell phone prefixes (in this area anyways). It will be interesting to see if the this becomes a trend, and spreads to other parts of the country. bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu | bsherman@pro-exchange | MCI MAIL:BSHERMAN ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 13:35:51 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: CPC / "Wink" Call Termination Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <14617@accuvax.nwu.edu> you write: >For the question on answering machines, the machine >detects the end of the conversation by detecting dial tone. When the >calling party clears, the connection will be broken. The local office >will time out and regard the off hook from the answering machine as an >origination and provide dial tone. This is not true for all machines. My Panasonic DOES deal with CPC. It's really nice not having to listen to dialtone at the end of each message. Also, it can even detect a hangup during the play of the outgoing message. It stops play immediately, and resets for the next call. I've the KX-T1427 model, and it's great! (Yea, I know, if I was REALLY hi-tech, I'd have a voice board, but oh well.) ------------------------------ From: John Macdonald Subject: Re: Cellular Daily Roaming Surcharge $4.00 per Day? Reply-To: John Macdonald Organization: Elegant Communications Inc. Date: Wed, 7 Nov 1990 09:47:45 -0500 |[Moderator's Note: That's why I fully support the concept of learning |to program your own phone, and getting accounts on many systems. PAT] Perhaps eveyone should throw out their AT&T cards and get a separate one for each local telco they deal with too. The problem here is that cellular service sort of falls in the cracks of the great breakup - they are local service providers except that their service is available over a wide range of locations. John Macdonald jmm@eci386 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 22:50:43 -0500 From: Rick Rodman Subject: Re: AT Bus Hardware For ISDN AT&T's card requires CPU attention from the AT-bus computer (read: pokey). Contact DGM&S in New Jersey for some nice hardware using 80188 and TI 320C30 DSP! Also there is a very expensive board from Mitel. Rick Rodman uunet!virtech!rickr "Yesterday's Tomorrow is Here Today" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 17:45:11 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telepone System Mark Hahn writes: >To call my old home phone, dial 011-966-387-42688. 011-966 is, of >course, the international access for Saudi. 3 is, I think the escape >for Aramco. 87 is, I think, the city code for Dhahran. I don't have a map of Saudi Arabia in front of me as I write this. Could it be the other way around? (I.e., could you have 3 as city code for Dhahran and 87 as an "exchange" reserved for Aramco there?) Here is what I have for Saudi Arabia city codes: 966 Saudi Arabia 1 Riyadh 2 or 21 Jeddah 2 or 22 Mecca 41 Medina ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Date: 14 Nov 90 10:48:44 PST (Wed) From: John Higdon cambler@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Fubar's Carbonated Hormones) writes: > While I don't carry a full feed, the > calls HAVE been known to go up to 30 hours a shot. At one point, I > can recall a transfer that went for three days (had been down for a > while, and news was queueing up as fast as I could get it). This was > all GTE, and I have since moved to San Luis Obispo, where we have > Pac*Bell. Longest call here has been on the order of eight hours. But > I can forsee such long calls again. My news/mail system DOES carry a full USENET feed, and exchanges news with no less than eight other sites. It has five modems, three of which are Telebits. Back before Telebits, eight hours was not uncommon for a news delivery. Now, the longest connection I have seen is about three hours, but that happens only when there has been constipation in the feed and backed-up news is flushing out. IMHO, any site that does any amount of news should be using high speed modems. In any event, telco has never given any flack about long local calls (on residence service). > On another aspect, my feed has told me that if I buy a pair of > telebits, he'll run SLIP for me ... so I *WOULD* be on the phone 99% > of the time ... but remember, this is all a hobby. I take no money > for my BBS ... so what do you think the phone*co would say? My experience is that telco will not give you any trouble. It might be questionable if you are trying to create a "leased line" out of an unmeasured dialup. But just "long" calls are not a problem. As far as defining what type of service you qualify for, the tarrifs are quite clear. For non-business related hobby use, you get residence. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 90 14:03:00 EST From: Henry Troup Subject: Re: The Real Meaning of ISO Ole J. Jacobsen writes: > Quick note: ISO does *not* stand for "International Standards > Organization". It is *not* an acronym, but it does refer to the > organzation whose official name is: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR > STANDARDIZATION. This "mistake" is perhaps the most common in the > entire communications industry. Isn't the real "real name" in French? Same as CCITT is "Comitte Consulatif Internationale pour Telefon et Telegraf" (errors in French spelling and lack of accents notwithstanding). I think that the CCITT at least dates from the period where French was the standard language of diplomacy, and therefore international organizations used it as the official language of choice. ------------------------------ From: Tom Neff Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind Date: 14 Nov 90 00:23:15 GMT Reply-To: Tom Neff When I see all these automated clock setting tools being posted far and wide on CompuServe, Usenet etc., I can't help wondering: is the NBS up to the job of answering all the new calls generated from thousands of American basements and desktops? ------------------------------ From: Tom Neff Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Date: 14 Nov 90 00:48:18 GMT Reply-To: Tom Neff I discovered a really fun way to deal with telemarketers! *RING* *RING* ME: Hello? TM: Hello, is this Thomas Neff? ME: Yes, can I help you? TM: Well Mr Neff, I'm calling from XXXXX and I was wondering if you had a few moments to talk about blah blah blah blah....... (I wait for the whole sentence to finish -- don't cut him off) ME: What number are you calling from? TM: Um... urgh... errr... um.... Well have you heard about our blah blah blah....? ME: I asked you what number you're calling from. TM: Well... Perhaps this isn't a good time to call you... ME: No, it's a fine time to call. What number are you calling from? TM: <...pause...> *CLICK* I've done this three times recently, with only minor variations. It is more fun than ice cream! The poor TM slaves have to go by their carefully prepared scripts, but nothing has prepared them for my perfectly reasonable non-answerable question! I can't be accused of abusive behavior, yet they MUST hang up! Pass it on ... it would be terrific if a few thousand exchanges like the above took place this month :-) ------------------------------ From: rgehrig@bcm1a05.attmail.com Date: Wed Nov 14 15:48:40 CST 1990 Subject: Re: Talk to a Pioneer Regarding TELECOM Digest V10 #818 11-13, >Reference the recent discussion of Telephone Pioneers: if you want to >talk to a Telephone Pioneer, they staff the "Contact 2" >consumer-assistance phone lines run by Channel 2 (KTVI) here in St. >Louis. These lines are open for calls from 11 AM - 1 PM and 5-7 PM >Central Time, at these numbers: >800-782-2222 314-282-2222 >I don't know if there is any geographic limit on the 800 number; do >these new 800 services still have geographic limits, or has the old >concept of "WATS Bands" disappeared with the flood of competing >800-providers? Yes ... "WATS Bands" are alive and well, as well as "customized" 800 services. Customized 800 services available now can terminate on POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines, with no special equipment or "dedicated" lines needed. Some 800 services allow the customer to pick and choose which area codes to receive 800 calls from. The 800 number above (for Channel 2 (KTVI)) can be reached by callers in Illinois and Missouri only. Richard Gehrig attmail!bcm1a05!rgehrig Rookie Reader ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 18:32:53 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Modifying the NANP? As Doug Reuben pointed out, 908 is in New Jersey (it's being formed by splitting 201), not New York. In a posting some months(?) ago, I cited a {N.Y. Times} article saying that the latest proposal for implementing the 917 area code, given that only one borough line remains WITHIN 212, was to put Manhattan's cellular and mobile lines along with all of the Bronx into 917; only the Manhattan land lines would remain in 212. Much further back, someone (not me) put down the idea of putting new telephone listings into new area codes. Area codes are being kept contiguous (right) to avoid confusion. (The Manhattan overlay -- see above -- is unprecedented.) The weirdest shape for an area code that I know of is that of 409 (formed 1983 by splitting 713) in Texas; it's got the pre-split 713 area except for a hole punched out for Houston and nearby suburbs. (As for new listings, they are likely to go into new PREFIXES within a given exchange area; for example, I am on 302-731 and I know of newer arrivals on 302-292 in Newark, Delaware.) Yes, I am aware of the NN0 area codes, to start coming on line when the N0X/N1X are used up. But wasn't there a note in the Digest saying that Mexico will (then or later) become reachable via pseudo area codes of 52x form (where x won't be zero)? Afterthought: 917 in Bronx would be right next door to 914 in Westchester. [Moderator's Note: Carl, I think you might agree that 312/708 has some odd boundary lines also, with one small section of 312 completely surrounded by 708 at Ohare Airport and one section of 708 completely surrounded by 312 on the northwest side of Chicago in an area not actually in the city. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jdominey@bsga05.attmail.com Subject: Gratuitous Bashing vrs. Legitimate Complaints Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 00:00:00 EST I must protest the article in V10 #819 from Dan Breslau, forwarding a message from a Sprint customer. I work for AT&T and am probably being hypersensitive, but I think I have a legitimate complaint. I believe the article does fit the general thread we've often seen here of "customer rep horror stories". That's fine, every company has its share of ignorant and annoying people on the phones. A sales rep (much less a supervisor!) who can't handle a reasonable question is a liability and should be pulled off the line quickfashion. My problem with the article is that the customer was basically trying to pick a fight. S/he didn't really seem interested in finding out why the flyer said one thing and the {Wall Street Journal} article headline said another. S/he decided that the flyer was "a sleazey (sic) piece of propaganda". So s/he harangues the supervisor who is foolish enough to admit he hasn't read the WSJ. The overwhelming majority of "war stories" published in TELECOM Digest are from people who were genuinely trying to obtain information, order service, get repair, etc. I can sympathize. But it seems out of character to run a story from someone who admits the purpose of the call was to "harrass a poor telephone operator who is only doing her job". I can't even tell if the customer bothered to read either the article or the flyer. I'm sure our Moderator must constantly winnow gratuitous bashing from legitimate complaints. The article in question is somewhere in between, but from my partisan position, looks closer to the former. P.S. I suspect the flyer and the Journal were talking about different rates, either business vs. residential, day vs. evening/night, or standard vs. calling plan. But without reading both, and knowing when this took place, (last week? last month? this summer?) I can't tell for sure. Jack Dominey | AT&T Commercial Marketing | 800-241-4285 | AT&T Mail !dominey ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 03:05 GMT From: George S Thurman <0004056081@mcimail.com> Subject: Calling USA From Mexico A friend of mine will be going to Mexico on vacation in a few weeks, and he would like to know if there is a way to reach a US operator (AT&T or any other carrier) from the following cities: Cuernavaca, Taxeco(sp) and Acapulco(sp). Thanks, G. S. Thurman 40560@mcimail.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #822 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23614; 16 Nov 90 10:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa25131; 16 Nov 90 8:51 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab11658; 16 Nov 90 7:48 CST Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 7:32:45 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #823 BCC: Message-ID: <9011160732.ab17179@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Nov 90 07:32:05 CST Volume 10 : Issue 823 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Barton F. Bruce] AS 1317 BU Telephone Set [Howard Pierpont] All Those Jacks [Richard Lerner] Slick-96 [Kevin Griffin] Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support [Gordon Letwin] GTE Mobilnet's Response [John Higdon] RBOC Special Services (was: British Telecom Codes) [Jim R. Oldroyd] Breaking News? 714 Split [Andy Jacobson] Measured Local Service [Sander J. Rabinowitz] Area-Code 714 Will be Split [Steve Rhoades] ISO's Meaning (was: NSFNet etc.) [Jim Breen] Unitel (Canada) Fax Service [Paul Gauthier] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question Date: 13 Nov 90 16:49:00 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14566@accuvax.nwu.edu>, dwh@twg.com (Dave W. Hamaker) writes: > I expected single-line phones would ignore the yellow-black pair, > I was subsequently surprised to discover that one of my telephone > sets ... would take both lines off hook when in use. Your set was probably wired for "A" lead control and the black and yellow wires were expected to be connected to "A" and "A1" in a 1A2 key system to light the lamps and cut ringing and knock it off hold if it had been help by a key phone. Don't bother getting a two wire cord. The two terminals those wires went to were probably just interconnections to two wires coming from the hook-switch and have NO OTHER connections internally. Try replacing them and move one of the two hook-switch wires OFF one of your two terminals and onto the OTHER. This leave the H/S contact doing nothing. There is NO path between your yellow and black, and no floating wires. Failing that, take the yellow and black wires off the terminals, and fold an inch or so of tape onto itself (sticky to sticky) lengthwise to sandwich each flapping spade lug individually. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 14:20:18 PST From: Howard Pierpont Subject: AS 1317 BU Telephone Set I recently purchased, it is amazing what tele addicts will do, an AS 1317 BU Telephone Set. The inside cover has the schematic and shows that the earpiece was an "over the head" [operator] style arrangment. The unit was "Push to Talk Pull to receive" wooden box wall mount unit. It is 95% complete and I am interested in learning more about the unit or how to make it functional today. Howard Pierpont Home Digital Equipment Corp. P.O. Box 128 South Berlin, MA 01549 450 Donald Lynch Blvd AT&T 508-838-2696 Marlboro, MA 01752 NYNEX Cell Voice Mail 508-751-2772 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 1990 17:28-EST From: Richard.Lerner@lerner.avalon.cs.cmu.edu Reply-To: ral+@cs.cmu.edu Subject: All Those Jacks Could someone post a list and short description of the various jacks used in the telecommunications world? For example, what is the difference between an RJ11, RJ31X, RJ35, etc.? I looked in the archives but didn't find this information. Thanks, Rick ------------------------------ From: KEVIN GRIFFIN Subject: Slick-96 Date: Tue, 13 Nov 90 06:40:45 CST Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Houston, Texas 713-997-7575 Can anyone tell me what a "Slick 96" switch is and what kind of services are available from it. One of my local (SWB) techs told me that one is about to be installed in my local exchange, but he didn't want to tell me anything about it. Kevin Griffin ------------------------------ From: gordonl@microsoft.UUCP (Gordon LETWIN) Subject: Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support Date: 14 Nov 90 01:27:47 GMT Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA In article <14517@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu writes: > > Higdon has a HUMBLE OPINION??!? No, but seriously, they recently > > instituted this for support of MS DOS ONLY ... all their applications > > support is free. > Oh, I see. The "product" that put them on the map (other than a BASIC) > is treated as a second-rate stepsister. The company has to protect > itself from all those unwashed masses who might actually have some > legitimate problem (oh, but how could they--DOS is perfect, right?) What a hostile person you are. If you reasoned as well as you hate you'd get somewhere. DOS has been sold strictly as an OEM product. That means it was "wholesaled" to an OEM for them to sell with their product, the computer. Microsoft receives only a few dollars a copy for each MS-DOS. In a similar manner, car makers may license a Bosch ABS system. If you have a problem with that ABS, you don't call Bosch, you call GM. GM made the retail profit on the product and part of their contract with Bosch is that GM supports it. The same holds true for MS-DOS. Part of our contract with the OEM is that they support the product they sell, not us. We provide support to OUR customer - the OEM. They can call us any time. We also provide them training programs, I'm pretty sure. One thing which confuses people is that the disks say Microsoft all over them, whereas their ABS system just says "GM". This makes it harder for folks to understand that they bought it from the OEM, not Microsoft. There's two reasons for this. One is Copyright. The ABS is protected by patents, but software is protected by Copyright. One requirement for copyright protection is a notice; our product *has* to say Microsoft on it and in it to be protected. Secondly, an operating system is a standard product and the OEM needs to assure the customer that they're getting the real standard, so the OEM wants to make sure that the user knows it's Microsoft DOS. In the early years this wasn't always true; some OEMs forbade us to say that their BASIC was Microsoft BASIC. So we offer "free" support for our retail products because we received the retail markup and support is one of the things you do to earn that money. We didn't receive the retail markup for DOS, the OEM did, and the OEM is the person who needs to support it; that was their agreement. As a convenience to customers who don't want to call the OEM or whose OEM's are not doing a good job, Microsoft now offers support for DOS, but we have to charge for it now since we didn't get any money for that service when we sold your OEM the DOS. gordon letwin not an official microsoft spokesperson ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: GTE Mobilnet's Response Date: 13 Nov 90 20:29:16 PST (Tue) From: John Higdon I had no actual conversation with anyone at GTE Mobilnet today concerning their blocking of international dialing. We played voicemail tag. I left a stern message concerning the attitude toward customers, treating them all like crooks. A responding message indicated that they simply were trying to reduce loss. I responded with the comment that it was their problem and that I was going to investigate Cellular One. And then the surprise. There was a message informing me that international dialing had been reinstated on my two accounts! There was no other comment, but IDDD does work on my cellular phones. Apparently the "national policy" isn't carved in stone. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Jim R Oldroyd Subject: RBOC Special Services (was: British Telecom Codes) Date: 14 Nov 90 04:59:46 GMT Reply-To: "Jim R Oldroyd" Organization: The Instruction Set, Waltham, MA Recently, Moderator (PAT) wrote: > [Moderator's Note: I'm *still* trying to convince repair service > attendants and Business Office people at IBT that I have Call > Screening (*60) on my line. It works fine, usually, but there are a > couple bugs that need attention. But they still insist that I don't > have it on my line. One person today even offered to have it removed I've seen a few messages recently suggesting that there are interesting services (*60, *69, *72, I think) which I do not havem but which I would like. My RBOC (New England Telephone, on 617-227) knows nothing of these. Does anyone have a list of them, and are there any secret words one needs to know in order to convince them to provide you with the service? If anyone has a list, with dialing codes, service name, and short description, that would be great. Oh, yes, and the magic words too! Jim [Moderator's Note: There are no magic words or secret codes. Either your phone switch is equipped with CLASS or it is not. If it is, and has been for awhile, then all the reps seem to know about it. If it is very new, or in beta test (as it is here apparently, now I am told), then there will be a lot of confusion among reps as to what is and what is not available. Now that mine is installed and my contacts at IBT are aware of it, they call *me* a couple times a week to see how it is working. The codes are: *60 = invoke call screening; *80 = suspend call screening; *66 = Repeat Dialing; *69 = Auto callback to the last call you received. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 02:12 PST From: Andy Jacobson Subject: Breaking News? 714 Split According to Tuesday editions of the {L.A. Times}, Pac*Bell and GTE announced Monday that they will be splitting up area code 714. The change is to take effect in Jan. 1993. Unique about this split is that the telcos won't just decree new boundries, but will actually submit three proposed boundries, and allow for public comment on the three plans. (How is not explained). Seems Southern California with its incredible growth is just sucking up area codes right and left. 619 (San Diego and eastern California) was carved out of 714. Then 818 (San Fernando valley) and now 310(West L.A. and South Bay) out of 213. In 1993, 714 splits again, what next? At this rate NANP will be using NNX's very soon. Andy Jacobson ------------------------------ Subject: Measured Local Service Date: 13 Nov 90 20:36:13 EST (Tue) From: "Sander J. Rabinowitz" I wonder how any TELECOM Digest readers might react to the following: For the last five months, my Dad's telephone bill included a statement urging him to switched to a measured local service (i.e. first 50 calls are free with the remaining calls being charged). Presently, for a fixed monthly fee, unlimited local calls are allowed. The statement also reads something like this (these are not Michigan Bell's exact words): "As a free service to you, we have kept track of the number of local calls you've made this month so you can see if you save money with our measured service. This month, you made -0- local calls--therefore, you would have saved $3.44 this month had you used our other plan." Now I KNOW for each of the last five months, more than 50 local calls per month were made on that line. (I made many of them myself. =) Meanwhile, my own telephone bill doesn't have that message, even though my line also has the unlimited calling feature. Is this something for the local public service commission to look at? It seems like a harmless computer glitch, but I can't shake the feeling that something fishy is going on here. Sander J. Rabinowitz | !sander@attmail.com | +1 313 478 6358 Farmington Hills, Mich. | -OR- sjr@mcimail.com | 8-) ------------------------------ From: Steve Rhoades Subject: Area-Code 714 Will be Split Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 11:03:39 PST The folks at GTE and Pac*Bell held a press conference yesterday announcing that they will be splitting area-code 714, which serves Orange County in Southern California. The new area-code will be 909 (gasp!). They will be holding public hearings as to how the area will be split. Several plans are in the offering: 1.) Have Pac*Bell's area retain 714 while GTE gets 909. 2.) Orange County retains 714 while the bordering counties, some of which are in 714, get the new 909. 3.) Have all new phone numbers issued after Jan. 1993 get the new area-code. (I never heard of this before.) Pac*Bell claims that the proliferation of cellular phones and pagers are causing them to run out of numbers in 714 sooner than expected. This will be the second time 714 was split. The first was several years ago when San Diego and the desert areas broke away to form 619. The new area code will be effective in Jan of 1993. Internet: slr@tybalt.caltech.edu | Voice-mail: (818) 794-6004 UUCP: ...elroy!tybalt!slr | USmail: Box 1000, Mt. Wilson, Ca. 91023 [Moderator's Note: And 619 is *hardly* an over-populated area code. You'd think they could have shoved the boundaries around on that one a little and recovered quite a bit of territory. Currently Telenet uses 909 as the 'area code' for their administrative lines in Virginia. I guess they will change it to something else starting in a couple years. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jim Breen Subject: ISO's Meaning (was: NSFNet etc.) Organization: Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 22:12:16 GMT In article <14658@accuvax.nwu.edu>, oberman@rogue.llnl.gov writes: > Reasonably accurate except that the name of the body is "The > Organization for International Standardization", at least in English. > The name "ISO" was selected because it "looks right" in a lot of > languages without being an actual acronym for the name of the body in > any language, thus avoiding offending either anglophiles or > francophiles. Reasonably accurate, except that it's "International Organization for Standardization". I'm quoting from my copy of ISO 8802-2, which on my desk right in front of me. The name appears about five times on the first three pages. Jim Breen ($B?@Ip(J) (jwb@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au) Dept of Robotics & Digital Technology. Monash University PO Box 197 Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia (ph) +61 3 573 2552 (fax) +61 3 573 2745 ------------------------------ From: Paul Gauthier Subject: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada Date: Wed, 14 Nov 1990 20:18:39 -0400 A Canadian Company has recently begun to offer a special reduced rate to fax users. The user pays only a small monthly fee ($10, I think) and receives a little black box which attaches to their fax machine. When the fax machine dials I presume this black box intercepts the dial and calls a 1-800 number or somesuch and then routes the call out from there. The user recieves a big discount on calls placed in this manner. MT&T (Bell Canada) offers a similar service, but you have to pay for a special line which will place local calls of any type, but will only allow fax calls to be place long distance. Of course, when I read this in the paper I wondered how they detected this. I called MT&T and asked what would happen if a voice call was placed on such a line. They assured me it would be very quickly disconnected. The person I spoke to also claimed that MT&T was 'listening' to the call and was actually sensing fax protocol and thus deciding whether the call should be allowed to continue or not. Does anyone know if such services actually detect and interpret fax protocol to decide whether to axe the call? The idea that first struck me was using this service to get cheap rates for long distance modem calls. If all the hardware is listening for is something that resembles a data call (carrier) then perhaps a modem would fool it. Any thought? PG gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca tyrant@dalac.bitnet tyrant@ac.dal.ca ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #823 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24631; 16 Nov 90 11:50 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa28552; 16 Nov 90 9:55 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab25131; 16 Nov 90 8:52 CST Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 8:10:50 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #824 BCC: Message-ID: <9011160810.ab20727@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Nov 90 08:10:38 CST Volume 10 : Issue 824 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A Current Prodigy Subscriber Responds [George Sinos] Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service [Craig R. Watkins] Message Relay Service: Nova Scotia, P.E.I. [Nigel Allen] AT&T Puts it in Writing - Rate Increase [Jody Kravitz] Ohio Bell Class of Service Requirements [Macy Hallock] Crosspoint Switch For IBM-PC [Jim Marocchi] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 21:31:39 EST From: George Sinos Subject: A Current Prodigy Subscriber Responds Reply-to: George.Sinos@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha, Ne. 402-896-3537 I just thought I would throw in two cents from a current Prodigy subscriber. The new software must be considerably better than the old, it can be used either with a mouse or with the keyboard. The menuing system is a bit on the tutorial side, but you must remember, Prodigy is not for the hard core BBS types. It is for the computer owner that can't really figure out how to use his computer or what he bought it for in the first place. Is it slow? Slower than I would like, but it works. Are there 500k users? That's hard to say. I, my wife, and my three kids that live at home each have individual IDs but pay one bill. Is this one or five users? Do they kick people off the system? Well, according to the incredibly long agreement that you must read and accept before you can officially log on they reserve the right to do that, to read your mail and return it to you for any reason they want, and you or they can terminate at any time for any reason. Personal experience: Slow but very good service. Why do we keep it? Because there is execellent educational material availble for my kids. They use it much more than my wife or I, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying games for my pc. Personal experience: On a Saturday morning a shower head in one of our bathrooms broke. Later that day, I was digging around on Prodigy and ran across Consumer Reports. My wife suggested I look up shower heads. The top rated shower head just happened to be sold by one of the Prodigy vendors. I switched to that vendor, ordered the shower head and it was in my house the following Tuesday night. On Sunday morning, however, I noticed that the same shower head was advertised nationally for two dollars off the price I had paid. When my bill arrived, it had been adjusted accordingly. I think that is good service. I think that is what Prodigy is supposed to be all about. I think email is a tacked on gee-gaw and not really meant to be the main thrust of Prodigy. Remember, the whole thing was started by IBM and Sears. These two companies put this whole thing together to gain a competitive advantage, not to provide a nice place for computer hobbyists to play. All the other services, are just there to keep you coming back so you can be exposed to the ads on the bottom of the screen. The closest analog I can think of is commercial television. We will continue to subscribe as long as it is useful to us. We will not even consider doing anything quite so rude as posting public messages insulting our host. (Don't you think you would be escorted out of Kmart if you stood in the middle of the store complaining about prices?) When we don't like it anymore we will just stop using it and cancel our agreement. George Sinos, Papillion, Nebraska. --- Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.11 r.4 [1:285/666@fidonet] DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666.0) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 George.Sinos@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: "Craig R. Watkins" Subject: Re: Info Needed on Prodigy Service Date: 15 Nov 90 09:35:20 EST Organization: HRB Systems In article <14534@accuvax.nwu.edu>, mcglk@bailey.cpac.washington.edu (Ken McGlothlen) writes: > The first thing that struck me was that it was sure awfully slow. > Configuration was easy enough, but the graphics were painfully slow, > and the characters flowed across the screen at a speed slightly better > than a 300bps modem (from a 2400bps connection). I've used Prodigy on a Mac, a couple different PC's, and I've even run it on my VAXstation (under SoftPC). While I was running it on a 386SX, I found I could speed it up a decent amount by calling at 9600 baud. There's a SCRIPT.R file on your disk for connecting to Tymnet at 9600. You have to find a 9600 baud Tymnet number to tell Prodigy to use along with type "R." You also will have to hand-edit some configuration file(s) to tell Prodigy to use 9600 baud since the only menu selections are 1200 and 2400. I don't remember what the file(s) were, but it wasn't hard although it did require some guesswork -- try switching the setup between 1200 and 2400 and see what changes. (The SCRIPT.R file is on the Mac disk, too, but I didn't try that.) I had a few people at "Ask Prodigy" tell me 9600 baud usage was not possible in direct reply to mail that I sent saying that I was using it at that very moment! I also had one person there tell me to STOP using it. When I pursued the question of what I would do if I only had a 9600 baud modem, someone else said I could continue to use it, but it wasn't supported. I left it at that. The bottom line is that if you are a Prodigy user, depending on your platform, 9600 may help (it was definitely worthwhile on a 386SX). As for the usefulness of the service: I can certainly see that it could be a good deal (with "flat" rate service) for people that are interested in the services that are offered. Me? I canceled. As an interesting sidenote -- earlier this week I was attending a a PREPnet (Pennsylvania's regional branch of the Internet) meeting in Philly and saw a Prodigy machine set up in the lobby of the Holiday Inn at 18th & Market. One could just walk up and use it -- I actually checked weather for the drive home. I was amused to note that the PC was by AT&T and not IBM! Craig R. Watkins Internet: CRW@ICF.HRB.COM HRB Systems, Inc. Bitnet: CRW%HRB@PSUECL.Bitnet +1 814 238-4311 UUCP: ...!psuvax1!hrbicf!crw ------------------------------ From: Nigel Allen Subject: Message Relay Service: Nova Scotia, P.E.I. Reply-To: ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada. Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 22:51:52 GMT MT&T and Island Tel to Offer Message Relay Service for the Hearing and Speech Impaired [Press release dated November 8, 1990 from the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission, slightly edited] Hearing and speech-impaired persons in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will find it easier to communicate by telephone when Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Company, Limited (MT&T) and Island Telephone Company Limited (Island Tel) introduce Message Relay Service (MRS) next spring. The companies were ordered to offer the service by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). (Reference: CRTC Telecom Letter Decisions 90-16 and 90-17, November 8, 1990) [MT&T is the only telephone company in Nova Scotia; Island Tel, which is partly owned by MT&T, is the only phone company in P.E.I.] "It's a question of fairness," said CRTC Chairman David Colville. "The hearing and speech impaired pay full price for basic telephone service, as well as the extra cost of buying a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), and they should be able to make full use of the service. We're pleased that both telephone companies offered to introduce MRS." With MRS in place, a specially-trained operator will relay messages between a hearing or speech-impaired person who communicates with the use of a TDD and a person who does not use a TDD to communicate. MRS will be available from MT&T and Island Tel 24 hours a day, seven days a week. MT&T and Island Tel will give access to MRS through 800 or equivalent service. The CRTC has approved Island Tel's proposal to implement MRS jointly with MT&T because this is most cost-effective that if the company made MRS available independently of MT&T. Both MT&T and Island Tel will offer a 50% discount on all long- distance calls placed through MRS to any part of Canada. Today's decisions direct the companies to file the necessary tariff proposals with the CRTC at least 30 days before they launch MRS. The introduction of MRS was considered at public hearings held earlier this Fall in Halifax and Charlottetown to determine the overall revenue requirements of MT&T and Island Tel. The CRTC intends to take into account the expense of establishing MRS when making its final decisions on MT&T's and Island Tel's revenue requirements. "The Commission decided to issue decisions on MRS at this time, prior to rendering final decisions on revenue requirements, to avoid any undue delay in the introduction of the service," Mr. Colville explained. "We appreciate the valuable advice the Commission received during its deliberations from the Canadian Association of the Deaf and the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians." ---------------- If you would like more information, contact Maritime Tel & Tel, Halifax, N.S. at (902) 421-5586, or CRTC Information Services in Hull, Quebec, at (819) 997-0313. Bell Canada and the British Columbia Telephone Company have each offered message relay service for several years. B.C. Tel initially contracted its MRS to the Western Institute for the Deaf in Vancouver, but now provides the service using B.C. Tel operators. Nigel Allen telephone (416) 535-8916 52 Manchester Avenue fax (416) 978-7736 Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada ------------------------------ From: foxtail!kravitz@ucsd.edu Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 23:09:39 PST Subject: AT&T Puts it in Writing - Rate Increase I found this ad in the Thursday, Oct 29 edition of the {LA Times}. It was in section one, on a page of article continuations and department store ads. It was two columns wide and about four inches long. Although this ad does not contain any information about the discount rate plans, it does "put it in writing" for the basic rate structure. I don't understand the implications of the rate changes. Perhaps someone else could comment on this? N O T I C E T O A T & T C U S T O M E R S On October 19, 1990, AT&T filed with the Federal Communications Commission to change dial station night/weekend prices for interstate calls within the U.S. and calls between Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands and the U.S. mainland. Dial station rates apply when the person originating the call dials the telephone number desired, competes the call without the assit- ance of a Company operator and the call is billed ot the calling station. These rates are scheudled to become effective on November 2, 1990. DIAL STATION-NIGHT/WEEKEND U.S. INTERSTATE RATES Existing Proposed ---------------------- --------------------- Rate Initial Additional Initial Additional Milage Minute Minute Minute Minute --------- ------ ------ ------ ------ 1-10 $0.1000 $0.0975 $0.1051 $0.1051 11-22 0.1130 0.1100 0.1139 0.1139 23-55 0.1200 0.1200 0.1208 0.1208 56-124 0.1200 0.1200 0.1208 0.1208 125-292 0.1215 0.1215 0.1223 0.1223 293-430 0.1250 0.1225 0.1256 0.1256 431-925 0.1300 0.1260 0.1306 0.1306 926-1910 0.1325 0.1300 0.1331 0.1331 1911-3000 0.1350 0.1325 0.1357 0.1357 3001-4250 0.1650 0.1600 0.1650 0.1650 4251-5750 0.1750 0.1700 0.1750 0.1750 DIAL STATION-PUERTO RICO/U.S. VIRTIN ISLANDS- U.S.MAINLAND NIGHT/WEEKEND RATES Existing Proposed ---------------------- --------------------- Rate Initial Additional Initial Additional Milage Minute Minute Minute Minute --------- ------ ------ ------ ------ 926-1910 0.1325 0.1300 0.1331 0.1331 1911-3000 0.1350 0.1325 0.1357 0.1357 3001-4250 0.1650 0.1600 0.1650 0.1650 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 20:20 EST From: Macy Hallock Subject: Re: Two Residential Lines; Different Owners; Same Class of Service Organization: F M Systems, Inc. Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 723-3000 In article <14112@accuvax.nwu.edu>: [Discussion of problems with Ohio Bell permitting two lines with different types of service in the same house with different apartments] Having gone through this with Ohio Bell on behalf of a friend, I am aware of their policies: In order for a premises to be considered a separate residence, a separate street address or apartment number must be on the door, mailbox or exterior surface for each unit. There are exceptions allowed for hotel, dormitory and health care facilities. This is specified in their tariff, and administrative policy fills in the gaps in interpretations. If the premises is not in Ohio Bell's computer listing of street maps, things get interesting. The installer will adhere to these rules and check. Now, for the fun part: There a several classes of service in Ohio for residences: flat rate, measured and economy. You cannot mix classes in single residence. A flat rate line for voice and measured for a fax/modem is not allowed. In Ohio Bell territory, only measured lines are available for business use. If you have a business line in your home, your residence line must also be measured. (This is Ohio Bell way of preventing cheating on message units on business lines, I guess.) Residence lines cannot be installed into a business address without proof of residence (a bed and cooking facilities must exist). This is to prevent the installation of a flat rate residence line into a business. On residence service, rotary line hunting is free. Touch tone costs about $1. You may split your 1+ carriers on multi-line residential installations. Directory listing of additional lines is optional, and sublistings such as "fax line" or "children's line" are no charge. OBT does charge for unlisted service, of course. Listing to a different name is permitted, but often questioned by the business office representative. (I always use the "wife's maiden name" explanation.) Residential centrex is only available with measured service, not flat or economy. TT is free, but they soak you for everything else. Not a great deal, unless you have a detached barn or a garage down the road, then it is pretty useful (saves the cost of cable to link the locations). We'll report on GTE Ohio's ideas of residential assignment later ;-( Macy M. Hallock, Jr. macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy ------------------------------ From: Jim Marocchi Subject: Crosspoint Switch For IBM-PC Date: 14 Nov 90 22:19:33 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL Does anyone know if a crosspoint switch on a card(s) exists for use in an IBM-PC? This hardware should be capable of interfacing to analog lines, and be capable of performing a simple crosspoint switch function. No fancy functions are necessary, just switch inputs to outputs. This equipment would be used for demo purposes, so the numbers of lines switched is fairly small. I remember seeing something like this awhile ago, but don't remember the source. Any pointers would be appreciated. Posts or e-mail appreciated. Jim Marocchi 708/632-2407 | Motorola, Inc Cellular 1501 W. Shure Dr. ...uunet!motcid!marocchi | Arlington Heights, IL 60004 USA ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #824 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12347; 17 Nov 90 4:47 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa23629; 17 Nov 90 3:04 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab02824; 17 Nov 90 2:00 CST Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 1:44:46 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #825 BCC: Message-ID: <9011170144.ab16799@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Nov 90 01:44:22 CST Volume 10 : Issue 825 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Austrian PTT to be Restructured [Der Standard, via Wolf Paul] Getting Rid of Bell Tap [Bruce E. Howells] Caller-ID Bulk Data Question [Doug Blair] 900 Sleaze Infests the USENET [Michael P. Deignan] Transoceanic Cables [Mark Brader] Operation Desert Fax [Ed Hopper] Telemarketing Sleezoids [Steve Warner] Re: Telecom Art [Peter da Silva] Re: A New Type of 976 Fraud [Steven King] Re: Question About "Point of Demarcation" [Jeff Scheer] Telephone Pioneers Museum in Atlanta, GA [Subodh Bapat] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wolf paul Subject: Austrian PTT to be Restructured Date: 15 Nov 90 09:39:15 GMT Reply-To: wolf paul Organization: IIASA, Laxenburg/Vienna, Austria, Europe Summarized from an article by Ernst Brandstetter in Vienna's "DER STANDARD", of 1990-11-14: In the coming legislative period Austria's PTT will not only lose part of its income, but also some of its regulatory power and responsibility. In the telecommunications area, the PTT will retain only the "lines monopoly", i.e. other vendors offering services will have to lease their lines from the PTT instead of being allowed to install their own. This was agreed upon by coalition negotiators from Austria's two larges political parties, Social Democrats and Conservatives. This restructuring of the PTT into a regulatory body and a service provider/vendor will take place by 1992. Prior to this time, a comprehensive, EEC-compatible telecommunications act will have to be prepared and passed by Parliament. Vienna's Economic University will be given the task to prepare a comparative study of existing legislation of this kind in other countries. The purpose of the restructuring is the elimination of the disadvantage private vendors face in competing with a state monopoly organization which is vendor/service provider and regulator at once. For the same reason, cross subsidizing within the PTT will be prohibited, and the PTT will have to pass on some of its very high telephony profits to its subscribers. Both domestic long distance charges and the fixed monthly subscriber charge are to be reduced to reflect the lower cost of providing these services as a result of technological progress. Wolf N. Paul, UNIX SysAdmin, IIASA, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa@relay.eu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 19:35:10 -0500 From: beh@bu-pub.bu.edu Subject: Getting Rid of Bell Tap What can be done to supress "bell tap"? Situation: University dorm room, behind a Centrex so old it creaks until they get it it's coffee in the morning ... two phones and a modem on the line, all FCC registered and allegedly polite. The problem is that one of the phones (a Cobra Princess-Phone lookalike) bell taps quite loudly every time anything hangs up, including the modem. Quite annoying - particuarly to my roommate who gets immediate notification of the end of my late-night (ahem) programming sessions. Anything I can do to supress this? I'm pretty technically competent, so if it's a "throw something across/in the line" solution that'll be very welcome - I'd just rather not go hacking into the hardware on someone else's Centrex without more background on what I'm doing. Thank you. f*Bruce Howells, beh@bu.edu | engnbsc@buacca (BITNet) me? just a random Engineering undergrad... ------------------------------ Subject: Caller-ID Bulk Data Question Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 12:51:43 CST From: Doug Blair We're engaged in development of a Caller-ID device for use in multi-line (PBX etc) installations. The Bellcore docs (in TR-TSY-000032) mention a dedicated line for data delivery and specify the interface details are available in TR-TSY-000034, "Dedicated In-Band Analog Signalling Data Interface." TR-TSY-000034 was never published according to the nice order lady at Bellcore, so I'm looking for the technical specs (things like FSK frequencies, word lengths, stop bits, etc) that we'll need to decode this information if it's supplied on a seperate line. Does anybody know a) if the signalling for bulk lines is the same or similar to that described for a single line (in TR-TSY-000030) or b) where a complete description may be found? Doug Blair Obedient Software Corp. 1007 Naperville Rd, Wheaton IL 60187 708-653-5527 blair@obdient.chi.il.us ------------------------------ Subject: 900 Sleaze Infests the Usenet Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 14:08:27 EST From: "Michael P. Deignan" 900 Sleaze has invaded Usenet. Behold the message which recently appeared in misc.consumers... ----------------- My friend has a number of '900' numbers for sale. If you do not know what these are, they're phone lines with which the caller gets charged for each minute he/she is on the line. These lines are legitimately leased from long-distance carriers, and all callers are billed through AT&T. The normal rate for leasing one of these lines is anywhere from $4000/month. Now, for a limited number of lines, you can lease these lines for a substantial savings off the regular price. The lines can be used for any legitimate purpose with a few exceptions being pornography and credit repair. These lines start paying for themselves the day you start using them. The caller gets billed by AT&T at $2 for each minute they're on the phone. Also one can set up a message answering service for round-the-clock calls. This could be an enormous boost to your business or vocation. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. One person made $14,000 in one month by placing an ad which said: Respond to the Mideast crisis! call 1-900-555-1212 These numbers are accessible nationwide, and you do not even have to answer the line from where you work or live. A remote answering service can take care of all the calls, and you get credited monthly for all the calls being made. If you or a friend may be interested in leasing one of these lines, they are being offered for the incredibly low price of $750/month. See if you would like to work out a deal for the lease of these lines. Do *not* email! Call (AAA) BBB-CCC. Ask for Ruze. ------------- Now, ask yourself: would you *ever* buy phone service from someone named "Ruze"? MD ------------------------------ From: Mark Brader Subject: transoceanic cables Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Thu, 15 Nov 1990 02:16:49 -0500 Recent articles have referred to the TAT-8 transatlantic cable, and the TAT-9 cable under construction. Do these numbers imply that there are exactly eight transatlantic cables, or possibly fewer if some older ones have been retired? Or are there other namespaces besides TAT-n? Roughly how many transoceanic cables are there under all the oceans of the world? Roughly what fraction of calls use them rather than satellites? (Or rather, what fraction of half-calls, since it was said recently that a call can be satellite one way, cable one way.) Curiously, Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ From: Ed Hopper Subject: Operation Desert Fax Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 09:05:50 CST Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Houston, Texas 713-997-7575 werner@rascal.ics.utexas.edu (Werner Uhrig) writes: > I wonder if a very slow secretary is sitting on a PC and an impact > printer sending letters to some APO-address now that ATT's free fax > program is discontinued (if I remember my rumours right...) AT&T's Operation Desert Fax is still active. It will continue through 12/31/90. I believe you are referring to the free USA Direct calls. The Saudi PTT shut that down after one week instead of two due to volume. Desert Fax has handled 250,000 messages so far. Ed Hopper [Moderator's Note: And a very worthwhile and generous program it is ... you can stop in at any AT&T Phone Store to send a Fax message to a friend or spouse on duty in the middle east right now. There is no charge to send it. Write out a short note on the spot or prepare a longer letter at home and take it in. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 09:17:19 PST From: Steve Warner Subject: Telemarketing Sleezoids Tonight I received the first telemarketing call in some months. The call went something like this... Me: Hello? TMS (Telemarket Slease): Is Jane Frazzlebottom there? Me: Sorry - there is no one here by THAT name! TMS: Is John Frazzlebottom there then.. This is AT(&)(N)T Calling... Me: No - No one here by that name either, sorry. TMS: Did I call the correct number (415) nXX-xxxx? Me: Yes that is my number now TMS: Oh - you must have had the number only a short while then. Me: (catching on to this crap) What company did you say you are with??? TMS: AT(&)(N)T. [sounded like AT&T but was slurred very expertly] Me: Did you say AT [AND] T or AT [N] T. TMS: AT [N] T. Me: You guys are a joke. Click. This was obviously going to degrade into some sort of push to switch to their brand of rotten LD service. And if I hadn't seen someone HERE mention that someone was using ATNT as a company name - I may have fallen for it too. The line they called me on is one of three, which I changed numbers to, in order to get PAC*BELL message center. Previously my lines were on a new prefix which never got telemarketing. As soon as I hung up, it rang again - annoyed I answered, thinking it was ATNT again - the caller asked if my paper was arriving ok, this is the {San Jose Mercury News} calling. (This REALLY happened.) Time to change that number BACK to the orginal prefix! Steve Warner fremont, ca, USA etc replys to: sun!indetech!stables!sw [Moderator's Note: A story in TELECOM Digest in 1988 told about a fellow here in Chicago who had incorporated his business using the name "The Phone Company". He was selling an insurance policy dealing with phone repair/replacements as needed, just like Illinois Bell with their 'Line Backer' service. The Illinois Consumer Protection Office made him stop. I feel rather certain ATNT is so close in sound to AT and T that when Mother finds out about his scheme he'll get sued and be forced at the least to change his name to something not infringing on theirs. PAT] ------------------------------ From: peter da silva Subject: Re: Telecom Art Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 22:32:09 GMT I have often considered combining the Usenet locations with the messages and putting up a map of the Usenet world. For each message in the spool, I'd pulse all the systems it went through to get to me, translating the net into a softly glowing, pulsating, galaxy ... flaring up at high traffic periods, perhaps watching the night (hacker time, when one expects most messages get posted) sweep across the globe... Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. peter@ferranti.com ------------------------------ From: Steven King Subject: Re: A New Type of 976 Fraud Date: 14 Nov 90 19:56:49 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc. - Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL In article <14494@accuvax.nwu.edu> dbw@crash.cts.com (David B. Whiteman) writes: >Well today a group of pagers, all of them with phone numbers in >sequential order were each beeped with the message to call a 976 >number. Obviously, a 976 company just autodialled the pager exchange. So, did anyone call the 976 number to find out who the slimy little reptilian company was? Might have been interesting. Steven King, Motorola Cellular (...uunet!motcid!king) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 21:29:44 EST From: Jeff Scheer Subject: Re: Question About "Point of Demarcation" Reply-to: Jeff.Scheer@f23.n285.z1.fidonet.org Most obviously any large business, regardless of two trunks or fifty trunks has a demarc box outside. I for one, have a hundred pair demarc cable block outside my back door, but then again, most people don't run a business out of their home. As for large PBX's, would a voice mail operation with five DID trunks count as a "PBX"?? As for a "PBX" itself, what about a 555 cord board for a main answering point? I know I need an RJ21X, but how many? Will one cover the incoming DID trunks, along with business lines and the voice mail inbound directly to a"regular" house jack? Please respond as I am in a wheelchair, and can't really get out to investigate at the library/ or the library at the USWEST office in Omaha; although I have asked USWEST to send me a copy of the schematic for a 555. I know this is the ninties, but I enter messages on the computer with a software program that I have. I can jumper into the computer along with the voice mail card to provide simultaneous voice/data by using one line out for the computer and me on the other. Anyway with the electric situation that usually occurs in the Midwest during the summer or winter, I feel that a 555 cord board is "handy" to have around, since I'm not dependent on an auxilliary generator to have the power to run both computer and phone system. The .COMmand Center [200:5010/23@metronet] (1:285/23) (Opus 1:285/23) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Jeff.Scheer@f23.n285.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: Subodh Bapat Subject: Telephone Pioneers Museum in Atlanta, GA Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 15:16:10 EDT While on a recent visit to Atlanta, GA, I happened to discover the Telephone Pioneer's Museum located there. This is a fascinating place, featuring all kinds of telephone equipment from the early days of telephone history. Aside from technical displays, it also chronicles the business history of the telephone industry - the legal patent battles between Bell and Elisha Gray, the empire-building expansionism of Ted Vail, antitrust legislation through the ages, the disastrous experiment with the nationalization of AT&T by the Federal Government during World War I, etc. etc. It also contains a recording of a speech given by Thomas Watson in 1927 (?) describing the moments of the first telephone invention when he worked with Bell. An interesting titbit I picked up was the fact that the first words - now legend - spoken by Bell on the phone "Come here, Mr. Watson, I need you!" were not what he planned to say, but they came out because, just as he was picking up the phone, Bell accidentally knocked over the battery that was powering his apparatus, spilling acid all over his arm. It is perhaps fitting that the first telephone coversation was a 911 call :-). For those of you planning to visit Atlanta, it's located on the third floor of the 45-story Southern Bell Building in midtown Atlanta, open 11am-1pm on weekdays. It's definitely worth a visit (and worth skipping lunch if you have to!) P.S. On a unrelated note, just two blocks from the Southern Bell Building, I ran into the worst COCOTs I've ever seen. Aside from the usual woes - horrible sound quality, multiple intercepts coming on simultaneously, snarfing coins on unsupervised calls, no alternative LD carrier access, refusal to accept calling cards, I ran into a new atrocity - "0" and "00" not producing live operators, but instead recordings saying no operators were available followed by calling instructions. It would have taken very little tempting to get me to violation-label those phones right there. Subodh Bapat bapat@rm1.uu.net OR ...uunet!rm1!bapat MS E-204, PO Box 407044, Racal-Milgo, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33340 (305) 846-6068 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #825 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25870; 17 Nov 90 19:51 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa17723; 17 Nov 90 18:10 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa31671; 17 Nov 90 17:06 CST Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 16:08:29 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #826 BCC: Message-ID: <9011171608.ab18534@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Nov 90 16:08:13 CST Volume 10 : Issue 826 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: New Area Codes and International Dialing [John R. Covert] 1-800-WANT-POT Disconnected [Eduardo Krell] New Area Code for Southern California [Javier Henderson] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [Jack Winslade] Re: Sprint's New Calling Card [Glenn F. Leavell] Looking For Info on WATSON [Kevin Maher] Re: Wrong Number Nightmare [Carl Moore] Sources For Catalogs [Adam Mottershead] Re: The Right Choice [John Higdon] Two Men Indicted in Telephone Scheme [Pittsburgh Press via Tom Neudecker] Re: Dialogic vs. AT&T Voice Power vs. ... [Dave Levenson] AT&T Public Phones - Data Jack [Bill Rubin] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 06:05:35 PST From: "John R. Covert 15-Nov-1990 0851" Subject: Re: New Area Codes and International Dialing >I've just tried to dial a number in the 917 area code (non existent >yet) from France. I got a French intercept message just after dialing >the 7 of 917 saying that this code was not in service. What means has >a switch in France to know that. International exchanges in foreign countries must have a table of area codes in World Numbering Zone 1 in order to know whether to send calls to the Canadian international exchange (in Montreal), to one of AT&T's gateways in New York, Pittsburg, Denver, Atlanta or Sacramento (or to a gateway for another carrier if multiple carriers are providing two-way service), or to the gateways in Honolulu and Anchorage for calls to Hawaii and Alaska. In addition, for area code 809, they must do six-digit translation in order to send traffic to the appropriate island or country. There is not a single point where all other countries may send 809 traffic. A determination must be made as to whether to send traffic to Bermuda, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, etc. Also, even where traffic to multiple destinations may be permitted to transit through a third country which does additional routing translation, in countries where charging is done by charge pulses (almost all countries outside North America), the appropriate rate has to be computed before the call can be placed by determining which of the above destinations is being dialled. This can only be done by knowing where each area code is, and for area code 809, knowing where each exchange is. BTW, since I brought up multiple carriers: The CCITT recommendations specify what to do about multiple carriers. Since customers in countries having circuits to and from the U.S. provided by multiple U.S. carriers don't have a way of selecting ATT/MCI/Sprint for calls to the U.S., the rule is that outgoing traffic is to be statistically assigned to each carrier based on the same percentages as the incoming traffic. john ------------------------------ From: ekrell@ulysses.att.com Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 09:22:52 EST Subject: 1-800-WANT-POT Disconnected There was an arrest this past week in Greenwich Village in New York City of the leader of the "Church of the Realized Fantasy" (Michael Cesar) who ran the 1-800-WANT-POT service from his comic book shop. People would call this number and bicycle messengers would be dispatched with marijuana. Four messengers were arrested as well. Mr. Cesar has a record of drug convictions and ran telephone services in the past with names such as DIAL-A-JOINT and 777-CASH. Eduardo Krell AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ UUCP: {att,decvax,ucbvax}!ulysses!ekrell Internet: ekrell@ulysses.att.com ------------------------------ From: Javier Henderson Subject: New Area Code for Southern California Date: 15 Nov 90 08:26:48 PST Organization: Hamilton Avnet Computer; Culver City, CA According to the local newspaper, the current 714 area code will be split up again. The last time they did it was when they created 619 for the San Diego area. Now San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and a few cities in the Los Angeles county, will have 909. GTE and Pacific Bell would make a formal announcement on January 1991, and the new area code would go into effect during 1993. They said that the demand for new phone lines for fax, computer and cellular services has grown up quite a bit. Javier Henderson Engineering Services Avnet Computer Los Angeles, CA henderson@hamavnet.com {simpact,asylum,elroy,dhw68k}!hamavnet!henderson ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 09:51:31 EST From: Jack Winslade Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? In message <1190094024@iugate.UUCP>, "andrew M. Boardman" writes: { ... in regards to >>VERY<< long calls } > - What would one's local phone company think of this? > - In the expected case that they aren't too fond of losing > out on the megabucks for a leased line, do they have > legal ground telling you to stop? Back around 1970 or so, there was a belief held by some members of the electronic community that if you were to order two lines (in different locations, of course), dialed one into the other and >>NEVER<< broke the connection, there would be no bill for the call, since the billing was done at the time the call was terminated. Of course I never knew anyone who really tried this. This supposedly would work whether the endless call was local or across the country. This idea was reinforced when an employee of AT&T Long Lines told me that there was a good chance that after several months, after the billing tapes were changed several times or something like that, there was a good chance that the equipment would 'forget' about the connection and never bill at all, even if/when it was terminated. Yes, I know about 'chasing permanents', but this was in the NYC area circa 1970, where many of the offices were aging panel and #1 crossbar that were held together with scotch tape and typically had such things like unused twisted-pair jumpers banjo-strung all over the frames. The switch crews were busy just keeping the switches up, let alone tracing permanents (if the PS lamps weren't burned out. ;-) There was some kind of a tape-based CAMA system that billed a whole group of offices from a central point. I think some of the offices still billed for local units with 'odometer' type counters which were photographed each month. Maybe some of the 'experts' on billing systems could confirm if this was true at that time. I am, of course, assuming that if it were true, the case has been dealt with and the modern billing software is smart enough to catch it and bill for it. Good Day! JSW [1:285/666@fidonet] DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: "Glenn F. Leavell" Subject: Re: Sprint's New Calling Card Organization: University of Georgia Economics Department Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 19:10:05 GMT In RISKS-FORUM Digest 10.60, Jerry Glomph Black writes: [concerning Sprint's FONCARD:] >Sometimes it's annoying to dial 11 digits of access >code(1-800-877-8000), then the 11 digits of the destination number, then the >bloody 14-digit number. My wife refuses to do this, so we got an AT&T card, >where all you have to remember is FOUR DIGITS (tacked on to your 10-digit home >number, which you presumably know). Anybody know why Sprint didn't just adopt >this method? I believe that AT&T offers two different kinds of calling cards. One kind is "anchored" to your home phone number - the first ten digits of the calling card number are the same ten digits which make up your home phone number. Then other ("unanchored") type is similar to Sprint's card in that the numbers on the card are "random". This means that you can get an AT&T calling card even if you don't have a private phone number. For some reason, all Sprint calling cards seem to be "unanchored". Does anyone know why Sprint chose to use "unanchored" cards? Corrections are welcomed. Glenn F. Leavell glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu 404-542-3488 Systems Administrator University of Georgia Economics Department. 147 Brooks Hall. Athens, GA 30602 ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Thursday, 15 Nov 1990 15:57:09 EST From: Kevin Maher Subject: Looking For Info on WATSON I am looking for information on a voice mail product called WATSON. What I would like to know are specifics on how this product works. This is for a class project on EDI/Voice-mail. Any info you could send, or a phone number or address of where I can get information would be appreciated beyond measure. Please email responses directly, unless you know it wont arrive. Thanks. KDM101@PSUVM O04@PSUVM KXM@PSUARCH kmaher@psusun01 Why should I want to disclaim anything??? It only makes me look guilty! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 15:28:37 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Wrong Number Nightmare In other words, the car dealership has a number in the 714 area for customers in Orange County, but when it went out on many of that firm's business cards, it was printed with area 213 instead of area 714 -- that is, it printed your number on those cards. If that is indeed supposed to be a special number for Spanish-speaking customers, you might have to explain (in Spanish on your answering machine tape?) that the business card was printed wrong and that you should redial your call using area 714? (Could this confuse English-speaking callers who do indeed want to reach you?) There have been some cases where a local newspaper had to publish the problem to cut down on such wrong-number calls. Back around 1975-76, when Gerald Ford was U.S. president, some calls for the White House (202-456-1414) ended up going to a residence in Springfield, Va. at 703-451-1414, where Springfield was among those suburban points then reachable via area code 202. (You can no longer reach DC area suburban points using area code 202; use 301 for Md. and 703 for Va.) Back around 1964, there was some recording in Washington (at the Smithsonian?) which was advertised, and many people called that number from New York City and forgot to dial area code 202, and wound up reaching a Schlosser family in Brooklyn. (New York City had only one area code then: 212.) ------------------------------ From: adam mottershead Subject: Sources For Catalogs Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada. Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 05:34:55 GMT I am looking the the address and/or phone numbers to obtain catalogs from AT&T and Bellcore. I am sure this information has been posted previously, but seeing as I am a new user to the net, it probably passed me by. Also include prices, if applicable. Adam Mottershead (contact.UUCP) ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: The Right Choice Date: 15 Nov 90 13:04:38 PST (Thu) From: John Higdon Dan Breslau writes: [a story about AT&T's silly and stupid advertising and how it apparently conflicted with a {Wall Street Journal} article] This past election, if serving no other purpose, should have convinced the last hold-outs that a person cannot, repeat CANNOT, base a purchasing, financial, or voting decision based on advertising. Advertising is designed to sell products, not to be critically analyzed or studied to collect information. The big-three IECs are no different when it comes to misleading and ridiculous media hype. I use Sprint and AT&T. Sprint has advantages in some areas, AT&T in others. Sprint has generally lower INTERstate rates, while INTRAstate is about on a par with AT&T. Audio quality is even-Steven. AT&T offers its usual little-known services such as foreign language translation, deaf forwarding, the ability to reach inward numbers at LECs (such as repair), etc. Sprint's billing is far superior and much more detailed (at least on my commercial account). Sprint allows 800 and 950 access to it's network (to get around errant COCOTs), but AT&T's calling card is easier to use in non-restrictive situations. It is one's right to be offended by any image or face a company puts forward and even a right to take whatever action is deemed appropriate. But I would hate to think that someone was depriving him/herself of the best or most appropriate product because of an attitude generated from advertising. Especially if that attitude was already present and the advertising merely provided a convenient justification to perpetuate a possibly unwarranted opinion. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Nov 90 18:35:31 -0500 (EST) From: Thomas Neudecker Subject: Two Men Indicted in Telephone Scheme From the {Pittsburgh Press}, Page B4 11/15/90 Two Men Indicted in Telephone Scheme Two Allegheny County men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud, inter-state transportation of stolen property and conspiracy. Named in the six-count indictment yesterday were Michael E. Katora III, 38, of Regal Court, of Monroeville [Pa.] and Daniel A. Squire, 26, of Ellsworth Avenue, Shadyside. According to the indictment, Katora and Squire operated a telecommunications scheme that computers to generate [dial] 320,414 telephone calls to "900" phone numbers assigned to a company they owned and controlled they then sold accounts receivable that totaled $3,959,808 in user fees for the fraudulent calls to a commercial factoring company. If convicted on all counts, the men could receive 45-year prison sentences and fines totaling $1.5 million. TN ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Dialogic vs. AT&T Voice Power vs. ... Date: 16 Nov 90 01:37:38 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14540@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) writes: [ regarding PC voice i/o boards ] > The other four-port boards that I know of are the AT&T Voice Power > board, and a similar board from Rhetorex. How do these compare? > Unfortunately, Rhetorex does not provide Unix drivers. AT&T Voice Power includes a UNIX driver (for AT&T UNIX SysV/386) and a C application program interface library. As far as I know, no driver for MS-DOS was ever offered. The audio quality is better than Dialogic. Compression is more effective (2000 bytes per second of speech, with optional silence-compression making it even tighter). Early versions of the board suffered from talk-off (speech being detected as touch-tones) and from imperfect silence detection. Later versions improved both of these areas. The cost per line is about 2x the Dialogic cost for the four-line board. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 10:58:34 EST From: Bill Rubin Subject: AT&T Public Phones - Data Jack Can someone out there give me some advice on how to successfully use the data jack on the AT&T Public Phones in airport lounges with my laptop computer? I was quite disappointed to see that you couldn't autodial with them, and then when I tried to manually dial and sync up it still would not work. What is the appropriate sequence of events and modem commands that I need to do? There must be a way to make it work, and it sure would be nice if the instructions on the phone told you how (ie, what to do after the phone goes into data mode). I tried calling AT&T customer service about this when I tried it a few weeks ago, but I got sent from one number to another, to another, until I finally gave up. Bill Rubin rubin@ibm.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #826 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05992; 18 Nov 90 5:00 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14526; 18 Nov 90 3:17 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa02548; 18 Nov 90 2:12 CST Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 1:46:16 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #827 BCC: Message-ID: <9011180146.ab22746@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Nov 90 01:45:34 CST Volume 10 : Issue 827 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions [Dave Levenson] Re: George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers [Lon Stowell] Re: Wanted: "Pole Climbers" [Macy Hallock] Re: Wanted: Home Phone System [Macy Hallock] Re: Area-Code 714 Will be Split [Bill Huttig] Re: Slick-96 [Dan'l DanehyOakes] Re: More Splitsville [Carl Moore] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System [Jeff Carroll] Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support [John Higdon] Re: Answer Supervision on PBX [Paul S. Sawyer] Re: Noise Reduction [Ken Abrams] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions Date: 16 Nov 90 04:51:48 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14682@accuvax.nwu.edu>, JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU writes: [ regarding voice/fax switching boxes ] > charge. My big question on this option is, "how many FAX machines > present CNG tones?" Is this something which all FAX machines built in > the last two or three years have, or is this a feature which some FAX > machines built even today don't have? Anyone know any more about > this? All current-production fax machines are capable of producing CNG tones. The problem is that some operators of these machines don't use them that way. My fax machine is equipped with a handset, and may be used as an expensive replacement for a standard single-line telephone. If I lift the handset and dial your number, my machine thinks I'm placing a voice call, and sends no CNG tones. If your fax machine answers, I can then drop a document into my machine and press the SEND key. But if your switch answered while I was on the handset, and listened for my CNG tone, it would decide that I'm placing a voice call, and direct it to your telephone set. If I insert the document, and dial your number, and press the send key, my machine will know in advance that I'm trying to send a fax, and it will then generate the tones. The question is, how many fax users understand these details well enough to send a fax to your fax machine? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: George Bush Pushing 900 Numbers Date: 16 Nov 90 00:24:01 GMT Reply-To: Lon Stowell Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA Just be glad he wasn't pushing 1-900-BALANCE at $10K or so per call as a way of balancing the budget! :-D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 00:10 EST From: Macy Hallock Subject: Re: Wanted: "Pole Climbers" Organization: F M Systems, Inc. Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 723-3000 In article <14128@accuvax.nwu.edu>: >Anyone have a pair of those spiked pole-climbers that the outside >plant guys put on over their boots in order to climb poles? If so, are >you interested in selling them? Beware of used spurs. The condition and style of these is a safety issue not to be ignored. Old ones can be cracked, brittle or too short. If you are not trained in pole climbing, I'd advise against it. Even trained professionals get a chestful of splinters once in a while. That's why most of use use fiberglass ladders: it is safer. (Especially for those of us who just turned 40 and spend most of their time behind a desk ;-). I suggest you receive instruction from an experienced instructor in the selection and use of climbers. It is just too easy to get hurt. (There are other safety issues in pole climbing, such as dealing with electric power lines ... that stuff can fry you on the pole!) Extreme care is advised here ... we need all the Digest readers we can get, don't get yourself hurt! Macy M. Hallock, Jr. macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 00:39 EST From: Macy Hallock Subject: Re: Wanted: Home Phone System Organization: F M Systems, Inc. Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 723-3000 In article <14080@accuvax.nwu.edu>: >I'm interested in updating my home phones. >[Moderator's Note: It sounds to me like a small residential PBX would >be what you need. A couple manufacturers which come to mind are Rolm >and Melco. ROLM??? Patrick, you sure are loose with other peoples money! ;-) I know Ken Oshman has one in his home, but don't you think one of these is a little bit much for the average home? Why not a System 25 or a Mitel SX-200D? Seriously, I think the Melco is now not even actively marketed, it is not even in my North Supply catalog anymore. About the only Mini-PBX that freely accepts single line phones anymore is the Panasonic, if you can get one (they are still in short supply). Anyone else know of a decent small PBX or key system that freely accepts mostly single line phones? I'd be very interested to know? (I think the Comdial nee Cardinal is too large.) BTW, I carry a Panasonic KX-T308 system for voice mail demos, modem and fax tests and such. Best source of portable dial tone I know. I even hook it up to my cellular phone's single line 2500 jack as a trunk for use in business shows. I have a KX-T616 in my house with a 1A2 behind it ... (it is a long story.) I'm just sitting here typing and missing the NATA show this year due to a service coverage conflict (can't send _everybody_ to NATA, someone's got to take care of the paying customers.) So, anyone care to post updates on happenings at NATA? Macy M. Hallock, Jr. macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy [Moderator's Note: I'm almost certain Rolm has/had a tiny little unit which handled one or two outside lines and up to six extensions. I think Mitel had something similar also. For my money, the Melco 212 was the best deal around with two outside lines and up to twelve extensions. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: Re: Area-Code 714 Will be Split Date: 16 Nov 90 17:33:26 GMT Reply-To: Bill Huttig Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL In article <14716@accuvax.nwu.edu> slr@tybalt.caltech.edu (Steve Rhoades) writes: >2.) Orange County retains 714 while the bordering counties, some of which > are in 714, get the new 909. Most likely. >3.) Have all new phone numbers issued after Jan. 1993 get the > new area-code. (I never heard of this before.) I like it but think how DA would work. How many stupid people would not dial an area code ... wouldn't local calls have to go to ten digit dialing? I dont think it will work ... I wish the phone companies would just go to eight digit local numbers and a diferent area code setup. (They could tell the difference between new numbers and old numbers by the length of them.) >little and recovered quite a bit of territory. Currently Telenet uses >909 as the 'area code' for their administrative lines in Virginia. I >guess they will change it to something else starting in a couple >years. PAT] PAT - You mean SprintNet ;-) ... Sprint net has not changed the PAD address in the 407 area yet (at least Melbourne, FL) so i doubt they would change any addresses. It seems as though they will keep the old area code boundaries. Bill Moderator's Note: They've done the same thing here. The places now in 708 are still addressed as 312 on SprintNet. My local dial-in is now a 708 number in Glencoe, IL, but when on line, doing a @STAT returns an answer of 312 something. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dan'l DanehyOakes Subject: Re: Slick-96 Date: 16 Nov 90 22:21:34 GMT Reply-To: Dan'l DanehyOakes Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA In article <14710@accuvax.nwu.edu> KEVIN.GRIFFIN@ehpcb.wlk.com (KEVIN GRIFFIN) writes: >Can anyone tell me what a "Slick 96" switch is and what kind of >services are available from it. Actually, that's "SLC-96," for "Subscriber Loop Carrier." It's a digital carrier designed to carry [up to] 96 lines ("conversations") or the equivalent to a distribution point farther from a Central Office than the usual limit for local loops. Basically you can do anything with it that you can do with an aggregator of digital (or digitized analog) lines. The Roach ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 17:52:44 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: More Splitsville So, from the present 714 area (post 714/619 split), Orange County points will probably stay in 714, and those in San Bernardino and Riverside counties will go into 909? That means 714 is being restricted even more to the far eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. 714 at the time of 714/619 split had no N0X/N1X prefixes; are there still none in the present 714 and 619 areas? Apparently, Anaheim and Santa Ana would stay in 714? (Yes, I know Disneyland is in Anaheim, although Disney World in Florida went into 407 at the time of the 305/407 split there.) ------------------------------ From: Jeff Carroll Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telephone System Date: 17 Nov 90 00:48:14 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle In article <14369@accuvax.nwu.edu> HWT@bnr.ca (Henry Troup) writes: >Mike Doughney writes: >> It almost looks like American workers had a hand in its production; >Bell Canada built and used to operate the Saudi phone system, on >contract for the government. I think that the latest operations >contract went to someone else. As someone else pointed out, there is also the Aramco system, and I happen to know that AT&T also built and maintained a telecom system in KSA. My employer is currently under contract to deliver and deploy yet another (independent, unconnected) telecom network to Saudi Arabia, as part of their air defense system. This one will use the European TDM hierarchy rather than the North American; the switches, last I knew, were going to be ITT/Alcatel System 10s. Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support Date: 16 Nov 90 17:47:55 PST (Fri) From: John Higdon gordonl@microsoft.UUCP (Gordon LETWIN) writes: > What a hostile person you are. If you reasoned as well as you hate > you'd get somewhere. [plus a lengthy explanation of why Microsoft isn't responsible for DOS] My version of DOS 4.01 says nothing but Microsoft on the box, the manuals and the disks. I purchased it at Fry's Electronics as generic Microsoft DOS 4.01. It is NOT OEMed. So who is responsible? Who made the big bucks? Now, that out of the way, let me set the record straight on what product my original question was about. It was Microsoft Windows 3.0. Is that OEMed as well? I bought it at the same time as the DOS at Fry's. Your comments are certainly consistent with those I received from others at Microsoft. The problem lies everywhere else. My hardware, my other software, even me. Now you claim that others are getting rich off of Microsoft products, so the company isn't even responsible for collecting the profits! How do you equate my observations of poor customer service with hate? Is it hostility to expect that a manufacturer would make even a reasonable attempt to support a product? Is demurement about a 900 number for "customer service" a symptom of latent aggression? > So we offer "free" support for our retail products because we received > the retail markup and support is one of the things you do to earn that > money. We didn't receive the retail markup for DOS, the OEM did, and > the OEM is the person who needs to support it; that was their > agreement. As a convenience to customers who don't want to call the > OEM or whose OEM's are not doing a good job, Microsoft now offers > support for DOS, but we have to charge for it now since we didn't get > any money for that service when we sold your OEM the DOS. I'm sorry, but my observations indicate that this is totally bogus. The only number listed for technical help with Windows 3.0 is a 900 number. Could you supply me with the OEM for that product? I am positive that whoever it is, they could supply far better assistance than I have managed to get from Microsoft (for my $15.00 in 900 charges). Actually, even though the principle of "900" customer assistance is offensive, my attitude would be somewhat different if I could have received any value for my $15.00. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Answer Supervision on PBX Date: 16 Nov 90 14:45:08 EST (Fri) From: "Paul S. Sawyer" Please forgive the late response, but our news feed has been constipated lately.... B-( I said: > >Well, Pat, they keep telling us that our System 85 can't do it, but > >that they would be glad to sell us a 5ESS.... ??? First of all, keep in mind that I only do the DATA PROCESSING for the system, i.e., get them calls billed, and my memory of what they said (above) is not from a telecom viewpoint ... (My view being that the S85 is a computer, after all, and a computer should be hackable to do what the customer wants.) Our Telecom folk don't read the news. vances@xenitec.on.ca (Vance Shipley) said: > Paul, can you provide us with some background? What is you're > trunking arrangement? (PRA,T-1,Analog,etc.) What generic is the > switch running? We are running System 85 Release 2, Version 3; We have T1 circuits to the current LD carriers of choice (might be ATT, MCI, Sprint, LDN (Long Distance North) at any particular time) But intra-LATA, 800-, 900-, etc., (LEC) is not T1. My main problems in billing non answer-supervised calls are: 1. We set the minimums high (1.0 min for 1+NPA, 1.5 min for 011+), so we miss billing for some completed calls (tho no one complains ;-) 2. This is not long enough for some people; and, it can take more than 1.5 minutes just to get a busy signal from some countries 3. Even if we had an accurate 900 call pricing table, we would need accurate call length info to bill close to what students expect 4. Since DA calls are fixed price and often short, we bill all DA calls of 0.2 minutes or longer, some of which of course are not connected. For years we have explained this to faculty and staff, who squawk but have to put up with it; we are serving students now, who would like to believe that all phone systems work the way their home systems do. Thanks for the interest. Paul S. Sawyer paul@unhtel.uucp {uunet,attmail}!unhtel!paul UNH CIS - - Telecommunications and Network Services p_sawyer1@unhh.unh.edu Durham, NH 03824-3523 VOX: +1 603 862 3262 FAX: +1 603 862 2030 ------------------------------ From: Ken Abrams Subject: Re: Noise Reduction Date: 16 Nov 90 23:39:31 GMT Reply-To: Ken Abrams Organization: Athenanet, Inc., Springfield, Illinois In article <14692@accuvax.nwu.edu> JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet writes: > Due to roommate pressure over phone hogging with modem use, I am >putting another line in. However, I will be forced to accept the >existing four-wire, non-twisted-pair that is currently installed, >using the second line of the pair. Based upon previous discussions in >the Digest, I expect noise problems with the modem. What can I do to >avoid or minimize this. Hardware solutions may include a new modem but My advice is: Don't panic. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Try it out first. I have been using modems in a residential environment on standard quad (non-twisted) for a long time and have yet to experience any significant noise problems. If the wiring run is fairly short (< 300 ft) and it isn't close to any external noise sources like fluorescent lights, you might get by just fine. Some modems are more imune to noise than others. I have had good luck with a Supra 2400 and a USR HST. Ken Abrams uunet!pallas!kabra437 Illinois Bell kabra437@athenanet.com Springfield (voice) 217-753-7965 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #827 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06777; 18 Nov 90 5:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa02612; 18 Nov 90 4:21 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab14526; 18 Nov 90 3:17 CST Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 2:26:43 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #828 BCC: Message-ID: <9011180226.ab04455@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Nov 90 02:26:34 CST Volume 10 : Issue 828 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Western Union Clock Service [Paul Schleck] Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? [David Tamkin] Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service [mingo@cup.portal.com] Re: AT&T MAIL ACCESS Program Description [Tim Evans] Re: Measured Local Service [John Higdon] Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service [Vance Shipley] Re: Dealing With Telemarketers [Jeff Carroll] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 00:51:37 EST From: Paul Schleck Subject: Re: Western Union Clock Service Reply-to: Paul.Schleck@f27.n285.z1.fidonet.org Well, after reading the myriad posts about the Western Union Clock service and deciding that I just >>had<< to get one of my own, I reached for the nearest yellow pages and talked to just about every clock repair shop and antique dealer who would pick up the phone. My search ended with an antique dealer in Omaha. He said he had two of them (standard wall model, I assume). He was at home (got his calls forwarded) and said he would sell them for "100-120 bucks or so." Does this sound like a fair price? Since he DOES have two, someone else can snap up the other one. Mindful of the Fidonet ban on "advertising", I will let prospective buyers contact me at home via the telephone. I have no financial interest in any transaction that will take place between you and this dealer. There was a post on this conference about someone who made a circuit to synchronize the clock via the telegraph line hookup. Are these schematics available? Are the obligatory SASE's and green stamps for copying costs involved? Let me know. My local BBS sysop deletes often, so the relevant posts are now in the bit bucket. I was thinking of homebrewing a tone discriminator that would monitor WWV and listen for that standard reference tone at the top of the hour (which is different from the tone at the other 59 minutes), detect it for a fraction of a second (to prevent falsing) and send a synchronization signal to the clock. Any ideas on this one? Can't wait to have one of these beauties in the computer room/hamshack whirring away at the top of each hour. My girlfriend ALREADY thinks I'm nuts for collecting "all this wierd junk." Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU (402) 291-6176 (6-9 p.m. Central) Internet pschleck@alf.unomaha.edu --- Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.12 r.5 [1:285/27@fidonet] Neb. Inns of Court 402/593-1192 (1:285/27.0) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Paul.Schleck@f27.n285.z1.fidonet.org [Moderator's Note: I'd say the price he quoted is fair, assuming the clocks actually work. If they are not working, you can still cheat by putting an electric clock works in the case and use only the dial, hands and cabinet. Regards the various plans for a pseudo setting circuit, if you think it is worth the time, go ahead; but I can tell you that if the clock is hung *perfectly level* and the pendulum calibrated properly (a few days of testing by setting the time and watching for inaccuracies a day or so later) you will find the clock stays accurate within a minute or less per month as is. My two WU clocks do their own thing and when I think of it once a month or so I set them if they are more than a minute off. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David Tamkin Subject: Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 11:22:29 CST Bob Sherman wrote in volume 10, issue 822: | A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated | that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin | reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO | cell phones. | In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air | charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they | will be charged the air charges. There's a bit of a complication here. How much do I, using a landline to place a call to a cellular phone, pay for airtime? If the wireline carrier and the non-wireline carrier charge different amounts for airtime, do I pay different amounts for calling the customers of one from the customers of the other? If one acquaintance of mine uses a cell phone for business and has a package that involves prepaying for ten hours of airtime every month and then 33c peak, 20c off-peak after that, but another friend uses the cell phone principally for weekend getaways and road emergencies and has an after-hours package of no prepaid airtime, 65c peak, and 10c off-peak, do I pay the airtime rates in their packages for calling them (or perhaps nothing for calling the first person I mentioned if his/her total airtime for that billing cycle, including my call, is under the prepaid minimum)? Is it ethical or even legal for the cellular companies to tell my telco what arrangements their customers have with them? Instead, does my telco charge me some standard generic rate structure for calls to cellular phones, perhaps with various high-usage packages available for those of us (say, if we have cell phones ourselves and sometimes forward our landlines to them) who call cellular numbers a lot? There is also the matter of placing long-distance calls to cellular numbers. What I described above has to be answered again for every inter-LATA carrier. Next: suppose the caller claims that the number he or she dialed had been misrepresented to him or her as a landline, and he or she refuses to pay the airtime charge? Maybe the connection was very clear, or the caller hung up instantly upon suspecting that it was a mobile phone but still gets billed for one minute of airtime. There are a *lot* of complications here. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com ------------------------------ From: mingo@cup.portal.com Subject: Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 21:59:52 PST gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca writes: > A Canadian Company has recently begun to offer a special reduced >rate to fax users. The user pays only a small monthly fee ($10, I >think) and receives a little black box which attaches to their fax >machine ... MT&T (Bell Canada) offers a similar >service, but you have to pay for a special line which will place local >calls of any type, but will only allow fax calls to be place long >distance. First of all, as an expatriate Nova Scotian, I assure you that Bell Canada does *not* own Maratime Tel & Tel: they tried to take it over in 1967, and Premier Stanfield passed a law restricting shareholdings to 10%. >Of course, when I read this in the paper I wondered how they detected >this. I called MT&T and asked what would happen if a voice call was >placed on such a line. They assured me it would be very quickly >disconnected. My modem has no trouble distinguishing voice from data calls: the data calls feature constant frequency tones, and voice calls feature changing frequencies. >The person I spoke to also claimed that MT&T was >'listening' to the call and was actually sensing fax protocol and thus >deciding whether the call should be allowed to continue or not. > Does anyone know if such services actually detect and interpret fax >protocol to decide whether to axe the call? The idea that first struck >me was using this service to get cheap rates for long distance modem >calls. If all the hardware is listening for is something that >resembles a data call (carrier) then perhaps a modem would fool it. >Any thought? I expect it might. It was my understanding that the black box was intended solely to keep you from using the line for voice. According to the Globe & Mail, the CRTC only permitted this class of service if the fax calls could be segregated from voice. Apparently, this setup is not yet available in New Brunswick, because NB Tel has yet to implement "audit features" to ensure compliance. ------------------------------ From: Tim Evans Subject: Re: AT&T MAIL ACCESS Program Description Date: 17 Nov 90 14:13:32 GMT Organization: Fallston, MD In <14689@accuvax.nwu.edu> nelson%odin.corp.sgi.com@sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard) writes: >Executive (:-) Summary: If you have and use AT&T Mail's "ACCESS" >program for the PC or MacIntosh, please write a description of how it >works, how you use it, how user-friendly it is, etc, and mail it to me >So I chose AT&T Mail. >AT&T has a pair of programs that they want you to buy to use AT&T >Mail. Both are named "ACCESS", one is for the PC, one for the >MacIntosh. Each reportedly costs about $150 (just went up, used to be >about $100). Missing here is the fact that ATTMail can be used non-interactively. AT&T does after all run UNIX on its systems, including the ATTMail system. If your system is a UNIX or UNIX-derived system, just establish a UUCP link to ATTMail (they will allow this) and then use your local mail agent to compose messages with UUCP-style addresses. They will be delivered just like any other UUCP mail. Morever, since ATTMail charges more for "on line" message composition than for messages "uploaded" via UUCP, you save even more money this way. PC and Mac users: don't despair. Get a PD UUCP (i.e., 'uupc' or similar agent) and connect to ATTMail as a "UNIX" system. Even if you _buy_ a DOS/MacOS UUCP-style mailer, you're still ahead of where you'd be buying ACCESS, because you can use it to talk to systems other than ATTMail. I don't thing anyone disagrees that AT&T's marketing of ATTMail is p*ss poor, but if you insist that you want to connect a "UNIX" system (even if your "UNIX" system is really a DOS system), somebody in Customer Service should be able to find somebody who knows somebody who can help you. Just don't confuse them by telling them you're using a PC or Mac. UUCP: {rutgers|ames|uunet}!mimsy!woodb!fallst!tkevans INTERNET: tkevans%fallst@wb3ffv.ampr.org Tim Evans 2201 Brookhaven Ct, Fallston, MD 21047 ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Measured Local Service Date: 16 Nov 90 18:11:53 PST (Fri) From: John Higdon "Sander J. Rabinowitz" writes: > "As a free service to you, we have kept track of the number of local > calls you've made this month so you can see if you save money with our > measured service. This month, you made -0- local calls--therefore, > you would have saved $3.44 this month had you used our other plan." This is very scary and you should be concerned. Most telcos have discovered that PUCs and equivalents are most reluctant to allow the summary discontinuance of unmeasured residence service, so they use a more sophisticated approach these days. Step one involves switching as many people over to measured as possible. Reps are primed to push measured service as a way of saving money. To this end, in areas that offer both measured and unmeasured residence service, the pricing is set up to make measured as attractive to as many as possible. One approach is to use a generous allowance for measured service. Another is to price unmeasured in the stratosphere. Then, when a majority of customers have measured service, the telco goes to the PUC and argues that unmeasured service is no longer in real demand and that it would have minor reactions to its discontinuance. At some point, the PUC gives in and unmeasured service goes away. The first subsequent action by telco is to remove the allowance. This is easy, since it is not technically a rate increase. Then the monthly rate for measured becomes as high as the former unmeasured rate and telco has what it wants: every bit of facility usage paid for. > Now I KNOW for each of the last five months, more than 50 local calls > per month were made on that line. (I made many of them myself. =) > Meanwhile, my own telephone bill doesn't have that message, even > though my line also has the unlimited calling feature. Events have led me to believe that telcos (at least Pac*Bell) do not have a foolproof way of monitoring local traffic on individual lines. On more than one occasion, I have had measured lines that are NEVER used for local outgoing and have large Zone 1 usage ticketed. Calls to the business office result in the rep freely removing the calls ("what do you think the usage was, Mr. Higdon?"). This does not cause me to have a great deal of confidence in local metering. > Is this something for the local public service commission to look at? > It seems like a harmless computer glitch, but I can't shake the > feeling that something fishy is going on here. You betcha. You may be headed down the slippery slope of measured-only service. Watch out! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service Organization: SwitchView - The Linton Technology Group Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 18:35:07 GMT In article <14718@accuvax.nwu.edu> gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca (Paul Gauthier) writes: > I called MT&T and asked what would happen if a voice call was >placed on such a line. They assured me it would be very quickly >disconnected. The person I spoke to also claimed that MT&T was >'listening' to the call and was actually sensing fax protocol and thus >deciding whether the call should be allowed to continue or not. > Does anyone know if such services actually detect and interpret fax >protocol to decide whether to axe the call? The idea that first struck >me was using this service to get cheap rates for long distance modem >calls. If all the hardware is listening for is something that >resembles a data call (carrier) then perhaps a modem would fool it. >Any thought? I believe you'll have to go with Unitel's Facsroute service to use modems. It seems that Telecom Canada (the real provider of Faxcom) does look for fax protocol. Unitel does not, they only check for "carrier". If this is very confusing for our american listeners let me elaborate. Here in Canada we have not deregulated long distance telephone service. The only carrier for public switched voice service is Telecom Canada (Bell Canada, and they rest of the phone companies). Data is a different story though and there is competition. Unitel (formerly CNCP) is the main alternative. The question here regards the methods used by both carriers to ensure that their fax services (deemed as data by Unitel) carry no voice calls. Vance Shipley vances@ltg ------------------------------ From: Jeff Carroll Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Date: 17 Nov 90 01:00:39 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle In article <14383@accuvax.nwu.edu> nickless@flash.ras.anl.gov (Bill Nickless) writes: >Sleaze: "Is Mr. Nickless available?" (Or better yet, I live with my > recently widowed aunt, and the Sleaze asks for "Mr. or Mrs. > White....") >(20 minutes later, Sleaze hangs up in disgust, realizing that it has >lost that time to harass someone else.) :-) >[Moderator's Note: Based on only one sentence from the person calling, >how do you know it was a telemarketer and not a police officer, >hospital clerk or someone Mr. and Mrs. White *do* need and want to >speak with? PAT] For about three years after we got married, our phone was listed under my wife's maiden name, though I usually answered the phone. It was not very difficult to figure out what was afoot on calls like these: Me: Hello? Other person: "Mr. Burns?" Actually, here in Bellevue, the police department (or, rather, the Police Officers' Guild) *does* engage in telemarketing. I was interrupted during the second game of the World Series by a police officer seeking a rather large donation ($25/head) to pay for "tickets for disadvantaged youth" to a circus that was coming to town. Being wrapped up in the ball game, I didn't bother to investigate further, but it did sound a little fishy -- not to mention the uncomfortable feeling that accompanies receiving phone calls from local cops asking for money. Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #828 ******************************  ISSUES 829-830 GOT REVERSED IN TRANSMISSION. 829 COMES AFTER 830 HERE.  Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24932; 19 Nov 90 1:29 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab02760; 18 Nov 90 23:32 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab10375; 18 Nov 90 22:25 CST Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 22:23:10 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #830 BCC: Message-ID: <9011182223.ab11490@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Nov 90 22:22:57 CST Volume 10 : Issue 830 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telephonic Paranoia [The Irish Times, via Charles Bryant] Prodigy Communications Protocol [Robert S. Maier] Manitoba and the NXX of the Beast? [Gerard Stafleu, via David Leibold] NEW ZEALAND Telecom Information and News [Pat Cain] Request for Cellular Tech Info [David Leibold] N00 in 213 and 818 [Carl Moore] No N0X/N1X in Area 714? [Carl Moore] GTE Mobilnet's Response [Jerry Durand] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Charles Bryant Subject: Telephonic Paranoia Organization: Datacode Communications Ltd, Dublin, Ireland Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 16:03:10 GMT The following article is excerpted from "The Saturday Column" of "The Irish Times", November 17th - a column with a humorous slant. (Mary Robinson was recently elected President. She is not a member of any party, but was supported by the parties of the left). More Telephonic Paranoia Two well known lefties were cruelly disturbed in the midst of their separate Mary Robinson celebrations last weekend. Both received phone calls of such a frightening nature that they took the matter up with the telephone authorities first thing on Monday morning. The cause of their concern was that their phones would ring and when answered the only reply they got was their own voices coming back at them. One of the recipients even had his baby's background cries played back down the line. As this disturbance occurred up to a dozen times over the weekend a certain paranoia took hold which led them to believe that maybe the forces of the right were indeed plotting a coup. President Allende and all that befell him, and his supporters, sprang to mind. The excitement died quickly when Bord Telecom was contacted. They told the two concerned lefties, who were now on the point of organising resistance, that they had received hundreds of such worried calls from paranoid householders. Nothing sinister was afoot. A weird technical fault meant that most incoming calls from overseas were creating this response on Irish phones. "But surely the Special Branch..." the lefties ventured. Not at all, said Telecom. Charles Bryant (ch@dce.ie) ------------------------------ From: "Robert S. Maier" Subject: Prodigy Communications Protocol Date: 18 Nov 90 21:20:48 GMT Organization: University of Arizona Mathematics Department There have been a good many articles in TELECOM Digest complaining about Prodigy. Besides Prodigy's policies, many posters are irritated by their inability to capture Prodigy output to a file. Has anyone done anything about this? I gather Prodigy uses a proprietary communications protocol, but is it possible to reverse-engineer it? That would open the door to custom-designed Prodigy clients, running on any architecture. And it would facilitate the addition of new features, such as capturing text and graphics output. Or is it simply too difficult a job? Robert S. Maier | Internet: rsm@math.arizona.edu Dept. of Math. | UUCP: uunet!arizona!amethyst!rsm Univ. of Arizona | Bitnet: maier@arizrvax Tucson, AZ 85721 | FAX: +1 602 621 8322 U.S.A. | Voice(POTS): +1 602 621 6893 / +1 602 621 2617 ------------------------------ From: woody Subject: Manitoba and the NXX of the Beast? Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 21:43:08 EST [the following was copied from a Canadian-based newsgroup...] From: gerard@uwovax.uwo.ca (Gerard Stafleu) Newsgroups: can.general Subject: Numbers Game in Manitoba Date: 8 Nov 90 13:50:19 GMT Organization: University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Canada In an interesting news item this morning, it was revealed that the telephone company in Manitoba has been forced to give up its plans to have an exchange with numbers strarting with 666. People said they would rather be accused of superstition than have to live with these numbers. Although it wasn't explicitly stated, observers believe the reason is that the number 666 would conjure up images of stacks of 333 two dollar bills in the minds of Manitobans. "We are not about to be aced by the deuces," as one Manitoban put it. Gerard Stafleu (519) 661-2151 Ext. 6043 Internet: gerard@uwovax.uwo.ca BITNET: gerard@uwovax [Notes from djcl: MTS is the telephone company in Manitoba, and from my listings, 666 has yet to be assigned. That didn't stop the federal government from getting it in NPA 604 (Vancouver BC), and Bell Canada had this as one of the last NNX exchanges in 416 (before converting to NXX format back in March) - 416-666 is Whitby, just east of Toronto, or 519-666 Ilderton ON or 306-666 Fox Valley, SK]] ------------------------------ Subject: NEW ZEALAND Telecoms Information and News From: Pat Cain Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 13:33:34 NZD Organization: Sideways BB, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, +64 4 661231 RECENT TELECOM NEWS FROM NEW ZEALAND Here are a few snippets of information and recent news about the New Zealand Telecom system for anyone who is interested. 0) Recent changes to the telecom system 1) Clear Communications - rival company to Telecom 2) Last manually operated exchange in NZ closed 3) Problems with 111 emergency service 0) Recent changes For those who didn't already know, the telephone system in New Zealand was run as a government department by the New Zealand Post Office. Over the past few years it has been privatised and sold off to various New Zealand and American companies. Telecom still holds a virtual monopoly over the cellular, toll and local call services. Before Telecom were privatised/sold, they ran a large number of Television advertisements where the following three promises were carved into a large stone. Telecom "voluntarily" made these three promises to the public: 1) Free local calls for residential customers 2) The cost of residential phone services would not rise above the cost of living unless Telecom's profits were unreasonably affected. 3) Residential phone services would remain at the same rate throughout the country (even though it costs Telecom more to maintian these in rural areas). Major changes since Telecom have been privatised and sold off: BEFORE ... * Local area calls free (ie. no time charge) * Toll services subsidising local area services. AFTER ... * Businesses pay for calls by the minute. Residential accounts rise in price dramatically, ~$NZ35/month... local calls still free. * Cheaper toll calls; More expensive monthly charge. * Businesses now have to pay to make directory inquiries. * Various services rise in price. * Telecom fire a large proportion of their staff and begin contracting out work such as phone installations. * Time taken to install phones decreases from several months to two days or less! * Tone-dial, SPC exchanges installed. Services such as conference calling, call waiting, call diversion, do not disturb and so on made available. * Telecom start bombarding everyone with 'cute' advertisments in Television, Radio and Print - Telecom become the biggest spending advertiser in the country. Residential subscribers receive an information pamphlet each month full of useful and useless information. * Telecom begin to convert the whole country's telephone numbering system FROM: Over 80 area codes of a varying length and varying length telephone numbers TO: Five single digit area codes with all telephone numbers being seven digits. 1) Clear Communications Just a couple of days ago Clear Communications announced a that they would be forming an rival company to Telecom. Shareholders in Clear Communications are NZ Railways (who have fibre optic links installed along their railway lines throughout most of the country), Todd Corporation, Television New Zealand, MCI Communications and Bell Canada International. New Zealand has a population of only 3.5 million yet Clear Comms says NZ will be a highly competitive market place. They claim that their system will utilise the most up to date technology in the world, and that they expect the NZ telecom market will grow rapidly. They expect to have the first business connections by early January, 1991. And general/residential connections by 1st April 1991. 2) The Last Manual Telephone Exchange in NZ The Claris Post Office Exchange on Great Barrier Island operated by Sue Daly was recently decommissioned. Great Barrier Island has a population of 1000 people, some of whom are sad to see the exchange go, others are pleased. After dark, when the exchange was not staffed, only emergency calls could be made. 3) Emergency Service Problems During the last few years, as Telecom has been upgrading their exchanges, there seem to have been more problems with Telecom's emergency service (111). Incidents such as number-unobtainable, number-busy and being diverted to tolls operators on other parts of the country have occured. At least one death has occured due to calls not being put through correctly to the emergency service. A friend here in Wellington recently called 111 to report a fire and was greeted with "Tolls". Friend: "Fire please". The operator seemed confused, and rustled some paper around (presumably looking for the number of the fire service) and said "Ummmm..." and said "That's Wellington isn't it?", then a few seconds later said "That's an emergency service isn't it?". Friend: "YES!". Operator says "You should be ringing on 111!". Friend: "I just have!". Operator says "Oh well, in that case one moment please..". Operator then put friend through to fire service. The friend didn't report this to Telecom, but as can be seen from this editorial, he's not the only one who has had problems. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, SCREAM [Editorial from Evening Post, November 12, 1990] FIRE, accident, assault in the neighbourhood -- most people's reflex reaction is to dial 111 to ask for an emergency service. Every month 28,000 people do and are efficiently connected. But occasionally a call goes wrong. In July a major computer problem blocked a Dunedin family trying desperately to call an ambulance for a man who had collapsed, and who died before help could be summoned. Last week emergency calls from Dunedin and Blenheim flew around the country, causing delays before the messages got through. Telecom's explanation was hardly reassuring: "Unfortunately a tecnicality meant that two calls for Dunedin and two for Blenheim emergency services were put through to the right emergency service, but in the wrong city." Unfortunately, indeed. Incidents like these send a shudder through people who wonder whether they too will be at the mercy of a computer hiccup if ever they need to dial 111. Politicians, too, have expressed alarm at the lack of a backup system. The previous government thought of asking one of its departments to look into the matter, but with Telecom privatised could not work out which department should be responsible. When Telecom was sold it gave no undertaking to continue the 111 service. It was not one of the three public guarantees carved in stone, and there is no formal contract to provide it. But it was part of the package it inherited and, commercial pressures not withstanding, Telecom feels bound to maintain it, and gives emergency calls top priority. The ordinary person is understandably mystified, however, when a call for the police in Dunedin is answered in Palmerston North, relayed to Christchurch, and returns to Dunedin by way of the police network, as occured last week. The first of these steps happened as it should, because the Christchurch nerve centre was out for maintenance and calls were automatically diverted to the nearest 111 exchange: Palmerston North. The second should not have happened, but the tag showing the area of origin was missing -- a glitch that needs urgent attention - and the operator who answered put the call through to the Christchurch police instead. The third need not have happened: when the operator found it was the wrong city she could have reconnected to Dunedin, but the police in Christchurch chose to take the message and pass it on themselves, with consequent delay. Because life and death ride on the system the public and emergency services have a right to be concerned whenever something goes wrong. But there is certainly no cause to lose faith in the system. Callers themselves can help by observing elementary essentials like waiting for the dial tone, dialling 111 firmly, waiting up to 10 seconds for the operator to answer, saying precisely where the problem is (particularly if using a cellphone) -- and not clogging the lines with the 20,000 false calls they are making every month. People making needless calls might be less inclined to do so if they realised their numbers are all identified. As for a total backup, that would mean duplicating the present telephone network. Telecom could do it. But in the end it's the users who would have to pay. Patrick Cain )) Voice: +64 4 698330 (GMT+12) PO Box 2060 (( Modem: +64 4 661231 (Sideways BB, BBC/Archimedes/Text) Wellington, NZ )) Email: patrick@sideways.gen.nz or patrick@actrix.co.nz ------------------------------ From: woody Subject: Request for Cellular Tech Info Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 0:35:27 EST I am forwarding a request for cellular info made by someone on the BBS I operate ... e-mail responses would be appreciated. Perhaps someone out there in the know might want to whip up a reference file on cellular tech details and that, suitable for TD Archives. Msg# : 286 Tue 6 Nov 90 11:08p From : Alan Wilcocks-Gynn To : All Subject: Cellular Control Channel Format Status : Can anyone tell me how I can get access to the following information: -Physical data format for cellular control channels. -Control channel protocol. -Differences (if any) between Cantel and Bell Cellular control formats. Thanks. --- Maximus-CBCS v1.02 * Origin: (89:480/126) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 21:21:45 -0500 From: Carl Moore <00860@vax1.udel.edu> Reply-to: cmoore@brl.mil Subject: N00 in 213 and 818 August, 1989, Los Angeles call guide: 213-600 Los Angeles 818-300 Alhambra 818-500 Glendale 818-700 Reseda ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 21:23:49 -0500 From: Carl Moore <00860@vax1.udel.edu> Subject: No N0X/N1X in Area 714? Reply-to: cmoore@brl.mil August 1989 call guide for Los Angeles (served by PacBell) lists 714-602 Riverside. Is this a misprint? It did not show up in later call guides: June 1990 -- San Bernardino (GTE) November 1989 -- Orange County (PacBell) ------------------------------ From: JDurand@cup.portal.com Subject: GTE Mobilnet's Response Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 09:36:32 PST X-Possible-Reply-Path: sun!portal!cup.portal.com!JDurand In Message-ID: <14712@accuvax.nwu.edu> john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: >I had no actual conversation with anyone at GTE Mobilnet today >concerning their blocking of international dialing. We played >And then the surprise. There was a message informing me that >international dialing had been reinstated on my two accounts! There >was no other comment, but IDDD does work on my cellular phones. I called the local GTE customer service number (*611, San Jose, CA area) and to my surprise they answered before my batteries died! (8-) I asked about getting IDDD turned back on since I have customers in several countries. The CS person told me to dial *111 (trouble number, sometimes answered). The person there told me to call Roxann Metzger (sp?) at the original CS number. I finally got through to her and within an hour of talking to her my phone was working again. Since she didn't argue more than a minute or two, I assume John had just gotten done with her (thanks John). Jerry Durand, Durand Interstellar, Inc., 408 356-3886, jdurand@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #830 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24934; 19 Nov 90 1:29 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa02760; 18 Nov 90 23:29 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa10375; 18 Nov 90 22:25 CST Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 21:42:03 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #829 BCC: Message-ID: <9011182142.ac03134@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Nov 90 21:41:52 CST Volume 10 : Issue 829 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson More Deregulation in Britain [Der Standard, via Wolf Paul] Video Conferencing Information Needed [Bill Crane] Alternatives to Traditional Multi-Drop 4-Wire Data Lines [Richard Szabo] Cellular Phones of the Future [Jane Wilde] New 410 Code for MD [Washington Post, via Michael Katzmann/Roger Fajman] What is PC Pursuit? [David McKellar] Modernizing the Hungarian Telephone System [Der Standard, via Wolf Paul] What is MFJ a TLA For? [Roy Smith] 900 Numbers and Media 4 Advertising Survey [Steven M. Mailman] GENIE Information (was: Info Needed on Prodigy Service) [Ben Burch] Wireless Phonejak [Gary W. Sanders] High Technology on the Street [New York Post, via Winston Lawrence] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wolf paul Subject: More Deregulation in Britain Date: 15 Nov 90 09:21:41 GMT Reply-To: wolf paul Organization: IIASA, Laxenburg/Vienna, Austria, Europe The following is taken Vienna's "DER STANDARD", 1990-11-15: Great Britain's government wants to open the country's telecommunications market to additional vendors. Minister of Trade Peter Lilley recently said in London that the market which is currently dominated by British Telecommunications Plc. and Mercury Communications Ltd. should be made accessible to other competitors. His proposals are contained in a discussion paper which has been presented to Parliament. The government and the regulatory agency for telecommunications (Oftel) want to encourage cable television companies to also supply telephone and other services, said Lilley. On the other hand, British Telecom should be prohibited for the next ten years from entering the entertainment sector. These proposals underscore the efforts of the Thatcher government to push ahead with the liberalization of the telecommunications market which started with the privatization of British Telecom in 1984. Wolf N. Paul, UNIX SysAdmin, IIASA, A 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa@relay.eu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET ------------------------------ From: Bill Crane Subject: Video Conferencing Information Needed Date: 16 Nov 90 23:28:18 GMT Reply-To: Bill Crane Organization: Days Inns of America We are planning to establish a video conferencing network between our Atlanta and Knoxville (we have dedicated ISDN service between these offices (T1.5)). We have received some information from PictureTel Corporation in Atlanta, but we are interested in finding other vendors of this service so that we can be sure that we're getting a competitive price. Is anyone else using a Video Conferencing Network, or can anyone recommend a vendor? Bill Crane ...!gatech!daysinns!bill bill%daysinns@gatech.edu Days Inns of America Inc., Atlanta GA ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 04:00:32 -0500 From: Richard Szabo Subject: Alternatives to Traditional Multi-Drop 4-Wire Data Lines Reply-To: ac220@cleveland.freenet.edu What are the alternatives to the following: My shop runs a data network over multi-drop four-wire leased lines to ~80 branch locations stragetically sprinkled over half of our state, Ohio. The lines run SDLC or Bisync and carry IBM 3270 terminal traffic. There are 4800- and 9600-bps circuits. The lines are utilized only during normal business hours. They cost a lot. Is there a good way to have switched lines dial into a bridge to create a multi-drop image? Is X.25 a viable alternative? Are there new services such as ISDN or Virtual Private Data Networks or anything else that could substitute? Rich Szabo Cleveland, Ohio, USA +1 216 662 1112 Internet: ac220@cleveland.freenet.edu ------------------------------ From: jane wilde Subject: Cellular Phones of the Future Date: 18 Nov 90 01:58:27 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. I think these phones are a great idea - calling the person, not the place. But the price will keep them off the market to the general public. According to an article in {USA Today}, Motorola has a phone which will cost approx. $1,500. Another article I read says that an Ohio based company will be able to put them on the market for about $100. There's a big difference in price. How so? If this is true, maybe it won't be long before everyone has a "pocket phone". And if that's the case, won't this be a major distraction to others. How would you like to be at the movies and have someone talking on the phone? Also, what about frequencies? Will everyone be able to listen in on your conversation? Or will it be publicly broadcast? jwilde@barney.bgsu.edu. ------------------------------ From: opel!arinc!vk2bea!eccles!michael@uunet.uu.net Subject: New 410 Code For MD Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 4:35:24 UTC From: {The Washington Post}, Sat Nov 17 1990 2nd Area Code for Md. Maryland will get its second telephone area code next year. The entire state now uses a single area code, 301. The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. of Maryland said Friday a second code is needed to accommodate requests for telephone service and for telecommunications services such as mobile phones, facsimile machines and beepers. The new 410 area code will serve metropolitan Baltimore, the entire Eastern Shore, Calvert County and the majority of Carroll, Howard and Anne Arundel counties. The rest of the state will use the existing 301 area code. "There will be no change in rates customers are charged, and there will be no change in local calling areas," said C&P spokesman Al Burman. The new area code will be phased in over the next two years. Customers will be encouraged to begin using it next November. During most of 1992, customers will be able to use either 301 or 410 to place calls to the 410 area code. In November, 1992, customers will have to use the correct area code. Using the wrong one will cause them to hear a recorded message. Michael Katzmann Broadcast Sports Technology Amateur Radio Stations: NV3Z / VK2BEA / G4NYV UUCP: ..uunet!mimsy!arinc!vk2bea!michael [Moderator's Note: Thanks also to Roger Fajman for an almost identical article he submitted. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 90 13:04:48 EST From: David McKellar Subject: What Is PC Pursuit? Reply-To: djm@dmntor.UUCP (Dave McKellar @ Digital Media Networks) Organization: Digital Media Networks, Toronto, Canada What is PC Pursuit ? Is is a service to make low-cost long distance data phone calls ? If it is I'm interested and would like to get their phone number. Thanks. [Moderator's Note: You are correct about the purpose of the service, which is operated by Sprint / Telenet. $30 per month gets you 30 hours of service via a local dialup. You dial out in distant cities through modems on the SprintNet (what we used to call Telenet) network. I am not sure how it operates from Canada, or if it does. You may have to go through Canada DataPac to connect with the gateway in the USA. For information, call 703-689-6000 from outside the USA and ask for information on the PC Pursuit program. I've been a member for about seven years and find it quite worthwhile. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wolf paul Subject: Modernizing the Hungarian Telephone System Date: 16 Nov 90 11:12:49 GMT Reply-To: wolf paul Organization: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Translated from an article in Vienna's "DER STANDARD" of Nov. 16, 1990: The deadline for bids to modernize Hungary's telephone system is in about two weeks, and the competition among the world's largest suppliers of central office equipment is reaching a climax. The winner will get a contract to install switching equipment for approximately 1.5 million subscriber lines, valued at about one billion dollars. Three Austrian companies are among the bidders: Schrack and Kapsch through their joint-venture company Austria Telecom, as well as Siemens Austria. Other competitors include all of the world's telecom giants, like the Swedish Ericsson, the French/German Alcatel-SEL, as well as Japanese companies. "We're in a good starting position", Siemens' Telecom Export Manager Alfred Gruenzweig is certain. Siemens already has met one of the main requirements of the Hungarian PTT by establishing a joint-venture company with a Hungarian company, Budapest's telephone manufacturer "Telefongyar", for the production of system components. In order to save hard currency, one of the major criteria in the decision will be the proportion of system components to be manufactured in Hungary. Austria Telecom (AT), a joint venture of Austrian telecom companies Kapsch and Schrack, is another bidder. AT is offering a European version of Northern Telecom's DMS family, which is being adapted in Austria under the name "OES-D". AT's partner for the eventual production of central office switches is Hungary's BHG. The Hungarian PTT intends to announce its decision before the end of the year. In a manner paralleling the situation in Austria, two suppliers will be chosen, each of which will receive 35% of the total volume. The remaining 30% will be awarded on the basis of individual project bids from these two suppliers. The details of financing the modernizing project have not yet been worked out; among the options are World Bank loans. Wolf N. Paul, UNIX SysAdmin, IIASA, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa@relay.eu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET [Moderator's Note: Unfortunatly, this message was truncated at about the point it ends, above. I printed what I was able to reconstruct. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 10:07:57 EST From: Roy Smith Subject: What is MFJ a TLA For? Organization: Public Health Research Institute, New York City > I personally think that the omission of GTE is one huge glaring error > (among soooo many) of the MFJ. OK, I give up. What's MFJ a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for? Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy [Moderator's Note: MFJ = Modified Final Judgment, i.e. what Harold, in his, uh, wisdom issued in the process of busting up the Bell System. Judge Harold Greene delivered himself of his ruling (the MFJ) back in 1983. He has modified the judgment a few times since then. PAT] ------------------------------ From: "Steven M. Mailman" Subject: 900 Numbers and Media 4 Advertising Survey Date: 16 Nov 90 16:24:29 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Yesterday I received (actually, my answering machine received) a a recorded announcement telling me about about free gifts and trips if I call 1-900-741-1200 for a fee of $3.50. I don't know anything about the free gifts and free trips but the $3.50 fee IS A LIE! Ma Bell told me, and the company admitted, that the cost of that number is $9.90. (I'd bet that the free gifts and free trips part is a lie too!) If you get a call from 900-741-1200, it is run by Media 4 Advertising Survey and you can call them at 800-346-6329 and ask to be removed from list (or added to a list of people that should not be called). Steve Mailman Digital Equipment Corporation mailman@tle.enet.dec.com Disclaimer: The opinions and statements expressed by me are not necessarily those of Digital Equipment Corporation. ------------------------------ From: Ben Burch Subject: GENIE Information (was: Info Needed on Prodigy Service) Organization: Analysts International Corp, Chicago Branch Date: Mon, 12 Nov 90 20:49:59 GMT In article <14534@accuvax.nwu.edu> mcglk@bailey.cpac.washington.edu (Ken McGlothlen) writes: >The only semi-useful thing I got out of it was trying to navigate >EASY SABRE to see if I could reserve an airline ticket. Again, here, >the menus were poorly organized, frequently *almost* redundant (to >wit, two menus allowed you to see *exactly* the same information, >except for one little item -- I had to abort the reservation process >and go off to inspect the flight number again), and in general, >barely useful. I have been a GENIE subscriber for some years (And have no other connection with them.) Recently, perhaps in response to Prodigy, they began charging a flat $4.95 per month rate for a number of the core services like E-mail and the non-profession, non-computer related bboards, and the non-multiplayer games. These they group as "*STAR Services". Also under this flat fee is EASY SABRE and the Groliers Electronic Encyclopedia. Access to other services (downloads, multiplayer games, chat-like stuff) is billed at $6 per hour at 300 through 2400 baud. The Macintosh libraries, and product support libraries have been really quite useful to me in the past, although I never spent any time with the non-computer stuff until it became "free". Having spent some time playing with the Groliers and Easy Sabre, and etc, I feel it is worth my $4.95 per month. Also, there are very few online ads (mostly in the one page login bulletins) although they do have a range of electronic shopping services. You might check it out. Ben Burch bb@aicchi.chi.aic.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 12:25:55 EST From: Gary W Sanders Subject: Wireless Phonejak Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In the latest Damark catalog I ran across an interesting telephone gizmo: Wireless phonejak by phonex. "Expand the phone system through your home or office with the phonex wireless phonejak. This easy to install phonejak system converts an AC outlet into a phone jack allows you to place your (*) phone, on any outlet in any room, indoors or out!" (*) not my bad typing, just as it appears in the ad. You get two units that plug into the wall. It looks like a carrier currnet phone extender. I wonder how well it works; has anyone used one? Can you use more than one unit? How well does it work with BSR devices? DAMARK 1-800-827-6767 Gary Sanders (N8EMR) AT&T Bell Labs, Columbus Ohio gws@cblph.att.com 614-860-5965 ------------------------------ From: Winston Lawrence Subject: High Technology on the Street Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 13:42:55 EST Organization: The Dorsai Diplomatic Mission, NYC I kept a quote from somewhere regarding the fact that the street finds its own use for high technology. The following is taken from the {New York Post} (11/15/90). A marijuana service - available by dialing 1-800-WANT-POT and run by the self-ordained "pope of Dope" was snuffed out yesterday by Manhattan narcotics cops. Michael "Mickey" Cesar, high priest of the "Church of Realized Fantasies", was arrested at 120 Walker St., the "church" loft where he took his takeout calls, said police. "He had six phones and took 360 calls an hour," said Capt. Thomas Fahey of Manhattan South Narcotics. "Every phone rang once a minute." "If you dialed that number, bike messengers would deliver anywhere in Manhattan. He was the Domino's Pizza of pot dealers." Cesar, 48, of 675 Hudson St., frequently bragged to cops and reporters that his pot service pulled in $30,000 a day. Cops also seized seven pounds of marijuana, which would have brought in nearly $54,000 at the price he was charging. No, I didn't try calling the number, I can just imagine what New York's Finest are now doing with the ANI information provided by the network. Still, I wonder who the Long Distance Carrier who signed this one up was. Winston Lawrence (larryw@Dorsai.com) **** The street finds its own use for high technology *** "Ten-four. I'm calling from my mobile phone. A litterer in the car in front of me just threw a candy wrapper out the window. I will remain in pursuit of the perpetrator and attempt citizen's arrest." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #829 ******************************  ISSUES 829 AND 830 WERE REVERSED IN TRANSMISSION. 830 CAME IN AHEAD OF 829 IN THIS ARCHIVES. 831 FOLLOWS NEXT.  Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25709; 19 Nov 90 2:18 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa04444; 19 Nov 90 0:36 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac02760; 18 Nov 90 23:32 CST Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 23:02:02 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #831 BCC: Message-ID: <9011182302.ab27012@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Nov 90 23:01:46 CST Volume 10 : Issue 831 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Slick-96 [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Slick-96 [Jody Kravitz] Re: Telemarketing Sleezoids [Dave Levenson] Re: Dealing with Telemarketers [John Higdon] Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions [S. Nomura] Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Tad Cook] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [John Higdon] Re: Saudi Arabia's Telepone System [Hakan Winkvist] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Slick-96 Date: 17 Nov 90 01:30:43 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14710@accuvax.nwu.edu>, KEVIN.GRIFFIN@ehpcb.wlk.com (KEVIN GRIFFIN) writes: > Can anyone tell me what a "Slick 96" switch is and what kind of > services are available from it. One of my local (SWB) techs told me It really is SLC 96. Subscriber Line (Carrier? or Concentrator?) Think of a T1 channel bank like device designed to be stuck out on a concrete pad in the boonies (-40C to +65C rating), or in the cellar of an urban high-rise. Think of it as remoting a piece of the CO out on the end of some digital facilities. It can handle single and multi party, coin, VF special services, and up to 56kb data. Can use copper T1s, or fiber at T2 (4xT1). It operates in three modes. Mode I uses four T1s to 96 subscriber ckts (full availability) with an optional 5th T1 hot standby. The single + multi party plug-ins are two ckts per card, thus filling the box. Mode II Concentrated config. Uses two T1 (48 ckts) with an optional third T1 hot spare to serve 96 subscribers with a fixed 2:1 concentration for single and multi-party lines. In this mode it can also support up to 16 special service circuits that are NOT concentrated, and their ckts are one per card. Mode III Special services ONLY using two T1s with optional third T1 spare. The 48 possible ckts, at one per card fill the system. Perhaps you would care to order the doc + practice set: 700-546 SLC-96 Documentation and Practices - seems to be only $3.25 (may be typo) in a distributor's catalog. The Schematics are: # 700-548. ------------------------------ From: foxtail!kravitz@ucsd.edu Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 09:14:46 PST Subject: Re: Slick-96 In Volume 10, Issue 823, Message 4 of 12, Keven Griffith asks about Slick 96. SLC-96 means "Subscriber Loop Carrier-96" and it is a method of digital multiplexing to accomplish "pair gain". The remote end of SLC-96 is a box which is mounted in the field. The box has an AC operated power supply and gel-cel storage batteries. For each 24 subscribers, it uses two pairs back to the central office. Thus 96 subscribers are supported by 8 pairs. Usually there are two spare CO pairs brought in for good measure. The pairs run at T1 rate (1.544 MB/Sec). It is possible to run with 1/2 the number of CO pairs, but then you can't give everyone service at once. If the office is an analog office, another box like the one in the field converts the eight pairs back into 96 pairs. If the office end of the setup is a #5 ESS (any size), the digitally multiplexed lines connect directly to the switching equipment. Forgive the pun: it is very slick. There was an entire Bell Labs Technical Journal dedicated to SLC-96 in December of 1984. It is Volume 63 Number 10, Part 2. Any large engineering library (university) should have it. Jody ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Telemarketing Sleezoids Date: 18 Nov 90 13:01:32 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <68864@bu.edu.bu.edu>, stables!sw@indetech.com (Steve Warner) writes: > to their brand of rotten LD service. And if I hadn't seen someone HERE > mention that someone was using ATNT as a company name - I may have > [Moderator's Note: A story in TELECOM Digest in 1988 told about a > fellow here in Chicago who had incorporated his business using the > name "The Phone Company". He was selling an insurance policy > dealing... A friend of mine here in New Jersey owns an unincorporated business which operates under the name New Jersey Telephone Bell Company. As far as I know, his business has never done much advertising, and is not particularly visible. Perhaps this is why the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, a local utility, hasn't bothered him. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 [Moderator's Note: Well this guy in Chicago had phone solictors calling people, telling them they were calling from "The Phone Company", and inviting them to sign a contract giving them free repair of their telephone and the use of a loaner set as needed. Needless to say most folks thought he was calling from the phone company. His fatal mistake was in telling one person he contacted that he was associated with IBT. He accidentally called an IBT security guy at home to peddle his repair/telephone loaner service. IBT later admitted they could not stop him from being incorporated as "The Phone Company" since IBT does not own that trademark. Nor could they prevent him from sending out bills each month which looked amazingly like theirs. They *could* stop him from saying he was associated with IBT, and they did. In the meantime, the Illinois Consumer Fraud office convinced the man it would be a good idea to abandon his use of the phrase "The Phone Company". PAT] ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Date: 18 Nov 90 11:03:51 PST (Sun) From: John Higdon Jeff Carroll writes: > Being wrapped up in the ball game, I didn't bother to > investigate further, but it did sound a little fishy -- not to mention > the uncomfortable feeling that accompanies receiving phone calls from > local cops asking for money. While we are on the subject of telemarketing, perhaps it should be mentioned why some upper executives are hard to reach and hide behind secretaries. In addition to many others, the Police Athletic League in San Jose (now called the Police Activities League) was a most aggressive telemarketer, along with the Peace Officers Association. When I was president of a telecommunications firm (and part owner), there could be ten to twenty telemarketing calls a day. Some were unsophisticated and simply asked for the "owner of the business". Others did some homework and found out names. (Corporate officers are a matter of public record.) We had a very sharp receptionist, but even she would succomb to, "This is Sergeant McFlatfoot with the San Jose Police Department. May I speak to Mr. John Higdon please?" in authoritative tones. Sgt. McFlatfoot would of course attempt to cause guilt if I didn't buy a block of tickets to help the disadvantaged youth in his program. All in all, anyone in business is deluged with junk calls all day long. Investments, office products, insurance, invoice factoring, collection services, and charities of every manner and description are just some of the garbage that attempts to enter via the telephone. This is not to mention the foot traffic--picture sellers, car waxers, nicnac peddlers, even custom tailored suits are offered door to door. Anyone who feels that solicitation is annoying at home should have the experience of owning a business. It makes one a seasoned expert at saying "no". John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: "S. Nomura" Subject: Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions Date: 16 Nov 90 00:41:30 GMT Reply-To: b460nom@utarlg.uta.edu Organization: The University of Texas at Arlington In article <14682@accuvax.nwu.edu>, JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU writes: >Telecom readers: >I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already >faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that-use- >the-phone. My configuration: At office: a 386 PC with Complete Communicator (PC fax, answering machine, modem all in one board). At home: a 386 SX PC with a 2400 baud modem. Software: pcANYWHERE, GWS (Grahpics Workshop, shareware) Scenario: 1) People can send faxes and leave messages to the 386 at my office day and night. 2) In the evening at my home, I use pcANYWHERE to connect to the 386 at my office and check to see if there are any faxes received. If there are, I use the software that came with the board to convert the fax file to PCX format. I then transfer the PCX file to my machine at home and can do whatever I want. 3) If I need to send a fax, I call the 386 at my office by PC *ANYWHERE* and configure the fax software so that it sends fax automatically in three minutes. I then hang up. I don't have a fax machine at home yet I can retrieve and send faxes from home. S. Nomura Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, Texas 76019-023 internet: b460nom@utarlg.utarl.edu bitnet:b460nom@utarlg +1 817 273 2012 (press 2 for fax) ------------------------------ From: hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 0:59:12 PST In article <14686@accuvax.nwu.edu>, zellich@stl-07sima.army.mil (Rich Zellich) writes: > I recently moved to a newly-built home, into which I had had two > three-pair cables installed. One cable is for possible future use; > currently I have two lines used on the other cable. > On hooking up various phones I, too, found that one single-line phone > would take *both* lines off-hook. This is a "novelty" phone - a The problem is, you have a phone that uses the outer pair (black/yellow wires) for the A and A1 leads, which short together when you go off hook. You have this plugged into an RJ14 jack, which has the second line wired to the outer pair. When the phone goes off hook, it uses the line hooked to the center pair, and shorts the outer pair. Rewire the jack so that only the red/green pair is active. This will make it a standard RJ11 jack. Then take the separate black/yellow pair, and wire it to the center pair (red green) of another jack. The RJ14 type wiring should only be used with a 2 line phone that is wired for RJ14. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Date: 17 Nov 90 19:42:57 PST (Sat) From: John Higdon Jack Winslade writes: > Yes, I know about 'chasing permanents', but this was in the NYC area > circa 1970, where many of the offices were aging panel and #1 crossbar > that were held together with scotch tape and typically had such things > like unused twisted-pair jumpers banjo-strung all over the frames. > The switch crews were busy just keeping the switches up, let alone > tracing permanents (if the PS lamps weren't burned out. ;-) There was > some kind of a tape-based CAMA system that billed a whole group of > offices from a central point. I think some of the offices still > billed for local units with 'odometer' type counters which were > photographed each month. A little clarification on the term "permanent signal" is in order. A telephone that has been off the hook for a long time is not necessarily a "permanent signal" and it most certainly is not if connected to another telephone through the network. PS refers to lines that have come off-hook and are pulling dial tone without dialing, or have been involved with conversation and have failed to go on-hook at call termination. There is no need to "trace permanents". When a line comes off hook and the dial tone times out, it generally goes to a howler trunk for a few minutes to attempt to alert the customer of the off-hook condition and then it is connected to a PS trunk. This is what the PS lamps are connected to. A glance at the board will show how may lines are PS at any given moment. It is a simple matter to identify a particular line associated with a given PS trunk. A major alarm condition exists if many lines go PS at once. This is usually indicative of cable failure and can bring down an office if corrective action isn't taken immediately. The offending cable is usually identified so that it can be cut loose from the switch until it is repaired. Anyway, a permanent signal is quite different from a "long call". As to whether a charge can be avoided by making the call long enough so that it spans mulitple call recording media, this has long been rumored but not confirmed by anyone I know. My suspicion is that it won't work, since a call record is laid down at the conclusion of the call, being held in memory until written to tape. The data recorders that I have seen at Pac*Bell don't even write each call, but wait until many calls are ready to be written and then the tape barely moves, writing many call records. > Maybe some of the 'experts' on billing systems could confirm if this > was true at that time. I am, of course, assuming that if it were > true, the case has been dealt with and the modern billing software is > smart enough to catch it and bill for it. Possibly this would have worked back in the days of the punched tape, since I believe the start time and end time for a call were written to the tape at the moment of occurrance. When the tapes were read by the billing office, the start time was linked to the matching end time to provide the call "ticket". How far apart these would have to be to cause a ticket to disappear is unknown. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: hw@tts.lth.se (Hakan Winkvist) Subject: Re: Saudi Arabia's Telepone System Reply-To: hw@tts.lth.se (Hakan Winkvist) Organization: Communication Systems, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 10:30:25 GMT In article <14698@accuvax.nwu.edu> cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 822, Message 6 of 14 >Mark Hahn writes: >>To call my old home phone, dial 011-966-387-42688. 011-966 is, of >>course, the international access for Saudi. 3 is, I think the escape >>for Aramco. 87 is, I think, the city code for Dhahran. >I don't have a map of Saudi Arabia in front of me as I write this. >Could it be the other way around? (I.e., could you have 3 as city >code for Dhahran and 87 as an "exchange" reserved for Aramco there?) >Here is what I have for Saudi Arabia city codes: >966 Saudi Arabia > 1 Riyadh > 2 or 21 Jeddah > 2 or 22 Mecca > 41 Medina Saudi Arabia is divided into six regions. Each region is given a unique area code: 01 Riyadh region 02 Jeddah region 03 Dammam region 04 Medina region 06 Qassim region 07 Southern region Within the area only the subscriber number have to be dialled. The subscriber number consists of seven digits. The area code and the subscriber number is always nine digits. 0A - NXX XXXX 0 is used as national prefix. 00 is used as international prefix. All numbers starting with 9 are reserved for different emergencies and special services. All these numbers are three digits long. (example: Police 999, English clock 963) The local exchange is identified by the NXX-code (A local exchange is allocated 1 to 4 NXX-codes). According to my list of NXX-codes 871 is given to the PABX for the railroad company, Aramco (Dharan) is given 874, 875 and 876, and 879 is the Dharan airport PABX. (The railroad and the airport switches are of the type SXS). According to the list Aramco has several more NXX-codes in the Dammam area. Hakan Winkvist ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #831 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28528; 19 Nov 90 5:16 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa20158; 19 Nov 90 3:41 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa00503; 19 Nov 90 2:38 CST Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 2:04:13 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #832 BCC: Message-ID: <9011190204.ab08291@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Nov 90 02:03:45 CST Volume 10 : Issue 832 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Massive Layoffs at MCI: Thousands Being Terminated [TELECOM Moderator] Updated 800/900 Files in Archives; Other New Items [TELECOM Moderator] Computer Underground Digest Story in Chicago Tribune [TELECOM Moderator] William G. H. Finch - Inventor of Facsimile [TELECOM Moderator] Description of ATT Mail ACCESS [Ed Hopper] Re: Wanted: Home Phone System [Daniel M. Rosenberg] Re: Wanted: "Pole Climbers" [David Lesher] Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco [Peter G. Capek] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 0:44:18 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Massive Layoffs at MCI: Thousands Being Terminated MCI has announced a major cutback in their staffing. This cutback, which is underway now and will continue through the first of the year, will see several thousand employees dismissed as the company reorganizes itself in the competitive long distance market. Until now, MCI has had seven divisions. These divisions roughly covered the same geographical territory as the seven Bells. At one time, MCI thought it in their best interest to set up their offices in such a way that they could monitor and quickly respond to actions by the Bells and their former parent, AT&T. The re-organization now underway will result in four divisions of MCI. A division will remain here in Chicago, as well as one on the east and west coasts, and (most likely) in Texas, covering the southern USA. Employees were notified beginning last week that they ought to expect many of their colleagues to be terminated by the first of the year -- including possibly themselves. There are some new jobs available in the remaining divisions of the company, but it is not likely there will be a job for everyone or even most of the excess employees. MCI has had financial problems over the past year. For two quarters in a row they had to take charges on their books. The purchase of Telecom*USA also set them back considerably. They had to borrow that money, and the lenders are now getting a little nervous. Look for a whole new organization at MCI after the first of the year. The terminated employees total about six percent of their entire payroll. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 0:54:06 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Updated 800/900 Files in Archives; Other New Items Two new files in Telecom Archives later this week will be updated versions of the 800/900 'who owns what' tables. These were sent to us about a week ago by a reader, but I've been busy and unable to edit them as of yet. I hope to have them on display in the archives later this week. If you have the old (1989) version, then you will want to get these more recent references. Also in the Telecom Archives later this week is an update on the long distance call blocking situation. Bruce Wilson, an attorney in Iowa who has been active in the Teleconnect /Telecom USA problem since the beginning has brought us up to date. The file is far too lengthy to use here, even as a special issue. Look for it in the sub-directory of the archives entitled 'telecom.security.issues'. Finally, Toby Nixon has supplied us with a press release on the topic of JT Fax Products. This will also be in the archives. I think what I will do is have a special issue later this week which provides an up to date index to the Telecom Archives, so that you can update your files. My thanks to everyone who has sent large archives files in recent weeks. I wish I had the time and space to run the material here. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 1:06:21 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Computer Underground Digest Story in Chicago Tribune Our companion publication 'Computer Underground Digest' was mentioned in a special section of the {Chicago Tribune} on Sunday, November 18. Entitled "Technology and the Workplace", this pullout section in the Tribune featured an article entitled "Crackdown on Computer Crime", written by Jim Sulski. Mr. Sulski's lengthy article discussed the events of this past year in great detail, and included an interview with Jim Thomas, one of the CuD Moderators. You may want to order a copy of this special section; I thought it was rather good. Jim may possibly run some excerpts from it in CuD ... I have not inquired. If you want a copy, I suggest the easiest way to obtain one would be to send $2 to the Tribune Public Service office and ask them to send you just that section of the paper from Sunday. You want Section 19, "Technology and the Workplace" from the Chicago Sunday Tribune, November 18, 1990. They may send you the whole Sunday paper, since it costs $1.50, I dunno ... Chicago Tribune Public Service Office Tribune Tower 445 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611 Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 1:18:07 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: William G. H. Finch - Inventor of Facsimile William G. H. Finch, a radio engineer who in the late 1930's pioneered the development of facsimile transmission of printed matter and photographs died November 12 in a hospital in Stuart, FL. He was 93. Mr. Finch was the founder of Finch Telecommunications Laboratories in New York. He held hundreds of patents for inventions in radio communications, including the design of a machine to send printed matter and photgraphs by radio, through a process known as radio facsimile. He also developed a process for a 'talking newspaper' that would produce a printed soundtrack on newsprint, and a device to allow the reader to reproduce the sound at home. In 1938, Mr. Finch received a patent for a method by which color photographs could be sent over telephone lines to a device that would reproduce them. The advent of World War II and the development of television dampened interest in his process. He was born in England in 1897, and came to the USA in 1906. He went to school at the University of Cincinnati, and also at Columbia University. He was responsible for setting up the first radio-typewriter press circuit between New York and Chicago, and later between New York and Havana, Cuba. He served as assistant chief engineer for the Federal Communications Commission from the time it was founded (in the 1920's, out of the old Federal Radio Commission) until 1935. He was a communications officer in the Navy during the second war. A brilliant man, and one who made many contributions to technologies we take for granted these days ... dead from complications due to diabetes at age 93. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: Ed Hopper Subject: Description of ATT Mail ACCESS Date: Sat, 17 Nov 90 11:26:22 CST Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Houston, Texas 713-997-7575 nelson%odin.corp.sgi.com@sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard) writes: > Executive (:-) Summary: If you have and use AT&T Mail's "ACCESS" > program for the PC or MacIntosh, please write a description of how it > works, how you use it, how user-friendly it is, etc, and mail it to me > or post it to the TELECOM Digest (comp.dcom.telecom). 1. Use of ACCESS is absolutely OPTIONAL. I use Procomm and QModem on AT&T Mail all the time (plus various VT100 clone dumb terminals). 2. ACCESS presents the standard AT&T Mail offline user interface. It looks like this: --IN-- +-----+-----+ +---------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | +-----+-----+ | | | | | | | | | | | | +-----+-----+ |---------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | --OUT-- +-----+-----+ |---------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | +-----+-----+ | | | | | | | | | | | | +-----+-----+ |---------------------------------------------------------| Across the left side of the screen are ten boxes arranged in five rows of two. Each corresponds with a function key. They cover functions like READ, CREATE, DELETE, MOVE, COPY, FORWARD, SEND, RECEIVE, etc. Press a function key to perform the desired function. On the right 2/3's of the screen are the in/out boxes. Incoming mail messages are shown in the upper box, outgoing in the lower. These boxes can be switched to show other "folders" (subdirectories) as desired. When you press send or receive (there is also a SEND&RECEIVE option), a script is executed to dial up AT&T Mail, download mail in batch mode and upload pending outbound mail. It's all automatic and pretty goof proof. The nice thing about ACCESS is that it handles adressing for some of the options like RECEIPT, COD and paper delivery easily. It also allows binary file attachment and detachment to messages. Messages created with ACCESS or sent via UUCP from a UNIX box do not have message creation charges associated with them. Messages entered online do have such charges. Unfortunately, messages edited offline and sent up via XModem from Procomm, etc. also have "creation" charges. All in all, ACCESS is OK, not fabulous. It is certainly not necessary. There are versions of ACCESS for AT&T UNIX systems (PMX/TERM) and for NetBIOS and Novell LANs (PMX/StarMAIL). All present the same visual interface. Ed Hopper ------------------------------ From: "Daniel M. Rosenberg" Subject: Re: Wanted: Home Phone System Date: 19 Nov 90 04:44:32 GMT Organization: World Otherness Ministries In <68899@bu.edu.bu.edu> macy@fmsystm.uucp (Macy Hallock) writes: >In article <14080@accuvax.nwu.edu>: >>I'm interested in updating my home phones. >>A couple manufacturers which come to mind are Rolm... Oh, yech, Patrick. >Seriously, I think the Melco is now not even actively marketed, it is >not even in my North Supply catalog anymore. About the only Mini-PBX >that freely accepts single line phones anymore is the Panasonic, if >you can get one (they are still in short supply). Hello Direct is selling used 4 line AT&T Merlins for way too much money (1 800 HI HELLO). We got our Panasonic KX-T1232H a 12 line version of Macy Hallock's KX-T308 from Anixter Bros. (They have a national number, but we got friendly service from Leonard at 415 352 3100 -- tell him Dan from Stanford said hi.) While the switches themselves are easy to get, the phones are a bit harder. The 1232 and the six line 616 need a feature phone for programming (although the default configuration is usable) but you can plug in as many other POTS sets as you'd like, and configure them to do anything except make your coffee in the morning. The Panasonics are cheap, reliable (ours is in use at the student-run crisis counseling center -- and I've seen a 616 working at the Warfield in San Francisco, which is a rock concert hall) and relatively feature-rich. I've also heard Comdials are sorta crappy but usable. Daniel M. Rosenberg // Stanford CSLI // Chew my opinions, not Stanford's. dmr@csli.stanford.edu // decwrl!csli!dmr // dmr%csli@stanford.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 23:53:02 -0500 From: David Lesher Subject: Re: Wanted: "Pole Climbers" Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews Abusers Reply-To: David Lesher Macy said: >Beware of used spurs. The condition and style of these is a safety >issue not to be ignored. >If you are not trained in pole climbing, I'd advise against I second my friend Macy. Not only are the spurs suspect, so are the poles! If you insist on such a stunt, first get a copy of the BSP Station Service Manual vol. II and read section 081-730-101 about how to test the pole BEFORE climbing it. And although I cannot be sure of this, I seem to recall that tree spurs are a different breed of cat. So know what you are buying. And from what I have heard, you are lucky if the wood splinters all end up in your chest. wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (305) 255-RTFM 33257-0335 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 00:19:54 EST From: "Peter G. Capek" Subject: Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco? I saw somewhere recently a news article that reported a substantial increase in the rate at which AT&T was filling orders for ISDN service. This got me to thinking... 1) Why is AT&T, rather than my LEC, supplying ISDN service? I suppose it might make sense for AT&T to supply "long distance" ISDN service, either to my LEC, or indirectly to me. Apparently, I inferred too close a similarity between POTS and ISDN. What's the truth? Is there something about ISDN which makes it fundamentally different from POTS in a REGULATORY sense? 2) How does AT&T supply ISDN service? Do they get the LEC to provide a leased line from my premises to one of their 114 #4 ESS'? Or to some other switch which interfaces to their network in some other way? 3) (Unrelated to ISDN...) Why are LEC's called LOCAL exchange carriers? Wouldn't it make more sense to call them, for example, LATA exchange carriers, since a LATA is the limit of their (possibly multiple) transport area? Similarly, why are IXC's called that? They don't carry traffic between exchanges any more than LEC's do: but they DO generally carry traffic between exchanges which are further away from one another than the LEC's. Peter Capek ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #832 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21708; 20 Nov 90 3:41 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11875; 20 Nov 90 1:53 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa27551; 20 Nov 90 0:49 CST Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 0:47:33 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #833 BCC: Message-ID: <9011200047.ab25506@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Nov 90 00:47:27 CST Volume 10 : Issue 833 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Administrivia: Troubles in Telecom-land [TELECOM Moderator] IDG Hackers [Bob Falcon] America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! [Scott D. Green] Directory of Telcos Needed [Tim Wild] Neat Trick (was: *Long* Phone Calls) [J. Eric Townsend] NET Changes Its Mind on Mailing Lists [Joel B. Levin] Computer Clock Synchronization Solution [Ben Dubin] Where to Find Used Panasonic Equipment [John Alsop] Voice Mail (Call Routers/Answering Services) [Jim Ingram] Area Code History Request [Dan Bloch] SONET Standards Status Sought [Pushpendra Mohta] MCI's Personal 800 Service [Bill Huttig] Help in Locating Telecom Archives [Ted Aseltine] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 1:32:37 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Administrivia: Troubles in Telecom-land This past week brought numerous problems my way in the moderating/editing and distribution of the Digest. For starters, two days in a row we were literally flooded with messages, receiving about a hundred new submissions each day. Under a best case scenario, postings would run about two days behind. But what actually happened was that (1) the editor here (EMACS) got into some hassle and would not work right until delta.eecs.nwu.edu got rebooted. Two or three issues this past week were very sloppy, in my estimation, and in fact for a couple days issues were taking *two or three hours* -- per issue -- to process and get in the system because the system kept crashing, knocking me off line, etc. So a big backlog of stuff, combined with very slow processing meant some messages this past week have been three or four days later than usual in getting out. Sorry. To compound things, (2) the Usenet gateway here is a machine called 'accuvax' and over the weekend it shut down ... or at least it would not accept postings. At one point I had about fifty messages waiting to go to comp.dcom.telecom which finally had to be rerouted through my backup account at cs.bu.edu. To make matters still worse, (3) after I got all the messages rerouted over to cs.bu.edu I lost a major portion of my directory there, including the poster.daemon program, and had to spend a few hours reconstructing that. Finally, and although it is of no direct concern to you, I've been obliged to spend about 60 hours per week at my office for the past two weeks catching up on a huge backlog of stuff *there* -- so the Digest has been getting out when/if I have had time to work on it. Maybe this week will be better. I again urge you to please: *** READ THE RESPONSES OF OTHERS BEFORE YOU WRITE *** You do not have to be the first person to answer everything posted here. If you see others have written virtually identical messages, then please forgo your posting. At present I can only post about a quarter to a third of what comes in; please don't force the ratio even lower than this. I like printing your stuff, but not in the quantity it came in this past week. Another True Confession! The next issue of the Digest will contain an article of interest to all: 'Confessions of a Telemarketer' ... yes, one of our regular readers has been thus employed, and will make his public confession in these columns later today. Watch for it. Last, I wish a happy Thanksgiving Day this Thursday to our USA readers! It'll be a nice four day weekend for some folks, I'm sure! Patrick Townson TELECOM Moderator ------------------------------ Subject: IDG Hackers Date: 18 Nov 90 05:23:17 EST (Sun) From: Bob Falcon Hi all, I just ran across this in {Digital News} [ 11/12/90 ] : H A C K E R S C O S T I D G A missing poster from a Gamepro subscription, a video-game monthly magazine, prompted two Staten Island, N.Y., teen-age brothers to break into the telephone mail system at International Data Group's Peterborough, N.H., office - where Gamepro is published - and cause $2.4 million worth of damage. The computer hackers, 14- and 17-year-olds, apparently made more than 500 calls to the IBM Rolm telephone system, recorded bomb threats and obscenities, changed passwords and erased advertising orders. Agents of the U.S. Secret Service and the New York State Police arrested the youths and charged them with a host of misdemeanors, including computer tampering, aggravated harassment and unauthorized use of a computer. There is also a full page article about Cliffort Stoll's book "The Cuckoo's Egg", on page 66. Acording to the article , he's a Computer Security GURU [now], and the last American hero of the now defunct Cold War. This was DIGITAL's NEWSmaker Interview in the last issue. Anyhoo, Have a good one! Catchya later, Bob Falcon [ Co-Sysop : Turbo 386 Remote Access ] [ (1:273/906) @Fidonet ] [ (215) 745-9774 HST/DS ] internet: bfalcon@rescon.uucp or bfalcon@alba2l.uucp uucp: [backbonesite]!bpa!alba2l!rescon!bfalcon [Moderator's Note: Talk about naughty, spoiled children! I hope their parents are forced to pay restitution for the damages done. With a little luck, maybe the judge will send the older one to jail for awhile and the younger one to a juvenile reform school and order them both to stay away from computers for at least ten years. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 09:37 EDT From: "Scott D. Green" Subject: America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! Apropos to our recent discussion of Prodigy, I just received an offer from Quantum Computer Services in Vienna, VA to beta test their new on-line service, America Online, which "will allow pc owners to participate in interactive computer forums, download thousands of public domain and shareware programs, check stock prices and the latest news, play interactive, multi-player games, and more." They want folks to test their current beta software which is a graphic windowing interface for DOS machines. They will provide the software and *unlimited free online access time* to test the service. It's signed "Cynthia Hibbs, Asst. Marketing Manager," with a post-script to "feel free to share this invitation with your friends!" So, friends, give them a call at 703-448-8700. They'll send you an equipment survey to make sure your hardware meets their minimum requirements. scott ------------------------------ From: Tim Wild Subject: Directory of Telcos Needed Date: 19 Nov 90 18:37:06 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. I need to get the addresses for telephone companies and was wondering what the best telco directories are. I'm especially interested in having the names of personnel directors with the telcos. Thanks for your help. Tim Wild Bowling Green State University ia-rt451@barney.bgsu.edu ------------------------------ From: "J. Eric Townsend" Subject: Neat Trick (was: *Long* Phone Calls) Organization: University of Houston -- Department of Mathematics Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 18:40:10 GMT In article <68873@bu.edu.bu.edu> Jack.Winslade@f666.n285. z1.fidonet.org (Jack Winslade) writes: >This idea was reinforced when an employee of AT&T Long Lines told me >that there was a good chance that after several months, after the >billing tapes were changed several times or something like that, there >was a good chance that the equipment would 'forget' about the >connection and never bill at all, even if/when it was terminated. We weren't doing LD, but... A local eight-line chat system (RoundTable), possibly the first such system in the states, was finally going down. Several of us decided to stay on until the bitter end -- when Ma Bell disconnected service. Disconnection day came and went. We were still on line. If we tried to dial in, we got a "not in service" message. Ten days after SWBT said the service was cancelled, I was the last person on line. (I got disconnected by Houston Looting and Plunder; they can't keep steady power for more than a week or two w/o something going wrong.) So here's the scam: start a number, make a solid connection, then cancel the service. At $100 per installation, you'd have to go four months before you broke even, however... :-) J. Eric Townsend Internet: jet@uh.edu Bitnet: jet@UHOU Systems Manager - University of Houston Dept. of Mathematics - (713) 749-2120 EastEnders list: eastender@karazm.math.uh.edu Skate UNIX(r) ------------------------------ From: "Joel B. Levin" Subject: NET Changes Its Mind on Mailing Lists Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 17:20:27 EST In my most recent telco bill, the supplement called "Calling All Customers" (Vol. IV No. 3) contains this on the last page: Bothered by Unwanted Telephone and Mail Solicitation? Last year, New England Telephone announced the introduction of what we thought would be a helpful new service. But you told us otherwise. We said the names, addresses and telephone numbers of our customers would be made available to companies whose products and services might be of interest to you. Along with the announcement, we sent you a postcard which you could return to us if you wished to have your name removed from these lists. Many of you returned these cards and made it clear that you didn't like the proposed idea. Because of this, we discontinued the service. However, that does not mean that you will never receive calls from businesses wishing to sell you their products. These businesses can create their own lists from many sources, including telephone directories. We, of course, cannot prevent anyone from doing this. But please be assured that such lists are not made available directly from New England Telephone. ---------------- (Of course this says nothing about what any other NYNEX subsidiaries may be doing...) JBL nets: levin@bbn.com | BBN Communications or: ...!bbn!levin | M/S 20/7A POTS: +1 617 873 3463 | 150 Cambridge Park Drive or: +1 603 880 1611 | Cambridge, MA 02140 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 17:28:40 PST From: ben dubin Subject: Computer Clock Synchronization Solution Recently someone was asking about programs to set your computer clock to the US Naval Observatory clock in Washington DC. I purchased a program that did such. The vendor provided complete source code so I was able to use the program on both my IBM PC and SUN workstation. The vendor (Full Source Software) can be reached at (415) 855-7070 and I think their E-mail address is fss@btr.com They also have a couple other Telecom-related software programs that I did not purchase. And, their prices are unbeatable: they offer over 35 programs for just $99. It really was a great deal and would highly recommend them. If you have questions or comments, please send to me directly and if there is interest I will post a summary to the net. Ben Dubin bend@Sun.COM Sun Microsystems, Inc. ...!sun!bend Mountain View, CA ------------------------------ From: John Alsop Subject: Where to Find Used Panasonic Equipment Reply-To: John Alsop Organization: Sea Change Corporation, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Date: Mon, 19 Nov 1990 20:15:45 -0500 Hello telecoms experts! We have a Panasonic Model 412 Key Telephone System in our office, to which we would like to add some additional extensions. We've been told by the local company which supplied the system three years ago that it is obsolete, that we can't buy any add-ons for it, and that we should throw it out and buy the latest, greatest Panasonic system. (Fat chance!) I assume that there must exist companies in the business of supplying used equipment for Panasonic and other systems. Any pointers or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, John Alsop Sea Change Corporation 6695 Millcreek Drive, Unit 8 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5N 5R8 Tel: 416-542-9484 Fax: 416-542-9479 UUCP: ...!uunet!attcan!seachg!jalsop ------------------------------ From: jimi@h-three.UUCP (jimi) Subject: Voice Mail (Call Routers/Answering Services) Date: 15 Nov 90 16:56:30 GMT Organization: h-three Systems, Research Triangle Park, NC I'm requesting information about voice mail systems (in particular, those that are PC- or Macintosh-based) that have call routing, e.g., to sales, tech support, or a specific extension, and answering services, e.g., "You have reached the office of ... leave a message at the tone." Our need is immediate. I'd like to hear from vendors, users, anybody with an opinion. Will summarize. Please e-mail responses to an address below. Phone calls answered, but not preferred. Literature via USPS welcome. Thanks much. Jim Ingram uunet!h-three!jimi | jimi%h-three@uunet.uu.net h-three Systems Corporation P.O. Box 12557 RTP NC 27709 919 549 8334 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Nov 1990 20:29:53 -0500 (EST) From: Dan_Bloch@transarc.com Subject: Area Code History Request There've been a lot of items recently about area code 714 splitting to 909, and comments about how rapidly Southern California is going through area codes. I've started wondering just what the pattern has been over the last thirty years. Do any of you historians out there have, or know where I could find, a chronological list of area code assignments? (i.e. what the original area codes were, and what year each new one was added?) Or if this doesn't exist, just a list or map of the original NANP would be interesting. Thanks, Dan Bloch dan@transarc.com [Moderator's Note: This is a job for Carl Moore . He has loads of information on this, and perhaps will write an article for the Digest or at the very least send you some information. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 10:01:27 PST From: Pushpendra Mohta Subject: SONET Standards Status Sought Hi, For a introductory article on SONET I am preparing for CERFnet News, I would like to know the current status of SONET standards and expected deployment dates. Email replies will be appreciated. Thank you, pushpendra CERFnet ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: MCI's Personal 800 Service Date: 19 Nov 90 11:58:16 GMT Reply-To: Bill Huttig Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL Has anyone received any information after signing up for MCI's new 800 service? I signed up the first day they were taking orders. No one at seems to be able to find an account for me yet. (I had to set up a new account to get the cheap PrimeTime rates.) Everytime I call they give me the run around.. I dont think they have the ability to create accounts and route calls yet for the service. (They claim it takes 30-45 days to set up). Bill ------------------------------ From: grimace!ted@cblph.att.com Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 09:15:13 EST Subject: Help in Locating Telecom Archives It's been a long time since I read the comp.dcom.telecom group (or most other groups, for that matter!), and I seem to be "behind" in the current state of the group. Several people have discussed looking in the Telecom Archives, but I haven't seen any mention in the last 200 messages or so about where the archive is, or how one gets access to it. Can I get some information please? Ted Aseltine AT&T Bell Laboratories 6200 E Broad St Columbus, OH 43213 614 860 4837 ted@cblph.att.com [Moderator's Note: Good point! It has been awhile. The Telecom Archives are located at MIT. From the Internet, visit and pull files via ftp lcs.mit.edu. Use anonymous login, giving your name@site as the password. Then once online, 'cd telecom-archives'. Enjoy it! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #833 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23561; 20 Nov 90 5:43 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa25143; 20 Nov 90 4:00 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14521; 20 Nov 90 2:54 CST Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 2:05:21 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #834 BCC: Message-ID: <9011200205.ab05811@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Nov 90 02:05:11 CST Volume 10 : Issue 834 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Confessions of a Telemarketer [Roy M. Silvernail] Re: Dealing with Telemarketers [Carol Springs] Re: Cellular Phones of the Future [Jon Allen] Re: Cellular Phones of the Future [Dave Levenson] Re: Description of ATT Mail ACCESS (Answer to the Question) [Avi E. Gross] Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service [Mike Spann] Re: Slick-96 [Toby Nixon] Re: Calling USA From Mexico [David E. Martin] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Confessions of a Telemarketer From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 22:49:34 CST Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN [Moderator's Note: As promised, in this issue, I saved the best for first. Following his confession, I'll entertain messages in response from the High Priests among you who wish to cast the stones. PAT] ----------------- Right off the bat, I'll state that I only took the job I'm about to describe because of _severe_ poverty and a need to make rent. Thus disclaimed.... bcsaic!carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Jeff Carroll) writes: > Actually, here in Bellevue, the police department (or, rather, > the Police Officers' Guild) *does* engage in telemarketing. I was > interrupted during the second game of the World Series by a police > officer seeking a rather large donation ($25/head) to pay for "tickets > for disadvantaged youth" to a circus that was coming to town. > Being wrapped up in the ball game, I didn't bother to > investigate further, but it did sound a little fishy -- not to mention > the uncomfortable feeling that accompanies receiving phone calls from > local cops asking for money. About four years ago, I took a temporary telemarketing job which involved (in a way) the police department. (nN, I'm not going to say which one :-) The job was concerned with a fund-raising concert. During the day, we sold ads in the 'souvenir program' to be distributed at the concert. (Ads were priced from $60 to $1500.) These calls were to businesses, many of which had donated the previous year. During the evening, we canvassed homes to sell tickets to the affair. (tickets were $15/each) The home calls were out of the phone book. We did not sequentially dial for this project. As do all telemarketing creatures, I had a script that I was to follow. I would identify myself as calling for the (name of state) Peace Officer's Association. (Note that we said "for", not "with".) At no time was I to say that I was actually a police officer. Telemarketers frequently have a manager breathing down their necks, and this job was no exception. The manager exhorted us to "sound like police officers." His explanation was that the mark on the phone would be guilted into purchasing ads/tickets if he/she were to believe us to be actual officers. If the mark actually asked "are you a police officer?", I was to give a friendly chuckle and say "Aww, Joe, they'd never let _me_ carry a gun!", but not to deny it any further. I stuck the job out to completion, for the experience as well as the rent money. (a job like this is much like swimming in the Bering Sea ... you only need to do it once to claim the experience ... it's also just about as comfortable.) After it was finished, I came away with tickets to the show (which was less than wonderful) and a sense of relief. I was also glad that I could maintain a character voice, so that friends in the small town didn't know that I had sold them their tickets. I also made the firm resolution never to take another telemarketing job! Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 10:26:13 EST From: Carol Springs Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Organization: DRI/McGraw-Hill, Lexington, MA Jeff Carroll reports in Volume 10, Issue 828: > Actually, here in Bellevue, the police department (or, rather, >the Police Officers' Guild) *does* engage in telemarketing. Back when I was living in Philadelphia and had less experience with telemarketers, I received a call one afternoon that went like this: VOICE: Hello, Mrs. Jones? [Jones was a current single male resident in the house] ME: There is no Mrs. Jones here. VOICE: Mrs. Smith? [Smith was a former single male resident] ME: No. VOICE: Who am I speaking to? ME: What do you want? VOICE: [Long monotonic speech about being from the Fraternal Order of Police and "selling" circus tickets for disadvantaged youth, as Jeff Carroll describes above. The last sentence is something about how much should they put me down for, but I don't hear it very well] ME: Excuse me? VOICE: [Starts to repeat *entire spiel*, not just the last sentence] I recall that I somehow extracted myself from the conversation without simply hanging up on the guy, which in my misguided youth I was loath to do to anyone. But when I thought about it afterward, a tactical question sprang to mind and I wished I could replay things: [didn't happen but should have] ME: As a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, do you often encourage women to give out their names to unidentified callers on the phone? VOICE: Carol Springs carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com ------------------------------ From: Jon Allen Subject: Re: Cellular Phones of the Future Date: 19 Nov 90 17:06:48 GMT Reply-To: Jon Allen Organization: AT&T IMS - Piscataway, NJ In article <14765@accuvax.nwu.edu> jwilde@barney.bgsu.edu (jane wilde) writes: >I think these phones are a great idea - calling the person, not the >place. But the price will keep them off the market to the general >that's the case, won't this be a major distraction to others. How >would you like to be at the movies and have someone talking on the Actually, I recently experienced this. In Hong Kong it seems like almost everyone carries small cellular telephones (seems to be some sort of status symbol these days). While returning to Hong Kong from Macau on a Jetfoil, I as sitting near a young lady. Three times on the 55 minute journey her purse beeped and she proceeded to have conversations, which were interesting to listen to, since there is not much else to do on such a journey. While standing in the customs line, two other people right behind me got phone calls and were talking. This is indeed very distracting. I guess this is what the future holds. As a side note, I would think that in cities of the future, small/cheap phones would be the death of the pager business (although I see people in Hong Kong carrying both a phone AND a pager on the street). Once your reachable anywhere anytime by phone whats the point of the pager? (Now if we could just get caller-id on these small/cheap phones... :-)) Jon jrallen@devildog.att.com ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Cellular Phones of the Future Date: 20 Nov 90 03:47:08 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <14765@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jwilde@barney.bgsu.edu (jane wilde) writes: > maybe it won't be long before everyone has a "pocket phone". And if > that's the case, won't this be a major distraction to others. How If everyone has one, who are the 'others'? Why do you think people will talk on the phone in a theatre if they don't talk to each other in the theatre? What you'll need is either a pocket answering machine, or a voicemail system integrated with the service provided to the pocket-phone users. When the current generation of cellular telephones arrived on the market, they were priced at $2,500 - $3,500. Now they're down to about $100 if you shop around a bit. Even at the higher prices of five or six years ago, there was no lack of buyers for them. It was the sales volume those buyers generated that brought the cost down for the rest of us. Why don't you think the same thing will happen with the next generation? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 13:23:54 EST From: Avi E Gross Subject: Re: Description of ATT Mail ACCESS (Answers to the Question) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In article <14799@accuvax.nwu.edu>, ehopper@ehpcb.wlk.com (Ed Hopper) wrote about the subject matter. I want to add a few facts/opinions to Ed's excellent answer. ATTMAIL consists of a "core" network and MANY premises products. I work on designing the core network, but can talk informally ( #include ) about the premises products that can be used to "access" the network. As Ed says, there has been a "standard" appearance to the premises mailers, so that the UNIX variant (PMX/TERM), DOS variants (latest is ACCESS PLUS, with some ACCESS I and ACCESS II still in the field) and various LAN based versions look like they belong in the same family. The Mac version, ACCESS III, has a look of its own, and the look will continue to evolve as more modern versions are produced using graphical interfaces. Other versions are also being developed to support foreign languages, etc. These are not designed to act as terminal emulators. They are full-fledged mailers using local resources as much as possible. This saves not only message-creation charges, but also on storage charges (you can store messages in folders on the core network) and automates receiving shared-folder messages (sort of like netnews). For ACCESS PLUS, a number of options are available such as running the mailer in the background, calling up a foreground mailer as a TSR, having a directory pop-up as a TSR, being notified when messages arrive (when your software checks on a regular basis in the foreground) and even have the service phone your PC to have it pick up new mail within 15 minutes of arrival. Other advantages of using an ACCESS (or PMX) product are the ability to deal with messages that contain non-standard-text within them. For example, you can attach (and detach) arbitrary objects to the message. I often send executables, spreadsheets, etc to someone that can detach and use them. I also prefer a full-screen interface (along with better editing functionality) than the On-Line User Agent. I can't say much more without releasing proprietary information, but many improvements are already being added. We are also working on changing our orientation to include "smaller" customers. I suspect one reason why some people have complained about problems with getting various aspects of ATTMAIL shown/sold to them is because the sales force was focused on larger customers that buy 1000 accounts or software packages at a time. We are changing since we are interested in becoming a major player in the electronic communication market. Email is just one part of the market that we are dealing with. We also are deeply involved with EDI (machine to machine) and FAX (both FAX to FAX and text to FAX, with more to come) and we connect to many other domains such as X.400, and synchronous gateways. I feel we have a great product and are improving it all the time. We are continuing to work at getting the facts out about our product. I will be happy to answer additional email, within the bounds of information that I can release at this time. Avi E. Gross @ AT&T LZ 3B-211 (201) 576-3218 attmail!avigross or att!pegasus!avi ------------------------------ From: mike spann Subject: Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service Date: 19 Nov 90 22:19:41 GMT Reply-To: mike spann Organization: gammafax In article <14718@accuvax.nwu.edu> gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca (Paul Gauthier) writes: > A Canadian Company has recently begun to offer a special reduced >rate to fax users. The user pays only a small monthly fee ($10, I >think) and receives a little black box which attaches to their fax >machine. .... > Does anyone know if such services actually detect and interpret fax >protocol to decide whether to axe the call? I can not say for sure how the system you saw advertised works. I do know of several service providers who provide an identical service. It works as follows: You dial a phone number from your fax machine. The box intercepts the number and decides whether to dial it directly or whether to use the 'store and forward.' If the number is not a local call, or a number you have indicated you want to dial directly, it calls the providers number. On connection, it exchanges your account number and the number you wish to call with the receiver. Some providers do this with an encrypted, 300 bps signal. Others use less secure methods. Once this is accepted, you are connected to a fax board (ours we hope) to receive the fax. The fax is then shipped to the most convenient place to send the fax (using T.1 or X.25 or something like that). Another fax board then sends the fax to the destination machine. So, unless you particularly want to talk to a GammaFax CP card, there is little purpose in trying to fool their box into accepting a funky number. Note: This may or may not be how the provider you have seen works. Michael Spann mikes@gammalink.com Voice: +1-408-744-1430 Fax: +1-408-744-1549 UUCP: ...!uunet!gammafax!mikes CIS: 73747,441 ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Slick-96 Date: 19 Nov 90 18:39:06 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article <14710@accuvax.nwu.edu>, KEVIN.GRIFFIN@ehpcb.wlk.com (KEVIN GRIFFIN) writes: > Can anyone tell me what a "Slick 96" switch is and what kind of > services are available from it. One of my local (SWB) techs told me > that one is about to be installed in my local exchange, but he didn't > want to tell me anything about it. As was noted in a previous reply, a Subscriber Loop Carrier system is not a switch. It provides a digital connection (often fiber optic) from the switch out to a neighborhood, for example, and then standard analog two-wire connections from the SLC to your residence. Unfortunately, some SLCs (slicks) are decidedly NOT "slick". Modem manufacturers get complaints about modems not working, and often find that the problem is a SLC having been installed. The cause usually is that the SLC is using ADPCM (compression), which doesn't work well with high-speed modems (particularly V.29 [Group 3 fax]). SLCs also are known to introduce analog impairments in the loop that can cause problems for modems, even though they're not audible to voice callers. Most SLCs don't cause problems, however, so there should be no cause for immediate concern. But in response to your question -- there's no "services" from a SLC; as far as you're concerned, it's a passive device. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 20:43:57 EST From: David E Martin Subject: Re: Calling USA From Mexico Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, IL In article <14706@accuvax.nwu.edu>, 0004056081@mcimail.com (George S Thurman) writes: > A friend of mine will be going to Mexico on vacation in a few weeks, > and he would like to know if there is a way to reach a US operator > (AT&T or any other carrier) from the following cities: > Cuernavaca, Taxeco(sp) and Acapulco(sp). AT&T does not have general USA Direct service from all phones in Mexico. There are specially marked phones that connect to an AT&T operator (mainly in Cancun and Acapulco.) Also, some hotels have USA Direct service. Call AT&T International Information at 1-800-874-4000 for location of the phones and more information. David Martin AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL (708) 713-5121 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #834 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23683; 20 Nov 90 5:50 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab25143; 20 Nov 90 4:04 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab14521; 20 Nov 90 2:54 CST Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 2:45:52 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #835 BCC: Message-ID: <9011200245.ab00106@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Nov 90 02:45:04 CST Volume 10 : Issue 835 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Prodigy Communications Protocol [Evan Leibovitch] Re: Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco? [Chip Rosenthal] Re: New 410 Code For MD [John R. Covert] Re: New 410 Code For MD [Bob Goudreau] Re: Videoconferencing Info Needed [David L. Phillips] Re: Videoconferencing Info Needed [Sandy Kyrish] Re: Telephonic Paranoia [Pat Stephenson] Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? [Floyd Davidson] Re: Genie Star*Services [IO00930%MAINE.BITNET@vm1.gatech.edu] Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? [Henry Troup] Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support [Ed Belisle] Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind [Toby Nixon] Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers or Not? [Peter da Silva] Tymnet Help Needed [David Dodell] Last Laugh! What is the Area Code For Outer Space? [John Parsons] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Evan Leibovitch Subject: Re: Prodigy Communications Protocol Reply-To: Evan Leibovitch Organization: Somewhere just far enough out of Toronto Date: Mon, 19 Nov 1990 18:21:59 -0500 In article <14775@accuvax.nwu.edu> rsm@math.arizona.edu (Robert S. Maier) writes: >There have been a good many articles in TELECOM Digest complaining >about Prodigy. Besides Prodigy's policies, many posters are irritated >by their inability to capture Prodigy output to a file. >Has anyone done anything about this? I gather Prodigy uses a >proprietary communications protocol, but is it possible to >reverse-engineer it? That would open the door to custom-designed >Prodigy clients, running on any architecture. And it would facilitate >the addition of new features, such as capturing text and graphics >output. I have never used Prodigy, nor do I know much about its present form (except for the glowing comments it gets here in TELECOM :-). But I seem to recall that Prodigy is an outgrowth of what was once called "Trintex", which included IBM, Sears and CBS. When CBS pulled out, the "Tri-" prefix was no longer appropriate. If Prodigy is indeed what was once Trintex, then the protocol being used is NAPLPS (North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax), which evolved from the Canadian "Telidon" protocol. If so, there are a couple of companies out there selling PC-based NAPLPS display software which may be better than what Prodigy offers. A company called Formic, based in Montreal, comes to mind. NAPLPS is a very efficient way to transmit shape-based graphics images over serial lines, in a manner that's supposed to be device- and resolution independent. It has been accepted as a standard by ANSI, though it never cought on in the market as well as proponents had hoped for. If Prodigy is not based on NAPLPS... never mind :-) Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504 ------------------------------ From: Chip Rosenthal Subject: Re: Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco? Date: 20 Nov 90 02:39:36 GMT Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX > Why is AT&T, rather than my LEC, supplying ISDN service? I think you might be confused about the different flavors of ISDN. What AT&T is offering is PRI (primary rate interface) ISDN. If your company uses T1 PBX's then you'd buy ACCUNET T1.5 from them. If it uses ISDN PBX's, then you buy these ISDN lines. This is all point-to-point leased line stuff. You are probably interested in BRI (basic rate interface) ISDN, a very different animal. Chip Rosenthal 512-482-8260 Unicom Systems Development ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 07:00:35 PST From: "John R. Covert" Subject: Re: New 410 Code for MD Additional info on 410: It will go into service on 1 November 1991 and remain permissive until 1 November 1992. Bell Atlantic claims that it will be the first N10 area code (although both 310 and 510 have been announced, they may not go into service as soon as 410). They are also referring to it as "four-ten" -- a practice I hope they will stop soon. john [Moderator's Note: I'm curious about your attitude toward four-ten. Why do you feel that is bad syntax? What about three-twelve or eight-oh-nine? Is your preference for four-one-zero, three-one-two and eight-zero-nine? 'Zero' frequently is pronounced 'oh'. Do you feel this could/does cause some confusion? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 17:21:41 est From: Bob Goudreau Subject: Re: New 410 Code For MD In article <14766@accuvax.nwu.edu>, opel!arinc!vk2bea!eccles! michael@uunet.uu.net writes: > The new 410 area code will serve metropolitan Baltimore, the entire > Eastern Shore, Calvert County and the majority of Carroll, Howard and > Anne Arundel counties. > The rest of the state will use the existing 301 area code. This raises an interesting point. As far as I can tell, this appears to be the first time that an area code split has resulted in the original area code's major metro area getting left out in the cold (i.e., assigned to the new code, with all the concomitant bother, rather than getting to keep the old one). Perhaps the explanation is that even though Baltimore is the largest city *in* Maryland, Washington D.C. and environs is the biggest conurbation *near* Maryland, so the Washington suburbs "win" and get to stay in 301. Examples of the normal rule include Manhattan (got to keep 212 -- twice now!), Boston (617), San Francisco (415), Houston (713), Denver (303), Miami (305), "core" Los Angeles (213 -- twice), and probably several others as well. But does anyone know of any previous violations of the rule? Bob Goudreau +1 919 248 6231 Data General Corporation 62 Alexander Drive goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau USA ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Monday, 19 Nov 1990 09:05:40 EST From: "David L. Phillips" Subject: Re: Videoconferencing Info Needed We are using Compression Labs equipment for a four-site network that is planned to grow in the next couple of years. CLI is in San Jose. 2860 Junction Ave. San Jose, CA 95134. 408-435-3000. We think their equipment is better than PictureTel (IMHO). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 12:28 GMT From: Sandy Kyrish <0003209613@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Videoconferencing Info Needed Regarding the request for videoconferencing vendors: These people should be able to give you a competitive bid (note - the industry is relatively price-competitive these days, so look for extra features, especially service and support): Compression Labs, Inc. 800-538-7542 (ask for number of Southeast Region office). PictureTel's main competitor. GPT Video Systems 203-348-6600 VSI (in your backyard) 404-242-7566 Peirce-Phelps 800-862-6800 All are good outfits for the most part. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Telephonic Paranoia Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 10:30:12 -0500 From: Pat Stephenson Charles Bryant writes: (Story of paranoid politicians deleted) >The excitement died quickly when Bord Telecom was contacted. They told >the two concerned lefties, who were now on the point of organising >resistance, that they had received hundreds of such worried calls from >paranoid householders. Nothing sinister was afoot. A weird technical >fault meant that most incoming calls from overseas were creating this >response on Irish phones. "But surely the Special Branch..." the >lefties ventured. Not at all, said Telecom. I can vouch for this. I made several attempts to dial directly to Dublin on Sunday 12th and Monday 13th November. I got complete silence at the other end - no intercept, no busy. Eventually I placed a call through the operator, which did go through (with LOUSY quality, but at this point I wasn't being picky...). The people at the other end reported exactly the behaviour mentioned above. Pat Stephenson ------------------------------ From: Floyd Davidson Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 12:56:12 GMT In article <68873@bu.edu.bu.edu> Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.f idonet.org (Jack Winslade) writes: >In message <1190094024@iugate.UUCP>, "andrew M. Boardman" writes: >{ ... in regards to >>VERY<< long calls } >> - What would one's local phone company think of this? >> - In the expected case that they aren't too fond of losing >> out on the megabucks for a leased line, do they have >> legal ground telling you to stop? >Back around 1970 or so, there was a belief held by some members of the > [ much interesting text deleted ] >Maybe some of the 'experts' on billing systems could confirm if this >was true at that time. I am, of course, assuming that if it were >true, the case has been dealt with and the modern billing software is >smart enough to catch it and bill for it. I can't speak to 1970 or local phone companies, either. But you might be interested to know that at 8:00 AM every morning the Tech-In-Charge at the Fairbanks Toll Center gets a print out of any (usually there are none) AMA records that are excessively long. I personally wrote the little program that scans the logs and looks for any such log reports. But of course we are an LD carrier, so our *hope* is that it is a real call! But we check out every one of them just to prevent someone getting a huge bill when it is our fault. In fact most of them end up being a telco dialed into a milliwatt test or something to that effect. Floyd L. Davidson floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu floydd@chinet.chi.il.us Salcha, AK 99714 connected by paycheck to Alascom, Inc. When *I* speak for them, one of us will be *out* of business in a hurry. ------------------------------ Organization: University of Maine System Date: Monday, 19 Nov 1990 10:10:13 EST From: IO00930%MAINE.BITNET@vm1.gatech.edu Subject: Re: Genie Star*Services I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to get in contact with Genie to get some information about the system. Thanks, Dave ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 10:06:00 EST From: Henry Troup Subject: Re: Why Are They Called 'Generics'? My friendly competitior foz@ihlpf.att.com (William F Thompson) writes: > I always wondered that too (and I even develop software for them). > But wonder no more - they're now called Software Releases. Northern Telecom releases generics for SL-1 systems and BCS (Batch Change Supplement) for DMS and SL-100 systems. DMS software is sold by the 'feature package' so that each piece is separately charged. This means that NT builds and delivers individual loads for each customer switch. There are a lot of packages, and a lot of switches, too. George Smyth, one of the original DMS team, and now President of BNR, once remarked that the DMS loader corrected all the deficiencies of the SL-1 loader, and if the software were the same size as SL-1, there would never be a need to globally compile DMS software, or globally reload it. SL-1 has about 50 software modules in the switching core, DMS has several hundred. The loader supported relocation and individual reloading of object modules, which are separately compilable. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 15:00 GMT From: Ed Belisle <0003747957@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) write: > The only number listed for technical help with Windows 3.0 is a 900 > number. Could you supply me with the OEM for that product? I am I always thought the 900 number was for DOS support only. The number for Microsoft Technical support is (and has been for quite some time) 206-454-2030. They opened a new number that skips the first menu and goes directly to Windows Support. It is 206-637-7098. > than I have managed to get from Microsoft (for my $15.00 in 900 > charges). Actually, even though the principle of "900" customer You *paid* for Windows support? Next time try directory assistance. Ed Belisle ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Spring Ahead, Fall Behind Date: 19 Nov 90 18:50:08 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article <14701@accuvax.nwu.edu>, tneff@bfmny0.bfm.com (Tom Neff) writes: > When I see all these automated clock setting tools being posted far > and wide on CompuServe, Usenet etc., I can't help wondering: is the > NBS up to the job of answering all the new calls generated from > thousands of American basements and desktops? All I can say is that in all the calls I've made to these numbers, often several in a row, including on what one would consider to be "busy" nights (e.g., Daylight/Standard time transitions), I've never received a busy signal. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ From: peter da silva Subject: Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 16:39:04 GMT In article <14694@accuvax.nwu.edu> bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) writes: > In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air > charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they > will be charged the air charges. The folks who want 1+ to mean "toll" are really really going to be upset over this one, since there's no way to tell by inspection if a given call is going to be to a cellular phone. Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. peter@ferranti.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 07:18:53 mst From: David Dodell Subject: Tymnet Help Needed I am trying to locate the Tymnet 9600 number for Phoenix (if it exists). I have the local 1200/2400 number, but can't find a number for Tymnet customer service. I tried 800 info, but they have no information. Anyone point me in the right direction? David St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona uucp: {gatech, ames, rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!ddodell Bitnet: ATW1H @ ASUACAD FidoNet=> 1:114/15 Internet: ddodell@stjhmc.fidonet.org FAX: +1 (602) 451-1165 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 13:04:32 mst From: John Parsons Subject: Last Laugh! What is the Area Code For Outer Space? dgc@math.ucla.edu (David G. Cantor) writes: > Perhaps it would be much simpler for all concerned if the telcos were > simply to switch to 8-digit numbers for all of Southern California. > Of course, it could then be given a two-digit "country code" :-). ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Given that this is the home of Disneyland, Hollywood, etc., perhaps "planet code" would be more appropriate! ;-) John Parsons ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #835 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15701; 21 Nov 90 4:01 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa29655; 21 Nov 90 2:20 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08502; 21 Nov 90 1:14 CST Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 0:27:28 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #836 BCC: Message-ID: <9011210027.ab27388@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Nov 90 00:26:55 CST Volume 10 : Issue 836 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Telecom Art [Jeff Carroll] Re: 900 Numbers and Media 4 Advertising Survey [Jim Gottlieb] Re: America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! [Brendan Kehoe] Re: New 410 Code for MD [Carl Moore] Re: GTE Mobilnet and International Calling [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: Wireless Phonejak [Irving Wolfe] Re: Cellular Phones of the Future [John Higdon] Re: Request for Cellular Tech Info [Toby Nixon] Re: T3 Equipment Info Needed [Barton F. Bruce] Re: Tymnet Help Needed [Roger Fajman] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeff Carroll Subject: Re: Telecom Art Date: 20 Nov 90 06:46:58 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle In article <14462@accuvax.nwu.edu> reverend@pro-exchange.cts.com (Mitchell L. Silverman) writes: >This is strange, I know. But could all the people who post messages >to the TELECOM Digest take a second to make sure that they have a >geographical address in their signatures? I ask this for two related >reasons. This seems to run counter to Our Fabled Moderator's desire to minimize the size of .sigs. Would PAT care to enunciate official TELECOM Digest policy regarding this request? >First: I (and, I assume, other TELECOM Digest readers) are curious to >know the geographic span of messages posted here. Long-time computer >users (myself included) sometimes get jaded about what their toys can >do, but surely the thought that this Digest enmeshes such a large part >of the globe and connects such a geographically diverse group, must >occasionally instill a sense of wonder in its readers? I generally refrain from posting more than my name and my email address because (a) email is generally the simplest and most reliable way for people out of town to reach me; (b) I change offices, and hence mailing addresses, frequently; (c) I generally assume that most people know that almost all of Boeing is in Seattle; (d) I think long ostentatious .sigs are tacky. On the other hand, I do get a kick out of receiving email and downloading anonymous FTP from places I've never been, such as Oz. >conceptual art installation using HyperCard. And THAT is what I'd >like to do with the Digest -- conceptual art. Readers, PAT, what do you >think? I don't understand this at all, but then I was too busy between majoring in engineering and minoring in beer to take any art :^> Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com [Moderator's Note: I'm not sure I understand it entirely either, but assuming the original author knows what he is talking about, here is my .sig policy: Name, email address and US Mail address are allowed, as is a disclaimer message when required. Cute sayings, borders, stars, dashed line, graphics and similar are all removed. I used to allow full .sigs, but found that as the Digest traffic got quite heavy I was able to free up ten to fifteen percent of the space in each issue by eliminating the aforementioned. There are technical considerations: The Digest gets along best with the mailers enroute if the maximum size is around 16-17 K. It be larger, but I get more complaints of duplicate deliveries and missed deliveries when they are. If I can recover a thousand bytes by deleting the dashes around your .sig, that's enough room for another message. Then too, dash marks (-----) have a particular significance to the digesting/undigesting software, particularly when they are flush with the left side of the file. Likewise, the word 'From', or any word at the left margin followed by a colon is significant. I was leaving a few small .sigs in for awhile, then there were complaints of favoritism from the folks whose (much larger, garish) .sigs got removed. So now I just remove them all. After all, the more .sigs I remove, the more Moderator's Notes I can add with ease! :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 02:39:25 PST From: Jim Gottlieb Subject: Re: 900 Numbers and Media 4 Advertising Survey Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles In article <14770@accuvax.nwu.edu> is written: >$3.50 fee IS A LIE! Ma Bell told me, and the company admitted, that >the cost of that number is $9.90. >If you get a call from 900-741-1200, it is run by Media 4 Advertising >Survey and you can call them at 800-346-6329 and ask to be removed >from list But don't try complaining to the carrier. Media 4 is owned by Telesphere, the company that owns the 900-741 prefix. The company, from their 900 practices to their AOS outfit, is pure sleaze. Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: or V-Mail: +1 213 551 7702 Fax: 478-3060 Voice: 824-5454 ------------------------------ From: Brendan Kehoe Subject: Re: America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! Organization: Widener CS Dept Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 13:48:40 GMT In <14815@accuvax.nwu.edu>, GREEN@wilma.wharton.upenn.edu writes: >So, friends, give them a call at 703-448-8700. They'll send you an >equipment survey to make sure your hardware meets their minimum >requirements. I've put the three pages of survey up on my site for people to FTP it if they wish. The name is ftp.cs.widener.edu, but that presently won't resolve (our nameserver has to be updated), so for now use the number 192.55.239.132. They're in the directory ~ftp/pub/online as 'survey.shar', as well as page1, page2, and page3, for those not Unix-oriented. (Credit goes to Online Bear on the Portal[tm] system for putting these together. I just snarfed them.) Brendan Kehoe - Widener Sun Network Manager - brendan@cs.widener.edu Widener University in Chester PA [Moderator's Note: I tried to ftp the stuff from you, and was advised that ftp is only open at your site in the evenings. I mention this so folks will know the best time to call. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 10:23:22 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: New 410 Code for MD I don't know what the meaning is of John Covert's objection to "four-ten", although I always read area codes as, say, "three one two" and not "three twelve". Comment on the Moderator's Note: Exchange names were dropped in favor of all-digit telephone numbers, partly to eliminate confusion between "1" and "I", and also between "0" (zero) and "O" (letter), and thus it is not that likely that "oh" used nowadays will be read as the letter "O". Bob Goudreau writes about Baltimore being removed from area 301. When Virginia was split in 1973, Richmond and Norfolk went into 804, and the DC area along with western Virginia stayed in 703. It will be interesting to see what's done in the Laurel and Annapolis areas. Along with the "default" exchanges (which you would find on pay phones in those areas), they have pseudo-foreign exchanges providing metro service for both DC and Baltimore areas. It reminds me of the Los Angeles foreign exchanges (which stayed in area 213 at the 213/818 split) used in places like Burbank and Pasadena, whose other exchanges were put in 818. Baltimore and DC metro areas practically touch or overlap nowadays, and the 301/410 line will have to pass somewhere between those cities. Laurel, except for the Baltimore-metro exchange 792 (and possible newer ones), is local to Washington, and I'm wondering about local service across 301/410 line. Columbia (to go into 410?) has local service (seven digit, as it's all within the present area 301) north to Baltimore and south to Silver Spring, right next door to DC. ------------------------------ Date: 17-NOV-1990 15:19:24.40 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: GTE Mobilnet and International Calling Re: John Higdon's posting and GTE/SF's blocking of International Calls: I called GTE on Friday (since a manager never called me back, which s/he was supposed to do on Monday). I spoke with a front-end customer service rep., which was at about 9 AM, PST. (AND, unbelievably, I got through WITHOUT the interminable GTE "ads on hold"!) The rep who I spoke with told me a supervisor will call back shortly, and that they would discuss the matter with me. About five minutes later, I got a call back from 'Roxanne', who told me that they had reinstated all international calling to my GTE account. She apologized for the problems I was experiencing, and said that I would not have ot use my calling card (which she realized was more expensive) for international calls. So it seems that if you want to make direct-dial international calls with GTE, just call them, tell them that at times you need to make such calls, (you can say you want to call Canada, as was the case with me), and it would seem that GTE is quite reasonable about this and will "un-block" 011 and Canadian ( and Mexican?)-area code calls. Again, this whole thing seems like a pointless exercise to me! Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Irving Wolfe Subject: Re: Wireless Phonejak Date: 20 Nov 90 04:08:36 GMT Reply-To: irv@happym.wa.com Organization: Happy Man Corp., Seattle In <14772@accuvax.nwu.edu> gws@cblph.att.com (Gary W Sanders) writes: >In the latest Damark catalog I ran across an interesting telephone >gizmo: Wireless phonejak by phonex. I have ordered a few things from Damark and based on that experience would caution you to stay away. Everything -- CDs to skates to phone to floor lamps -- that I got from them was of low quality. Not bad enough to make a busy guy like me send them back, but bad enough to make me feel taken advantage of, and decide never to buy from them again. What looks like a bargain sometimes isn't. In their case, perhaps it always isn't. Damark feels like sleazebag scum to me! Irving Wolfe Happy Man Corp. irv@happym.wa.com 206/463-9399 ext.101 4410 SW Point Robinson Road, Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399 fax ext.116 ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Reply-To: John Higdon Subject: Re: Cellular Phones of the Future Date: 20 Nov 90 11:49:17 PST (Tue) From: John Higdon Jon Allen writes: > As a side note, I would think that in cities of the future, > small/cheap phones would be the death of the pager business (although > I see people in Hong Kong carrying both a phone AND a pager on the > street). The key word in your comment is "cheap". Until personal phones have truly inexpensive service (as opposed to the current rip-off cellular pricing schemes), it probably would not be uncommon to see people with both a pager and pocket phone. I sometimes feel like the consumate dweeb with my MicroTac on one side and my Cue pager on the other. I am on twenty-four hour call, but at the price of cellular service, I'll decide who I talk to and when. A very small handful of people know the cell phone number; all others use the pager and then I make the judgement concerning the importance of the call. And once again, as I am about to leave for SoCal, I contemplate the $0.70/min charged (whether there is an answer or not) by PacTel for the privelege of staying in touch. > Once your reachable anywhere anytime by phone whats the > point of the pager? (Now if we could just get caller-id on these > small/cheap phones... :-)) Well, you said it. The pager provides a poor man's convoluted form of Caller-ID. Many people, regardless of cost, may not enjoy or be able to tolerate being 100% accessable 100% of the time. A pager provides a buffer to that availability. I know many people who carry both. I would, even if my cellular service was free. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Request for Cellular Tech Info Date: 20 Nov 90 16:29:40 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article <14778@accuvax.nwu.edu>, djcl@contact.uucp (woody) writes: > From : Alan Wilcocks-Gynn > Subject: Cellular Control Channel Format > Can anyone tell me how I can get access to the following information: > -Physical data format for cellular control channels. > -Control channel protocol. > -Differences (if any) between Cantel and Bell Cellular control formats. In the USA, standards for cellular system operation are developed by TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) technical committee TR-41 and its subcommittees. Some of these standards (with TIA prices) are: EIA/TIA-553 "Mobile Station-Land Station Compatibility Standard" $27 EIA/TIA-IS-19-B "Recommended Minimum Standards for 800-MHz Cellular Subscriber Units" $24 EIA/TIA-IS-20-A "Recommended Minimum Standards for 800-MHz Cellular Land Stations" $20 EIA/TIA-IS-41 "Cellular Radiotelecommunications Intersystem Operations" (five parts: IS-41.1 "Functional Overview", $11; IS-41.2 "Intersystem Handoff", $14; IS-41.3 "Automatic Roaming", $11; IS-41.4 "Operations, Administration, and Maintenance", $14; IS-41.5 "Data Communication", $39) EIA/TIA-IS-52 "Uniform Dialing Procedures and Call Processing Treatment for Use in Cellular Radio Telecommunications" $18 EIA/TIA-IS-54 "Dual Mode Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard" (not sure of price) TIA-TSB-16 "Assignment of Access Overload Classes in the Cellular Telecommunications Services" $11 TIA-TSB-17 "Uniform Dialing Procedures in the Cellular Telecommunications Services" $11 TIA-TSB-21 "Uniform Cellular Feature Code and Service Code Dialing Plan" $11 One or more of these documents would contain the answers to your questions. These documents can be ordered from: EIA Engineering Department, Standards Sales, 2001 Eye Street NW, Washington DC 20006; (202) 457-4966. They accept checks, Visa, or MasterCard. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: T3 Equipment Info Needed Date: 20 Nov 90 19:43:29 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14663@accuvax.nwu.edu>, Ron Watkins writes: > I am in need of vender names, phone#numbers and description of their > T3 products. > I need a box to sit on either end of a fiberoptic cable and make ~24 > T1 channels. T3 is 28 x T1 (or 7 x T2, if you prefer). Try Telco Systems (the Norwood MA site, not the CA site - same company, different product ranges). Their 828 family of products will do it. Also their FOX-2 will take T2 (4 x T1) via fiber from the 828s to some other site (another floor, or another building in an office park, etc.) NTI's FMT-135 does up to 3 x T3 with various inputs, and the smaller DTM-300F does one T3 from seven DS2 streams. AT&T DDM-1000 does 2 x T3, and can mux both onto one fiber at 90mb/s if you prefer. The Rockwell/Collins DML-3x50 does one to three T3s onto fiber. Rockwell/Wescom has a Digital Crossconnect System that can serve up to 128 T1s and crossconnects at the DS0 (64kb) level. You need a large distributor that has a department that specialises in this stuff, and that carries a lot of competing products, so you know that they are not biased towards just the one product a smaller outfit be pushing. Try ALLTEL at 1.800.533.3161, or Anixter, or North Supply, or even Graybar. There are more brands and models and suppliers, this should get you started. ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 12:34:16 EST Subject: Re: Tymnet Help Needed The 9600 bps Tymnet number for Phoenix is 602-258-4528. When you dial into Tymnet you can enter INFORMATION as the user name. Among other things, it will display Tymnet phone numbers. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #836 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17938; 21 Nov 90 6:09 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa32337; 21 Nov 90 4:24 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa21046; 21 Nov 90 3:20 CST Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 2:47:50 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #837 BCC: Message-ID: <9011210247.ab30764@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Nov 90 02:47:20 CST Volume 10 : Issue 837 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Area Code History Request [Carl Moore] Re: Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco? [Jeffri H. Frontz] Re: Dealing with Telemarketers [John G. Thompson] Re: Wanted: Home Phone System [Adam J. Ashby] Re: Alternatives to Traditional Multi-Drop 4-Wire Data Lines [B. Bruce] Re: Prodigy Communications Protocol [Nelson Bolyard] Re: ISO's Meaning (was: NSFNet etc.) [Mark Brader] Re: Slick-96 [Juliet Sutherland] Re: A Zero Length Phone Number [Jeff Carroll] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 17:03:05 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Area Code History Request OK, here is what I now have regarding: 1) Use of N0X/N1X prefixes 2) Splits from 1965 to the present (and known future ones) If you've been reading the Digest, the 714/909 and 301/410 splits have been posted here in rapid succession. My own office is in northeastern Maryland near I-95, and I believe it will go into 410. These areas have N0X/N1X prefixes: 213, California, July 1973 (now 213/818; to become 213/310/818) (7D on toll calls within it) 212, New York, November 1980 (now 212/718, to become 212/917/718) (no toll calls within it) 312, Illinois, October 1982 (now 312/708)--but got 1st N0X/N1X spring 1983? (7D on toll calls within it) 201, New Jersey (to become 201/908) (7D on toll calls within it) 214, Texas (now 214/903) (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 301/202/703, Maryland/DC/Virginia (1987, originally due to DC area growth) (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within 301 and 703 -- 301 to become 301/410) 415, California, February 1989? (to become 415/510) (7D on toll calls within it) 404, Georgia, October 1989? (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 919, North Carolina, 1989? (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 416, Ontario, 1990? (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it as of 3-1-1990) 602, Arizona, 1990? (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 313, Michigan, 1990? (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 512, Texas, 9 September 1990 (1+NPA+7D on toll calls within it) 215, Pennsylvania, 20 May 1991 (7D on toll calls within it) Area code splits known to me: 305/904 Florida, July 1965 703/804 Virginia, June 1973 714/619 California, November 1982 713/409 Texas, March 1983 (full cutover 90 days later) 213/818 California, January 1984 212/718 New York, September 1984 303/719 Colorado, 5 March 1988 305/407 Florida, 16 April 1988 617/508 Massachusetts, 16 July 1988 312/708 Illinois, November 1989 (full cutover 9 February 1990) 202 District of Columbia and vicinity, 1 October 1990 202 area code had been useable for DC proper AND all but the outermost points in Maryland and Virginia suburbs, in areas 301 and 703 respectively. 202 was then withdrawn from the suburbs and restricted to DC proper. This change does not affect the area code for Maryland zipcodes starting with 206,207,208,209 or for Virginia zipcodes starting with 220,221,222,223; but does affect government offices (now including the Pentagon) using zipcodes starting with 200,202,203,204,205 and located in Md. or Va. Prefixes in the Pentagon, which is in Virginia, had been in area 202 (not 703), but in 1990 were moved to area 703. 214/903 Texas, 4 November 1990 (full cutover 4 May 1991) 201/908 New Jersey, 1991 415/510 California, 7 October 1991 (full cutover 27 January 1992) 213/310 California, 1 February 1992 (full cutover 1 May 1992) 212/917 New York, 1992 or 1993? (details not yet available) 714/909 California, 1992 301/410 Maryland, 1992 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 18:21:26 EST From: Jeffri H Frontz Subject: Re: Why Does AT&T Supply ISDN Instead of Local Telco? Organization: Jeff's Telephone & Telegraph, Columbus, Ohio In article <14802@accuvax.nwu.edu>, CAPEK%YKTVMT.BITNET (Peter G. Capek) writes: > 1) Why is AT&T, rather than my LEC, supplying ISDN service? My understanding is that you can save a lot on access charges by bypassing the LEC. > 2) How does AT&T supply ISDN service? Do they get the LEC to provide a > leased line from my premises to one of their 114 #4 ESS'? Or to some > other switch which interfaces to their network in some other way? Now, I'm not in marketing, so I don't know what AT&T actually offers to our customers. I do know that it's technically possible to connect a suitably equipped PBX (or anything else that speaks Q.931, I think) right up to a 4E. I've heard that the customer can either provide the connection to the 4E or can contract with a LEC or whatever they want. Jeff Frontz Work: +1 614 860 2797 AT&T-Bell Labs (CB 1C-356) Cornet: 353-2797 att!jeff.frontz jeff.frontz@att.com ------------------------------ From: "John G. Thompson" Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Date: 19 Nov 90 23:40:50 GMT Reply-To: "John G. Thompson" Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA In article <14702@accuvax.nwu.edu> Tom Neff writes: >ME: What number are you calling from? >TM: Um... urgh... errr... um.... Well have you heard about our blah > blah blah....? In a smiliar vein I had a Pac*Bell TM call me. ME: Hello. TM: May I speak to Mr or Mrs Thompson? ME: Speaking. TM: You recently received some mail from us and I would like to talk to you about the offer. (Something like that.) ME: I'm sorry, but we haven't received anything from Pac*Bell recently You'll have to call us back when we get it. TM: Oh. Thank you. On talking with my wife we did get some add from them weeks ago, which we had promptly thrown out. John G. Thompson Amdahl Corporation jgt10@uts.amdahl.com P.O. Box 3470 MS 340 {sun,uunet}!amdahl!jgt10 #include Sunnyvale, CA 94088 1-408-737-5708 ------------------------------ From: "Adam J. Ashby" Subject: Re: Wanted: Home Phone System Date: 20 Nov 90 14:56:28 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL ->[Moderator's Note: I'm almost certain Rolm has/had a tiny little unit ->which handled one or two outside lines and up to six extensions. I ->think Mitel had something similar also. For my money, the Melco 212 ->was the best deal around with two outside lines and up to twelve ->extensions. PAT] I don't think that Mitel has anything small enough, but they did have a subsidiary (?) company that made small PBXs/Key systems, called Trillium, based in Kanata, Ont. I can't remember what the particular systems were called (I left Mitel in '81 and a lot of brain cells have died since then!), and as far as I can remember, I only ever saw a couple of the systems and never worked with them. Adam Ashby ...!uunet!motcid!ashbya +1 708 632 3876 ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Alternatives to Traditional Multi-Drop 4-Wire Data Lines Date: 20 Nov 90 03:33:10 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <14764@accuvax.nwu.edu>, ac220@cleveland.freenet.edu (Richard Szabo) writes: > What are the alternatives to the following: My shop runs a data > network over multi-drop four-wire leased lines to ~80 branch locations If you have DDS II filed there you should find that you can do the whole thing with digital ckts. Digital multidrop nets are what the bank cash machines and lottery agents all use. x.25 may be viable. There are IBM related issues there that I don't know about, but the LECs are installing x.25 switches (getting ready for x.25 on ISDN) and here in MA, a 9.6kb port into their x.25 switch is about $40/mo. You then need to rent some sort of channel from that CO (may be a few COs away) to you. The typical choices are: DDS II (which may include some DOV class hardware at lower speeds), DOV over an existing dialup phone line, or (yuk) even a four wire analog ckt with a v.29 modem on it. You will pay SOOO much to rent a telco v.29 for the CO end (95/mo here) that this latter one is a silly choice. If you go with DDS, look for NRS (network reconfig service) or any sorts of CO multiplexing that may be offered. The T1 that starts at one end of the state goes to some far point and then gets broken down to 24 DS0s. In NRS, you get to control and reconfigure the CO DACSs remotely. Great for testing and emergency backup site switching. With the CO muxing, they just break it up for you and it sits quite static until you pay to change something. It is possible that NEITHER is available, but ask. Is there a single or a few cable companies that cover all this area? Are many of your sites covered by the same cable headend? Are there any fiber bypass carriers making any headway? If so, the phone company should be getting more creative in providing what you have long needed. ------------------------------ From: Nelson Bolyard Subject: Re: Prodigy Communications Protocol Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 20:01:31 GMT In article <14775@accuvax.nwu.edu> rsm@math.arizona.edu (Robert S. Maier) enquired about the protocol used by Prodigy. I'm not a Prodigy subscriber, but used to work as an engineer in the videotext market. I had an AT&T videotext terminal that was similar to Prodigy in drawing speed, and the way it drew pictures. Videotext in the USA was based on NAPLPS (pronounced nap-lips) the North American Presentation Language Protocol Syntax. 'Twouldn't surprise me a bit to see that AT&T revived that technology for Prodigy. Prodigy strikes me as the ultimate resurrection of videotext in the USA. Maybe TELECOM Digest's readers include someone who still has a copy of the NAPLPS standard and who could take a peek at a Prodigy data stream to see if it looks familiar. Nelson Bolyard nelson@sgi.COM {decwrl,sun}!sgi!whizzer!nelson Disclaimer: Views expressed herein do not represent the views of my employer. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 1990 00:29:00 -0500 From: Mark Brader Subject: Re: ISO's Meaning (was: NSFNet etc.) Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada > The name "ISO" was selected because it "looks right" in a lot of > languages without being an actual acronym for the name of the body in > any language ... And, in addition, the Greek-derived prefix "iso-", as in "isothermal", means "same", which befits a standards body. (Thanks to Anders Berglund for pointing this out to me.) Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 16:54:13 EST From: Juliet Sutherland Subject: Re: Slick-96 Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Other responders have accurately described the SLC*-96 carrier system. Here's some additional information that may be of interest to some. The SLC-96 carrier system was the first commercially successful example of a general type of product known as Digital Loop Carrier (DLC) systems. It was introduced in 1978. I have little to add to previous poster's descriptions of it except to say that Mode I can carry non-switched services as well as switched services and that it does not support the bit compression that causes trouble for modems. AT&T Network Systems introduced the SLC Series 5 carrier system in 1985. It is a 96 line, 5 DS1 (including the protection line) system that performs basically the same functions as the SLC-96 system but serves twice as many lines in the same physical space. It introduced a dual channel unit for support of two-wire designed services and provides much better testing and provisioning of non-switched special services than the SLC-96 system. The SLC Series 5 system also supports fiber distribution (that is, fiber from the remote electronics to at or near the customer's house or business). Although SLC Series 5 systems provide DS1 feeder interfaces (that is, DS1 from the CO to the remote electronics), an appropriately hardened fiber multiplexer, such as the DDM-1000 or DDM-2000, is often installed in the same cabinet or structure to provide fiber feeder. The direct (T2?) fiber interface mentioned by a previous poster is no longer sold. The Low Bit Rate Voice (LBRV) configuration mentioned by another poster as a problem for modems, while available on SLC Series 5 carrier systems, has not been widely deployed and should not be a problem for the original poster. AT&T Network Systems has recently announced its newest DLC product, the SLC-2000 access system. The SLC-2000 access system again doubles the density, serving twice as many lines by volume as the SLC Series 5 system. It provides an integrated SONET OC-3 feeder interface, serves up to 768 customers per system on metallic distribution (more on fiber), provides an integral test head to obviate the need for a DC bypass pair for drop testing, will allow up to 8:1 concentration in the remote electronics (but note that it does NOT do local switching) and incorporates many other new features that are probably of less interest to this group. As a previous poster mentioned, the remote electronics (usually called the Remote Terminal (RT)) can terminate on either a Central Office Terminal (COT) or directly on a digital switch. The SLC-96 interface was documented by Bellcore in TR-TSY-000008 and TR-8 interfaces are now available on a number of switches besides the 5ESS* switch. For those who are interested in such things, Bellcore has published a new RT-switch interface specification, TR-TSY-000303, which provides additional capabilities not supported by TR-8. The most notable differences are support for ISDN BRI (think about how one multiplexes 2B+D, it's not obvious), support for larger RTs (TR-8 allows only 96 line RTs), and the potential for improved operations and maintenance. The SLC Series 5 system, the SLC-2000 access system, and the 5ESS switch will all be providing TR-303 interfaces. Finally, for the diehards that have read this far, Bellcore also specifies functional requirements for universal systems (that is, DLC systems that use a COT rather than terminating directly on a switch, called universal since that arrangement will work with any switch) in TR-TSY-000057. TR-57 does not specify the interface between the RT and COT, which may be proprietary, but does specify such things as transmission, signaling, and environmental requirements. I am a systems engineer for these products and will be glad to answer additional questions. *SLC and ESS are registered trademarks of AT&T Network Systems. Juliet Sutherland AT&T Bell Laboratories Whippany, NJ juliet@mhuxo.att.com ------------------------------ From: Jeff Carroll Subject: Re: A Zero Length Phone Number! Date: 21 Nov 90 06:21:15 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle In article <14511@accuvax.nwu.edu> fisher@minster.york.ac.uk writes: >A pedant could claim that the Vatican City State has even shorter >telephone numbers - viz. zero digits long. The country code is +39 >66982, and the "country" has only one telephone number, which is: . I've been to St. Peter's (just last summer, in fact), and although I don't explicitly remember, I refuse to believe that there's only one phone in the whole place. What am I failing to understand? Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com [Moderator's Note: It is not as though there 'is only one phone in the whole place'. What we have here is a situation where an institution, i.e. the Vatican, has a main listed telephone number on the Rome, Italy phone exchange. Due to the politics involved, the Vatican is considered a separate country, or nation; a place independent of Rome. They are not independent of the local telco, except on paper! So their phone number (the main listed one) becomes simultaneously their country and city code, in order to standardize the Vatican with every other 'country' in the world. They have a PBX-style system with operators on duty to handle the traffic arriving at their combination phone number/country-city code. They have many, many actual phone instruments connected to their internal PBX. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #837 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa19493; 21 Nov 90 7:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa20911; 20 Nov 90 13:11 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa18921; 20 Nov 90 12:06 CST Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 11:34:03 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs Subject: Telecom Archives - Winter, 1990 Index BCC: Message-ID: <9011201134.ab10897@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> Dear Readers of TELECOM Digest / comp.dcom.telecom: Here is an up to date index of the Telecom Archives files, including the various sub-directories within the main directory. This file is up to date as of November 20, 1990. Bear in mind that the 'telecom-recent' file increases daily as each issue of the Digest is forwarded there. After fifty issues of the Digest have been collected, then 'telecom-recent' is flushed and the contents go to the appropriatly labeled file in the archives. The two main methods of accessing Telecom Archives are by ftp and mail. Consult previous documentation for the use of each. In summary, the addresses are: ftp lcs.mit.edu login anonymous, etc then cd telecom-archives bitftp@pucc.bitnet / or / bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu This file is not intended as a tutorial on how to use/access the Archives, but merely to as an updated index to the contents, since there have been many changes in recent weeks. And in the process of updating things, here is an up-to-date list of addresses used to reach Telecom Digest: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (for submissions) telecom@nuacc.bitnet (for submissions from Bitnet) telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu (for other requests, info) ptownson@cs.bu.edu (an alternate if needed) ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu (personal to moderator) ptownson@gaak.lcs.mit.edu (archive administration only!) 0002224956@mcimail.com (also) ptownson@attmail.com For printed items sent by US Mail: Telecom Digest, PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 Voicemail: 708-518-6335 enter '1' when requested. ---------Index to Main Archives Files---------- total 29692 drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 4608 Nov 20 11:28 ./ drwxrwxr-x 22 root wheel 512 Oct 20 12:45 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 500 Sep 8 23:46 1981.intro.to.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 94430 Sep 8 23:41 1981.vol1.iss004-020 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 33063 Jan 20 1990 1982.vol2.iss001-003 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 382277 Jan 14 1990 1982.vol2.iss089-141 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 191518 Jan 20 1990 1983.vol3.iss001-021 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 63880 Jan 14 1990 1983.vol3.iss083-095 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16811 Jan 15 1990 1984.vol4.iss001-002 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 121389 Jan 15 1990 1984.vol4.iss076-093 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 180604 Jan 20 1990 1985.vol4.iss155-184 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 658 Jan 27 1990 1985.vol5.READ-ME-FIRST -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 623292 Jan 27 1990 1985.vol5.iss001-076 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 861286 Jan 27 1990 1986.vol5.iss077-161 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 639112 Jan 26 1990 1987.vol6.most.issues -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 274580 Jan 20 1990 1987.vol7.complete.set -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21596 Jan 20 1990 1987.vol8.iss003-004 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 137265 Jan 20 1990 1988.vol8.iss070-083 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 724832 Aug 1 1989 1988.vol8.iss140-189 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 227589 Aug 1 1989 1988.vol8.iss190-213 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 577173 Jan 15 1990 1989.vol9.iss001-049 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 564262 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss050-100 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 653097 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss101-150 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 637611 Jan 15 1990 1989.vol9.iss151-200 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 744800 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss201-250 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 787166 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss251-300 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 805328 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss301-350 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 780366 Jan 15 1990 1989.vol9.iss351-400 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 784366 Jan 15 1990 1989.vol9.iss401-450 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 758330 Jan 15 1990 1989.vol9.iss451-500 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 794183 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss501-550 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 856691 Jan 14 1990 1989.vol9.iss551-603 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 861272 Jan 28 1990 1990.vol10.iss001-050 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 820574 Feb 14 1990 1990.vol10.iss051-100 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 842877 Mar 8 1990 1990.vol10.iss101-150 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 855090 Mar 24 1990 1990.vol10.iss151-200 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 853551 Apr 13 1990 1990.vol10.iss201-250 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 908585 May 1 1990 1990.vol10.iss251-300 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 873608 May 16 1990 1990.vol10.iss301-350 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 858605 May 31 20:13 1990.vol10.iss351-400 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 919538 Jun 23 14:09 1990.vol10.iss401-450 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 885056 Jul 20 22:22 1990.vol10.iss451-500 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 863414 Aug 8 23:06 1990.vol10.iss501-550 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 886042 Aug 29 00:59 1990.vol10.iss551-600 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 974899 Sep 17 01:25 1990.vol10.iss601-650 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 870218 Oct 1 01:51 1990.vol10.iss651-700 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 868902 Oct 22 02:49 1990.vol10.iss701-750 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 902018 Nov 10 16:03 1990.vol10.iss751-800 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 953 Jan 31 1990 READ.ME.FIRST -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 25799 Sep 12 19:47 abernathy.internet.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68224 Nov 20 10:26 aos-rules.procedures -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18238 Nov 9 03:37 area.214-903.split -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21264 Apr 14 1990 area.code.script.new -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32645 May 31 20:36 areacode.guide -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 8147 Aug 1 1989 areacode.program.in.c -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 474 Feb 11 1990 att.service.outage.1-90 -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 18937 Aug 1 1989 auto.coin.collection -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4788 Jun 10 09:18 books.about.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21702 Nov 20 10:24 braux.bill.call.blocking -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 61504 Jul 30 01:56 caller-id-legal-decision -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17016 Aug 5 08:07 cellular.phones-iridium -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 15141 Aug 1 1989 cellular.sieve -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 298 May 31 20:37 cellular.west.germany -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16292 Mar 18 1990 class.ss7.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15023 Sep 30 18:35 cocot-in-violation-label -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38981 Oct 12 00:09 cocot.complaint.sticker -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70477 Sep 5 22:02 computer.bbs.and.the.law -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 23944 Aug 1 1989 computer.state -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9150 Jan 31 1990 country.code.list -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11370 Feb 9 1990 country.codes.revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11267 Feb 25 1990 cpid-ani.developments -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 436 Feb 23 1990 deaf.communicate.on.tdd -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15877 Sep 1 21:14 dial.tone.monopoly -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28296 Sep 29 18:34 dialup.access.in.uk -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39319 Aug 1 1989 docket.87-215 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16367 Sep 1 21:20 e-series.recommendations -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3422 Jan 20 1990 early.digital.ESS -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 1 1989 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 4 18:58 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39956 Jul 14 23:40 electronic.frontier -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20660 Sep 5 22:02 email.privacy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 enterprise-funny-numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19836 Nov 20 10:32 fax.products.for.pc -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 33239 Aug 1 1989 fcc.policy -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 19378 Aug 1 1989 fcc.threat -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 484 Jan 14 1990 fcc.vrs.aos-ruling -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9052 Aug 1 1989 find.pair -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 47203 Aug 1 1989 fire.in.chgo.5-88 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1998 Jan 27 1990 fire.in.st-louis.1-90 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 377 Jan 27 1990 fires.elsewhere.in.past -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1247 Feb 10 1990 first.issue.cover -rw-rw-r-- 1 map telecom 52618 Nov 17 14:32 glossary.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 42188 Jan 14 1990 glossary.phrack.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67113 Jan 14 1990 glossary.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68804 Feb 2 1990 hi.perf.computing.net -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2337 Jan 27 1990 history.of.digest -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32625 Mar 29 1990 how.numbers.are.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12896 Nov 20 10:30 isdn.pc.adapter-hayes -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4816 Aug 1 1989 lauren.song -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 801 Aug 1 1989 ldisc.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2271 Aug 1 1989 ldnotes.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 13675 Aug 1 1989 ldrates.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12260 Jan 20 1990 london.ac.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12069 Mar 5 1990 london.codes.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15604 Aug 1 1989 mass.lines -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 463 Aug 1 1989 measured-service drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Sep 5 22:23 minitel.info/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 36641 Aug 1 1989 mnp.protocol -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2450 Jan 20 1990 modems.and.call-waiting -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 7597 Feb 10 1990 named.exchanges -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16590 Oct 21 09:47 net.mail.guide -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3014 Jan 27 1990 newuser.letter -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32815 Mar 25 1990 nine.hundred.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45467 Nov 20 10:29 npa.800-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13779 Sep 19 20:13 npa.800.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 33440 May 12 1990 npa.809.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15488 Nov 20 10:28 npa.900-carriers.assigned drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Nov 20 11:26 npa.exchange.list-canada/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16534 Feb 11 1990 nsa.original.charter-1952 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9886 Jan 23 1990 occ.10xxx.access.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8593 May 5 1990 occ.10xxx.notes.updates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14354 Aug 12 14:10 octothorpe.gets.its.name -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 old.fashioned.coinphones -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2756 Jan 27 1990 old.hello.msg drwxrwxr-x 2 jsol telecom 512 Sep 8 23:41 oldarc/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70153 Aug 1 1989 pc.pursuit -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 5492 Aug 1 1989 pearl.harbor.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38772 Aug 1 1989 pizza.auto.nmbr.id -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17950 Jan 14 1990 rotenberg.privacy.speech -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9764 Jan 20 1990 starline.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 46738 Jan 18 1990 starlink.vrs.pcp -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 103069 Apr 26 1990 sysops.libel.liability -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3857 Aug 1 1989 tat-8.fiber.optic -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27533 Feb 9 1990 telco.name.list.formatted -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31487 Jan 28 1990 telco.name.listing -rw-rw-r-- 1 ptownson telecom 593421 Nov 20 10:20 telecom-recent drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Nov 20 10:52 telecom.security.issues/ -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 11752 Aug 1 1989 telstar.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 26614 May 29 00:15 unitel-canada.ld.service -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 116 Oct 22 02:44 white.pages -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37947 Aug 1 1989 wire-it-yourself -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4101 Aug 1 1989 wiring.diagram -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24541 Aug 1 1989 zum.debate --------Index to Security Files----------- total 586 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Nov 20 11:39 ./ drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 4608 Nov 20 11:28 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13343 Feb 25 1990 computer.fraud.abuse.act -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27395 Jun 23 20:52 craig.neidorf.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9354 Jul 30 02:18 craig.not.guilty -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67190 Jun 23 20:53 crime.and.puzzlement -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 12 14:29 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 12 14:32 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28935 May 19 1990 jolnet-2600.magazine.art -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30751 Mar 7 1990 jolnet-attctc.crackers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43365 Jan 28 1990 kevin.polsen -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35612 Apr 1 1990 legion.of.doom -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20703 Aug 12 16:16 len.rose.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67099 Nov 4 01:11 telecom.usa.call.block-1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31995 Nov 20 10:34 telecom.usa.call.block-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10833 Nov 20 10:23 telecom.usa.call.block-3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14821 Sep 12 19:19 war.on.computer.crime ------Index to Canadian NPA Files------- total 228 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Nov 20 11:39 ./ drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 4608 Nov 20 11:28 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1351 Feb 4 1990 introduction-canada.lists -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15019 Apr 22 1990 npa.204.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14708 Apr 22 1990 npa.306.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17978 Apr 14 1990 npa.403.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15907 Jul 20 22:31 npa.416.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15592 Feb 3 1990 npa.418.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10441 May 26 08:17 npa.506.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11647 Feb 2 1990 npa.514.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13538 Sep 12 18:55 npa.519.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16701 Jul 20 22:32 npa.604.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12444 Mar 29 1990 npa.613.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12016 Feb 2 1990 npa.705.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12899 May 3 1990 npa.709.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5566 Feb 7 1990 npa.800.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10479 May 5 1990 npa.807.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15645 Feb 3 1990 npa.819.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12839 Mar 29 1990 npa.902.exchanges-canada -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1762 Apr 11 1990 updates.to.above.files --------Index to Minitel Files------- total 241 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Nov 20 11:41 ./ drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 4608 Nov 20 11:42 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11736 Apr 22 1990 dial-up.numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 95917 Apr 22 1990 minitel.tar.Z.uu1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 94305 Apr 22 1990 minitel.tar.Z.uu2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 22688 Apr 22 1990 minitel.tar.Z.uu3 I will issue these indexes from time to time when there are significant changes in the contents. Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Moderator Usenet gateway manager: comp.dcom.telecom November 20, 1990   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15386; 22 Nov 90 11:31 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa13524; 22 Nov 90 9:53 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa30161; 22 Nov 90 8:48 CST Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 7:58:06 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #838 BCC: Message-ID: <9011220758.ac03226@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Nov 90 07:57:42 CST Volume 10 : Issue 838 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Multiple Private Conference Bridges [John Boteler] AT&T Mail Info and Questions [Nelson Bolyard] Anyone Know of Any Chipsets For Mu-Law Digitation [Mark David Fisher] NZ Phone Numbers [David Barts] Looking For Mid-Size KSU/PBX [Daniel M. Rosenberg] Help Needed - More Phone Lines / More Phones [Jim Youll] AA/TDMA Protocol [Juan Gabriel Ruiz Pinto] Lower Hotel Charges [Patricia O'connor] Intelsat vs. Intersputnik [Hank Nussbacher] Baltic States and Telecommunications [Hank Nussbacher] Who Owns 'The Phone Book'? [Jack Winslade] 416 Area Code [Kirk Moir] Mexican Phone Company [Douglas W. Martin] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Multiple Private Conference Bridges Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 20:04:11 EST From: John Boteler Can anyone suggest a clean way to provide multiple private conference paths (other than Renegade C's, please). A big, fat crosspoint switch matrix sounds nice, but it aint cheap and it would require additional components to make a useable system. How about one of the multitude of PBXs out there? It must provide loop interrupt signalling back to the conferencing parties to indicate that the other party has hung up. Replies via (in order of preference): 1 email 2 list John Boteler bote@csense {uunet | ka3ovk}!media!csense!bote SkinnyDipper's Hotline: 703 241 BARE | VOICE only, Touch-Tone(TM) signalling ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 11:45:38 PST From: Nelson Bolyard Subject: AT&T Mail Info and Questions In Volume 10, issue 821, I asked about AT&T's ACCESS program. Our Moderator tacked the following onto my posting: >[Moderator's Note: You do *not* need those programs to use ATT Mail! I >use one of my terminals and the printer attached to it and get along >just fine. Some time ago, they tried to tell me I needed a PC to use >the mail. Whether or not the program you describe, at the price >offered is worthwhile or not is a judgment you need to make. PAT] In Volume 10, Issue 832 ehopper@ehpcb.wlk.com (Ed Hopper) wrote: >Messages created with ACCESS or sent via UUCP from a UNIX box do not >have message creation charges associated with them. Messages entered >online do have such charges. Unfortunately, messages edited offline >and sent up via XModem from Procomm, etc. also have "creation" >charges. So while one may not absolutely NEED their "ACCESS" program to be able to communicate, it seems that without ACCESS (or UUCP), the costs of sending e-mail are increased by about 50%, due to their "online message creation" charges. When these "creation" charges are figured in, MCI Mail suddenly seems much more cost-effective. By eliminating the 40 cent creation charges, the $150 ACCESS program would pay for itself after 375 messages. Today, an AT&T Mail Customer Assistance Center techincal representative dropped this bombshell on me: He is NOT PERMITTED to tell me ANYTHING about how to use their Internet mail gateway because it's not "official" yet. He didn't think it was working yet. When confronted with the news that there are people who use it regularly to communciate with the internet, his response was that I should reply to a message from one of those people and ask them how they do it. Astounding! If you want to know how to use AT&T Mail, you're better off asking their customers, not their Customer Assistance reps? So with no alternative left, I ask Pat and any other AT&T Mail users in telecom land, the following questions: 1. How do you, as an AT&T Mail user, address mail to someone on the Internet. How would you address mail to me, nelson@sgi.com, for example? 2. How do I (an Internet mail user) address mail to you, an AT&T Mail user? I invite you to send me some e-mail from your AT&T Mail account. I should be able to figure out the reply address from the mail I receive. Nelson Bolyard MTS Secure IRIX Silicon Graphics, Inc. nelson@sgi.COM {decwrl,sun}!sgi!whizzer!nelson 415-335-1919 Disclaimer: Views expressed herein do not represent the views of my employer. [Moderator's Note: In answer to both your questions, I won't tell you. I was given permission to use the gateway to ATT Mail during the beta test stage under the condition that I not discuss it in detail in the Digest. I am permitted to add names to the list from ATT Mail however, and the folks who have received mail know how it is done. Furthermore, there is a help file on ATT Mail which discusses the topic. I hope the people who gave me permission to use it will soon okay a formal discussion of it including examples, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: "FISHER,MARK DAVID" Subject: Anyone Know of Any Chipsets For Mu-Law Digitation. Date: 20 Nov 90 21:29:05 GMT Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Hi, I am thinking about designing/building a seven second delay for our campus radio station. I plan to run the phone line through an A/D converter store the bits in RAM and read "old" bits back out through a D/A converter. I've been told that several manufacturers make chip sets to do mu-law conversion. I would be appreciative for any leads as to manufacturer/chip numbers and any companies that would sell them in single unit quantitys. Thank you, Mark D. Fisher Assistant Engineer WREK-FM, Atlanta ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 09:22:51 pst From: David Barts Subject: NZ Phone Numbers patrick@sideways.gen.nz (Pat Cain) writes: > * Telecom begin to convert the whole country's telephone numbering system > Five single digit area codes with all telephone numbers > being seven digits. ^^^^^ > Patrick Cain )) Voice: +64 4 698330 (GMT+12) ^^^^^^ So which it it? Six or seven? Or is Wellington a special case? David Barts Pacer Corporation, Bothell, WA davidb@pacer.uucp ...!uunet!pilchuck!pacer!davidb ------------------------------ From: "Daniel M. Rosenberg" Subject: Looking For Mid-Size KSU/PBX Date: 20 Nov 90 22:44:28 GMT Organization: World Otherness Ministries I work for a college radio station (KZSU FM 90.1 for you Bay Area folks) which currently has it's very own SxS 1930's vintage stepper PBX with a couple of Touch Tone adapters. It has around 25 extensions, and seven (ground start) trunks. While it's still working okay, it is kinda big and clunky (audibly), and we're wondering what sorts of PBX's or KSU's are out there that can handle this -- and where I can get the spec sheets. Features we need: o lots of off premise extensions, several up to three kilometers away (at our transmitter site). o a way to interface easily to our patch bay for calls taken over the air (like call-in talk shows, sports broadcasts, and whatnot). This is easy enough to cobble up on our POTS 1A2 system, but are there any devices like Panasonic 616/1232's which send normal tip and ring, only larger? Thanks for any hints. # Daniel M. Rosenberg // Stanford CSLI // Chew my opinions, not Stanford's. # dmr@csli.stanford.edu // decwrl!csli!dmr // dmr%csli@stanford.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Jim Youll Subject: Help Needed - More Phone Lines / More Phones Date: 21 Nov 90 03:20:43 GMT Reply-To: Jim Youll Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. All this talk about "small" PBXs has got my interest. I have two lines in my business and plain ol' two line phones on them. This is okay, but not great. I want my modem to be able to dial out on any available line - not just the one it's hard wired to. And I'd like to get some of those other nifty features I used to do on the phones at work. Call transfer. Real Hold (tm). Possibly some tracking or billback for calls related to a specific client. etc. And I'm REAL tired of the phone company telling me what my phones will and will not do. Also, I'll probably be adding a third line soon, and don't want to drop the cash for "three line" stupid phones when I need more sophistication than that. What's involved in this? What does the local telco provide me and what does the on-premise equipment do here? Any cost figures? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Juan Gabriel Ruiz Pinto Subject: AA/TDMA Protocol Date: 21 Nov 90 05:32:24 GMT Organization: Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey I'm working on a simulation about a satellite network, the project works with some NEC equipment, I have some information about the protocol the use, AA/TDMA (Adaptive Assigment/Time Division Multiple Access), but it isn't so much technical. I need more details about the protocol. Any body have an idea about how to obtain it? or somebody has experience with that kind of protocol? I'll appreciate your help ... thanks! ***** Greetings from Mexico! ***** Juan Gabriel Ruiz Pinto Internet: Ing. Sistemas Electronicos jgabriel@mtecv2.mty.itesm.mx I.T.E.S.M. Campus Monterrey ------------------------------ From: hoptoad!f555.n161.z1.FIDONET.ORG!Patricia.O'connor Subject: Lower Hotel Charges Date: 19 Nov 90 02:36:46 GMT Organization: FidoNet node 1:161/555 - MacCircles, Pleasanton CA I recently read a tip on saving multiple charges on outgoing AT&T credit card calls from hotel rooms. I haven't verified the info, but here it is: When you complete the first call and the other party has hung up, press the # key on the push button telephone to place your next call. This eliminate the hotel charge you would receive if you hung up and began dialing a second credit card call. Your card number is stored. You will be prompted with, "You may dial another AT&T-handled call." You are only charged for one access by the hotel. Patricia O'connor - via FidoNet node 1:125/777 UUCP: ...!uunet!hoptoad!fidogate!161!555!Patricia.O'connor INTERNET: Patricia.O'connor@f555.n161.z1.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 09:40:11 O From: Hank Nussbacher Subject: Intelsat vs. Intersputnik The two major satellite companies are Intelsat and Intersputnik. Intersat is owned by 119 countries whereas Intersputnik is owned by 21 countries (Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, East Germany, Cuba, Afganistan, Vietnam, Yemen, etc.) Recently there has been discussion of combining the two companies in order to achieve better use of the spectrum, unified global access, and ease of access for Russia to access Western databases. The expectations are that even before the end of 1990 the merger will take place. The major stumbling block is the cost of membership and having to pay in hard currency. In August, Russia joined Intelsat at a cost of $750,000. Previously in May, Poland and Hungary joined Intelsat. Hank Nussbacher Israel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 09:40:59 O From: Hank Nussbacher Subject: Baltic States and Telecommunications Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have started to move their tele- communications industry. They are starting the reopening of two undersea cables that were laid pre-WWII that went from the Baltic states to Scandanavia. In addition, they have requested from the ITU their own international country prefixes for international dialing. Hank Nussbacher Israel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 00:40:00 EST From: Jack Winslade Subject: Who Owns 'The Phone Book'? Reply-to: Jack.Winslade@p0.f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha, Ne. 402-896-3537 American Business Information, Inc., formerly American Business Lists, is an Omaha-area firm which compiles and distributes lists of businesses -- by type of business, by area, you name it, they've got it. Their primary source of information: The phone book. According to the {Omaha World-Herald}, 'A question over who owns the list of names and phone numbers in telephone books has prompted BellSouth Corp., a regional telephone company, to sue a Ralston (NE) firm for copyright infringement. BellSouth, which is based in Atlanta, filed a similar suit against Donnelly Marketing ...' 'American Business (Information) reacted to BellSouth's action by filing an antitrust lawsuit against the phone company, alleging it is attempting to monopolize directory data.' '"If it's copyrighted material, (ABI CEO, Vinod) Gupta asked, why did the telephone company wait until now to prevent its use by the list- making industry, which has been in existence for more than 30 years?"' 'This is the second time (they) have been challenged by a regional telephone company. Southwestern Bell ... filed a similar lawsuit in 1984 shortly after the divestiture ... (which) was settled out of court in 1985 with ABI entering into a licensing agreement with the telephone company ...' 'Gupta ... said the list-making industry had a good working relationship with AT&T and its subsidiaries prior to the divestiture. The phone company purchased and promoted its products, he said.' The article goes on to say that the case is not yet scheduled for trial. As a sidebar here (and this is me, JSW talking, not the {WH}), back in the early 1970's, through a business dealing, a close relative of mine became part owner of a publishing/printing concern whose 'slack-time' activities included compiling and printing 'alternative' telephone books for small towns in the Midwest. (Think of three states that begin with the letter 'I'.) The bucks, of course, came from hiring a bunch of flashy salescritters to cruise the two-lane highways selling 'discount' yellow-pages ads. However, they included the white pages, which they admittedly copied from the 'real' Phone Book . Everyone knows that the Phone Company puts 'ringers' in their white page listings in order to substantiate potential copyright claims. The way they got around this was to hire a couple of local people from each community (or give 'em a freebee display ad) to go through the few pages of white-page listings and red-line any listings that did not correspond to living, breathing, bodies. This wasn't too difficult for most places, since more than ten white pages was considered a major metropolitan area. ;-) I remember one of their legal 'experts' stating that if they introduced even one 'ringer' of their own, it would help in their defense, even if one of the Phone Company's ringers should accidentally slip through. That business was liquidated quickly. (Just some related trivia for you.) Good day! JSW [1:285/666@fidonet] DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha (1:285/666) --- Through FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 Jack.Winslade@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: Kirk Moir Subject: 416 Area Code Questions Date: 19 Nov 90 23:33:09 GMT Reply-To: Kirk Moir Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd. Could someone explain why Bell Canada in Ontario has decided to "break the rules" with respect to area code/prefix syntax. For example, 604 is a valid NNX in Toronto! Thanks and apologies if this question has already been addressed. Kirk Moir Voice: (604) 293-5375 MPR Teltech Ltd. FAX: (604) 293-5787 8999 Nelson Way Internet: moir@mprgate.mpr.ca Burnaby, B.C. CANADA V5A 4B5 (134.87.131.13) [Moderator's Note: I suspect they are simply following the trend of their US counterparts. We have lots of 'area code look-a-like' prefixes here these days. Especially Chicago ... I have two cell phones in the 312 area: the prefix on one is 415; the other is 504. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 16:29:52 PST From: "Douglas W. Martin" Subject: Last Laugh! Mexican Phone Company (Overheard) "No Lulu, 'Taco Bell' is not a Mexican phone company..." Moderator's Note: So go to Taco Bell and have a nice Thanksgiving dinner, one and all! I'm going to the buffet at the Knickerbocker Hotel with friends. See you all again later tonight. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #838 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25363; 22 Nov 90 23:34 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa21701; 22 Nov 90 21:58 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa28819; 22 Nov 90 20:54 CST Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 20:41:58 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #839 BCC: Message-ID: <9011222041.ab21748@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Nov 90 20:41:42 CST Volume 10 : Issue 839 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson 10Base-T and Centrex In The Same Sheath -- Responses [Gene N. Cartier] Re: New 410 Code for MD [Andy Jacobson] Re: New 410 Code for MD [David Tamkin] Re: Roam Charges [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: IDG Hackers [Bob Izenberg] Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN [ticnj!hutch@tsdiag.ocpt.ccur.com] Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support [Rick Jones] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 09:02:47 MST From: "Gene N. Cartier" Subject: 10Base-T and Centrex In The Same Sheath -- Responses Last week I posted an inquiry to the net and asked about experiences in running 10Base-T in the same sheath as telco wiring. I was particularly worried about "punching holes" in data caused by ringing voltages. I didn't get as many responses as I had hoped, but attached are some of the more interesting ones. The general consensus seemed to be "Don't worry, but be careful." Listed below are some of the responses: >>Some respondents stated that there are products on >>the market that solve the problem. I tend to think that this >>is creative marketing >Cabletron has a 10base-T product they claim will not effect or be effected >by running in the same sheath as telco wiring. I'm on the verge of trying >this, so if you hear otherwise, I'd appreciate an update. > > Steven Cook > UC Santa Barbara >I recently talked with our local BOC rep and Northern-Telecom >about their LANSTAR system. The selling point was the ability to run >2.56 Mbits on existing telco cable using the (typically unused) >two twisted pair of the three usually found ... my real advice: >test, test, test ... good luck! > > Lindsay Reed >>Other respondents say that they are running without any problems >>in the same type of environment. >In our office, we have the type of setup that you are >considering: six-conductor cable (three pairs) with voice on one >(Centrex service, AT&T STARPLUS phones), and 10BASET on one >(we use Ungermann-Bass NET/ONE boxes). It seems to work okay; there >is no noticeable crosstalk, and I've never seen any data dropouts >caused by phone ringing or anything else. The phone ring is at such >a low frequency compared to the data rate of the 10BASET that it >probably looks to them like just a DC offset, and they just filter >that out. In some places we run Appletalk (120 kbps) on the third >pair (using PhoneNet matching transformers) and that seems to work >okay too. > >I'll have to admit I'm a bit surprised; I'm one of those people >who didn't think Ethernet on UTP would ever work at all. I thought >for sure that there would be all kinds of crosstalk problems. I've >finally learned the lesson that my father tried to teach me: (never >underestimate analog EE weenies). > >One thing that you might to watch out for: it may be that voice and >data in the same cable is one thing, and two data pairs in the same >cable are quite another. I have seen an installation where RS232 >was run through Belden 24-conductor cable, and that was crosstalk >city, especially on long runs. A similar installation using >individually-shielded pairs worked quite well, however. > > David Cornutt > New Technology Inc, Huntsville AL >I work at Northern Telecom Information Systems, and we run EVERYTHING >over twisted pairs. We run an eight-pair cable to each office, then >patch in whatever we need, including voice (Centrex), data lines (POTS), >Appletalk, Ethernet (802.3 from Synoptics), RS-232, and balanced 3270 >lines. All of it works fine, with no interference. Just make sure you >use cable with a high twist-per-foot count to avoid EMI problems. > > Heath Roberts > NCSU Computing Center >Running 10BaseT and voice in the same sheath is no problem, PROVIDED THAT >THE PAIRS ARE TWISTED. In our new business building at Andrews University >they ran six pair to every office from a couple of closets, then four >25-pair cables to each closet from the mechanical service room. The >pairs were twisted in the 25-pair stuff, but not in the 6-pair. >10BaseT "must" run on "twisted pair"!! After we had purchased the >10BaseT equipment we discovered that it wouldn't run from the janitor's >closet to the offices. So we ended up running wire to each office any- >way, destroying any cost savings of 10BaseT. >Moral: Verify that the wiring TO THE OFFICES is TWISTED pair. If not, you >will be running new wiring even for 10BaseT. I know from sad experience >that not all 6-pair cable has each pair individually twisted. > > Bill Nickless The bottom line is that I will run some tests to ensure that the CENTREX ringing doesn't effect the data and produce cross talk and maybe and run a prototype to ensure that we don't spend money needlessly. I'm still sort of queasy, but if its working in so many places maybe my fears are unfounded. Thanks to the people that responded. Gene Cartier SRA@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 06:00 PST From: Andy Jacobson Subject: Re: New 410 Code for MD In V. 10 #833"John R. Covert" writes: >Additional info on 410: It will go into service on 1 November 1991 and >remain permissive until 1 November 1992. >Bell Atlantic claims that it will be the first N10 area code (although >both 310 and 510 have been announced, they may not go into service as >soon as 410). Pac*Bell says, (and to correct slightly Carl Moore's excellent area code history in V. 10 #837): 510 goes into effect September 2, 1991, and 310 goes on line Nov. 2,1991, so Bell Atlantic's a bit off on their claim. I'm wondering though exactly where the border between 301 and 410 will be. Will BWI be included? Also, in reference to "Bob Goudreau"'s question (V10 #833) about large metro areas switching codes, San Diego got the burn when 619 was carved out of 714. It was certainly much bigger than any of the suburbs in Orange County that got to keep the old code. Maybe Orange County has more political clout. A. Jacobson ------------------------------ From: David Tamkin Subject: Re: New 410 Code for MD Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 9:51:15 CST Carl Moore wrote in volume 10, issue 836: | It will be interesting to see what's done in the Laurel and Annapolis | areas. Along with the "default" exchanges (which you would find on | pay phones in those areas), they have pseudo-foreign exchanges | providing metro service for both DC and Baltimore areas. It reminds | me of the Los Angeles foreign exchanges (which stayed in area 213 at | the 213/818 split) used in places like Burbank and Pasadena, whose | other exchanges were put in 818. When 708 was split from 312, the pseudo-Chicago prefixes in the Evanston (BRoadway 3), Cicero (BIshop 2), and Elk Grove (part of 569) central offices remained in 312, even though they are used only in the suburbs. After all, their purpose is to provide Chicago service out there, and that includes seven-digit dialing to and from Chicago. For billing of individual incoming or outgoing calls, they are treated as Rogers Park, Austin, and Newcastle respectively. (For calls charged by rate center rather than by district office, 242 is treated as part of Lafayette.) I imagine that Annapolis's DC-metro service will stay in 301 (unless it has already stayed in 202!) and Laurel's Baltimore-metro service will go into 410. Someone else asked whether the 301/410 split is the first time that the major city in an NPA has received the new code instead of retaining the old one. I think that's rather a subjective call: when 619 split from 714, no doubt more phones and more people stayed in 714 but the single largest city involved was probably San Diego, which went into 619. Conversely, when 708 split from 312, more people and more lines changed area codes but the single largest city kept the original code. Who's to say which city is the most important in an area code (other than single-city NPA's like 202 and 312)? I think two changes in such rapid succession in the way to dial from DC to its Maryland suburbs would have been too much for the minds of our civil servants and way too much for the minds of our elected officials. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com ------------------------------ Date: 21-NOV-1990 02:40:17.98 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: Roam Charges Hi- In response to one of my postings on why roam charges are unfair, etc., Jeff Wasilko was nice enough to respond to me, and stated that in some cases, such as Follow Me Roaming type set-ups, it was necessary to create a number for a roamer on the system which s/he was roaming on, and that I was paying for the costs associated with this, etc. I responded to this (below) and then Jeff mentioned a few more details about roamer billing which I thought were quite interesting: From: jjwcmp@ultb.isc.rit.edu Subject: Re: Roaming To: DREUBEN@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU [my summarized response to Jeff's first letter, below] } Hi- } } Yeah, that's true, but it is only true for "Follow-Me" type roaming systems, } IF you even use Follow Me roaming. } } So if you are on GTE Mobilnet, right, and then go to let's say NYC, (where } there is no Follow Me Roaming for some reason), you will still get socked } with a $3 (or more?) daily roam charge. } } And on the "A" systems that don't have "Roam America" (or whatever), you } also get ridiculously high charges (I think Albany/A/Cell One? is $4 } per day for me, $.90 cents per minute!), and in both the NYNEX example and } this one callers dial you via the roam port, which doesn't assign you a } number in their system, just pages your foriegn number. I forgot about that ... It has been awhile. BTW, I used to be a rep for the Albany Cell One (they did the customer service in Rochester, and had sales and switch personnel in Albany). The other reason I can think of for the charge is the cost of getting the roaming bill back to the home city). Each cellular company contracts with a 'clearinghouse' to handle this. The same company usually handles the follow-me type roaming. Most wireline companies use GTE's GTEDS database/clearinghouse, while most non-wireline companies use Appex-Lunyach's system. I'm assuming that the companies charge a per day /per user charge to get the calls back to the home system (GTE and Appex work together to exhange tapes when a wireline customer roams to a non-wireline system, or vice versa). The other thing to consider is that the celluar industry places a time-limit on getting calls back to the home carrier. It used to be three months, but I seem to remember it going to 60 days right before I left. So if there are problems, and the tapes get delayed, the company where the customer roamed gets stuck with the bill (and after 60 days, there is no way to collect it). Jeff Wasilko ----------------- Does anyone have an idea of what these billing systems REALLY cost? IE, is it really $3 per day to handle roamer billing? I realize that there is a cost associated with this, but $3 seems a bit high...! Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: The devil himself Subject: Re: IDG Hackers Date: 21 Nov 90 19:04:05 GMT Reply-To: balkan!dogface!bei@cs.utexas.edu > A missing poster from a Gamepro subscription, a video-game monthly > magazine, prompted two Staten Island, N.Y., teen-age brothers to break > into the telephone mail system at International Data Group's > Peterborough, N.H., office - where Gamepro is published - and cause > $2.4 million worth of damage. I wonder how likely that figure is to shrink under the gaze of a competent defense lawyer ... No, I'm not sticking up for the two miscreants. The spectre of BellSouth looms large whenever monetary damage is discussed, however. Bob Izenberg (512) 346 7019 [ ] cs.utexas.edu!{kvue,balkan}!dogface!bei [Moderator's Note: Suppose the damage was only $24,000; or $240, or $24. Then what? PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Request Info Sources About ISDN From: ticnj!hutch@tsdiag.ocpt.ccur.com Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 11:38:25 GMT arnold%audiofax.com@mathcs.emory.edu (Arnold Robbins) writes: > >In article <14447@accuvax.nwu.edu> holos0!wdh@gatech.edu (Weaver > >Hickerson) writes: > >>I'm interested in finding what types, if any, of AT bus hardware is > >>available/in the works for ISDN, as well as simply learning more about > >>the service. > >At SuperComm '90 this past spring, AT&T had a huge "booth". One of > >the things they showed was an ISDN card for the AT bus. So, I know it > >exists. > I remember seeing on Hayes (the modem people) 800 BBS an announcement > for their new ISDN Card. It was going to have full "narrowband" > (read: present 'standard') ISDN compatibility, and should have been > introduced by now. I believe the number to Hayes' BBS is (was?) > 800-US-HAYES. Perhaps someone from Hayes reads this and will comment > on a confirmation, price, etc. As far as I know there are several AT products available. I know about the following AT-BRI cards: 1) AT&T PC/ISDN Interface Q.931 (AT&T Standard) signaling on D-Channel X.25 on D-channel X.25 PAD on D-channel (15 Virtual Circuits) DMI Mode 2 on B-channel DMI Mode 3 on B-channel connection for handset, ISDN telephone s/t interface MC 68000 based (I think 10Mhz) DOS support, developer's toolkit available was reviewed in December (maybe November) 1989 PC Magazine 2) AT&T PCTA (Model 1000) Q.931 signaling on D-channel (AT&T Standard) X.25 with PAD on D-channel (single VC) connection for analog phone was mentioned in PC week a while back 3) Teleos (forgot the model number PC100?) Q.931 X.25 on D-channel V.120 on B-channel MC 68000 based (I think 12 Mhz) S/T Interface attached analog phone DOS and UNIX support (UNIX driver comes from Lachman, I believe) 4) Intel PC53 Q.931 D and B-channel data (I can't remember specifics) Intel 81088 based S/T Interface attached analog phone DOS support There are a few others besides these, you might want to check Sept 17, 1990 issue of Communications Week and the PC Mag from late 1989 for more info. I believe that Hayes and Vadis are no longer supplying ISDN AT boards as well as Progressive Computing (please correct me if I'm wrong). If you have any questions, you can either send me email at princeton!sinc!hutch (best) or call (after hours but not too late at 609-443-3028). ------------------------------ From: Rick Jones Subject: Re: Microsoft Use of 900 Number for Tech Support Date: 21 Nov 90 04:40:16 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Cupertino CA Stepping away from Microsoft specifics... I think that using a 900 number is something of an interesting idea for providing support on a time and materials basis (ie no support contract). However, it would seem most apropriate as a supplement for a service contract type of support plan rather than the only method of support. Apart from that, it seems like a good way to be able to charge for support with minimal overhead. (ignoring the debate over free support of PC software...) The offensive part of it would be where you call and get connected with Joe Q. Buffoon support person. In that case however, the offense should be taken at Buffoon rather than the 900 number. Richard Anders Jones | MPE/XL Networking Engineer Hewlett-Packard Co. | No 900 number yet... Being an employee of a Standards Company, all Standard Disclaimers Apply ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #839 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02657; 23 Nov 90 18:08 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa18772; 23 Nov 90 15:01 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa01573; 23 Nov 90 0:02 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa27366; 22 Nov 90 22:58 CST Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 22:03:54 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #840 BCC: Message-ID: <9011222203.ab17613@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Nov 90 22:03:27 CST Volume 10 : Issue 840 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Wanted: Home Phone System [John Higdon] Re: Wireless Phonejak [Lang Zerner] Re: Computer Clock Synchronization Solution [Mike Bell] Re: Sprint's New Calling Card [Glenn F. Leavell] Re: Transoceanic Cables [John R. Levine] Re: What is MFJ a TLA For? [Dell H. Ellison] Re: Cellular Phones of the Future [Craig R. Watkins] Re: Dealing With Telemarketers [Stephen J. Friedl] Re: Telemarketing Sleezoids [Owen M. Hartnett] Re: Slick-96 [Steve Forrette] Headhunters and Voicemail (was: Dealing with Telemarketers) [Craig Watkins] Re: Turning Off Call Waiting Remotely [John Boteler] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Wanted: Home Phone System Date: 21 Nov 90 10:19:35 PST (Wed) From: John Higdon "Adam J. Ashby" writes: > I don't think that Mitel has anything small enough, but they did have > a subsidiary (?) company that made small PBXs/Key systems, called > Trillium, based in Kanata, Ont. I can't remember what the particular > systems were called (I left Mitel in '81 and a lot of brain cells have > died since then!), and as far as I can remember, I only ever saw a > couple of the systems and never worked with them. If you had worked with them, I doubt that you would recommend them. An associate replaced his with a Panasonic a couple of years ago and I have never seen a more happy camper. The Trillium is a somewhat featureless electronic key system that has some of the more annoying faults commonly found in these early offerings. There is no support of single line phones. That means no sanitary connection of modems or answering machines. The phones themselves are physically unwieldy, and the DTMF tones lag somewhat behind the actuation of the keypad buttons. This can drive a "fast dialer" such as myself absolutely bonkers. Also, the tones are those short, "specification correct", but voicemail-useless variety that are found on the Strada and others. I am told by a friend who is a distributor that the Panasonic KX-T switches and phones are now readily available. Only certain items, such as the doorphone, remain difficult to get. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 16:57:48 PST From: Lang Zerner Subject: Re: Wireless Phonejak Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mt. View, CA In article <14859@accuvax.nwu.edu> irv@happym.wa.com writes: >In <14772@accuvax.nwu.edu> gws@cblph.att.com (Gary W Sanders) writes: >>In the latest Damark catalog I ran across an interesting telephone >>gizmo: Wireless phonejak by Phonex. >I have ordered a few things from Damark and based on that experience >would caution you to stay away. Everything -- CDs to skates to phone >to floor lamps -- that I got from them was of low quality. In defense of Damark, the two pieces of furniture that I've ordered from them were not of the *highest* quality, but they were satisfactory. After inadvertently ordering the wrong size futon mattress, they had a straightforward return policy (I shipped it back, they refunded; simple enough). I later ordered a folding frame for the futon which seems to be of decent quality. The instructions for assembling it were written by someone whose native language was not English; they were unusable, but I was able to figure out the process. In my experience, Damark is not a "sleazeball" store, but a typical mail-order "bargain basement" store. Their prices are reasonable, but you don't get frills. I know this message has only the most indirect connection to telecom, but since an emphatically negative opinion was braodcast in the Digest, I felt it only fair to provide some tempering evidence. I have no affiliation with Damark other than as a customer. Be seeing you... ==Lang langz@prodigal.sun.com 415/594-9268 ------------------------------ From: Mike Bell Subject: Re: Computer Clock Synchronization Solution Organization: Spar Aerospace Ltd, Toronto, Canada Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 10:07:59 EST In <14819@accuvax.nwu.edu> bend@eng.sun.com (ben dubin) writes: >Recently someone was asking about programs to set your computer clock >to the US Naval Observatory clock in Washington DC. I purchased a Just to note that comp.protocols.time.ntp,alt.sources recently (6 Nov 90) had a posting of a clock synchronisation program by turner@ksr.com for Sun OS 4.0.3. I have a much rehacked version for Sun OS 4.1 which I can post (elsewhere) or mail if there is sufficient interest. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 09:45:48 EST From: "Glenn F. Leavell" Subject: Re: Sprint's New Calling Card I recently posted an article to the TELECOM Digest in which I stated (although I welcomed corrections) that it was my belief that Sprint used "unanchored" calling cards, i.e. the calling card numbers did not contain the owners own telephone number. John R. Levine (johnl@iecc. cambridge.ma.us) was kind enough to reply: >I have Sprint FON cards for each of my two lines. Both of them are >"anchored," i.e. they are the corresponding phone number with a PIN. I >don't recall asking one way or the other. >Sprint doesn't seem to assign scrambled numbers based on the fraud >potential, I live in Cambridge, Mass., one of the phone hackery capitals >of the world. Perhaps it's because I'm a Dial-1 customer. It seems then that Sprint, like AT&T offers both the "anchored" and "unanchored" cards. I also am a Sprint Dial-1 customer, but my FON card number is "random," i.e. it means nothing to me (except that it's my calling card number!). Perhaps this is because I was a FON card customer long before I ever had Sprint as my primary long distance carrier. As a matter of fact, my first card was with US Telecom. After the merger (buyout?) to US Sprint it became a FON Card. Another question: John mentions that the fraud potential is higher with the "unanchored" cards. Is this really so? I would think that it would be much easier to figure out the last four digits that need to be appended to a known phone number than to come up with fourteen random digits that happen to be valid. Again, thanks for any responses, Glenn F. Leavell Systems Administrator glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu 404-542-3488 University of Georgia Economics Department. 147 Brooks Hall. Athens, GA 30602 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Transoceanic Cables Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge MA 02238 Date: 20 Nov 90 19:01:17 EST (Tue) From: "John R. Levine" In article <68863@bu.edu.bu.edu> you write: >Recent articles have referred to the TAT-8 transatlantic cable, and >the TAT-9 cable under construction. Do these numbers imply that there >are exactly eight transatlantic cables, or possibly fewer if some >older ones have been retired? That is indeed the case. TAT-1 was only laid in 1956. Transatlantic telephone service started in 1927, but until 1956 used SSB radio. The first few cables have certainly been retired. The early cables carried a few dozen voice circuits, while TAT-8 has 40,000 and TAT-9, to be placed in service next year (and which I observed under construction at its western terminus last month) 80,000. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: "Dell H. Ellison" Subject: Re: What is MFJ a TLA For? Date: 21 Nov 90 15:32:40 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL > OK, I give up. What's MFJ a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for? An acronym is an abbreviation that makes a word (e.g. NASA, HUD, MADD). MFJ and TLA are just three letter abbreviations. [Moderator's Note: But since when were 'nasa' and 'hud' actual words? And since when was 'mad' spelled 'madd'? Did you mean to say that simple abbreviations convert to acronyms once people start pronouncing the letter combination as they sound? In that case MFJ = muffjuh and TLA = t'lah. So there! :) True Acronyms: 'Zip' Code, as in one mprovement

lan; 'Care' was a charitable organization after World War II, as in ommittee on merican elief in urope. PAT] ------------------------------ From: "Craig R. Watkins" Subject: Re: Cellular Phones of the Future Date: 22 Nov 90 21:12:59 EST Organization: HRB Systems In article <14860@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > Many people, regardless of cost, may not enjoy or be able > to tolerate being 100% accessable 100% of the time. A pager provides a > buffer to that availability. I know many people who carry both. I > would, even if my cellular service was free. People sometimes ask me why I have a handheld AND a pager. I just tell them that my (display) pager is my "answering machine." They tend to understand that and believe me. I think I believe me, too. Craig R. Watkins Internet: CRW@ICF.HRB.COM HRB Systems, Inc. Bitnet: CRW%HRB@PSUECL.Bitnet +1 814 238-4311 UUCP: ...!psuvax1!hrbicf!crw ------------------------------ From: "Stephen J. Friedl" Subject: Re: Dealing with Telemarketers Date: 21 Nov 90 06:04:54 GMT Organization: VSI*FAX Tech Ctr, Tustin, CA There have been various discussions about how to deal with telemarketers, and John Higdon mentions that the game is quite different for businesses than it is for people at home. We get these calls from people wanting to hit us up for the police athletic league or disabled veterans or whatever all the time, but rather than be combative or irritated that they have taken time out of our day, we decided to make a game out of it for *our* fun. Since we had gotten pretty good at recognizing these charities by the way they asked for the callee, we made up a person who was in charge of what they wanted: he was Mr. Szudsen. The problem is, this person was never in the office (darn!). We were always prepared to take a message, but of course they would always rather just call back later (probably because they weren't summarily blown off and because they had a real *name*). So, whenever we got a call for Mr. Szudsen we got progressively more interesting in the detailed explanation about why he was not in. First he is just out of town for a day or two, then yachting to Mexico, and so on, until he was on safari in Africa or assisting the Contras in Nicaragua. If you have somebody who has been really persistent but seems ready to give up, say that he is accepting an award from the President for outstanding volunteerism -- that should keep them going for a while. If you are not very good at determining these calls from the first voice but you still want to have some fun, try this: fill out a reader-service card from a magazine asking for some insurance information or make a small donation to a police charity but be sure to use Mr. Szudsen's name. Now you have primed the pump and it is just a matter of time. This is more fun in a smaller office where everybody kicks in to answer the phone, so you can all get turns on occasion. You gotta make sure that everybody knows about this person, and you gotta keep from laughing. Stephen J. Friedl, KA8CMY / 3B2-kind-of-guy / Tustin, CA / 3B2-kind-of-guy +1 714 544 6561 / friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US / {uunet,attmail}!mtndew!friedl ------------------------------ From: "Owen M. Hartnett" Subject: Re: Telemarketing Sleezoids Date: 20 Nov 90 03:41:16 GMT Reply-To: "Owen M. Hartnett" Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science Here's one to watch out for. I got a call from a guy: Hi, Mr. Hartnett, how're you doin' today? {standard telemarketing opener} { whenever someone asks that - I know they're a salesman/woman } You didn't get the extra premium on the last batch of computer ribbons you ordered from us - a Sony clock radio - so we're sending it out right away. Someone from our shipping department will get back to you and get the details as to where to send it. { At this point, I know he's a liar. we buy *all* our ribbons from a local guy. So I bite my tongue and hang on for the ride. } Yes, sir, and we'll also put down oral approvals for your standard offer... { I interrupt now: } Are you trying to set me up with a printer order? { He slowly starts to lose it, then he goes overboard. } No, no, we're just trying to adjust the gerbils and the frimjims ... we need to know the exact size so you can fit them correctly up your ... { He hangs up } Beware these guys, they often get a secretary. We had a period where we went through a new secretary once a week for about eight weeks. I think he nabbed them for about three orders. We refused them, naturally, but it's still a pain. Owen Hartnett omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET Brown University Computer Science omh@cs.brown.edu uunet!brunix!omh ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 21:50:01 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: Re: Slick-96 Another problem with these "concentrators": most do not pass the CPC signal upon disconnect. According to a friend who works for US West, the one specifically called "Slick-96" does deal with this, but the others don't. Apparently, it is quite a problem when they cut existing lines over to one of the ones that doesn't handle CPC -- they get all sorts of calls "My answering machine just runs and runs, and doesn't detect when the caller hangs up like it used to." US West's attitude seems to be that it is not a "supported feature" of their service. If it works, great! But if it stops one day, you'll just have to do without. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 1990 08:11 EDT From: "Craig R. Watkins" Subject: Headhunters and Voicemail (was: Dealing with Telemarketers) In article <14785@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > All in all, anyone in business is deluged with junk calls all day > long. Investments, office products, insurance, invoice factoring, > collection services, and charities of every manner and description are > just some of the garbage that attempts to enter via the telephone. You forgot headhunters! There's even a recent twist. Here's some background: I work in PA. I have a T1 to an office in MD where I have a voice mailbox. My unanswered calls go to my mailbox in MD (I am seldom actually in MD). On more than one occasion, I've had headhunters leave messages for me on my mailbox (even while I was taking calls in PA). I don't call them back anymore, but the first time that I did, the guy clearly thought I might be interested in a job in MD. I'm guessing that these guys are coming in over automated attendants and guessing at extensions or spellings until they get mailboxes (there's no company phonebook, etc, that even slightly implies that I might be reachable in MD, nor does anyone know my mailbox number there but me). Now I can ignore them fairly well; they're usually from Someone Associates and tend to leave me a DC-area seven digit phone number. I suspect I could call them back and maybe shake them down, but I haven't bothered yet. Anyone heard of similar stuff lately? Craig R. Watkins Internet: CRW@ICF.HRB.COM HRB Systems, Inc. Bitnet: CRW%HRB@PSUECL.Bitnet +1 814 238-4311 UUCP: ...!psuvax1!hrbicf!crw ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Turning Off Call Waiting Remotely Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 23:43:29 EST From: John Boteler I have found that a great way to disable Call Waiting remotely is to call the business office and cancel it! That's the *best* anybody could ever do to that most obnoxious of features! John Boteler bote@csense {uunet | ka3ovk}!media!csense!bote SkinnyDipper's Hotline: 703 241 BARE | VOICE only, Touch-Tone(TM) signalling ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #840 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id ab02657; 23 Nov 90 18:08 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab18772; 23 Nov 90 15:01 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa03702; 23 Nov 90 1:06 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab01573; 23 Nov 90 0:02 CST Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 23:22:05 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #841 BCC: Message-ID: <9011222322.ab00860@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Nov 90 23:21:49 CST Volume 10 : Issue 841 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Funky Boundaries (was: Modifying the NANP?) [John Cowan] SL-1's and Answer Supervision [Marcel Mongeon] Telex Forwarding Service [John William Palmer] Telemarketing and my Productivity [Gary Skaggs] BRI to the Home: When? [Jim McCauley] Video Conferencing Products/Services [Jack Powers] Interested in "Home Switch" For Electrical Instead of Phone [Joe Konstan] Notes on Laurel Area in Maryland [Carl Moore] Establishing a UUCP Site [Tarek M. Sobh] Forwarded Call Information [Jeff Sicherman] Hunting, Terminals, and Business Office Bozos [John Boteler] Answering Machine Beeps But Does Not Take Message [Carl Moore] Unitel FacsRoute With Modems [Paul Gauthier] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Cowan Subject: Funky Boundaries (was: Modifying the NANP?) Organization: The Logical Language Group, Inc. Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 16:58:33 GMT In article <14704@accuvax.nwu.edu> cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) writes: [explanation of the shape of Area Code 409: a torus] >[Moderator's Note: Carl, I think you might agree that 312/708 has some >odd boundary lines also, with one small section of 312 completely >surrounded by 708 at Ohare Airport and one section of 708 completely >surrounded by 312 on the northwest side of Chicago in an area not >actually in the city. PAT] This reminds me of a really weird case on the Dutch/Belgian border. When the United Netherlands split up, the lands near the village of Baarle were assigned based on the feudal landholder. In medieval times, it was common for different landholders to own widely scattered plots rather than contiguous stretches of land. As a result, there are thirteen enclaves of Belgian territory within the main body of the Netherlands. Seven of these enclaves contain sub-enclaves of Dutch territory, and there is an additional Dutch enclave within Belgium. There are a lot of buildings divided between two countries, and the main road crosses a frontier something like eight times within a few miles (marked only by a flag by the roadside). Since Dutch and Belgian regulations for commercial enterprises differ substantially, there are stores with two different inventories, containing items that may not be legally bought on certain days (like Sundays) in one country or the other. In fact, the whole area is pretty much one big shopping center for this reason. Unfortunately, I don't know the telecom situation there. Does anyone? (Minor concession to the Digest's charter.) cowan@marob.masa.com (aka ...!hombre!marob!cowan) ------------------------------ From: marcelm@joymrmn.UUCP (Marcel Mongeon) Subject: SL-1's and Answer Supervision Date: 20 Nov 90 23:49:02 GMT Organization: The Joymarmon Group Inc. For some time now, I have been trying to find out if I can get answer supervision on my SL-1. I'm in a Hotel environment and it would be a heck of a lot fairer to the guests if I had supervision. Bell Canada (through whom we get both service and the SL-1) have advised me that they could probably give me reverse battery. However, they also tell me that the SL-1 can't handle it to produce the call detail record. Is this correct? Or is it just more of what I'm used to hearing? By the way, is anyone interested in setting up or being on a mailing list to exchange SL-1 related information? Seems to me that there might be a number of SL-1 users out there that could use such a support group. Marcel D. Mongeon e-mail: ... (uunet, maccs)!joymrmn!root or joymrmn!marcelm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 08:14:33 EST From: John William Palmer Subject: Telex Forwarding Service Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Does anyone know if there is a service that will take a telex sent from the States to England, and then resend it from England to the Continent with the return address on the last leg being the English telex number? A symmetric capability is desired for the return trip, i.e., send to the English telex number and have it autoforward to the States, but keep the sending telex address of the party on the Continent. Please respond via email. Max Palmer ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 08:06:59 CST From: Gary Skaggs Subject: Telemarketing and my Poductivity Organization: National Severe Storms Laboratory HELP! Our productivity around here has reached a new low. (Many jokes about government employees heard in background.) But productivity is currently being pushed even lower by the recent rash of "Congratulations! You've just won a trip to Hawaii! ... (much deleted). To claim your prize, call 1-900-xxx-xxxx. (Much more deleted) (then, said rapidly)"... cost of the call $10.00" Now here is the problem: We have a small 100 line PBX. All the phones ring directly to employees desks. On the fourth ring, they forward to group secretaries. This insistent recording will not remove your number from its list unless it talks you through the 1-900 number (about 45 seconds)! (@$#%^^!!!) Also, it takes about ten seconds for it to get started, so most people just hang up, then it will call back later. To compound the problem, this is "use it or lose it" leave time of year, so many phones are forwarded to two or three people and THIS CURRENT MESSAGE IS DRIVING THEM NUTS! Not to single out this one, this is just the latest one. I called MA, and she told me to write the Direct Marketing Association to get our numbers on their do not call list. Is there any other way to short circuit this pain in the BUTT? H E L P ! ! ! Gary Skaggs skaggs@nsslsun.gcn.uoknor.edu [Moderator's Note: Indeed there is! Find out the name of the senior executive at the company placing the calls. Call that person and advise him you are going to sue him to make them stop calling your office and harassing your employees. Than make it stick! PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jim McCauley Subject: BRI to the Home: When? Date: 21 Nov 90 02:27:41 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino I have been reading about ISDN in periodicals like {Network World} and in trade books for some time. Last year, I assessed the prospects for BRI being made available to my home any time in the imaginable future, and I made the only logical decision: I bought a 9600 baud modem. Little has changed in the interim to convince me that meaningful digital services will be made available to me by the gang at the other end of my pair of wires (Pacific Bell). By "meaningful digital services," I mean: 1. Basic rate interface 2. Data interchange across switches (Signalling System 7) 3. An inexpensive BRI --> 9600 baud serial interface 4. A reasonable user interface for establishing data calls I'm not asking for the moon here -- just circuit-switched 9600 baud service (probably over the D channel). I'd prefer packet switching if it (and the interface) could be provided at a lower cost. All I really need is to hook up a terminal at home to a computer at work. It might be very nice to have something fancier, like X Window services at 128kbit/sec over a "strapped" pair of B channels, but I could do with less. Do any of you telephone wizards out there in cyberspace have any idea when even such rudimentary services might be tariffed? Jim McCauley jem@hpulpcu3.cup.hp.com Disclaimer: I speak the truth, but only on my own behalf. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 10:08:57 PST From: POWERS@ibm.com Subject: Video Conferencing Products/Services Another supplier of codecs: Compression Labs 2305 Bering Drive, San Jose CA Phone: 408/946-3060 Sprint offers a service called Meeting Channel designed for videoconferencing, using T1 access or satellite channels. Both MCI and AT&T have announced switched T1 services recently. Jack Powers insert usual disclaimer here ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 10:10:03 PST From: Joe Konstan Subject: Interested in "Home Switch" for Electrical Instead of Phone With all of the regular information about home key systems and mini PBX's a topic came up in a discussion with someone remodeling his home about similar equipment for electrical facilities. Since the technology is quite similar, and home wiring has been a topic here in the past, I thought this might be a good place to query: Idea: 1. This would be a system to allow dynamic (probably computer controlled, though hard jumpers would be an alternative) changes to a house wiring to alterwhich lights and outlets are controlled by which switches. It should support two-way, three-way, etc connections of switches and should probably handle at least 32 or 64 each of switches and lights/outlets. 2. This is not intended to be a remote-control facility (though I'd be interested if that were provided) so probably the best thing is software-controlled physical connections (hence the analogy with an old telephone switch). 3. The person who would program the connections is quite technically able. The other people in the house should just be using lightswitches as before. 4. No need to control everything in the house (i.e., anything unswitched (or obvious like the garbage disposal) can either bypass this or be configured once and left. 5. The home is being rewired anyway (next month or two) so that is not an obstacle. Neither is price. So, TELECOM-readers, any ideas? Joe Konstan konstan@postgres.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 13:52:04 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Notes on Laurel Area in Maryland Presently in area 301: Laurel 725,776,490,etc. is local to Washington (and the Pentagon in Va.) and the Md. suburbs in between, but not to other Virginia points. Exceptions for Laurel: 792 (etc.?) available for Baltimore metro service, and 621 & 953 (etc.?) for Washington metro service. (621 is called "Bowie-Glenn Dale service" and 953 is called "Berwyn service".) The next exchange up the U.S.1/I-95 corridor from Laurel going toward Baltimore is 799 Waterloo, which is part of the Baltimore metro exchanges. From what I have read (only here in Telecom), I assume that the 301/410 line will pass between Laurel and Waterloo. ------------------------------ From: "Tarek M. Sobh" Subject: Establishing a UUCP Site Date: 22 Nov 90 01:00:22 GMT Reply-To: "Tarek M. Sobh" Organization: University of Pennsylvania Hi netters, I would like to ask how can one "make" a UUCP site, in particular, I have a PC and a modem, is it possible to have my home computer as a UUCP site ? What are the software, OS, tools ... etc that are needed to do that, What are the costs incurred before and after establishing the site ? I would appreciate it if you can reply by email, I will post a summary to the net. Thanks in advance. Tarek M. Sobh sobh@grasp.cis.upenn.edu Computer and Information Science Dept. University of Pennsylvania [Moderator's Note: Certainly your 'home computer' can be a UUCP site. In fact, if you'd like the counsel of the administrator of what I think is one of the finest privately-owned UUCP sites anywhere, you should contact randy@chinet.chi.il.us. I consider Chinet my 'home system' for my personal netting. Randy Suess operates Chinet out of one room in his apartment giving a full news feed, mail and a lot more. If he can't advise you on setting something up, no one can! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 13:54:30 PST From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet Subject: Forwarded Call Information In my latest PacBell bill there were two little flyers. One described a service called Forwarded Call Information (FCI) which was described as a facility that provided the telephone number called and 'other calling information' to telephone messaging systems, such as voice mail services. It acknowledged that in some cases this could include the caller's phone number, which could be recorded/displayed with special equipment. Does anyone know anything more about this? How is it related to ANI? The flyer specifically states it is *not* related to Caller ID. Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ Subject: Hunting, Terminals, and Business Office Bozos Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 17:07:26 EST From: John Boteler Why can't the Telephone Company get anything right? Note the following example: seven business subscriber loops with two hunting groups (not Centrex). First five in one group, the last two in a separate group. Call the pilot number when it's busy, it hunts. Call any of the other numbers in the group when busy, it hunts. OK, fine. What did we do? Ask them to move the last two lines into the main hunt group so that we end up with seven lines in one hunt group. Simple... ... until they tried to do it. Now, o all the numbers ID as the pilot number (probably set up as terminals,GRRRRR!), o only calls to the pilot number will hunt (calling any number other than the pilot number will not hunt when busy), o we have Call*Forwarding Variable on ALL the lines, which we didn't even order or want because it interferes with hunting! Yes, we called from outside the hunt group to test, thank you. After informing them of the erroneous order, we now have: o hunting the way we want it (originally), o Call*Forwarding Variable AND 3-Way*Calling on all lines, o but they all still ID as the pilot number. Maybe if we keep complaining, we'll end up with all Custom Calling features, all CLASS features, Centrex with no setup charge, and every long distance provider as our default carrier, at no additional cost! :) [Author's note: This is C&P Telephone; a Bell Atlantic Company] John Boteler bote@csense {uunet | ka3ovk}!media!csense!bote SkinnyDipper's Hotline: 703 241 BARE | VOICE only, Touch-Tone(TM) signalling Audiotext mailing list: audiotex@westmark.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 13:56:42 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Answering Machine Beeps But Does Not Take Message Speaking of consumer-complaint lines: A TV station in Philadelphia has a number which I called a while back to get a recording. The recording told me to mail my complaint in, and also that the phone does not take messages! There was a beep at the end of the recording. I see that the item about phone not taking messages was put in to prevent (or as a result of?) people thinking that it did indeed take messages and getting into arguments about it. What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep? ------------------------------ From: Paul Gauthier Subject: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada Date: Thu, 22 Nov 1990 17:09:46 -0400 The company I work for just held a joint conference locally with Unitel and I was able to corner one of their reps to ask about the use of Unitel's FacsRoute with modems. They say it will work perfectly and don't mind in the least if you do it. For $9.99 a month (no installation fee!) you get a little black box which goes between your modem/fax and the phone jack on the wall. When you make an outgoing LD call it dials in to a local Unitel office and you are patched through to their network and your LD call is completed by them. They claim savings of 40% over regular phone rates. If you're making more than, say, $30 a month in LD calls to Canada from within Canada (I think he said it offered discounts to some US calls, not sure, call and ask) you really have nothing to lose by giving it a try. I don't believe you are obligated to continue using it if you ever find the service unsatisfactory. Drop a line here and let me know if you try it and how much you save. gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca tyrant@dalac.bitnet tyrant@ac.dal.ca [Moderator's Note: Can you please give us the number to call for information on this service, with contact names if possible? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #841 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10686; 24 Nov 90 3:52 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa26818; 24 Nov 90 2:13 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa17010; 24 Nov 90 1:09 CST Date: Sat, 24 Nov 90 0:32:01 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #842 BCC: Message-ID: <9011240032.ab14784@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Nov 90 00:31:27 CST Volume 10 : Issue 842 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Centel Dials For Caller ID [TELECOM Moderator] Special Issue This Weekend: Test Numbers [TELECOM Moderator] US Sprint Offers Conference Calling [George S. Thurman] Unlimited Calling Expanded in Delaware [Ken Weaverling] Voice Cards for PC/ATs [Michael A. Shiels] New AT&T Promotion: Quality Connections [TELECOM Moderator] Need Figures on Growth of Fax Machines in USA [David A. Nchia] Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions [Joel Snyder] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 0:08:03 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Centel Dials For Caller ID The opening battle in the Illinois dispute over Caller ID began here this past week when Central Telephone Company filed a tariff to begin offering the service, as well as another service that blocks the ID. Centel acknowledged it is offering both Caller ID and blocking to placate critics of Caller ID. As we all know, some people believe that Caller ID is a violation of the caller's privacy, particularly for those who are paying extra to have unlisted phone numbers. Bill Hart, a spokesman for Central Telephone Co. in suburban Park Ridge and Des Plaines, IL -- a division of Centel Corp. -- said "We think it is important to offer ID blocking and to make it free. We're doing it to protect people's privacy." For those readers not familiar with Central Telephone, it is a small telephone company serving two Chicago suburbs and a small part of the northwest side of Chicago. Illinois Bell serves the vast majority of northeastern Illinois, and all of Chicago except for the one small area whose phone office is known as `Chicago-Newcastle'. Central Telephone also serves small portions of Glenview and Northbrook, IL not served by IBT. Illinois Bell and GTE of Illinois, the other telco serving large parts of Illinois want to introduce Caller ID also, but without the option of blocking the ID. A spokeswoman for Illinois Bell said the company's position is that allowing ID blocking cripples the benefits of Caller ID. She asked, "Why would anyone subscribe to Caller ID if the calling party could defeat it?" A spokeswoman for GTE echoed the same sentiments. Both IBT and GTE intend to file their Caller ID tariffs with the Illinois Commerce Commission by the end of December. Neither company has decided how to deal with the problem of Centel blocking the ID on request. This question is particularly relevant to IBT since calls from the northwest side of Chicago to Centel territory are handled as 'local, untimed calls' despite the different area code and the different telco. IBT feels Caller ID will be 'almost useless' to *their* customers in Chicago-Newcastle if half or more of the local traffic (i.e. the local stuff from Centel's Chicago-Newcastle) coming in can block their ID at the customer's request. The Centel spokesman said "In all probability the Illinois Commerce Commission will consolidate the dockets and hear the matter regarding all telcos in Illinois as one ... we expect the ruling will come in three to four months, with Caller IO becoming available sometime around April, 1991. We are prepared to 'turn it on' as soon as the tariff is approved." Centel's tariff calls for a charge of $4 per month for the transmission of Caller ID. The associated customer equipment would be offered for sale at $60 per unit. Blocking would be offered completely free of charge, with a choice of default conditions: always block, except pass ID when a two-digit code is prepended to the number dialed; or never block, except block ID when a two digit code is prepended to the number. I'll provide a update on the situation here when more news is available. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 0:14:26 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Special Issue This Weekend: Test Numbers David Leibold has sent us a lengthy file listing special prefixes and test numbers for various locations throughout the USA and Canada. Not all communities are listed, but quite a bit of information is available in this file. I'll be transmitting it sometime Saturday. Another large file has come to the Digest from Jeff Sicherman which provides a detailed overview of the GEnie service. Some could argue that it is essentially an advertisement for GEnie, but it seems to be a worthwhile reference document which explains the service in detail. I am placing this file directly in the Telecom Archives for interested readers. It will be available in the archives sometime over the weekend in the main directory. Thanks to both Jeff and David for these contributions. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 20:31 GMT From: George S Thurman <0004056081@mcimail.com> Subject: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling Those super-innovative folks at US SPRINT have done it again !! They now offer the ability to make conference calls on thier Network. The service is available at no extra charge until February 16, 1991, when there will be a 75 cent surcharge if you use this feature with your FONCARD(sm). The new service will be known as QUICKCONFERENCE(sm), and instructions are as follows: After you establish a connection with your first party, depress the "*" followed by 12. This brings an additional Sprint dial tone. Dial the number of the next party. (Do NOT dial "0"). Depress "*" again followed this time by 13. You are now connected! To drop the additional party, or if the additional party's number is busy, dial "*" followed by 14. Important note: When entering the "*", always depress the key for at least one full second. The system may sometimes have trouble hearing the "*" if there is a lot of background noise at the other party's location. Leave it to US SPRINT to start this kind of service. Now ... if only US SPRINT could do something about their Customer Service. G. S. Thurman 4056081@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Ken Weaverling Date: Fri, 23 Nov 1990 14:49:28 EST Subject: Unlimited Calling Expanded in Delaware From reading the Digest, I get the impression that unlimited local calling is on the wane around the nation. However, the reverse is happening in Delaware (Diamond State Tel, Bell Altantic). The unlimited calling area will soon be expanded to county wide (Delaware has three counties) with discussion of someday moving towards unlimited calling area expanding the entire state! Of course, the phone company is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. Their arms were twisted cause their profit margins were too high apparently (we have been enjoying a temporary rate adjustment for several months which will soon disappear). My latest bill lists these charges: Unlimited calling charge $3.00 Unlisted Tel # 1.50 Touch Tone service 1.40 Dial Tone 8.10 Fed Line Cost Charge 3.50 The total for my last phone bill with everything added in was $177.87 less $32.89 for the "temporary adjustment" (The $177 figure included two line installations of $56 each.) Since I never call down state, I'd prefer to keep the adjustment. Oh well... >>>---> Ken Weaverling >>>----> weave@brahms.udel.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Voice Cards for PC/ATs Reply-To: "Michael A. Shiels" Organization: MaS Network Software and Consulting Date: 22 Nov 90 22:43:41 EST (Thu) From: tmsoft!mshiels@uunet.uu.net I would like to find out what types of hardware there is available for AT bus machines which has a programmable interface. Something like the cards INTEL uses for it's FAXBACK service. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 0:40:19 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: New AT&T Promotion: Quality Connections AT&T has started a new promotion called 'Qaulity Connections' which offers a rebate on selected AT&T equipment in direct proportion to the amount of long distance service one uses. The two products currently being offered are the Answering System Model 1125 (normally $129.96) and the Cordless Telephone Model 5325 (normally $179.88). You buy either of these products by mail, making twelve monthly installments of $10.83 each for the answering machine or $14.99 each for the cordless phone. Your monthly installment payments are reduced by an amount of money equal to ten percent of your long distance bill for the month prior up to a maximum of fifty percent of the monthly installment. Example: You buy the cordless phone in twelve installments of $14.99 each. You use $70 in long distance service. Your installment payment is credited with $7, meaning the final purchase price is fifty percent of the original amount. It seems to me it would be easier to administer such a premium incentive program by merely saying that if a person spends at least $700 per year in long distance they get a certificate allowing them to buy an answering machine or cordless phone at half price. They also add a 'gotcha': if you move out of your current billing area then you 'may' have to pay the accelerated balance due in full. For more information on this new promotion: 1-800-242-1003, ext. 6222. Has anyone other than me been receiving *lots* of mail from AT&T lately pushing answering machines, cordless phones and regular phones? They have several different models, all of which seem to be on sale or available under some special offer. It is as if they are trying to get out of the equipment business once and for all. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: David A Nchia Subject: Need Figures on Growth of Fax Machines in USA Organization: The Ohio State University Date: Thu, 22 Nov 90 22:42:38 GMT I am in need of references to any study(ies) that contains figures on the total number of fax machines that were available in the US for any given year. I am particularly interested in studies that give such figures for ten years or more. A ideal source would be one that gives these figures from, for example, 1970 to present, without skipping a year. What I am interested in are ACTUAL ESTIMATES, not PROJECTIONS or PROJECTED SALES. If you have any references that may be of help or know someone, some organization where I can find this info, please send me a message. Thanks for your assistance. David Nchia, Dept of Comunication, The Ohio State Univ, 205 Derby Hall, Columbus, OH 43210 Internet: dnchia@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Nov 1990 23:02:45 MST From: Subject: Re: FAX Machine at Home: Options for Incoming Transmissions Telecom readers: A week ago, I posted a query about FAX machines at home, and options for incoming transmissions. Many thanks to those of you who responded. The following is my original message, with substantial comments from the responses. Thanks to: Tad Cook (tad@ssc.uucp) Dave Burke (dburke%vaxb.decnet@nusc-npt.navy.mil) Brian G. Gordon (briang@Sun.COM) David Cornutt (cornutt@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov) Jeff Sicherman (sichermn@beach.csulb.edu) Brent Chapman (chapman@alc.com) Rahul Dhesi (dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com) Nathan Engle (nengle@copper.ucs.indiana.edu) (fleming@cup.portal.com) I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that- use-the-phone. Having invested in a FAX modem, I now need some way to receive FAX transmissions at home. There are five distinct options. 1. Get an extra telephone line. This is clearly the most desirable, but is also the most expensive. A $50 to $100 fee, plus a monthly fixed expense of $10 to $20 per month (note: all rates are given with a midpoint of the cost quoted me by US West or local merchants). A number of readers wrote in to say that this was, in fact, the only way to go. 2. Get distinctive ringing. This has multiple names: Custom Ringing, RingMate, Smart Ring, RingMaster, and Identa Ring all came up. The service is simple: you have two telephone numbers (let's call them A and B), but only one line. Calls to number A ring differently from number B. (some readers noted that this service is not yet universally available.) The key here is that you can get a box which will route calls to one jack or another (that is, voice phone or FAX machine) based on the ringing. Downsides: the $100 box; you can't use both devices at once; a monthly fee of $2 to $7 (plus possible installation fees of about $10 to $20, although US West has a "special" until December 5). Several boxes were suggested. The Autoline Plus from ITS Communications (800-333-0802) is available for $150, and supports three devices. The Ring Director is available from Hello Direct (800-444-3556) and does the same thing for $100, but only supports two devices. It has been suggested that the Autoline Plus can be had for about $80, via some astute negotiation with the manufacturer. 3. No telco change, but get FAX/voice box. It seems that some FAX machines send a tone called CNG when they are calling. Note that this is different from modems, where the originating modem is silent until the answering modem says something. What this FAX feature means is that one could build a box to distinguish between the two. Several people already have (any suggestions as to which one?) for $60 to $100 which picks up the phone and listens for CNG tones, passing the call to the FAX if it detects CNG and to the phone/answering machine if not. Downsides: similar to (2), although there is no recurring charge. This option was most often labelled as A Bad Thing. The way these boxes work is that they pick up the phone immediately (thus completing the call, and starting charges to the calling party), and then simulate a ringing noise while listening for the CNG tone. Actually, the cheapest of the boxes don't even simulate ringing; they just pick up and listen. The problem is, as always, that not all FAX machines generate CNG. First, there are a set of machines that don't generate CNG tones. Second, it seems that CNG tones are only generated on AUTODIAL calls. I tested our department's FAX, and this seems to be true: if I load the number into the auto-dialer, it makes noise after dialing. If I dial the number in the way which we dial 99.9% of our calls, no CNG tones come out. I didn't collect vendor names for these; there seem to be several dozen out there. 4. Call Directors. This is actually a variation on (3). Some boxes immediately answer the phone, and begin talking "If you are sending a FAX, press 1 now..." Then, the box listens for either CNG or DTMF "1," switching to the FAX box if either comes out. This seems to be somewhat better than (3), since for manual dial calls, if the caller has the presence of mind to press "1," it works fine. These boxes seem to be substantially more expensive than the CNG detecting boxes. CNG boxes are available for about $80 (I found one at our local Office Club); the talking flavor seem to be about $150 to $200 5. Null hypothesis. No changes. Downsides: you have to pre-arrange whenever you expect to receive a FAX. But, it's CHEAP! No one liked this idea. My answer? I will be getting distinctive ringing and a detector box. A second line, if it had no installation fee, would really be price competitive (16 month payback is a LONG time in this game). There were too many unhappy answers about CNG detector boxes. I also wasn't happy about the extra money for a talking CNG detector, plus having a machine answer my home phone didn't thrill me. Thanks again for all your help with this! Joel M Snyder, The Mosaic Group, 627 E Speedway, 85705 Phone: 602.626.8680 (University of Arizona, Dep't of MIS, Eller Graduate School of Management) BITNET: jms@arizmis Internet: jms@mis.arizona.edu SPAN: 47541::uamis::jms ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #842 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11542; 24 Nov 90 4:55 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa19206; 24 Nov 90 3:16 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab26818; 24 Nov 90 2:13 CST Date: Sat, 24 Nov 90 1:50:11 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #843 BCC: Message-ID: <9011240150.ab23488@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Nov 90 01:49:52 CST Volume 10 : Issue 843 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems [Paul Gauthier] Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems [Scott Campbell] Re: America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! [Mark Steiger] Re: Interested in "Home Switch" for Electrical Instead of Phone [D. Cantor] Re: Forwarded Call Information [Laird P. Broadfield] Re: Answering Machine Beeps But Does Not Take Message [John Higdon] Re: Sources For Catalogs [Jeff Wilkinson] Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question [Jeff Wilkinson] Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling [U5437880@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul Gauthier Subject: Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada Date: Fri, 23 Nov 1990 12:58:05 -0400 In article <14917@accuvax.nwu.edu> gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca (Paul Gauthier) writes: [40% reduction in LD for $9.99/month from Unitel Canada] >[Moderator's Note: Can you please give us the number to call for >information on this service, with contact names if possible? PAT] I have a business card from the gentleman I was speaking with: J. Michael Curry [Account Representitive] Business: (902)429-9065 Fax: (902)429-5493 He is in the Halifax office. gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca tyrant@dalac.bitnet tyrant@ac.dal.ca ------------------------------ From: Scott Campbell Subject: Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems Organization: Skypod Communications Inc., Toronto, Ontario Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 05:03:41 GMT >In article <14718@accuvax.nwu.edu> gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca (Paul >Gauthier) writes: >> A Canadian Company has recently begun to offer a special reduced >>rate to fax users. The user pays only a small monthly fee ($10, I >>think) and receives a little black box which attaches to their fax >>machine. .... >> Does anyone know if such services actually detect and interpret fax >>protocol to decide whether to axe the call? I spoke to someone at Unitel today in their service department. He told me that the little box detects whether it is a voice call or a modem call. If the black box decides you are talking on the data line, it just kicks you off. (I didn't think to ask him about the case where you have one fax operator doing a voice request because of a problem.) Apparently, modems up to 2400 baud will be counted as a fax by the box so you could use it as a data line. However, high speed modems, he said, caused problems; the box would sometimes confuse the data as voice and just boot you. The Courier HST was one in particular that had problems. He did not seem to know for sure about the Telebit PEP. If anyone has any experience at all in this, I would really like to hear it. Scott J.M. Campbell scott@skypod.uucp Skypod Communications Inc. (416) 961-3847 57 Charles St. West, #1310 Toronto, Ontario {problem|becker|torag|nyama}!skypod!scott ------------------------------ From: Mark Steiger Date: Thu Nov 22 90 at 13:44:30 (CST) Subject: Re: America On-Line Beta Test: Your Help Wanted! Ummm ... America Online is NOT a new service. I've been a member for almost two years. It used to be called AppleLink until about one year ago. Then called America Online (Or AOL for short or AO for shorter). It was changed to that name because MAC's started coming on to the service too. Now we must accept the on-slaught of IBM's. You wanna see some protesting, look in some of the essage bases on AOL. Not very many people want IBM invading AOL. But it does look like PCLink will be discontinued and combined in with AOL. I don't know. Just my $.02 worth. :) [ Mark Steiger, Sysop, The Igloo 218/262-3142 300/1200/2400/9600 (HST/Dual)] ProLine.:penguin@gnh-igloo America Online: Goalie5 UUCP....:crash!gnh-igloo!penguin MCI Mail......: MSteiger Internet:penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com ARPA....:crash!gnh-igloo!penguin@nosc.mil ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Interested in "Home Switch" for Electrical Instead of Phone Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 10:26:57 -0800 From: "David G. Cantor" In TELECOM Digest, Volume 10, Issue 841 Joe Konstan asks for: > An electrical control system for a home to allow [inter alia] > in a home being rewired ... dynamic (probably computer > controlled, though hard jumpers would be an alternative) > changes to a house wiring to alter which lights and outlets > are controlled by which switches. Such a system, which also has remote control capabilities, already exists. It is called X10 and is available at places like Radio Shack, various Building supply centers, etc. A commercial, but completely compatible version, with many more and higher quality devices is sold by PCC (Powerline Control Components) of Advanced Control Technologies, Inc.800-229-7878, in Indianapolis, Indiana. PCC used to be a subsidiary of Leviton, Inc. Signalling is done over the power lines, using 121 kHz signals super- imposed at the zero-crossing of the 60 Hz power. It provides for up to 256 "devices". An rs232 connection is available, and a computer, so connected, can do a variety of things, including all of the obvious controlling and also signal translating (this can be used to efffectively change the device a switch controls). X10 supports dimming, relays, individual circuits and switches for one, two, or four devices as well as controller boxes with support for four, eight, sixteen, and 256 devices, etc. Remote controllers (both infrared and radio) are available. Both hard-wired and plug-in devices are available. Devices are available for 120 volts, 208 volts and 240 volts. For the most part prices are quite (in my opinion) reasonable. It's primary weakness is security. As it comes, any controller on the same power secondary (e.g., one operated by the neighbors' children) can talk to a device. When rewiring, as in this situation, the solution is simple: Insert a 1-1 isolation transformer between the electrical panel feeding the circuits to be controlled and the main power in. This completely isolates the X10 devices. Note that it isn't necessary to put the really heavy loads on this transformer. Heating, drying, electric stoves and ovens, etc. can be fed from another panel, not so isolated, and be controlled, if necessary, by relays powered from the isolated panel. In any case, such isolation for sensitive circuits is not a bad idea in any home! For many years, I have used such a system, in a small way, to control all of my computer components (i. e., my laser printer, my various external disk drives, etc.) and it has worked well. I don't have the usual mess of power cords going to a central switching point. Each is plugged into a plug-in control-relay plugged into an outlet near the device. In this case isolation is provided by power-line lowpass filters (also sold by PCC). I connect two isolated lines (on different circuit breakers) using a 1 microfarad, 600 volt capacitor. David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1555 Internet: dgc@math.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: "Laird P. Broadfield" Subject: Re: Forwarded Call Information Date: 23 Nov 90 20:07:48 GMT In <14914@accuvax.nwu.edu> JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet (Jeff Sicherman) writes: > In my latest PacBell bill there were two little flyers. One >described a service called Forwarded Call Information (FCI) which was >described as a facility that provided the telephone number called and >'other calling information' to telephone messaging systems, such as >voice mail services. It acknowledged that in some cases this could >include the caller's phone number, which could be recorded/displayed >with special equipment. Hrrrmmm. Here we have a service called "SMDI" (Simplified Message Desk Interface) to connect our voicemail system to our Centrex service. We receive over the SMDI (serial data through line-drivers) "forwarded-from" data whenever a call is forwarded on a ring-no-answer or busy-no-answer, and call-from data when an *internal* line dials the voice-mail's pilot number. We do not get information about the originator of the call, though I wish we did. (I can just imagine it; at the end of the message, the voice-mail voice comes on and says "This rude message was left by an outside caller, calling from fower oh wun fyve fyve fyve wun tew wun tew.") When I spoke with a PacBell technoid last week, I asked if I could forward my home line (I live in the same CO as work) to the voice-mail system, and have the forwarded-from info go to the box. He replied that it would not, since my home number was not "marked" as part of the Centrex group, and that they could not perform that marking due to tarriffs. However, I could put another line into my residence, which _would_ be a Centrex line, forward my #1 residential line to that, forward that to the voice-mail, etc. (Note: I am in So-Cal (619) and didn't get that note in my residential bill (yesterday). I wonder if it comes next month, or only to business, or ... ) Laird P. Broadfiel UUCP: {akgua, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!lairdb INET: lairdb@crash.cts.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Answering Machine Beeps But Does Not Take Message Date: 23 Nov 90 11:54:21 PST (Fri) From: John Higdon Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) writes: > What is the meaning of the aforementioned beep? > [on a machine that announces that it does not record messages from > callers] This beep is your signal that the TV station in question is too cheap or lazy to obtain an answering device that has an "announce-only" function. The "standard" mechanical outgoing-only high-volume telephone announcer used to be the Code-a-Phone 111. It had a built-in 6 minute tape that would immediately rewind when the caller hung up, even in the middle of the announcement. But this turkey cost $1,000, so it was never really popular. It also had about a 100,000-call MTBF. Another favorite trick (among broadcasters) is to buy one of the various "telephone controllers" for about 100 bucks to operate an almost-junked cart machine. This setup transforms old garbage into a pretty good-sounding high-volume answer-only system. One station I knew went so far as to have a homemade controller start the cart machine and then on cue from the cart machine start an Ampex 351 to record the caller's message. Bought new, this would be a $10,000 answering machine. But you couldn't beat the quality! There are, of course, many answering machines on the market that can do announce-only. Most of them, however, would fall apart rapidly in high-volume service. And they may not be available as broadcast advertising trade-out. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ From: Jeff Wilkinson Subject: Re: Sources For Catalogs Organization: Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis MN Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 23:05:44 GMT In article <68877@bu.edu.bu.edu> adammot@contact.uucp (adam mottershead) writes: >I am looking the the address and/or phone numbers to obtain catalogs >from AT&T and Bellcore. The BellCore Catalog of Technical Information is available from the BellCore Customer Service Hotline at 1-800-521-CORE (2673). According to the catalog instructions, the menu response is a 2 for non-BellCore- ites. Jeff Wilkinson wilk@medtronic.com Medtronic, Inc. 7000 Central Ave NE Voice +1-612-574-3770 My opinions are my own. Isn't that obvious by now? ------------------------------ DFrom: Jeff Wilkinson Subject: Re: A Phone Set Wiring Question Organization: Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis MN Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 18:56:38 GMT In article <14787@accuvax.nwu.edu> hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs. washington.edu writes: >In article <14686@accuvax.nwu.edu>, zellich@stl-07sima.army.mil (Rich >Zellich) writes: >> On hooking up various phones I, too, found that one single-line phone >> would take *both* lines off-hook. This is a "novelty" phone - a >The problem is, you have a phone that uses the outer pair >(black/yellow wires) for the A and A1 leads, which short together when >you go off hook. You have this plugged into an RJ14 jack, which has >the second line wired to the outer pair. When the phone goes off >hook, it uses the line hooked to the center pair, and shorts the outer >pair. It's also pretty common to ghost power in on the yellow/black for lighted dials (like Princess phones). Since the phone mentioned is a novelty phone, it _may_ be looking for power on this pair. The need for power would probably be a fairly low impedance on this pair (switched or unswitched) and would then take the second line off hook. It seems to me that the wall transformer typically used for dial lights was a 12VAC output. Any IR's want to confirm or deny that? >Rewire the jack so that only the red/green pair is active. This will >make it a standard RJ11 jack. Then take the separate black/yellow >pair, and wire it to the center pair (red green) of another jack. The >RJ14 type wiring should only be used with a two line phone that is wired >for RJ14. If that's the case, the best thing to do might be to rewire the jacks as suggested above, but provide power on yellow/black for both jacks. This will allow any single line phone to work on either jack, with or without lights, etc. Dual line phones still need two operational pairs, of course. Jeff Wilkinson wilk@medtronic.com Medtronic, Inc. 7000 Central Ave NE Voice +1-612-574-3770 My opinions are my own. Isn't that obvious by now? ------------------------------ From: U5437880@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au Subject: Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling Date: 23 Nov 90 21:42:51 +1100 Organization: The University of Melbourne In article <14680@accuvax.nwu.edu>, og@chorus.fr (Olivier Giffard) writes: > I've just tried to dial a number in the 917 area code (non existent > yet) from France. I got a French intercept message just after dialing > the 7 of 917 saying that this code was not in service. What means has > a switch in France to know that. There must be some kind of table to > look up in; but then how is it updated? In particular I'm wondering > whether area code 917 will be available from France the very second it > is put in service. I suppose there must be some kind of cooperation > between ?BellCore? and foreign Telecom companies? Can anyone comment > on this? In Australia we used to get a nice OTC (international carrier) message which ran "We think you have dialled an incorrect country or area code. Please check the number before you try again." Now Telecom Australia intercepts with a bored recording: "The number you have dialled is not connected. Please check the number before calling again." This is exactly the same message you get if you misdial a local or LD call. Why is there an intercept? So the company which catches the wrong number does not have to foot the bill for bandwidth to find out the number is not connected. Invalid area codes are the simplest to check, since they change slowly, and there is a relatively small number of valid possibilities. After London split from 01 into 071 and 081 OTC implemented a full conversion table, so dialling +44 1 xxx will tell you whether to dial 71 or 81. If you dial the wrong one, you also get the correct intercept. For most prefixes the intercept comes in after three prefix digits, for some only two are needed. Try dialling 19 44 81 603 xxxx, and see if you get a French intercept. I bet you will. Danny [Moderator's Note: I just now tried it from Chicago, USA. It accepted the entire number (that is, 011-44-81-603-four more), and the response to me on each of several attempts was the same recorded announcement: You call cannot be completed by the telephone company in the country you are calling at this time. Please try your call again later." Interestingly, my call had left Chicago, gotten out of the USA and was sitting in limbo somewhere. Instead of playing the French recording to me, when AT&T heard something 'go wrong' over there, it yanked the connection back and played an English language message instead. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #843 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa22941; 24 Nov 90 19:01 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa21963; 24 Nov 90 17:22 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa26521; 24 Nov 90 16:19 CST Date: Sat, 24 Nov 90 16:00:26 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest Guide: Special Prefixes/Numbers BCC: Message-ID: <9011241600.ab29194@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Nov 90 16:00:00 CST Guide to Special Prefixes Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers [David Leibold] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: woody Subject: TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers Date: Sat, 24 Nov 90 00:28:08 EST TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers ------------------------------------------------ 1st edition 20 November 1990 This is a summary of various numbers and exchanges that are a departure from the garden-variety residential or business phone prefixes/numbers. Basically, the following types of numbers/NXX prefixes are described: * Announcement/ESP: These are special prefixes containing recorded pay announcements or conference lines. 976 is the most familiar of the prefixes. Charges may vary according to the specific number dialed, or there may be NPAs that charge a set rate for any 976 or special prefix number. * ANI: When ANI numbers are dialed, a synthesised voice speaks out the telephone number calling them. * Ringback: when dialed, a ringback number will often get a dial tone than cannot be "broken" by dialing. A few tests may then be available, although this can vary from place to place: - dialing test may be done by dialing in 1234567890; when the sequence is complete, the tone may briefly change (or two short, different tones may be heard) to indicate that the dialing was received correctly. - ringback may be triggered by dialing a '6' into the dial tone then hanging up; after a short time, the ringback will ring the phone and a tone is provided when answered. - sometimes, ringback is done by flashing switch-hook upon the unbreakable dial tone; a different tone is then heard; the phone is then placed on-hook, then the ringback should occur shortly. Note that there may be some difficulty in clearing away the ringback condition. When finished the testing, place the phone back on hook for about 15 seconds to allow things to clear. The process may have to be repeated, by taking the phone off-hook, then leaving it back on-hook for several seconds. In General --- 844 used to be reserved for time announcement purposes. However, it seems that 844 is more likely to be a regular service exchange these days. Another exchange (936?) used to be reserved for weather years ago as well. 958 prefix will generally be reserved for tests, although it has been known to be used as a regular prefix. In 809, it would represent a normal Montego Bay, Jamaica number. In at least one area, pagers are on the 958 prefix. 959 and 970 are other common test prefixes. 976 is reserved for toll announcement services (though it's possible that there could be regular phone numbers assigned to 976 in some NPAs). Often, there may be special or test exchanges in the 55x, 57x, 95x, 97x or 99x series of prefixes, though this obviously varies according to the telco and region involved. 200 is another frequently occurring code for tests, as in 1 200 xxx xxxx or 1 200 xxxx or simply 200 xxxx. Again, this will depend on the jurisdiction involved. This listing is not as organised as it probably should have been; it was left as raw data mainly due to time crunch on my end. If anyone's message was missed, it could be because of net mail problems; mail jams can happen from time to time. Please re-send any info you have if you don't see it here, or haven't heard any acknowledgement. Contributions and corrections are welcome at djcl@contact.uucp. Thanks go to those who contributed; their names appear with their respective contributions. ================ Date: Tue, 23 Oct 1990 04:18:00 EDT From: Andy Jacobson Subject: Test lines, ANI and ringback for GTE part of 213 GTE Bay Division Access Codes. (West L.A./ Santa Monica Ca. 213 area) Note: I dont know what ACO stands for. CLLI Prefix Switch type ACO BELRCAXF 471 GTD-5 790 472 476 WLANCAXH 820 EAX2 717 207 442 826 WLANCAXH 828 GTD-5 719 829 453 315 PDRYCAXF 827 1ESS 793 301 305 306 578 PDRYCAXF 821 1EAX 793 822 823 CLCYCAXG 313 GTD-5 748 390 391 397 398 PCPLCAXF 454 GTD-5 762 459 SNMNCAXG 319 1ESS 778 383 394 395 451 458 SNMNCAXJ 450 DMS100 727 452 392 396 399 314 TPNFCAXF 455 GTD-5 786 WLANCAXJ 208 1ESS 789 209 824 825 443 794 WLANCAXF 270 GTD-5 790 312 444 473 477 479 441 478 445 WLANCAXG 279 2EAX 792 446 470 474 475 SWITCH ANI RINGBACK 2EAX 114 dial your 7 dig.#, get clicking, hangup 1ESS 1223 195 + last 5 digits,flash once, hangup GTD-5 114 dial your 7 dig.#, get tone, hangup DMS100 114 113 + your 7 digits,flash once, hangup 5ESS 1223 117 + last 4 digits, flash once, hangup Other test lines: 600OHM 1007Hz tone: Prefix + 0002 900OHM silent termination: Prefix + 9297 Reverse Battery: 213-478-1478 VRS Test system Access: ACO's 717,793,727, use 800-325-1647 ACO's 719,762,786,778, use 800-423-7526 ACO's 706,789,790,748, use 800-222-6978 =============== Date: Mon, 22 Oct 90 22:11:50 EDT From: convex!kf5iw!jim@uunet.uucp (Jim Blocker) Subject: Re: Special Exchanges List: Request For Data Test numbers in Carrollton, Texas (GTE) for 214-306: ANI: 970 1 khz (102 test set?) test tone: 958-1020 Test numbers in Dallas, Texas (Southwestern Bell) for 214-996: ANI: 970-2222222 Jim Blocker KF5IW jim%kf5iw@rwsys.lonestar.org =========== Date: Thu, 18 Oct 1990 23:07:00 EDT From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt) Subject: Re: Special Exchanges List: Request For Data Area code 817, Fort Worth, Texas (info from the July 1990-91 phone book): 976- The usual bunch of slime 703- Special Information Delivery Services that don't qualify for 976 Blocked by default - you must request access Not billed through SWBT "adult" and "live" (non-recorded) programs I've never seen a 703 number advertised, nor am I inclined to call one. This is an EXCHANGE, not an area code. 1-411 (Local) / 1-817-555-1212 (Toll) Directory Assistance 334-2015 Operation Sun Devil (Secret Service) 496-2900 Free audiotext service with 10-page list of 4-digit codes for news, market reports, sports, 900 number index, entertainment, law, health, finance listed in the local yellow pages phone book. Instructions available if you don't have a phone book. "SelectTALK", programs provided by Southern Audiotext, Inc. Presumably, if you call this from outside 817, you pay LD charges. Based on a small sample of calls, many of the recordings have sponsors, and end with "If you wish to call this business, press * now". A law firm sponsors "What To Do If Arrested", and an insurance company sponsors horoscopes. Gordon L. Burditt sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon ============ Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 10:00:22 EDT From: uunet!wang!elf.wang.com!office.wang.com!david.bonney@uunet.uucp Subject: More: ESP Exchanges Senders Name: David A. Bonney woody:- You commented that "976 is the only NXX that is common to all NPA's" ... My memory (?) recalls that there was [at least] one NPA where 976 was NOT an ESP Exchange - It was actually a valid POTS exchange. But I can't find my old notes on the subject. (Michigan/Wisconsin/?) To add to your info, 'other' ESP exchanges: [unaudited] Idaho (208) : 430/499/976 Pacific Bell : 976 Adult: 960 New York Tel : 540/976 GAB: 550 Adult: 970 C&P Maryland (301) : 915 Mass (413/508/617) : 976 GAB: 550 Adult: 940 On a slightly different subject, there exist what I refer to as 'hidden' or LATA-Only exchanges. Examples would be some of the Time and Temperature services run by the LEC (i.e. The Idaho Time line 208-844-TIME) or special exchanges established by the LEC's for their Customer Service applications (i.e. Georgia [404] 780 exchange). Is any further information available ?? Anyway ... That's it for now... Regards, dab ========== now ... from djcl@contact.uucp's viewpoint: I guess I'll throw in what I know about ESP/ANI/special exchanges, at least from a Canadian perspective. If an NXX is not in regular service, it could very well be a test exchange. ESP/announcement-type exchanges ---- 976 exchange, toll message services, are generally available only within Bell Canada's territory as far as I've heard. That is, Ontario and Quebec area codes. In British Columbia (NPA 604) 720 exchange is used for "Partyline", a GAB (conference) service. 720.TALK is used for adult discussion, while 720.TEEN is self-explanatory. Pennsylvania (at least NPAs 215 and 412): 976 for general pay announcements; these are available to telco customers by default unless requested to have this blocked 556 for restricted or adult pay announcements; these are blocked to telco customers unless access is specifically requested Chicago area (312/708): 976 is the announcement service as one may expect, but 796 is used for Customer Name/Address service, and seems to be treated as a special exchange there [Moderator's Note: Actually, there is only one 796 number: 796-9600. Dial seven digits within 312/708 and some of 815. Elsewhere dial it as 312-796-9600. Locally, the charge is 35 cents plus unit charges. From long distance, normal tolls apply. Some other 796 numbers may in fact funnel into CNA, but '9600' is the official, authorized in-dial. PAT] ANI Numbers ---- In NPA 416, 997 is the ANI prefix. Numbers of the form 997.xxxx (like 997.1699, 997.2350 and 997.8123) yield the calling number. In NPA 519 and 613, 320 is the ANI prefix (ie. use a 320.xxxx number). In Edmonton, just dialing 999 from some phones will get ANI. New York City (NPA 212/718): 958 should give ANI Ringbacks ---- In Bell Canada (Ontario/Quebec) territory, ringbacks may exist in: 1) 57 + last 5 digits of calling number 2) 99 + last 5 digits of calling number 3) 999 + 7 digits of calling number In some places, none of the three methods will work, or the Ringback uses a different access. NPA 902 (Hailfax, NS): try 575 + 7 digits of calling number for Ringback NPA 604 (Vancouver, BC): 871 is a likely candidate, as 871 + 7 digits is expected in some Vancouver locations. Again, this could vary by central office. Other --- NPA 306: Last year, trying 990.1111 in Regina used to get something really interesting ... whistling a happy tune. 828 prefix is for toll-free services within Saskatchewan NPA 403: The following NXXs may be used for testing, depending on locality: 299, 490, 557, 570, 951, 970, 980, 991, 999 880 - reserved for data services In NPA 416, 970 has various interesting uses: Dialing 1 416 970 5xxx gets an identification of the toll switch. 1 416 970 6xxx/7xxx gets 1+coin or 0+domestic announcements, whatever these might mean. 1 416 970 9xxx gets an Inwats (800 service) test recording, listing all the prefixes used in Ontario for 800 service. NPA 416, 996 is used for various tests (dial 996.xxxx). NPA 416: choke exchanges (for high-volume local calling) are 870 and 872 NPA 604: 280 is apparently a choke exchange (info courtesy Dan Fandrich) NPA 604: 200 and 201 are strange prefixes; they appear to be functioning but change to NXX prefixes from NNX is not official in British Columbia. These may be dialed within BC on a timed-out basis (ie. dial 1-200/201-xxxx and wait, or finish dialing number with a '#' tone) (some extra insight on this also courtesy Dan Fandrich). [Addendum by TELECOM Moderator: Ring back in most of the Cicacago area (312/708/parts of 815) is accomplished as follows: Dial 1-57x-last four of your number. The 'x' is 1 through 7, depending on CO. Try until you find the one that applies in your case. For example, mine is 1-574-xxxx. If you got the correct 'x' and the correct last four digits, dial tone will be returned. Otherwise, you will get a busy signal. Against this dial tone you may then: Dial 1234567890 and if your tone pad is correctly calibrated you will hear a double spurt of tone. Hang up to disconnect. Flash the hook to change the tone. Dial 6 at this point and hang up. Your phone will ring back repeatedly for up to five minutes, then disconnect itself if you have not already done so. To stop the ringing, lift the receiver for a few seconds and hang up again. ANI in the Chicago area seems to be 1-200-xxxx, with the last four changing on a frequent basis. They are always kept secret by IBT. My thanks to Woody (David Leibold) for compiling this survey for our readers. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa00839; 25 Nov 90 16:50 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa16382; 25 Nov 90 13:30 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa22924; 25 Nov 90 12:26 CST Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 11:41:58 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #844 BCC: Message-ID: <9011251141.ab16975@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Nov 90 11:41:47 CST Volume 10 : Issue 844 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill [TELECOM Moderator] Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Dan Boehlke] Re: Measured Local Service [Tad Cook] Re: New 410 Code for MD [Roger Fajman] Re: Dealing With Telemarketers [Mark A. Emanuele] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 10:32:41 CST From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill After I mentioned getting the new CLASS features from Illinois Bell installed on my two lines, someone raised the question of what all this costs per month. I wanted to wait until I had examined my first bill under the new system to be sure I had the rates quoted accurately. Here is what it says: Monthly Service, NOV 13 thru DEC 12, 1990 Local Service ...................................... 43.98 1 Non-Pub Directory Svc 1.45 (covers both lines) 1 Automatic Callback 3.50 (line 1) 1 Repeat Dialing 3.50 (line 1) 1 Call Screening 5.50 (line 1) 1 Threeway Calling 2.50 (line 1) 1 Call Forwarding 2.50 (line 1) 1 Call Waiting 2.50 (line 1) 1 Speed Calling 8 2.50 (line 1) 1 Discount for 7 features 4.50 CR 1 Touch Tone Service .73 (line 1) 1 Line Connection Charge 5.56 (line 1) 1 Repeat Dialing 3.50 (line 2) 1 Speed Calling 8 2.50 (line 2) 1 Call Forwarding 2.50 (line 2) 1 Discount for 3 features 1.50 CR 1 Touch Tone Service .73 (line 2) 1 Line Connection Charge 5.56 (line 2) 1 Multi-Ring Linked to 1st Number 4.95 Supplemental Line Charges, per FCC rulings ............. 6.86 Total Monthly Service ..................................... 50.84 Purchase of more than one custom calling feature per line provides for a 75 cent discount per addtional feature/line. Seven features on line 1 therefore gives a discount of 6 X .75 = $4.50. Three features on line 2 which is primarily used by the modems, terminals, etc. allows for a discount of 2 X .75 = 1.50. Speed Calling allows a separate directory for each line, or a common directory for both. You advise telco how to set it up; however you program it as desired. I have two directories; one for each line. In addition to the regular monthly service, shown above, we are charged *per call* we make, with various discounts built in depending on the time of day, day of the week, and volume of usage. This part of the bill varies from one month to the next, of course. Local Usage Services - OCT 13 thru NOV 12, 1990 Volume Summary: No Discount 10% Discount 40% Discount 9 am - 11 am 8 am - 9 am 9 pm - 8 am & 2 pm - 8 pm 11 am - 2 pm Sat / Sunday ------- 8 pm - 9 pm Holidays No. of Calls Band Untimed Calls A 71 55 306 Over 8 miles B 18 11 64 Over 15 miles C 6 0 5 Over 40 miles D 0 0 0 Billed Minutes Untimed Calls A --- --- --- 15.81 Over 8 Miles B 146 162 947 23.45 Over 15 Miles C 6 0 6 .94 Over 40 Miles D 0 0 0 .00 Volume Discount 5.07 (memo only - included in above totals) Total Local Useage Services for this period ...................... 35.13 Local untimed calls (those calls within your own CO or to nearby CO's within eight miles of you) are billed at about five cents per call or less, for the first fifty calls, depending on the time of day/day of week per above schedule. Local untimed calls reduce in cost to about three cents each on a sliding scale depending on the volume used and time of day. Inter-telco (IBT <--> Centel) calls are included, and area code boundaries do not matter. Calls to Bands B, C and D are billed by the minute at rates ranging from three to ten cents per minute depending on Band, time of day and volume discounts. Other Charges and Credits include applicable federal, state and municipal taxes, as follows: City of Chicago Surcharge - Emergency 911 Access 2 @ .95 = 1.90 State of Illinois Additional Charge 2 @ .04 = .08 City of Chicago Additional Charge 2 @ 2.42 = 4.84 Federal Tax = 2.84 State Tax = 4.59 Other Charges and Credits also include the use of Directory Assistance locally, Name and Address Service and surcharges for the use of the IBT Calling Card on local calls. 2 Calls to Name and Address Service @ .35 = .70 1 Intrastate Information Calls @ .30 = .30 There were a few additional minor charges this month I am not including in this summary which pertained to the removal of Starline service and the start of the new CLASS features. These were pro-rated charges for CLASS and pro-rated credits for Starline, since the service was changed in the middle of a billing cycle. IBT sees fit to not charge me for installation / work order charges, which is nice of them. The total bill this month was $107.45. This is typical, or maybe a few dollars higher than usual. Since line 2 is almost exclusively used by the modems, etc, there is no Call Waiting or Threeway Calling on that line (undesirable with modem!), nor do I need or want Call Screening or Auto Call Back on that line. Local Usage Services are computed in total on both lines, so the volume discounts kick in a little sooner. Now, Part 2 of the bill for NOV 13 thru DEC 12 -- the part that is 'provided as a service to AT&T' ... and which notes I'm free to get my long distance service wherever I please while still receiving my local service from IBT. Monthly Service - NOV 13 thru DEC 12 ............ $11.70 This is 'Reach Out America', the 24 hour plan which is offered in Illinois. The usual overnight rates apply. In addition there is an evening discount and a five percent discount on daytime interstate calls and international calls at any hour. Included is one hour of interstate calling during overnight and weekend hours. This also includes 'Reach Out World' at $3.00 per month. This plan provides good discounts on international calls at certain hours as well as a five percent discount at all non-ROA hours on interstate calls. I formerly had 'Reach Out Canada' and 'Reach Out UK' on my account. I dropped these in lieu of the world plan which is much less expensive although it includes no calling time. Other Charges and Credits on the AT&T portion of the bill this time includes a charge for: 1 Interstate, Canada, and/or 809 Directory Assistance 0 Allowed 1 Billed ................................ .60 And again, we have Uncle Sugar, Governor Thompson and the greedy alderpersons of our city council feeding at the trough ......... $5.20 As with local calling, the Reach Out America / World Plans use both lines in their calculations so that charges from either line count toward the benefits of the plans. Total AT&T portion, including calls, other charges, etc ........ $70.00 Total due telco this month ... $177.45 This is about typical. I've had bills as high as $200.00, and as little as $140.00 when long distance usage was light. Enclosed with this month's bill: The monthly copy of {Telebriefs} newsletter, which this month promotes Illinois Bell Calling Cards, vanity phone numbers for $38 each provided the number is available in your CO, gift certificates for the holiday season (the same little generic scrips AT&T sends out marked "Pay to the order of the Telephone Company"), a reminder to call ahead before going wherever you are going, and a cartoon of a man on a remote island in the ocean getting a message in a bottle asking him "what is your fax number?". A promotional message for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and public television fill out the issue. I own all my telephones with the exception of one 2-line single turn button set (lift the left plunger for hold) which belongs to AT&T. So I get a bill every three months from AT&T Consumer Products, Inc. for the lease of that phone -- about $20.00. I should go buy a new two line phone from Radio Shack and give theirs back. I also get two bills each month direct from AT&T, Orlando, FL for the long distance usage on my two cell phones. The long distance traffic on both is not enough to justify ROA or similar. A nice feature of AT&T direct billing (as opposed to through telco) is that if the bill is less than $5, it can be held over automatically for up to 90 days before payment for the convenience of not having to write small checks. My cell phones typically cost about $50 per month in total. I use the Ameritech phone more often; it costs about $35. Cell One costs about $15. Calls to cell phones from telco payphones in 312/708 are at the regular price of 25 cents for a local call. Calls to cell phones from private lines are considered local, untimed calls. So, there you have a look at the Moderator's monthly phone bill. I also spend $30 per month on Telenet/PC Pursuit and about $40 per month on the 800 numbers I have from Telecom*USA which are set to ring in on the new multi-ring (coded ring) number I got from IBT. This enables me to know ahead of time that the incoming call is on the 800 number. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: Dan Boehlke Subject: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 24 Nov 90 02:07:18 -0600 Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota Greetings, What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems and from time to time I need to pull one from the pool. Some modems have a "busy out" swtich. My modems do not have a switch. Pulling a modem causes the hunt to stop at modem I pulled, giving the caller a "no one is home" type ring. I have heard that putting a resistor accross the wire is enough to hold it off hook. If memory serves it was a 1000ohm resistor. I have hesitated to do this without trying to learn more. What effect does this have on the switch? Does the effect varry from phone switch to phone switch? Thanks. Dan Boehlke Internet: dan@gac.edu Campus Network Manager BITNET: dan@gacvax1.bitnet Gustavus Adolphus College St. Peter, MN 56082 USA Phone: (507)931-7596 ------------------------------ From: hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu Subject: Re: Measured Local Service Date: 23 Nov 90 05:53:46 GMT In article <68911@bu.edu.bu.edu>, john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > "Sander J. Rabinowitz" writes: > > "As a free service to you, we have kept track of the number of local > > calls you've made this month so you can see if you save money with our > > measured service. This month, you made -0- local calls--therefore, > > you would have saved $3.44 this month had you used our other plan." > This is very scary and you should be concerned. Most telcos have > discovered that PUCs and equivalents are most reluctant to allow the > summary discontinuance of unmeasured residence service, so they use a > more sophisticated approach these days. > > Is this something for the local public service commission to look at? > > It seems like a harmless computer glitch, but I can't shake the > > feeling that something fishy is going on here. > You betcha. You may be headed down the slippery slope of measured-only > service. Watch out! John Higdon said that the telco could get enough folks to switch their residential service to declare that the unlimited calling option was no longer in the public interest. I think it could happen a little differently. In most places where there is a measured service option, it is priced so that most residential customers would pay less by switching over to measured service without ever changing their calling patterns. So if the telco starts pushing measured service to these low usage customers and a bunch of them switched, suddenly they are getting less revenue for the same service, which gives them the right to go to the PUC and ask for a rate increase for the unlimited calling customers. Once this happens, there could be a snowball effect, where the telco gets more and more customers to switch, based upon higher and higher rates for unlimited calling. This further erodes the rate base, causing a situation where eventually nearly everyone except truly high usage residential customers are on measured service. So the telco gets a de-facto mandatory measured service, without any change in the tariff. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Sat, 24 Nov 90 15:54:49 EST Subject: Re: New 410 Code for MD > I think two changes in such rapid succession in the way to dial from > DC to its Maryland suburbs would have been too much for the minds of > our civil servants and way too much for the minds of our elected > officials. It seems to me that we can do without the gratuitous insults in this forum. The change to area codes for local calls in the DC area seemed to cause few problems. I heard few complaints other than a couple of newspaper columns that seemed at least partly tongue in cheek. Not much different than the other areas, I suspect. We had to update our user data base, which previously had not contained area codes for local numbers. Yes, TELECOM Digest's reach is so great that even some of us civil servants see it. :-) Roger Fajman Telephone: +1 301 402 1246 National Institutes of Health BITNET: RAF@NIHCU Bethesda, Maryland, USA Internet: RAF@CU.NIH.GOV ------------------------------ From: "Mark A. Emanuele" Subject: Re: Dealing With Telemarketers Date: 25 Nov 90 05:25:46 GMT Organization: Overleaf, Inc. I recently got a call from a company called "T.H.E. Phone Company" telling me that I could save a bundle if i switched to a new long distance "program", I asked them if they were AT&T. Response: We're The Phone Company. Again I asked if they were AT&T (my long distance carrier). Response: Hold on one second while I get my supervisor. Supervisor: Can I help You ? Me: What is the name of your company? Supv: The Phone Company. Me: No, your corporate name. Supv: "T.H.E. Phone Company, Inc." Me: CLICK ! I wonder if AT&T or NJ Bell know about this fraud! Mark A. Emanuele V.P. Engineering Overleaf, Inc. 500 Route 10 Ledgewood, NJ 07852-9639 attmail!overlf!emanuele (201) 927-3785 Voice (201) 927-5781 Fax emanuele@overlf.UUCP [Moderator's Note: I'm sure they know about it. The problem is there is no copyright or prohibition on the phrase 'The Phone Company', so there is no way telco can stop them. These days, neither NJB or AT&T are *the* phone company, but merely two of several which can call themselves that. Here in Chicago we had a fellow who incorporated his business as 'The Phone Company', and his pitch was for a maintainence agreement you signed on a one year contract for him to fix your phones when they were broken, ala Illinois Bell's 'Line Backer' program. IBT screamed about it, but it was only when the Consumer Fraud division of the Attorney General's office caught him claiming to be part and parcel of IBT in one of his calls tape recorded by their agent that they were able to shut him down. His monthly invoices even looked *identical* to IBT's -- even with 'other charges and credits' !! His bills did not say IBT, but they did include the old Bell System logo of the bell inside the circle, which I guess belongs to no one now. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #844 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12259; 26 Nov 90 5:20 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa04778; 26 Nov 90 3:38 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa26015; 26 Nov 90 2:33 CST Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 1:48:56 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #845 BCC: Message-ID: <9011260148.ab18908@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Nov 90 01:48:48 CST Volume 10 : Issue 845 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Centel Dials For Caller ID [Philip Gladstone] Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill [Arun Baheti] Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill [David Lesher] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Arun Baheti] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Barton F. Bruce] French Modem Info Sought [Richard W. Fortier] International Dialing [Jerry Durand] Two Cellular Phones, One Number [Jerry Durand] Hangup Indication [Johnny Zweig] V & F Coordinates in Europe [Gene N. Cartier] The "Bell" Logo [John Higdon] GTE Does do Business in Writing [David G. Cantor] Help on Telco Video Projects Sought [Bruce Klopfenstein] Return*Call Humor [Kenneth Weaverling] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: philip@beeblebrox.dle.dg.com (Philip Gladstone) Subject: Re: Centel Dials For Caller ID Organization: Data General, Development Lab Europe Date: 24 Nov 90 16:19:47 In article <14918@accuvax.nwu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > ... She asked, "Why would anyone subscribe to Caller ID if the > calling party could defeat it?" The EEC (European Community) are investigating the whole area of Telecom privacy at the moment. There is a draft council directive (SYN 288) that covers this very issue. Article 12 says that 1) The caller must be able to supress the transmission of his Caller ID on a case by case basis or permanently. 2) The called party may eliminate reception of the caller id (case by case or permanently). Further the called party MUST be able to limit incoming calls to those which identify the callers number. The rest of the directive covers itemised billing, storage of billing data, security (in particular of mobile comms), protection of personal data, emergency services override of article 12, call forwarding, unsolicited phone advertising. All this lot to be implemented by 1 Jan 1993. Philip Gladstone Development Lab Europe Data General, Cambridge England. +44 223-67600 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 17:06 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill Oi vey, Patrick! I hope that you can at least deduct some of that from your taxes... :-) (Or that you are at least somehow reimbursed for at least some of the costs!) [Moderator's Note: I get re-imbursed for international calls I make from home on business due to the time difference. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 19:42:32 -0500 From: David Lesher Subject: Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews Abusers Reply-To: David Lesher The REAL question for those of you stuck in 'every call is a toll call' land, PT, is: Is your bell.eecs.nwu.edu port a local call? {David's defn: local -- you talk all day and it does not cost any more than if you talk for one minute. L.D -- anything other than the above. If NOT, it might be cheaper for you to move on campus :-} [Moderator's Note: Since I am on the far north side of Chicago (312) there are many suburban 708 points -- including the Evanston dialup lines -- which are local ('talk' all day) to me. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 17:01 CDT From: "Arun Baheti " Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook The way I used to do it when I ran a BBS is just to have the modem do it for you. On my trusty US Robotics Courier, I just used the Hayes command set to get the phone "off hook" and I left it there until I was done with the line. ab ------------------------------ From: "Barton F. Bruce" Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 25 Nov 90 22:38:24 EDT Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. In article <69299@bu.edu.bu.edu>, DAN@gacvx2.gac.edu (Dan Boehlke) writes: > What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems The 120 ohm 5 watt resistor typically used for a key system hold should do. Old Rixon modem cages we have in racks all used 200 ohm 2 watt resistors. If your loop is short, you may get up near 100 ma, and a long loop will seldom go below 23 ma which is the lower limit for many TT dials. You need enough current flowing for the CO to think you are off hook. 15 ma should do it, but by 25 you are safe. Just be sure your resistor can handle the heat. I used to be 'nice' and use a resistor, but tend to simply short the line these days. Our NYC office for years would busy ALL LINES except the first (which had the answering machine) by having the receptionist flip a switch 'to turn on the answering machine' as she left. A 12 pole wire spring relay in the KSU did the rest, and was simply shorting the lines. This config also lit her hold button, just to remind her to switch it off in the morning. NYTel never said boo. I assume they learned to ignore any alarms raised, or more probably never got any. If the line you need to busy is ground start, ground the ring side, or keeping it simple, ground BOTH sides of the line. When there is an open wire that is THEIR fault, they generally will busy the particular line at the CO until it gets fixed - if you make it clear to repair that the dead line is messing up hunting. If only one wire is open, you can still busy the line if it is the Tip side that is open. Just treat it like a ground start line. Another way to busy a dead line is to dial it from some spare line and simply leave it ringing. Some smarter COs won't let this ring forever though. ------------------------------ From: "Richard W. Fortier" Subject: French Modem Info Sought Date: 25 Nov 90 16:39:49 GMT Organization: Epoch Systems, Westboro MA I am currently residing in the US, but shortly I will be relocating to France. Does anyone have any information or insights to offer regarding modems compatible with the French telephone system? I'm particularly interested in leads that will enable me to buy a modem before going over. Are there any legal/tariff issues I should be concerned about? Richard W. Fortier, Epoch Systems Inc. (508) 836-4711 8 Technology Drive, Westboro, MA 01581-1796 uunet!epochsys!rfortier, rfortier@epoch.com ------------------------------ From: JDurand@cup.portal.com Subject: International Dialing Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 11:26:21 PST In article <14934@accuvax.nwu.edu> the Moderator writes: >[Moderator's Note: I just now tried it from Chicago, USA. It accepted >the entire number (that is, 011-44-81-603-four more), and the response >to me on each of several attempts was the same recorded announcement: >You call cannot be completed by the telephone company in the country >you are calling at this time. Please try your call again later." When I tried the above number from my cellular phone (GTE, with "restored" international dialing), I got a recording telling me the country area code was bad and to contact my AT&T operator for assistance (AT&T, not Sprint??). From my business MCI line, I got a recording in an English accent telling me the proper way to dial London. Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 408 356-3886 jdurand@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: JDurand@cup.portal.com Subject: Two Cellular Phones, One Number Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 11:39:31 PST In the process of checking cellular coverage at our research facility, I had to get a "loner" three watt phone from a local cellular dealar (Bridge Radio in San Jose, CA) since mine is only a .6W Micro-Tac. I was very surprised to find out they were going to program the phone for the number assigned to my Micro-Tac (they later gave me a different number when they found out I had GTE service, they said a GTE number wouldn't ROAM in a Pac-Bell area!). Wouldn't my phone number in a phone with a different serial number trigger all sorts of fraud alerts? Is it legal for them to do this (apperantly they do this for all their loner phones)? Jerry Durand Durand Interstellar, Inc. 408 356-3886 jdurand@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: Johnny Zweig Subject: Hangup Indication Reply-To: zweig@cs.uiuc.edu Organization: U of Illinois, Dept. of Computer Science, Systems Research Group Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 23:49:27 GMT I was just listening to the seventeenth message in a row on my answering machine that says "If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try it again" and got to thinking: for POTS, what indicator is there that the party on the other end of a connection has hung up? Is it just the dialtone(*), or is there some other kind of signal (line-voltage, say) that lets you know? I understand that ISDN will have hang-up messages on the D-channel, so maybe I should just rush out and buy one of the ISDN answering machines I've been seeing all those ads for. Johnny Curious (*) followed by silence followed by the stupid announcement followed by that loud beeping followed by more silence ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 18:52:49 MST From: "Gene N. Cartier" Subject: V & F Coordinates in Europe? We currently have a "C" based modeling tool that we use to design and optimize voice and data networks for both government and commercial customers. It uses published NPA/NNX info which maps to V & F coordinates. By using the V & F coordinates it computes distances which are used as tariff entries. We want to expand the model to include European PTTs. Compared to the US, the European tariffs are very simple. We use the Eurodata Foundation publications for basic tariff data. However, in order to calculate distances we have to use an approximate latitude and longitude of the locations we model. Until now this has been simple because the networks have been simple. Usually they have been the European branch offices of U.S. companies. We now have an opportunity to redesign and optimize the voice and data network of a major European bank. It has over 1100 locations in France and Belgium (branches, data centers and ATMs). To map spot the lat/long of every location would significantly add to the cost and/or data collection effort. Is there a counterpart to V & F coordinates in Europe? Can you determine the tariff location of a site based on its NPA/NNX (or European PTT equivalent?) Any knowledge or suggestions on how the European PTTs compute tariff distances will be greatly appreciated. As I said before the tariffs are simple, computing the distances to apply the tariffs is more complicated. Any assistance or advice will be appreciated and I'll post a summary of the results to the net. Gene Cartier Systems Research & Applications Corp Arlington, VA (703-558-7507) SRA@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ------------------------------ Subject: The "Bell" Logo Date: 25 Nov 90 18:47:28 PST (Sun) From: John Higdon On Nov 25 at 11:41, TELECOM Moderator writes: > His monthly invoices even looked > *identical* to IBT's -- even with 'other charges and credits' !! His > bills did not say IBT, but they did include the old Bell System logo > of the bell inside the circle, which I guess belongs to no one now. PAT] Patrick, I believe you are mistaken. Unlike the "walking fingers" which no one ever bothered to copyright or register and as a result found itself in the public domain, the bell logo was made the collective property of the seven RBOC's in the MFJ. I believe there is at least one RBOC still actively using the logo even though most have dropped it. Southwestern Bell puts it on its telephone products and there may be an eastern RBOC that still uses it. It is not in the public domain. John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Subject: GTE Does do Business in Writing Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 20:05:24 -0800 From: "David G. Cantor" I just received the appended letter in reponse to my written request that my telco service not be changed without written request. What surprised me is that it is, to them, an absolutely routine situation. The evidence being the PO Box IN WHITTIER (GTE's headquarters are in Thousand Oaks). November 19, 1990 In reply refer to 1000-500 C6.3 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Cantor This is in reply to your letter of November 13 concerning your telephone service. As you have requested, your telphone accounts, [numbers deleted--dgc] were noted that any changes must be provided in writing by either David G. Cantor or Harriet Cantor. Please forward any requests you have to: GTE Post Office Box 4007 Whittier, CA 90607-4007 Thank you for the opportunity to assist you. Very truly yours, (signature) C.A. Crain Area President-West ------------------------------ From: Bruce Klopfenstein Subject: Help on Telco Video Projects Sought Date: 26 Nov 90 05:13:35 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh. I am interested in the evolving plans and current pilot projects involving telco entry into video distribution into the home. I'm posting this message in the hopes that there might be an electronic version of these telco plans already available, but am also interested in personal views on the subject. For those who don't know, Pacific Telesis, U.S. West, and Southwestern Bell are all invloved in some way in cable television projects outside the U.S. Bell South has also been very active in video test projects. Updates and more specific details are what I am most interested in. Thanks. Bruce C. Klopfenstein | klopfens@barney.bgsu.edu Radio-TV-Film Department | klopfenstein@bgsuopie.bitnet 318 West Hall | klopfens@bgsuvax.UUCP Bowling Green State University | (419) 372-2138; 372-8690 Bowling Green, OH 43403 | fax (419) 372-2300 ------------------------------ From: Ken Weaverling Date: Mon, 26 Nov 1990 00:31:05 EST Subject: Return*Call Humor Here in northern Delaware, we have had CLASS calling in most exchanges for a few years now. Return*Call was great at first, but is slowly losing its effectiveness with cranks as more and more people realize how it works. About a year ago, my girl friend had an encounter with Return*Call biting her back. It went like this ... My girl friend gets a crank phone call, the typical heavy breathing type. She immedialely Return*Calls it. A lady answers. My girl friend shouts into the phone "I know who you are and what you are up to, so you better stop it now" and then hangs up the phone. (A typical Return*Call bluff. You don't know who they are, but it works effectively until word gets around how Return*Call works ...) A minute later, our phone rings again. My girl friend answers and it is this woman again, who obviously Return*Called us. She stated that she knew who we were (bluff again) and if the crank phone calls don't stop, she was going to call the police. We sat around puzzled for a moment, then finally figured out that there must be several extensions in their house and the original crank call must have originated, perhaps, with a child, and the child's Mother answered our Return*Call. I then did a Return*Call myself to her to try and explain the situation to her. When she answered, she was at the boiling point. I tried explaining but I don't think she heard a word. She hollered that she had had enough, was going to hang up, initiate a call trace, and then call the police. At that point, I realized I should have probably just let it go after her first call, but by this time it was too late. We just sat back and waited for the police to contact us. However, this never happened, thankfully. So, the morale is, "Those that live by Return*Call can get bitten by it too!" --or-- "Those that never had class to begin with, shouldn't try and get it from the phone company." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #845 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07134; 27 Nov 90 4:33 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa15959; 27 Nov 90 2:49 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac01612; 27 Nov 90 1:43 CST Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 1:39:05 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #846 BCC: Message-ID: <9011270139.ab00562@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Nov 90 01:37:42 CST Volume 10 : Issue 846 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill [John Higdon] Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill [Phydeaux] Re: Transoceanic Cables [Tad Cook] Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling [Olivier Giffard] Re: Need Info on ANSI X.12 [Toby Nixon] Re: Dealing With Telemarketers [Dave Levenson] Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? [John R. Covert] Re: Wrong Number Rights [Wm. Randolph Franklin] Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service [David Leibold] Re: Hangup Indication [David Wilson] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill Date: 26 Nov 90 11:40:14 PST (Mon) From: John Higdon David Lesher writes: > {David's defn: local -- you talk all day and it does not cost any > more than if you talk for one minute. > L.D -- anything other than the above. According "David's defn", all business and measured residence customers can dial nothing but long distance in Pac*BellLand. Under mandatory business and optional residence measured service, even Zone One (as local as you can get -- radius eight miles) is timed 24 hours a day. During the day it amounts to about $0.01/min with evening and night discounts (sound familiar?). John Higdon (hiding out in the desert) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 08:29:12 -0800 From: Phydeaux Subject: Re: A Look at Moderator's Phone Bill Organization: From the grass eaters at the Bovine Munching Works Howdy! I'm about to move (two weeks!) to Chicago from northern NJ. I'm curious about how much cellular service is out there and which service you think is best. Also, where would I find more info out about personal 1-800 service so my poor friends in NYC can call me. I note from the glimpse you gave us of your phone bill that you've got something like that. reb *-=#= Phydeaux =#=-* reb@ingres.com reb%ingres.com@lll-winken.llnl.GOV ICBM: 40.55N 74.11W h:182 Market St. Saddle Brook, NJ 07662 201-845-0256 Home FAX! 201-845-0258 Send neat stuff! In Chicago 11/27-12/2 [Moderator's Note: I've got two cell phones; one each from Ameritech and Cellular One. Rates are similar. I have only the off-peak package from each and my total bill is in the $30-40 range per month on Ameritech and the $15-20 per month range on Cellular One. I make one or two cellular calls daily. I get my 800 service from Telecom*USA for about $2.75 per month per 800 number plus 29 cents per minute of usage. Obviously I keep the calls short and call back direct. Say, I was wondering about something: Why did you choose a dog's name for your handle, and how did the network get named? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu Subject: Re: Transoceanic Cables Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 0:34:13 PST In article <14897@accuvax.nwu.edu>, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes: > TAT-1 was only laid in 1956. Transatlantic telephone service > started in 1927, but until 1956 used SSB radio. I thought single sideband radiotelephone wasn't developed until after World War II. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ From: Olivier Giffard Subject: Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling Date: 26 Nov 90 09:50:18 GMT Reply-To: Olivier Giffard Organization: Chorus systemes, Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France In article <14934@accuvax.nwu.edu>, U5437880@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au writes: %% After London split from 01 into 071 and 081 OTC implemented a full %% conversion table, so dialling +44 1 xxx will tell you whether to dial %% 71 or 81. If you dial the wrong one, you also get the correct %% intercept. For most prefixes the intercept comes in after three %% prefix digits, for some only two are needed. %% Try dialling 19 44 81 603 xxxx, and see if you get a French intercept. %% I bet you will. Wrong guess. I've just tried: I dialled 19 44 81 603 xxxx and got an English intercept message saying: " The London area code 1 has been changed to 71 for the number you have dialled. Please redial replacing 44 1 with 44 71." (This being said by a feminine voice very slowly and mentioning the country code for the UK makes me suspect that this message is only aimed at foreigners. I suspect they have only one message for any wrong code because the message mentionned 44 1 and not 44 81 as I had dialled.) %% [Moderator's Note: I just now tried it from Chicago, USA. It accepted %% the entire number (that is, 011-44-81-603-four more), and the response %% to me on each of several attempts was the same recorded announcement: %% You call cannot be completed by the telephone company in the country %% you are calling at this time. Please try your call again later." %% Interestingly, my call had left Chicago, gotten out of the USA and was %% sitting in limbo somewhere. Instead of playing the French recording to Well that should have been an English message anyway as you dialled the UK. Olivier Giffard Home: +33 (1) 48 97 90 64 Chorus Systemes Office: +33 (1) 30 64 82 81 6, avenue Gustave Eiffel Fax: +33 (1) 30 57 00 66 F-78182 ST QUENTIN EN YVELINES CEDEX France ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Need Info on ANSI X.12 Date: 26 Nov 90 09:25:39 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article <14677@accuvax.nwu.edu>, FEK101@psuvm.psu.edu writes: > I am looking for information on EDI, specifically on ANSI X.12. I > would greatly appreciate any information anyone could send me on the > ANSI X.12 standards, or a phone number I may call to get the info. Information on EDI and X.12 standards can be obtained from the X.12 secretariat: Data Interchange Standards Association 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 355 Alexandria VA 22314-2852 Voice: 703-548-7005 Fax: 703-548-5738 I won't take the time to list all of the standards here, but DISA would be happy to send you a list. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-449-8791 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Dealing With Telemarketers Date: 26 Nov 90 14:04:54 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article <69302@bu.edu.bu.edu>, emanuele%overlf@princeton.edu our Moderator adds, in part: [Regarding a telephone maintenance company who called itself The Phone Company and told prospective customers that it was part of Illinois Bell ... ] > they were able to shut him down. His monthly invoices even looked > *identical* to IBT's -- even with 'other charges and credits' !! His > bills did not say IBT, but they did include the old Bell System logo > of the bell inside the circle, which I guess belongs to no one now. PAT] It is my understanding that the Bell-in-a-circle logo belongs to Bellcore, and that they license its use by their supporting regional Bell Operating Companies. NJ Bell still uses it as part of their corporate logo (alongside the words NJ BELL) but not by itself. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 08:10:32 PST From: "John R. Covert 26-Nov-1990 0936" Subject: Re: Are Cellular Calls Free to Landline Customers, or Not? >>I have read, from time to time, messages in TELECOM Digest which >>assert that it is supposed to be toll-free for a landline telephone >>subscriber with flat-rate service to call any cellular subscriber in >>whatever the regional cellular calling area is supposed to be. The >>only charge is airtime to the cellular subscriber. >A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated >that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin >reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO >cell phones. We are talking about two different, but related, things here: 1. What is the landline charge (if any) to the landline customer for calling a cellular phone? 2. Who pays the airtime charge -- the landline customer calling the cellular phone, or the cellular customer? The answers to both of these questions really depend on where you are. In the U.S. and Canada, each NPA-NXX combination has a location name and a set of V&H coordinates used for billing. Inter-LATA LD calls are always billed based on the mileage from the calling location to the called location, and that's the end of the story. It is simply not possible to charge any different way, nor to add on an airtime charge. Intra-LATA and local calls (as well as some inter-LATA in-state calls) are charged based on whatever the local PUC/DPU has approved. In Massachusetts, there are no special tariffs for calls to cellular phones. Your cellular number may be a Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, Worcester, or whatever number. Callers pay the normal charges for calls to any other number in (for example) Worcester, when making calls to cellular phones with Worcester numbers regardless of where the cellular phone currently is located. In fact, in many cases, cellular numbers are only a few thousands groups out of an NXX which is shared with other services, including landline phones. In other areas, a cellular carrier may provide special interconnections with the LOCAL phone company for handling incoming calls. When this is done, the cellular prefix may be reachable as a local call, or even a free call, from a larger area than other prefixes which have the same location name. But this only applies to calls handled by the LOCAL phone companies in the area. In addition, it is possible for a cellular carrier to provide a special arrangement with the LOCAL phone company to bill airtime to the landline customer who calls the cellular phone. U.S. West has done this in Phoenix. The "Calling Party Paid Prefixes" are 602-377, -531, and -540. When calling cellular phones with these prefixes FROM PHOENIX, the airtime charge will be applied to the caller's phone bill. The call must be dialled with 1-602-7D. However, when calling these prefixes from OUTSIDE Phoenix, there is no special charge to the caller other than the charge for a normal call to Phoenix. The cellular customer (who can't tell where the call is coming from) still pays for the airtime upon answering the call if it originated from outside Phoenix. In other countries, such as the U.K. and Germany, cellular phones have their own nationwide prefixes. In Germany all cellular phones are reached by dialling 0161+7D; the phone is paged nationwide, including those areas in the eastern part of the country where there are cell sites; I know of sites in Leipzig and Magdeburg. The caller pays a message unit (DM 0,23 or $0.1554 at current rates) for each eight seconds during the peak period, or about $1.16 per minute (more from pay phones or post offices, where message units are DM 0,30, or from hotels where message units are DM0,50-0,70). Sixt/Budget charged me DM 0,90 for each message unit on the rented phone I had a few weeks ago, making calls within Germany cost $4.56 per minute during the peak period (if you could get a circuit in heavily overloaded Berlin). I was quite glad I was not paying for incoming calls. The astute person will note that it costs less to call a cellular phone in Germany from many other countries than from within the country. Calls to Germany from the U.K. are 46p per minute during the peak period, or about 90 cents at current exchange rates. Calls to Germany from the Netherlands are even cheaper (in fact, it appears that it is cheaper to call points in Germany from the Netherlands than from anywhere within Germany over 100 km or 62 miles, but that's another topic). >A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated >that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin >reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO >cell phones. I checked with NYNEX Mobile in Boston, Cellular One (a Southwestern Bell Company) in Boston, Linx (SNET) Cellular in Connecticutt, and Metro Mobile in Connecticut. None of them knew anything about any such plans. john ------------------------------ From: Wm Randolph Franklin Subject: Re: Wrong Number Rights Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY Date: 26 Nov 90 18:57:46 GMT In article <14683@accuvax.nwu.edu> bellutta@irst.it (Paolo Bellutta) writes: >2) Two years ago, friends of mine visited the US for the first time. >They visited the south west. They wanted to book a room in Page >(border Utah - Arizona) and they called a motel. They called the >number that was reported on the directory listing of the motel chain >(I don't recall the name). They took the reservation, name, C.C. #. >Being a bit late, they called again to be sure the reservation was >held after 6pm. They arrived, after a 400 miles ride, at the motel in >Page at 9pm. No reservation, no vacancy, nearest place: St.George. Do you KNOW that your friends called the wrong number? Hotels are wont to "lose" reservations when they fill up. The fact that your friends arrived at 9 and the hotel was full reinforces this. It's happened to me. You want to get a reservation number and the clerk's name when making the reservation. Then, if it's guaranteed, raise hell since they just broke a contract. Wm. Randolph Franklin Internet: wrf@ecse.rpi.edu (or @cs.rpi.edu) Bitnet: Wrfrankl@Rpitsmts Telephone: (518) 276-6077; Telex: 6716050 RPI TROU; Fax: (518) 276-6261 Paper: ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180 ------------------------------ From: woody Subject: Re: Unitel (Canada) Fax Service Date: Fri, 23 Nov 90 23:14:26 EST I have been using the Unitel FacsRoute service at work on occasion; it is indeed a black box that lets the local calls go through while sending the long distance ones on its way to Unitel's circuits. One interesting quirk that I was able to find was that long distance calls in 416 could be completed as 1 + NNX.XXXX even though Bell Canada now requires 1 + 416 + NXX.XXXX within 416. Alas, the extra delays in the connection setup via Unitel over straight long distance outweigh any savings in dialing three fewer digits. There is a grace period allowed for an initial voice connection, so that fax connections may be made by voice first. The idea is that any voice after the grace period will be cut off as required by tariff. Some months back, Unitel checked out the competing fax service by Bell Canada/Telecom Canada and found that their grace period was quite extensive, enough to make regular voice calls instead of fax calls ... a bit of a scoop for Unitel. ------------------------------ From: David E A Wilson Subject: Re: Hangup Indication Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 21:50:32 GMT Here in Australia the "remote end has hung up" condition is indicated by a continuously repeated beep pause beep pause ... I have no experience with answering machines but we have a couple of Bit Blitzer 1200bps modems which are quite happy to chat to the beep beep tone for days on end (not very good for what were at one stage our fastest dial-in lines to the campus). David Wilson Dept Comp Sci, Uni of Wollongong david@cs.uow.edu.au ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #846 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08149; 27 Nov 90 5:58 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa26325; 27 Nov 90 3:56 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab15959; 27 Nov 90 2:49 CST Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 2:26:06 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #847 BCC: Message-ID: <9011270226.ab15782@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Nov 90 02:25:55 CST Volume 10 : Issue 847 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Prodigy "Protestors" Respond [Steven W. Grabhorn] Hackers Break Into DEA Lines [Joe Abernathy, via CuD / Houston Chronicle] Ontario Government Subsidizes TDDs [Nigel Allen] Interesting Article About Spread Spectrum Comms [Alain Fontane] MCI Improves Customer Service [David Lemson] Slammed! Default Carrier Changed Without Okay [Roger Preisendefer] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Steven W. Grabhorn" Subject: Prodigy "Protestors" Respond Date: 27 Nov 90 05:33:19 GMT Organization: Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego I know we've seen quite a bit of discussion about Prodigy in the last several weeks, however, I'd like to pass along an article I received from some of the Prodigy members involved in the "protest." Prodigy certainly does own its own service and it seems like they can do what they see fit with it. However, I thought it might be a good idea to forward some thoughts from the other side of the fence. Although I use Prodigy occasionally, the thoughts below may or may not reflect my own feelings, and the usual disclaimers about myself and my employer apply. ----------Begin Article------------ NEW PRODIGY GUIDELINES RESTRICT USE OF PRIVATE E-MAIL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOVEMBER 24, 1990: Prodigy Service, the IBM/Sears owned home computer service, has taken another unprecedented step in its clampdown on private electronic communication. In what appears to be a direct response to the growing strength and visibility of Prodigy members who are protesting Prodigy's abandonment of its much publicized "flat fee" billing structure and proposed e-mail charges, the service has very quietly issued a new set of "messaging guidelines" (see attached) [not included ?? -sg].] Imposition of these guidelines will restrict the private exchange of information on Prodigy in ways never before attempted on a commercial online service. Russ Singer, a protest coordinator remarks, "Obviously Prodigy feels an informed membership is not in their best interest." Six days after being issued, existence of the new regulations is unknown to most Prodigy users. The guidelines have not been announced on the "Highlights" screen members encounter when logging on to the service. Among the guidelines, which take effect immediately, are prohibitions on: Contacting Prodigy's online merchants and advertisers for any reason other than to "purchase goods and services" and to "communicate about specific orders placed online"; "A mailing with a request to recipients to continue distribution to others," which Prodigy describes as "chain letters". Use of "automated message distribution programs (other than those provided by Prodigy); and the threat of termination of users who fail to provide a credit card number but who continue to send a large number of messages . The guidelines are vague and raise disturbing questions about free speech and the sanctity of private communication. These issues have aroused the concern of the ACLU and other legislative and consumer groups. Although issued universally, the intent of the guidelines seems aimed at stemming the protest. Says Henry Niman, another protest coordinator, "These guidelines don't make sense from a monetary standpoint. If Prodigy goes ahead with e-mail charges, in only five weeks these rules will be unnecessary." Although $.25 per message would afford Prodigy a bloated profit margin, most users on the service would find the cost prohibitive. Adds Niman, "These regulations do nothing more than create confusion and intimidation. What purpose is served by requiring, under threat of termina- tion, a credit card number from members who have already established a billing arrangement with the service?" Should e-mail charges be imposed, Prodigy, which is believed to be 80% advertiser supported, will have created an electronic marketplace in which merchants cannot benefit from customer to customer referrals. With the addition of Prodigy's latest guidelines, merchants will be denied customer feedback on the condition of that marketplace. Many protesters are asking, "Don't advertisers have an interest in knowing what management is doing?" Singer adds, "If what Prodigy wants to be is a shopping mall then it should advertise itself that way, not as a flat rate interactive service. Restricting users to submitting posts to Prodigy's public bulletin boards makes Prodigy no more 'interactive' than a letter to the editor in a newspaper." Prodigy's campaign to silence dissent on the service began on October 30th when Prodigy expelled ten of the most visible members of the protest group (The Cooperative Defense Committee). An hour later discussion of e-mail charges was prohibited on the only PUBLIC forum provided for member feedback . Fifteen days later, Prodigy targeted four more protesters by sending them newly devised "warning" notices informing them that private "mass mailings" might be used as grounds for termination. If Prodigy's new "guidelines" applied universally, you would not be getting this FAX. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: PENELOPE HAY (213) 472 0443 Steve Grabhorn, Code 645, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA, 92152 Phone:619-553-3454 Internet:grabhorn@nosc.mil UUCP:..!sdcsvax!nosc!grabhorn ------------------------------ From: chron!magic322!edtjda@UUNET.UU.NET(Joe Abernathy) Subject: Hackers Break Into DEA Lines Date: Wed, 21 Nov 90 17:32:59 CST [Moderator's Note: Reprinted from the current issue (2.13) of Computer Underground Digest. Subscriptions to CuD may be obtained by writing to the Moderators: tk0jut2.niu.bitnet. PAT] ------------------ "Hackers break into DEA lines: Long-distance Service the Target" From: Houston Chronicle, Saturday, Nov. 17, 1990 (p. 1A) By JOE ABERNATHY (Copyright 1990, Houston Chronicle) Computer hackers and others stole long distance service worth up to $1.8 million from the government through the Houston offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the agency acknowledged Friday. "We became aware of it last spring," said DEA spokesman Thomas Lentini. "Southwestern Bell telephone security told us that they suspected somebody was hacking into our FTS system. That's the Federal Telephone System." The agency cannot estimate the precise value of the long distance service since it used a dedicated line without per-call billing. But an Arizona prosecutor who specializes in computer fraud has estimated that such a breach can use service worth at least $100,000 a month. Self-described hackers told the Houston Chronicle that hundreds of people around the nation used the government phone lines over a period of 18 months. The DEA has taken measures to protect its system, Lentini said. The thefts were discovered during a nationwide, previously undisclosed Southwestern Bell investigation into the fraudulent use of phone credit cards. "There were some folks that were making unauthorized use of customers' credit cards," said Ken Brasel, Southwestern Bell spokesman. "In our investigation of these people we discovered that they had used these credit cards to call a local number which turned out to be the DEA." By punching in an access code after connecting with this number, callers could place outgoing calls using the federal government's dedicated, private phone lines. "You just had to dial 8 and you could go anywhere," said a hacker who brought the DEA system invasion to the Chronicle's attention. "Hundreds used it." "A guy even walked up to me in Safeway once and asked if I'd heard about the 221 PBX," said another hacker. These two and other hackers, identifying themselves by their computer system "handles" but declining to give their real names, discussed the matter with a Chronicle reporter in a series of late-night conference calls that they initiated. PBX, or private branch exchange, is the name given to the telephone switching systems used in medium to large companies, while 221 is the downtown prefix of the three DEA lines offering access into the federal phone system. "The way the system works is we call an access number that puts us into FTS, then we can call anywhere," Lentini said, explaining that the system was dedicated to upper management's use, typically for calls to Washington. "In effect, they have their own WATS line," Brasel said. "When they talk from here to Washington, they don't go through an AT&T operator." The phone lines were used both for normal calls and for computer data telecommunications, hackers said, and calls were placed around the world. According to the Arizona state attorney general's office, which has become renowned for its vigorous pursuit of hackers, PBXs are a prime source for overseas phone fraud, and give hackers a layer of security. If a call is traced,it is traced back to the company that owns the PBX, not to the hacker. "In the last two years it's just skyrocketed in terms of international" calls, said Gail Thackeray, an assistant attorney general in Arizona. "All of the long distance carriers are under siege." Thackeray estimated in a recent Chronicle interview that PBX abuse will cost industry $500 million this year. According to her formulas, the DEA hackers may have used service worth $100,000 or more during each of the 18 months in which the agency's phone system was compromised. "We have some anti-social, fairly dangerous hackers out there because of the size of tools they have," Thackeray said. Assisted by computers, the hackers find the PBX numbers through trial and error by calling all available numbers in a prefix. "Numbers get passed around like a stock commodity," said one. A breach can go undetected for a long time because the government doesn't render bills on its dedicated phone lines. "Once the break-in was discovered, we immediately changed the access number," Lentini said. "We worked with Southwestern Bell trying to determine who the culprit was and we just couldn't do it," he said. "They were getting into it from pay telephones" as well as from residences and places of employment. "Southwestern Bell is still monitoring our lines for indicators that they're hacking into it again." Referring to the larger investigation of credit card fraud, Brasel urged that consumers exercise caution. "What these guys were doing is calling up and saying 'We're from AT&T and we've had a computer failure' and they say 'We need your credit card number and your PIN (personal identification number),' " he said. "That's like giving someone the key to the bank vault. You just don't do that." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 00:45 EST From: Nigel Allen Subject: Ontario Government Subsidizes TDDs Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada. Effective October 1, 1990, the Ontario government pays part of the cost of telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) for deaf and hearing-impaired people. The subsidies are arranged through the Assistive Devices Program of the Ontario Ministry of Health, which also subsidizes the purchase of artificial limbs and wheelchairs. (In some U.S. states, I think TDD purchases are subsidized through an explicit surcharge on telephone bills.) According to information that appeared in the newsletter of the Canadian Hearing Society, the government will pay 75% of the cost of the TDD up to a maximum of $400. It will also pay 75% of the cost of a signalling device (such as a flashing light) which indicates that the phone is ringing. The first TDDs were obsolete telephone company teletypes. They were often reconditioned by telephone company employees and retirees on their own time, as part of their volunteer work with the Telephone Pioneers of America. Subsequenly, a number of manufacturers developed modern, light-weight TDDs, which use the same slow transmission speed and limited character set as the obsolete teletypes. Both the Canadian Hearing Society and Bell Canada's Telecommunications Centre for Special Needs sell TDDs. For more information, call the Assistive Devices Branch, Ontario Ministry of Health, 6th Floor, 7 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, Ontario M4H 1A8, Canada, at (416) 963-1956. The TDD number is 1-800-268-8023, which is probably good only in Ontario. Nigel Allen ndallen@contact.uucp 52 Manchester Avenue voice (416) 535-8916 Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada fax (416) 978-7552 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 10:47:29 +0100 From: "Alain FONTAINE (Postmaster - NAD)" Subject: Interesting Article About Spread Spectrum Comms The August '90 issue of IEEE Spectrum (Vol 27 N 8) contains an interesting article about the forthcoming commercial usage of spread spectrun techniques. The four page article by Donald L. Schilling, Raymond L. Pickholtz and Laurence B. Milstein explains, in simple terms, the theory upon which spread spectrum radio communication is based, and give some hindsights about the probable use of the technique in the future. The readers of the TELECOM Digest will probably be most interested by the considerations made about cellular telephony. It seems that the opinion of the authors is that the (TDMA) digital cellular system now ready for deployment will not be the ultimate system. They cite the following figures: the current (FDM) analog system can support up to 55 simultaneous conversations in each cell; the planned (TDMA) digital system will immediatly support three times that number (165), with a future possible maximum of 330. The use of spread spectrum (CDMA) techniques would, according to the result of computations performed by the authors, allow over 1000 simultaneous conversations in the same bandwith. The authors also explain how CDMA is inherently more immune to the destructive effects of multipath transmissions. AF ------------------------------ From: David Lemson Subject: MCI Improves Customer Service Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 14:46:06 GMT I was at my parents' house this weekend for the holiday and had occasion to call MCI's Customer Service 800 number (800-444-4444) to ask a few questions about hours of the my parents' PrimeTime plans. I noticed that they have made some very good improvements in their auto-attendant. When you call, the first thing you hear is a message telling you that if you want to use the computer attendant, press 1. If you want to talk to an operator, hold on. Then, it asks if you want commercial accounts, if so, press 1. If you are just an ordinary Joe, just hold on for an operator. I waited a total of about 15-20 seconds before an operator was on the line. I think they're really responding to the "It took so long before I could talk to a real person!" propaganda. On the other side of the coin, I recently had to call NEC Technologies' non-800 customer service number (in the 708 NPA). I had to wade through at least 6 auto-attendant menus just to reach someone who didn't even know about what the menus indicated she would. I really understand why some people don't like these things. David E. Lemson UofI Computing Svcs Student Consultant Internet : lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu University of Illinois, Urbana ------------------------------ Subject: Slammed! Default Carrier Changed Without Okay From: Roger Preisendefer Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 20:01:21 EST Organization: Cyberspace Five I just opened my telephone bill for the month, and found that my long distance carrier is now US Sprint. A call to 700-555-4141 confirms that this is the default carrier. What is the best way to handle this? I am fairly pissed, and would like to raise a stink. Roger Preisendefer [Moderator's Note: Call the Business Office and tell them to change it back to whatever you want and to note the records there is never to be any change made without your personal okay. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #847 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa26470; 28 Nov 90 0:54 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa25365; 27 Nov 90 23:09 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11781; 27 Nov 90 22:04 CST Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 21:24:52 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #848 BCC: Message-ID: <9011272124.ab31538@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Nov 90 21:24:42 CST Volume 10 : Issue 848 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: The "Bell" Logo [Glenn R. Stone] Re: The "Bell" Logo [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: The "Bell" Logo [Carol Springs] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Rop Gonggrijp] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Tad Cook] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [system@hale.uucp] Re: IDG Hackers [John G. Dobnick] Re: IDG Hackers [John Macdonald] Re: Return*Call Humor [Matt Funkchick] Re: CENTREX/10BaseT Conflict [Carol Farlow Lerche] Re: TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers [Matthew McGehrin] Re: Turkey City Codes [Fuat C. Baran] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Glenn R. Stone" Subject: Re: The "Bell" Logo Date: 26 Nov 90 22:24:58 GMT Organization: Dead Poets Society In <14949@accuvax.nwu.edu> john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: [about the "bell" logo being PD] >Patrick, I believe you are mistaken. Unlike the "walking fingers" >[...] the Bell logo was made the >collective property of the seven RBOC's in the MFJ. I believe there is >at least one RBOC still actively using the logo even though most have >dropped it. Yep. Southern Bell still uses the old "Ma Bell" symbol; it's right here on my phone bill envelope. It's also high atop the Southern Bell tower on West Peachtree, three blocks from the Georgia Tech campus where I'm typing this. They're even using the same font to spell "Southern Bell"... although the little subtitle "A BELLSOUTH Company" is different. Another interesting tidbit in my phone bill this month: Southern Bell is now implementing a late charge. Effective 1/1/91, anyone who has an unpaid past due balance of more than $30 will be charged 1.25% per month. No comment. Glenn R. Stone (gs26@prism.gatech.edu) -- Atlanta, GA [Moderator's Note: Most telcos have charged a late fee for years. It really is fair, considering they have to pay their bills like anyone else. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 27-NOV-1990 00:45:38.23 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: The "Bell" Logo Hi- John Higdon posted about use of the old Bell System logo among the RBOCs: I know NYNEX (New York Tel and New England Tel) uses the Bell in its logo, as do the individual operating companies of NY Tel and New England Tel. (And their Mobile division, occasionally...) An employee at NE Tel told me a few years ago that NYNEX wanted to get rid of the Bell logo wherever the word "NYNEX" appears, but so far they don't seem to have implemented this yet. SNET (Southern New England Tel, NOT part of NYNEX, thankfully!), doesn't use the Bell logo anymore (although it has replaced it with a cheap copy), but their mobile division (SONECOR? or is it SNET-Mobilcom?) still uses the Bell on some of their literature, probably to distinguish it from Metro Mobile, the "A" cellular carrier. (They are not an "RBOC", nor in one.) Bell Atlantic (C&P Tel, Diamond State Tel, Bell of PA, NJ Bell, more?) still uses the Bell symbol on all of its divisions, ie, "Bell Atlantic" the RBOC, all of the local Bells, and the mobile division. Bell South (well, ok, whatever the Bell is in New Orleans - South Central Bell?) also seems to use the logo, although I am not sure what the mobile division uses. I'm not sure about Ameritech (Midwest) as a whole, but I THINK the payphones at O'Hare and Midway said Illinois Bell and had the Bell logo next to it. (This was six months ago, so maybe it changed.) Don't know if "Ameritech" the RBOC uses it, though. US West (at least the ex-Pacific Northwest Bell BOC) USED to use it, until maybe about January, 1990. I have a Bend, Oregon directory from 1989, and it has the logo, but the newer 1990-1991 book does not. If I remember correctly, there was a small passage in the newer book stating that PNB was changing its name to "US West", or something to that effect. As to Pac*Bell, well, they kept the word "Bell", but I guess the like the highly original asterisk symbol a lot better! :-) (They must have searched REALLY hard for that logo! "Gee ... let's use one of the buttons on the phone!") Interestingly, I see a lot of their products in stores (phones, answering machines, etc.) that say "Pac*Tel" and have the Bell logo next to it, but I don't see it anywhere else. (There is also some other company, maybe it is Northwestern Bell?, that has a logo "Bell Phones" in bold type and a Bell logo next to it. There is also Southwestern Bell, which has the standard SWB/Bell logo ... nothing new there.) Anyone know what Cincinnati Bell (not a "real" BOC, and certainly not an RBOC) uses? Maybe they borrowed SNET's! (or more likely, SNET borrowed Cincinnati Bell's! :-) ) Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Carol Springs Subject: Re: The "Bell" Logo Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 13:06:50 EDT In Volume 10, Issue 845, John Higdon writes: >...the bell logo was made the >collective property of the seven RBOC's in the MFJ. I believe there is >at least one RBOC still actively using the logo even though most have >dropped it. New England Telephone uses the logo on its bills and envelopes. Perhaps NET's continued use of the bell-in-circle serves to emphasize NET's status as a "real" telco despite the absence of "Bell" in its name. Carol Springs carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com ------------------------------ From: Rop Gonggrijp Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 26 Nov 90 19:00:21 GMT Organization: Hack-Tic DAN@gacvx2.gac.edu (Dan Boehlke) writes: >What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems >and from time to time I need to pull one from the pool. Some modems >have a "busy out" swtich. My modems do not have a switch. Pulling a >modem causes the hunt to stop at modem I pulled, giving the caller a >"no one is home" type ring. I have heard that putting a resistor >accross the wire is enough to hold it off hook. It's even simpler: just short the phone wires (tip and ring) and presto. >If memory serves it was a 1000ohm resistor. I have hesitated to do >this without trying to learn more. What effect does this have on the >switch? Does the effect varry from phone switch to phone switch? 1000 ohms definitely sounds too high. If you insist on using a resistor, use 10 ohms instead. The switch itself limits the current to about 20-50 mA so there should be no problem. Always play with toys they tell you not to play with..... ;*) Rop Gonggrijp (ropg@ooc.uva.nl) is also editor of Hack-Tic (hack/phreak mag.) Postbus 22953 (in DUTCH) 1100 DL AMSTERDAM tel: +31 20 6001480 ------------------------------ From: hpubvwa!ssc!Tad.Cook@beaver.cs.washington.edu Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 27 Nov 90 06:42:40 GMT In article <69299@bu.edu.bu.edu>, DAN@gacvx2.gac.edu (Dan Boehlke) writes: > What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems > and from time to time I need to pull one from the pool. Some modems > have a "busy out" swtich. My modems do not have a switch. Pulling a > modem causes the hunt to stop at modem I pulled, giving the caller a > "no one is home" type ring. I have heard that putting a resistor > accross the wire is enough to hold it off hook. If memory serves it > was a 1000ohm resistor. I have hesitated to do this without trying to > learn more. What effect does this have on the switch? Does the > effect varry from phone switch to phone switch? The resistor should be a value that, when combined with the resistance of the line, is small enough to draw at least 22 ma or so of loop current. But no need to use a resistor ... just temporarily short the line. The CO will see busy, although after awhile it will cut off battery to the line in modern digital switches. Once you are ready to use the line again, in some exchanges you may have to leave the line unshorted and on hook for several minutes before the switch will test the line and return full CO battery to it. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP ------------------------------ From: system@hale.UUCP (System Administration) Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 26 Nov 90 21:22:37 GMT Organization: Hale Telecommunications San Diego CA > What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems > and from time to time I need to pull one from the pool. Some modems > have a "busy out" swtich. My modems do not have a switch. Pulling a > modem causes the hunt to stop at modem I pulled, giving the caller a > "no one is home" type ring. I have heard that putting a resistor > accross the wire is enough to hold it off hook. If memory serves it > was a 1000ohm resistor. I have hesitated to do this without trying to > learn more. What effect does this have on the switch? Does the > effect varry from phone switch to phone switch? When I need to busy out a port, I just dial out to the port's own number, at least in my area, this will busy the line (since the line is off hook, and the number being dialed will always be busy. I'm not sure how your hunt works, but here, only the original number will forward into the group, so if you call a number in the middle of the group, it is not forwarded. I guess this couldn't be used on the main number, as you'd get forwarded to your next port. System Administrator Hale Telecommunications Public Access system@hale.uucp 619-660-6734 8N1 1200-2400 USENET UUCP SYSOP SUPPORT ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 12:56:08 -0600 From: John G Dobnick Subject: Re: IDG Hackers >> magazine, prompted two Staten Island, N.Y., teen-age brothers to break >> into the telephone mail system at International Data Group's >> Peterborough, N.H., office - where Gamepro is published - and cause >> $2.4 million worth of damage. > I wonder how likely that figure is to shrink under the gaze of a > competent defense lawyer > [Moderator's Note: Suppose the damage was only $24,000; or $240, or > $24. Then what? PAT] To the Moderator, re: your comments... I have no sympathy for the "teen-age brothers" who allegedly trashed the phone mail system -- if they are guilty they must pay the consequences. And perhaps be made examples of. [Cheee... am I in a vindictive mood this morning, or what? :-) ] However, I agree with the poster, Mr. Izenberg, about the "spector of Bellsouth". It will be interesting to see how much the claimed monetary damages have been "inflated". [I find the $2.4 million hard to swallow.] John G Dobnick (JGD2) Computing Services Division @ University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee INTERNET: jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu ATTnet: (414) 229-5727 UUCP: uunet!uwm!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!jgd ------------------------------ From: John Macdonald Subject: Re: IDG Hackers Reply-To: John Macdonald Organization: Elegant Communications Inc. Date: Tue, 27 Nov 1990 11:05:31 -0500 |[Moderator's Note: Suppose the damage was only $24,000; or $240, or |$24. Then what? PAT] Pat, are you trying to say that it doesn't matter how much damage was done? The and importance and concerns are the same for $2.4M and $24? Do you consider the offence to be identical when one person kicks over a sand castle and another dynamites a ten story building? Certainly it is a cause for concern when people break into a computer, but I feel that the amount of damage actually done, if any, is an important consideration in deterining the appropriate response for society to take. BellSouth's previous actions have provided a very strong precedent for distrusting even the scale of damage when estimated by the victim. The fact that we can be seriously be discussing the possibility that the damage estimate is inflated by a factor of a hundred thousand is somewhat frightening in itself. John Macdonald jmm@eci386 [Moderator's Note: It is not clear to me what BellSouth's actions in their litigation have to do with the most recent case of vandalism and burglary. Why are you trying to associate the one with the other? If you don't like it when hackers are stereotyped or painted with one brush then you would do well to extend the same courtesy to telcos and computer sites. And no, the monetary value is not nearly as important as is the nearly forgotten and frequently ignored ethical value called 'respect for the property rights of others'. I really get sick of hearing this bologna about how hackers/phreakers are so different, oh-so-special, such prima donnas whose only offense was that due to their high degree of intelligence and insatiable curiosity they got into someplace they don't belong and that the rest of us have to cater to them rather than risk possibly traumatizing them with a jail sentence followed by federal probation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: funky chicken Subject: Re: Return*Call Humor Organization: University of Chicago Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 17:35:59 GMT In article <14952@accuvax.nwu.edu> weave@brahms.udel.edu (Ken Weaverling) describes how his girl friend had "Return*called" a crank call, yelling at the caller, only to have that person return the call and act as if she were the crank caller. He concludes: >We sat around puzzled for a moment, then finally figured out that >there must be several extensions in their house and the original crank >call must have originated, perhaps, with a child, and the child's >Mother answered our Return*Call. Or else the real crank caller was at another number and was forwarding calls to another one of his/her victims. Matt Funkchick [Moderator's Note: This raises a good point. When a call reaches you via forwarding through some other number, does 'return call' go to the forwarded number or the original caller? Likewise for Call Screening and Caller-ID: *whose* ID gets passed for the purpose of callback and/or screening, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Carol Farlow Lerche Subject: Re: CENTREX/10BaseT Conflict Organization: Research Libraries Group Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 07:43:11 GMT The problem with using an existing cable to carry both voice pairs and 10BaseT Ethernet is not so much inductive coupling getting ringing into the data but rather the possibility that a telephone installer will place a live phone line _onto_ your 10BaseT connection one day. ------------------------------ From: matthew@pro-sherwood.cts.com (Matthew McGehrin) Subject: Re: TELECOM Digest Guide to Special Prefixes/Numbers Date: 27 Nov 90 03:16:17 GMT In New Jersey, most parts a ring back can be accomplished by dialing 55x-#### ... where x is a number from 1 to 9, and # is the last four digits of your phone number. In North Jersey, 200 and 400 exchanges work, sometimes 600 also works, it depends, if you dial 1201-200-#### (# >0,<9998), it will give a recording saying '201-200-####' is not in service, then bill you for that call. Called up the local office and asked what number was 200, I could see the look on their faces :) matthew ProLine : matthew@pro-sherwood Internet: matthew@pro-sherwood.cts.com UUCP: crash!pro-sherwood!matthew ARPA: crash!pro-sherwood!matthew@nosc.mil ------------------------------ From: "Fuat C. Baran" Subject: Re: Turkey City Codes Organization: Columbia University Center for Computing Activities Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 22:10:37 GMT In article <14401@accuvax.nwu.edu> cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) writes: >90 Turkey > 1 or 11 Istanbul I think just 1. > 41 Ankara Ankara is now 4. They went from six (2+4) to seven digits (3+4) local phone numbers a couple of years ago at which time Ankara went from 41 to 4. Fuat Internet: fuat@columbia.edu U.S. MAIL: Columbia University BITNET: fuat@cunixf Center for Computing Activities UUCP: ...!rutgers!columbia!cunixf!fuat 712 Watson Labs, 612 W115th St. Phone: (212) 854-5128 Fax: (212) 662-6442 New York, NY 10025 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #848 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27180; 28 Nov 90 1:59 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa16285; 28 Nov 90 0:14 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab25365; 27 Nov 90 23:09 CST Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 22:53:26 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #849 BCC: Message-ID: <9011272253.ab30280@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Nov 90 22:52:55 CST Volume 10 : Issue 849 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling [Randy Borow] Re: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling [Lars Poulsen] Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook [Brian Kantor] Re: The "Bell" Logo [Barry Margolin] Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems [Peter Smith] Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling [Tom Gray] Re: BRI to the Home: When? [Fred R. Goldstein] Re: Hackers Break Into DEA Lines [John R. Covert] Re: Prodigy "Protesters" Respond [Henry Mensch] Programming Cellular Phones [Eric Varsanyi] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rborow@bcm1a09.attmail.com Date: Mon Nov 26 14:23:06 CST 1990 Subject: Re: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling In reply to G.S. Thurman's raves about Sprint's conference calling service: Big deal. Has Mr. Thurman (I'm assuming a male here) been living in a cave? U.S. Sprint didn't "start this service," as he lauds. AT&T has had something even better (and far less confusing, I might add) for some time now. It's called Alliance Teleconferencing. It works in a similar way, by using the "#" and "*" keys, but also has many other enhanced features Sprint cannot yet match. I've used Alliance several times and love it. It even has a "Meet Me" feature which allows all conferees to start the conference at a predetermined time simply by calling a secure, private access number. Once again, AT&T leads; the others follow. Randy Borow Rolling Meadows, IL. (708) 228-7075 ------------------------------ From: Lars Poulsen Subject: Re: US Sprint Offers Conference Calling Organization: Rockwell CMC Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 22:22:26 GMT In article <14920@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0004056081@mcimail.com (George S. Thurman) writes (some hype deleted): >US SPRINT ... now offer the ability to make conference calls on their >Network ... at no extra charge until February 16, 1991, when >there will be a 75 cent surcharge if you use this feature with your >FONCARD(sm). (1) Does this mean that the service is available without a surcharge on 10xxx calls from my home phone ? >The new service will be known as QUICKCONFERENCE(sm), and instructions >are as follows: >After you establish a connection with your first party, depress the >"*" [for at least one full second] followed by 12. This brings an >additional Sprint dial tone. Dial the number of the next party. >(Do NOT dial "0"). Depress "*" again followed this time by 13. >You are now connected! To drop the additional party, or if the >additional party's number is busy, dial "*" followed by 14. (2) How many parties can be conferenced? Just three? Five? Unlimited? (probably not, due to computer table space requirements). If only three parties allowed, it sounds like three-way calling without having to pay for presubscription to the feature. Nice, but not something I have missed at home; and at work, our PBX does three-way calls quite nicely. If this allows five or more participants with reasonable quality, it will be great competition for the AT&T conference call facility provided out of the special service centers. (3) Is this provided through the switch at the IEC POP ? The described procedure would almost require this. How is the call billed? From the originator's location to each participant? (4) Since the activation requires the switch to listen to data on the open call, will this not interfere with other uses of tone signalling? (Banking, remote control answering amchines and maybe even modems?) If it does, it would be a near disaster. Is anyone from SPRint listening ? Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM [Moderator's Note: I'll defer to George Thurman to find out some of the answers to your questions. As it was explained to me, this new service from Sprint is intended to be a three-way call type thing without the need to set something up via Alliance for folks (most of us?) who rarely need that much conferencing ability. It will be billed as two calls from the originator to wherever. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Brian Kantor Subject: Re: Keeping a Line "Busy" Without a Phone Off Hook Date: 27 Nov 90 19:41:46 GMT Organization: The Avant-Garde of the Now, Ltd. In article <69299@bu.edu.bu.edu>, DAN@gacvx2.gac.edu (Dan Boehlke) wrote: > What is the best way to busy a phone line? I have a bank of modems Our modem lines all enter on RJ21 "punchblocks" so I've got some rather nice clips that can be pushed over the terminals on the blocks and make contact with the pair that I want to busy out. Between the two terminals on the clip I have a red LED and a 270 ohm 1/2w resistor in series. As long as I get the clip on the right way, it busies out the line and lights up so I can see that I've got one of the lines busied out. Since most of our modems have error correction, I've even gotten away with putting one of these on a line that's in use -- when the user disconnects, the line remains busy and I can then pull the modem at my leisure. The modem's error correction fixes the blast of noise from the clip as I slip it in. Brian ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: The "Bell" Logo Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 23:09:03 GMT In article <14949@accuvax.nwu.edu> john@mojave.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: >the Bell logo was made the collective property of the seven RBOC's >in the MFJ. I believe there is at least one RBOC still actively using >the logo even though most have dropped it. >Southwestern Bell puts it on its telephone products and there may be >an eastern RBOC that still uses it. It is not in the public domain. NYNEX still uses it. We had a meeting today with a couple of NYNEX representatives, and the Bell logo is emblazoned on their business cards. Barry Margolin Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar ------------------------------ From: psmith Subject: Re: Unitel FacsRoute With Modems Date: 28 Nov 90 00:04:57 GMT Organization: School of Computer Science, Univ. of Windsor, Ontario, Canada In article <14917@accuvax.nwu.edu>, gauthier@ug.cs.dal.ca (Paul Gauthier) writes: > the use of Unitel's FacsRoute with modems. They say it will work > perfectly and don't mind in the least if you do it. ... > [Moderator's Note: Can you please give us the number to call for > information on this service, with contact names if possible? PAT] Unitel's Sales office in (at least) SW Ontario is 1-800-265-7814. Nobody there right now (7pm EST); guess they're not in Vancouver. :-) Peter Smith ------------------------------ From: Tom Gray Subject: Re: New Area Codes and Intl. Dialling Date: 27 Nov 90 12:10:04 GMT Reply-To: Tom Gray Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. In article <14934@accuvax.nwu.edu> U5437880@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au writes: >In article <14680@accuvax.nwu.edu>, og@chorus.fr (Olivier Giffard) >writes: >> I've just tried to dial a number in the 917 area code (non existent >> yet) from France. I got a French intercept message just after dialing >> the 7 of 917 saying that this code was not in service. What means has >> a switch in France to know that. There must be some kind of table to >Why is there an intercept? So the company which catches the wrong >number does not have to foot the bill for bandwidth to find out the >number is not connected. Invalid area codes are the simplest to >check, since they change slowly, and there is a relatively small >number of valid possibilities. >Try dialling 19 44 81 603 xxxx, and see if you get a French intercept. >[Moderator's Note: I just now tried it from Chicago, USA. It accepted >the entire number (that is, 011-44-81-603-four more), and the response >to me on each of several attempts was the same recorded announcement: >You call cannot be completed by the telephone company in the country >you are calling at this time. Please try your call again later." >Interestingly, my call had left Chicago, gotten out of the USA and was >sitting in limbo somewhere. Instead of playing the French recording to >me, when AT&T heard something 'go wrong' over there, it yanked the >connection back and played an English language message instead. PAT] There may have been a combination of factors going on here. When you reached the international network, a different type of networking (siganlling) exists than that usually used in the US. When you siganlled the French network with your originate, there was probably an English language source signal in the message. Thus you could have been connected to an English language recording in France because of this. More likely, the originate message for your call, was answered with a reply of "non-existing number" from the French network. The US side gateway switch (international) then would have terminated the call on a recording without wasting transatlantic bandwidth. I wouldn't know the precise signalling scheme used on your call but the CCITT signalling scheme R2 provides all of these services and is used on international calls. In any event, it would have been the gateway switch on either side of the Atlantic that would have intercepted your call. The national signalling systems in both countries are separated by the gateway. Any reply from the French network would have been meaningless to the normal ATT network. ATT would have completed your call to the US gateway and then turned control of your call over to the gateway. The US gateway would signal the French gateway which will in turn control the setting up of the call in France. With multiple connections it is possible that the gateways will signal between themselves with tones which are meaningless to the national networks. This always seems like the gateways are using the national networks as large PBX's to me. ------------------------------ From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Re: BRI to the Home: When? Date: 26 Nov 90 19:22:18 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article <14909@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jem@hpisod2.cup.hp.com (Jim McCauley) writes: >Little has changed in the interim to convince me that meaningful >digital services will be made available to me by the gang at the other >end of my pair of wires (Pacific Bell). By "meaningful digital >services," I mean: > 1. Basic rate interface > 2. Data interchange across switches (Signalling System 7) > 3. An inexpensive BRI --> 9600 baud serial interface > 4. A reasonable user interface for establishing data calls >Do any of you telephone wizards out there in cyberspace have any idea >when even such rudimentary services might be tariffed? At least here in Massachusetts, where NYNEX/NET tends to be a little behind other telcos in some areas, they've filed an ISDN tariff. The BRI will be a $5 supplement above normal exchange rates. Packet on the D channel will be $8/month (plus usage). Packet on one B channel will be $22/month (plus usage, at higher-than-voice rates). The catch? Besides the prices (basing switched data rates on an older pre-ISDN CS-PDN tariff), they don't have SS7 in MA yet, so data services are island-only. That'll take until late 1991-1992 to get into most offices. Also, the price of customer equipment like Terminal adapters is still pretty high, owing, I think, to low volumes. That will determine the user interface, not the net. At least it's beginning to move. Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 17:36:57 PST From: "John R. Covert 27-Nov-1990 0921" Subject: Re: Hackers Break Into DEA Lines >Thackeray estimated in a recent Chronicle interview that PBX abuse >will cost industry $500 million this year. According to her formulas, >the DEA hackers may have used service worth $100,000 or more during >each of the 18 months in which the agency's phone system was >compromised. $100,000 in a month seems to be a little high. Considering that a full rate call to anywhere in the 48 states costs at most 25 cents a minute, recalling that FTS restricts international calling, and not taking the night and evening discount periods into account or the savings the government gets having a private network (in other words, considering each minute to be worth 25 cents), it would require 400,000 minutes of usage to cost $100,000. That's more than nine hackers on the lines 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unlikely. john ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 09:24:50 -0500 From: Henry Mensch Subject: Re: Prodigy "Protesters" Respond Reply-To: henry@garp.mit.edu Sad to say, Mr. Grabhorn's informants are in error when they say these changes were not made available via the "Highlights" screen (the first screen you see after you sign on to *Prodigy*). In fact, several times over the past few weeks the new e-mail changes have been highlighted on the "Highlights" changes ("... to learn more, [JUMP] "), and that's how I learned about them. # Henry Mensch / / E40-379 MIT, Cambridge, MA # / / # via X.400: S=mensch; OU=informatik; P=tu-muenchen; A=dbp; C=de [Moderator's Note: Although their techniques for dealing with the users they perceive to be troublesome leave something to be desired, Prodigy is not entirely at fault in this. Maybe it is unrealistic to think of Prodigy as a system intended for email. In the next issue of the Digest, I'll be printing a response from Prodigy management to complaints and questions raised about their new rates. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 90 13:25:53 MST From: Eric Varsanyi Subject: Programming Cellular Phones This weekend I bought a second cellular phone and actually managed to install and program it myself. The phone only has a single NAM and I would like to be able to use it on two different systems. Motorola has an policy (enforced in software) of only allowing the NAM in a phone to be programmed three times. After the third time it locks out and attempts to get into programming mode. On my first phone (Motorola 750 handheld) I found out how to clear the counter from Motorola (it was like pulling teeth). It involves shorting Pin 6 on the back of the phone to ground to get into maintenance mode and then typing #32# to clear the phone out. Motorola would not tell me what anything except #32# would do. On the new phone (A Motorola MC200) they put the same silly restriction on NAM programming. For some large sum of money they will sell you an "adaptor" that goes between the DB25 on the tranceiver and control head. A local cellular installer told me that this adaptor simply shorts two pins on the DB25 to get into the maintenance mode (just like on the 750). So, the question is: Does anyone out there (perhaps someone with a NAMFAX) have any info on which pins get into maintenance mode on an MC200? Also, is there a generic list of commands that most Motorola phones recognize once in maintenance mode (aside from #32#)? Is there a good technical reason to not allow rampant reprogramming of your NAM or is Motorola just doing this to ensure revenue for their 'factory authorized' service centers? Eric Varsanyi (ewv@craycos.com) Cray Computer Corporation [Moderator's Note: They may have also gotten a little heat from the cellular companies or the feds regarding fraudulent use of the phone. It wouldn't be the first time for Motorola. Years ago they manufactured a chip known as 021-A for forty channel CB radios. It was (ahem!) programmable by the most simple-minded CB radio user. Anyone with a solder gun and an Exacto-blade would get in there and cut the trace which kept pin 16 from going low. Presto, 40 channel CB suddenly can tune all the way to 27.805 megs provided the pirate technician could broadband it and get it to oscillate up there. The FCC finally got tired of it and leaned hard on Motorola to quit using that chip. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #849 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28147; 28 Nov 90 3:06 EST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa10387; 28 Nov 90 1:18 CST Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab16285; 28 Nov 90 0:15 CST Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 23:35:06 CST From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #850 BCC: Message-ID: <9011272335.ab04130@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Nov 90 23:35:06 CST Volume 10 : Issue 850 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Prodigy Responds to E-Mail Criticism [Nigel Allen] Polish Payphones Revisited [Richard Budd] Slovak Payphones - Try Calling Long Distance [Richard Budd] Rochester Tel and AT&T Bring ISDN to the Home [Ted O. Burger] Pizza Pizza Toll-Free Cellular Number [Nigel Allen] AT&T Mail Advertising [Steve Forrette] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 00:00 EST From: Nigel Allen Subject: Prodigy Responds to E-Mail Criticism Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada. I haven't had the chance to use Prodigy (the company doesn't seem to be interested in the Canadian market), but I thought people might want to see Prodigy's attempts to defend its position on e-mail charges. I found the following message on a hobbyist BBS. (I didn't actually call California, but the message originated there.) ------------- * Original message from Robert Stone * Originally posted on HOTTIPS BBS, Glendale, Calif., (818) 248-3088 Thought you might find the following interesting, and laughable. This was handed out at COMDEX to a friend of mine, with the words, "We don't give this to everyone, just those who persist in asking about E-mail." Oh, it was handed out by Prodigy at their booth. 11/9/90 handout at Comdex Prodigy stationery Prodigy Interactive Personal Service Prodigy Services Company 445 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 FACTS ABOUT MESSAGING ON THE PRODIGY SERVICE On September 6th Prodigy announced a repricing of personal messages sent on the Prodigy Service, effective Jan 1, 1991. Here are some facts about the new charges. The Prodigy service was designed to give American families a broad range of information, services, and transactions with unequaled ease of use and low coast. Some of our most popular features are news and stock quotes, home shopping and banking, airline ticketing, stock trading and our new encyclopedia, movie guide and travel guide. Hundreds of features are available -- including 30 free personal messages a month -- for a single, low flat fee of $9.95 a month in an annual subscription. Messages are delivered instantly anywhere in the country and held for your family and friends when they're not at home. Prodigy does not charge by the minute for any of these services and we don't impose an access charge on any of our 500 local-call telephone numbers nationwide. Our flat rate applies all the time without restrictions to "off peak" hours. We believe that remarkable value is unmatched by any media in America. There are basically two reasons why we can offer so much for so little. First, subscription revenue from members is supplemented by the commissions we earn when members buy things on the service. (Advertising alone, doesn't cover our costs. It's member response to that advertising that counts.) Every time you use the service to buy a holiday gift, book an airline ticket, pay a bill, trade a stock, send flowers or buy stamps, you are helping to assure the continuation of a flat, unmetered fee. Our unique distributed architecture accounts for the other part of the flat-fee equation. Most Prodigy service features follow a "one-to many" model. We send "data objects" from a central site to hundreds of thousands of members' home computers, where they are processed. The efficiencies of this process are reflected in our low, flat annual subscription fee. (more on reverse side) But personal messaging follows a different "one-to-Prodigy-to-one" model. Every message goes through costly leased telephone lines (often across the country), and is stored in our large central computers. Every time a member wants to read a message, it must be sent -- on demand -- back out over the network. This is much more expensive than the "one-to-many" model. When we began to test market in a few cities, we didn't have much live usage experience. We sized the network and set our flat-rate price at levels that assumed a moderate amount of personal messaging among families as part of a broad range of services. Most families typically make a few dozen long distance telephone calls a month. And that's the kind of messaging volume we expected. We were right -- in almost all cases. Well over 90% of member households sent fewer than 30 messages a month. A small minority of members used the Prodigy Service as a high-volume "E-mail" network -- something we didn't expect and certainly can't afford to offer at current rates. In retrospect, we see that we were giving people the ability to run up the cost of the Prodigy service without limit. As we approached our national launch in September, we found that 3% of members were sending nearly 90% of personal messages. A very small group of members had even created special programs capable of flooding the network with thousands of messages. Messaging volume was growing 20% as month and costs were escalating rapidly. We were spending more money to lease more lines, add more mainframe and storage capacity and divert skilled professionals to support this single feature among the hundreds available -- a feature being used very heavily by only a small percentage of members. With our launch nationwide on September 6th, we faced a business decision. We could continue to allow a small group of heavy messagers to keep pushing up the costs, and pass those costs on to the general membership in ever-higher fees. Or we could ask those who received the most value from heavy personal messaging to pay in proportion to the value they receive. There was only one fair choice. A flat 25-cent fee per personal message after 30 free per household each month begins January 1 and will help us to recover some of the many millions of dollars we spend to support this feature. 11/9/90 * message forwarded by Nigel Allen (ndallen@contact.uucp) ------------------------------ From: Richard Budd Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 10.53.53 EST Subject: Polish Payphones Revisited In TELECOM Digest 10/469, Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail. com> writes: > "`Since Polish payphone mechanisms were increased to > 20 zlotys several months ago, 20-zloty coins have gone into hiding. > "`The payphone-sized 20-zlotycoins are selling on the streets > for 200 to 1,000 zlotys apiece.'" (I still say cheap at a thousand > zlotys -- about a dime U.S., isn't it?) Wolf Paul writes: > A Polish colleague of mine informs me that payphones were recently > converted to use a special phone token, which presumably is available > at the official rate at various outlets. While visiting Krakow in September I discovered pay phones use two different types of tokens, one for local and the other for long distance The local token at the Hotel Cracovia was 500 Zloty (at the equivalent of a nickel, still a bargain). I do not know the price of long-distance tokens. For the telephones at the Hotel Cracovia, you purchased tokens at the front desk. Through a switching device in the telephone, you could not dial local with a long-distance token and vice versa. We tried and received no connection. No explanation, just dead air. This experience came courtesy of another traveller who had been telephoning the Soviet Consulate in Krakow. He was trying to obtain an entry visa to bicycle through the Baltic States, for which he had spent already a week in town (his adventures with the consulate's telecom system would be an article in itself). Telephone calls in Poland are an exercise in patience. He tried telephoning from the student hotel where we were staying and received wrong numbers on his first two tries even though he swore he dialed the correct numbers in both cases. The desk clerk explained to us that the telphone system is so bad that it is not unusual to reach the wrong person on a first try. The clerk tried dialing the consulate yet a third time and instead rung up a doctor's office. Don't even attempt trying to call North America unless you're patient. A teacher from London finally got a connection to the U.K. after four days of trying. While staying in Wroclaw (Breslau), there was a news item on TV that the city had installed the nation's first public telephones activitated through credit cards. I couldn't understand the fine details because it was in Polish. From what my host explained to me, the credit cards are issued by the telephone company and you insert them into a slot in the telephone and then dial the number. No word yet how successful people have been with their calls. Richard Budd Marist College Pughkeepsie, NY KLUB@MARISTB.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 90 11:20:13 EST From: Richard Budd Subject: Slovak Payphones - Try Calling Long Distance While bicycling through Eastern Europe, I spent a few days in the east Slovak city of Kosice. A student from the university invited me to spend the night with her and her family in Bardejov, about 60 km from Kosice and asked me to telephone her to let her know when I was coming. After two days in Kosice (a gem of a town and well off the tourist track), I tried contacting her through a pay phone, a frustrating experience. A local telephone call in Czechoslovakia costs one crown (about a nickel). You place your one crown coin onto a small ramp that sticks out from the top of the phone. You then dial the number and if you make the connection, the coin slides down the ramp and into the coin box. It works with local calls, though you will be cut off suddenly and without warning if you talk too long. However it is impossible to make a long distance call from these telephones. Inserting more coins will not work. The telephone only accepts one 1Kcs coin and then only to complete the initial connection. You dial outside the area code where the telephone is located and all you get is dead air. At least you do not lose your 1Kcs coin. From what I understand, payphones are a vestige of the tight government control of the people that existed under the Communists. According to the telephone company, there was no need to telephone long distance from a payphone. There didn't seem to be much need for local calls either since there were less than ten in the whole city and half of them were out of order. I later called the family in Bardejov from a private phone belong to an engineer in Kosice, with whom I was staying. There was no difficulty reaching the other party, but the cost was over forty crowns ($1.75) for two minutes, and this to a town the equivalent of only 36 miles away and in a city where a three course meal can be had for under a dollar. Richard Budd Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY KLUB@MARISTB.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 12:16:47 EST From: Ted O Burger Subject: Rochester Tel and AT&T Bring ISDN to the Home NEWS RELEASE BY ROCHESTER TELEPHONE -- Monday, November 26, 1990 Summary: Rochester Tel teams up with AT&T for home ISDN trial Working with AT&T Network Systems, Rochester Tel has become the first telephone company in the country to test a prototype residential application of Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN). ISDN allows for the simultaneous tn was based on the serving central office and other technical criteria. The results of the research will help AT&T determine whether it will continue development of this product for commercial distribution and, if so, the eventual configuration of the product. Rochester Tel will have an indication of the local potential for the product as well as some direction for targeting its marketing effort. It will also give Rochester Tel hands-on experience with ISDN in the residential market and with the deployment of ISDN in general. The controller will provide homes an affordable way to convert a single line into a multi-line service with multiple directory numbers. One number could be for the family, one for children and one for business use. Through distinctive ringing, everyone will know who is being called. This will allow two totally separate voice conversations and a data connection over one wire coming into the home. In addition, for the first time ever, trial participants will be using PRODIGY(R) services through its ISDN link. PRODIGY(R) is an inter-active personal computer service designed through a joint venture of Sears and IBM. With PRODIGY, users can bank and shop from home, view news, weather and sports information, book and movie reviews, play games, order airline tickets and do much more. The trial begins this month and will continue for the next four months. Employees of Rochester Tel and three other Rochester area companies are participating; selection was based on the serving central office and other technical criteria. The results of the research will help AT&T determine whether it will continue development of this product for commercial distribution and, if so, the eventual configuration of the product. Rochester Tel will have an indication of the local potential for the product as well as some direction for targeting its marketing effort. It will also give Rochester Tel hands-on experience with ISDN in the residential market and with the deployment of ISDN in general. # # # For additional information, contact: Carol Schuhart, Project Manager-Rochester Tel at 716-777-7337 or Rich Meyer, Media Relations Manager-AT&T Network Systems at 201-606-2453 BACKGROUND INFORMATION: AT&T PROTOTYPE HOME NETWORK CONTROLLER Allows customers to use existing analog equipment and home wiring to support ISDN voice services. Maintains continuous power to support basic telephone service when commercial power is lost. Provides for both incoming and outgoing call management under full end-customer control. Supports familiar features on analog equipment: For example, the system signals with a simulated call waiting tone when a second call is incoming; by depressing the switchhook, the customer can put the first call on hold and answer the second. Supplies an RS-232 interface port for administration and for direct connection to the "D" channel for 9.6 Kbps packet data. Provides for modular growth to support future enhancements. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Nov 90 23:28 EST From: Nigel Allen Subject: Pizza Pizza Toll-Free Cellular Number Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada. The best-known telephone number in Toronto is 967-1111. It belongs to Pizza Pizza, a chain of pizza outlets with a single telephone number. The company says your pizza is free if they don't deliver it within 30 minutes. (The pizza itself is adequate but unexciting, but this is not rec.cooking.gourmet.pizza.) Pizza Pizza has dozens of outlets, and perhaps a hundred or more incoming phone lines. Its latest gimmick is fairly cute: a toll-free cellular number, #1111, which reminds people of the 967-1111 number. I'm familiar with toll-free cellular numbers sponsored by radio stations to encourage people to phone in reports about traffic problems (CFNY-FM, 102.1 MHz, can be reached at *102 from Cantel phones) and ones sponsored by police departments (I think someone said that *NC will get you the North Carolina Highway Patrol). And there are those to reach customer service for the cellular company. This is the first toll-free cellular number I've seen that doesn't fall into any of the above categories. Nigel Allen ndallen@contact.uucp 52 Manchester Avenue tel. (416) 535-8916 (voice) Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 1V3 fax (416) 978-7552 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Nov 90 03:01:07 -0800 From: Steve Forrette Subject: AT&T Mail Advertising I just received the November issue of "AT&T Home-Office Resources." On the back cover is a list of product descriptions that you can get by calling 800/722-2688. Message number 170 is "AT&T Mail". (Other messages are about all sorts of things, like fax, operator services, Reach Out America, etc.). After listening to the message, you can press "1" to be connected to an AT&T Mail rep. Maybe they don't want to keep it a secret anymore. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #850 ******************************