Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05695; 9 Apr 93 3:57 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23286 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 01:23:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31797 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 01:22:03 -0500 Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 01:22:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304090622.AA31797@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #251 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Apr 93 01:22:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 251 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson I'm Sorry ... (TELECOM Moderator) Re: Routing Calls via Alternate Providers (Al Varney) Re: Using LD Carrier to Call Next Door Illegal (Dub Dublin) Re: Telephones in the Army in the Korean War (Pete Lancashire) Re: Time Changing, and Civilized Areas of the USA (Ted Hadley) Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Jonathan Sadler) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Richard Lucas) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Fred E.J. Linton) Calling 800 Numbers to Harrass Their Owners (Tim Crowley) Re: NPA-NXX by County Database (Carl Moore) Re: Artificial Diseased Voice Generator (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Modem Recommendations Sought (Nigel Ballard) Re: Toll Restriction vs Subscriber Line Access Charges (Martin Harriss) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 23:30:18 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: I'm Sorry ... Due to circumstances beyond my control the Digest has to be put 'on hold' at this time. I'm getting out a couple issues early Friday morning to clear as much of the queue as I can. I received an eviction notice today and the telephone company quite coincidentally notified me that my phones will be placed on incoming only service effective Friday until I get the bill paid. When I've resolved the problem of the rent and the phone bill I'll try to resume publication. To those of you who assisted by your subscriptions to the Orange Card and the 800 / 1+ services, I give my thanks. Although remittances based on the residuals have not yet come in, I beleive I'll be able to use that money to at least get the phone turned back on later this month. If you have questions about the Orange Card or the 800 / 1+ programs you can direct them to the customer service offices of those companies. Those programs and my participation are still intact. My main problem is I cannot do the Digest if I have no telephone or place to live. Please DO NOT send further articles to the telecom account until you hear from me that the Digest is again operational. I send my best wishes to all of you, and my apologies that things have turned out the way the did. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 16:52:57 CDT From: varney@ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: Routing Calls via Alternate Providers Organization: AT&T Network Systems, Lisle, IL In article oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > In jacksch@insom.eastern.com (Eric > Jacksch) writes: >> We've finally come out of the dark ages and the past few months have >> seen a number of non-bell companies begin to provide long distance >> services. In order to use these services, residential customers are >> provided with a local seven digit access number and a ten digit or so >> PIN. While it is simple to get the computer to dial this, it is a bit >> of a nusiance for voice calls. >> Does anyone know where to get a box which will route the calls? The >> company I deal with makes them availible for business customers, but >> not residential. They are connected between the phone and the line, >> detect off-hook, simulate dialtone, and then when dialing is complete, >> they dial local calls direct and long distance calls via the service >> provider. > This post reminds me of 1980 or so, when all non-AT&T carriers were > stuck offering their service this way. It was called feature group D > or B access; the former if the call cost money, the latter if the call > was a 950-XXXX free call. Actually, Feature Group D defines the method of access TO the IXC. Whether you use 10XXX+ or 950-XXXX to indicate which carrier, a FG-D carrier can still receive the call over the same circuits. FG-B access TO an IXC was specified to only work for 950-XXXX calls. Access via any other dialing pattern, such as a "local service number" is only specified in a standard way for Feature Group A (line side) carriers. The "toll-saver" boxes for businesses basically work by providing a simple algorithm for doing call blocking (say, 1-900) and digit prefixing. For inter-LATA calls, it can prefix 10XXX or 950-XXXX to the numbers, and some can handle PINs for the 950 calls. Not much more or less intelligent than a typical COCOT phone. But you have to really make a lot of calls in order for the provider to make back their investment -- typically by getting a cut of the toll revenue as an aggregator. For residential use, how about getting phones with many digit memory buttons, and put your access number on one and the PIN on another button? If the phone is fairly "dumb", it doesn't prevent you from manually using several memory buttons to dial a single call. > I can't believe that now, in 1993, any carrier is still stuck with > this. It should be a straightforward matter for any carrier to get a > 10XXX prefix that would route calls to it. And it should be possible > for any customer to simply call up the local telco and ask that all > calls go to any particular carrier. Carl, it's not the carrier (in most places) that's stuck -- it's the carrier's choice to use a more primitive but cheaper interface to the TELCo. In many places, it's the absolute cheapest interface to the telephone network (maybe cheaper than PBX, tie trunks, etc.). You pay by usage, but for some types of calls and volume, it makes sense to some providers to stick with it. 10XXX prefixes are in short supply, and Bellcore is frowning on non-IXC uses of these codes or the 950-XXXX numbers. And current systems are not designed to route ALL calls to a particular carrier, only those marked "inter-LATA". Al Varney - just my opinion, of course ------------------------------ From: hwdub@chevron.com (Dub Dublin) Subject: Re: Using LD Carrier to Call Next Door Illegal Reply-To: hwdub@chevron.com Organization: Chevron Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 21:03:44 GMT In article 5@eecs.nwu.edu, coleman@twinsun.com (Mike Coleman) writes: > I was just told that using, say, my Sprint calling card, via their 800 > number to call next door (within the same LATA), was illegal. > Is this (nonsense) really true? Is it enforced? In my mind, this thread ties in nicely with the one about free 911 service. I have used my calling card to place these types of calls in situations where I _really needed_ to call someone, but I'm broken down in the middle of nowhere, noplace is open, and I have no quarters for the pay phone. I should be able to do this if I want to -- the cost will act as a deterrent to doing it routinely. Note that in this case no one is required to supply something for me to use this "right." The FUNDAMENTAL difference between _rights_ and "likes" is that a true right does not require anyone to give anything up. For instance, you have a right to free speech -- but I'm not obligated to provide you with a soapbox. This right presents no obligation on me to give you anything, or even to listen to you. Contrast this with the current procession of newfound "rights" we are being accosted with as taxpayers: "rights" to free healthcare, housing, food, higher education, jobless benefits, etc. -- all of these require that someone else give up something. It's time we limited rights to the true and inalienable rights -- not just redistribute economic or other priveleges. (Walter Williams wrote an excellent column on this a few weeks ago.) In case you haven't guessed, I would be VERY opposed to having to pay part of my phone bill to continue service to some deadbeat who won't pay his. Lifeline service is available at a very reasonable cost (I'm guessing that the existing Lifeline rates are _already_ subsidized by the rest of us...), but it is NOT a _right_ -- someone has to pay for it! Dub Dublin hwdub@cyberia.hou281.chevron.com Chevron Information Technology (713) 596-3199 ------------------------------ From: petel@sequent.com (Pete Lancashire) Subject: Re: Telephones in the Army in the Korean War Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 20:27:25 GMT dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) writes: > The telephones and the switchboard were of that era and I know that a > crank was used to charge the batteries in those units. The question The crank was to generate ringing voltage. The 'phone system other than having push to talk, an adaption of the (a) Bell local battery exchange. I used to have a four and a twelve line army switch board made in the 1940. And still have the manuals for an expandable switchboard, up to I think 100 subscribers and ten trunks. > is: were there lines installed over the countryside? I assume that Usually the army 'net' at the time was separate from what ever existed of the local phone system(s), although in Europe Signal Corp 'employees' did make use of the existing lines, mostly as trunk lines. > there were since I seem to remember that someone said the lines were > down once or twice. > If so, maybe someone from that era could enlighten us on telecom > during the Korean War with a perspective of being there at the time. I'm not from that era. But have studied the military point to point communication systems used in WWII and what was use in Korea was in concept not much different. > There are some excellent telecom history files in the archives and > hopefully more can be added. I'd like to see more about the multiplex scheme that was developed by Western Electic/BTL. Not may people have heard about it. It saved the US Amry in WWII a lot of time and material. I have a Bell Labs report on it, they were very proud of the scheme, not only a working field multiplex systems in the 1940's but even the cable was made in standard lenghts, with 'quick (dis)connect' connectors. Pete Lancashire petel@sequent.com ------------------------------ From: tedh@cylink.COM (Ted Hadley) Subject: Re: Time Changing, and Civilized Areas of the USA Organization: Cylink Corp. Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 16:18:01 GMT Although not the USA, if I am not mistaken, the former USSR (the Commonwealth of Russian States?) uses _permanent_ daylight savings time. They simply leave their clocks ahead one full hour all year long. I, personally, favor this approach. The problem is not in wanting to go to work earlier, but rather in convincing one's boss that 4:30 pm (not 5:30) is the correct quitting time. Ted A. Hadley tedh@cylink.COM "Credo qvia absvrdvm est" -- Tertullian Cylink Corporation, 310 N. Mary Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA 408-735-5847 All opinions expressed are my own, and probably not liked by my employer. [Moderator's Note: Particularly if you continue to start at 9 AM rather than 8 AM! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: sadler@lachman.com (Jonathan Sadler) Subject: Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Organization: Lachman Technology, Inc., Naperville, IL Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1993 14:54:27 GMT Actually, Illinois Bell has a similar problem. In the past year, I've had five phone bills printed prior to the due date for the previous month. Since I pay all of my bills at the local drug store on the due date, Illinois Bell ended up assessing a late fee for each of these months. Each of these months I had to call them up and ask for the late charge to be reversed ... My bill for the month of March showed up yesterday -- again, it is due after the date my bill is printed. Will they ever learn? Jonathan Sadler Lachman Technology, Inc. -- Back from the grave sadler@lachman.com 1901 North Naper Blvd, Naperville, IL 60563-8895 sadler@cs.wisc.edu (708) 505-9555 x379 FAX: (708) 505-9574 ------------------------------ From: rlucas@bvsd.Co.EDU (Richard Lucas) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Organization: Boulder Valley School District Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 01:20:09 GMT In article dwjz@bnr.ca (D.W.J.) writes: > Ottawa is the home of the National Research Council (NRC) which owns > the atomic clock that is the standard of all time keeping in Canada. > If you want to listen to it, call 613-745-1576. Boulder, with NIST (the former Nat'l Bureau of Standards), offers a really 'good time' (tied to the atomic clock) at 303-499-7111. Rick Lucas (rlucas@bvsd.co.edu) Debate Coach, Fairview HS, Boulder, Colorado ------------------------------ Date: 8-APR-1993 22:43:45.62 From: Fred E.J. Linton Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Laurence Chiu mentioned that one could ... > ... dial POPCORN in most any area codes and get the time. The New Haven exchanges of area 203 dial SPRINGS (777 4647) for the time of day (preceded by a short SNET "better service tip"). Fred E.J. Linton Wesleyan U. Math. Dept. 649 Sci. Tower Middletown, CT 06459 E-mail: ( or ) Tel.: + 1 203 776 2210 (home) or + 1 203 347 9411 x2249 (work) ------------------------------ From: turmoil@halcyon.com (Tim Crowley) Subject: Calling 800 Numbers to Harass Their Owners Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1993 19:12:18 -0500 The George Bush '92 campaign here in Seattle had to change it's phone number at least three times because it was posted on telephone polls with suggestions that it be flooded with hate calls. I thought it was great! Seeeeee Ya turmoil@halcyon.com [Moderator's Note: Since you feel telephone harrassment is a great sport, perhaps you'll provide your number here so that it can be posted around the net with the suggestion people flood you with obnoxious calls, and you won't even have to pay for the calls unless you give us an 800 number. This is wrong. It is not a question of it being George Bush, or anyone else. A few years ago, {The Advocate}, a newsmagazine for the gay community published a very positive story about a neurotic, very disturbed man in Georgia who used his computer and modem to trash Jerry Falwell's 800 line to the tune of $150,000 (yes, one hundred fifty *thousand* dollars) in one month alone. They were very pleased by the financial damage which had been done. The guy was arrested and charged criminally; in addition, Falwell's organization sued him in a civil action to recoup their losses; of course they could not collect nickle one because the guy was a total loser to begin with. Falwell changed his 800 number; {The Advocate} published the new one and encouraged people to load his automatic call distributor and service representatives with silent hangup calls, bogus calls for merchandise sent to wrong addresses, fraud credit card orders, etc. I wrote a letter to {The Advocate} to the person who was then the publisher and told him if those were the kind of games he liked to play, that his publication's own 800 number ran the risk of being polluted beyond recovery. I asked him what he would think about a message seen by millions of Americans saying "if you don't like the gay lifestyle and you want to register your opinion, call 800-xxx-xxxx. And while your at it, waste their time by putting in bogus phone orders for magazine subscriptions, etc. " ... "Well, um, " he said, "I hadn't thought about that ...". I suggested he start thinking about it. I did not like Bush; I don't like Falwell; but games like you suggest are totally wrong no matter who is the victim. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 10:45:12 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: NPA-NXX by County Database I do NOT know of such (and be cautioned -- some phone prefixes cross county lines). What I've been doing on the side is making notes by zipcodes and noting what phone prefixes serve each zipcode (or group of zipcodes, for a multi-zipcode city); then, if possible, I note the zipcode for the place name of each prefix used. FOR EXAMPLE (old area code 301, now 410): Havre de Grace, MD 21078 served by 939 prefix. Parts of zipcode 21078 served by 734 and 272,273 prefixes (Churchville and Aberdeen respectively, which are the names of post offices with zip codes 21028 and 21001 respectively). Notice that some phone prefixes have place names which are not names of post offices. The zip code directory (from the postal service) lists the county where each post office is located. Perhaps we discuss this via direct email? ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Artificial Diseased Voice Generator Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1993 19:21:43 GMT In article David Leibold writes: > From the recent pages of {The Globe and Mail} comes word of a new > device entitled FoneSick Illness Replicator, a $139.95 product of > Millennium Technologies Inc. > The idea is that you can use this thing to change your voice to one of > four types: cold, flu, pneumonia or bronchitis. An adjustment control > can change the severity of the voice alteration (and thus the impress- > ion of disease on the other party's part). This reminds me of something I heard at a teaching retreat put on by the school where I teach ... seems a student left a message on the instructor's voicemail in a really bad sounding voice saying he/she was too sick to make it to the exam that day. At the end of the message, the student realized that he/she had not given his/her name, so in a normal voice was something like, "Oh ... this is so-and-so". It is interesting how we spend all this creative energy to produce a product to help people lie. Perhaps we should design something that does some good for society? Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: Nigel@dataman.demon.co.uk (Nigel Ballard) Subject: Re: Modem Recommendations Sought Organization: Infamy Inc. Reply-To: Nigel@dataman.demon.co.uk Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 14:08:36 +0000 John, YORIKO in the UK sells a SUPERB Internal modem for 179 Pounds plus VAT. It's got an onboard 16550, it's V32bis as well as 14,400 fax. And cos it's got the Rockwell chipset, will also work set to Japanese SPEED-DIAL, most useful in the UK if you are unlucky enough to be in a pulse dial region. Now I know they do an external version, but it would not have the advantagous NS16550A UART. Why not give them a bell for info, or look out their advert in {Computer Shopper}. Tel:0732-872826 Cheers, NIGEL BALLARD | Int: nigel@dataman.demon.co.uk BOURNEMOUTH | Cis: 100015.2644 RADIO-G1HOI UNITED KINGDOM | AMAZING! and all down two wires ------------------------------ From: martin@bdsgate.bdsi.com (Martin Harriss) Subject: Re: Toll Restriction vs. Subscriber Line Access Charge Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 16:58:36 GMT Organization: Beechwood Data Systems In article John Higdon writes: > But even so, as was discussed at length some time back, the name on > the charge has no bearing on the purpose of the charge. Regardless of > the name, "access", the purpose was to compensate LECs for the loss of > long distance revenue as a result of divestiture. If you call it a > "Mandated Subsidy" (a much more accurate description), then you will > not feel the need to discuss matters such as interLATA access. But surely "Mandated" is too strong a word here. The LEC's do not have to charge it, but they are allowed to if they so feel like it. If I had a monopoly and I was allowed to charge my millions of clients $3.50 a month (more, I think, for business lines) essentially for doing nothing, I know that I sure as hell would! I'm believe that if more of the gerenal public knew what this charge was for (i.e to line the pockets of the LEC's) it would quite quickly go away. Martin Harriss martin@bdsi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #251 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08558; 9 Apr 93 5:09 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22465 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:09:45 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01171 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:09:01 -0500 Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:09:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304090709.AA01171@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #252 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Apr 93 02:08:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 252 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson I'm Sorry ... (TELECOM Moderator) Canadian Phone-Sex TV Ads Softened (Marketing Magazine via Nigel Allen) NYNEX/NY <-> BAMS/DC Call Delivery (Douglas Scott Reuben) Red Boxes (was Free Calls With a Captain Crunch Whistle?) (Maxime Taksar) SkyPagers: Looking For More Information (Timothy M. Stark) ATT Universal Card Problem? (Laurence Chiu) Line-In-Use Indicator? (Ben Cox) Help for Book -- I'm Sure Some of You Have Bits to Add (Richard J. Smith) Information Wanted on High Speed Buses (Tom Sommer) Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users (00mtsummers@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu) Help or Instruction Manual Needed For Displayphone (John Ross) I Received First Orange Card Bill (Carl Moore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 23:30:18 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: I'm Sorry ... Due to circumstances beyond my control the Digest has to be put 'on hold' at this time. I'm getting out a couple issues early Friday morning to clear as much of the queue as I can. I received an eviction notice today and the telephone company quite coincidentally notified me that my phones will be placed on incoming only service effective Friday until I get the bill paid. When I've resolved the problem of the rent and the phone bill I'll try to resume publication. To those of you who assisted by your subscriptions to the Orange Card and the 800 / 1+ services, I give my thanks. Although remittances based on the residuals have not yet come in, I beleive I'll be able to use that money to at least get the phone turned back on later this month. If you have questions about the Orange Card or the 800 / 1+ programs you can direct them to the customer service offices of those companies. Those programs and my participation are still intact. My main problem is I cannot do the Digest if I have no telephone or place to live. Please DO NOT send further articles to the telecom account until you hear from me that the Digest is again operational. I send my best wishes to all of you, and my apologies that things have turned out the way they did. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 04:35:00 -0400 From: ndallen@r-node.hub.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: Canadian Phone-Sex TV Ads Softened Organization: R-node Public Access Unix - 1 416 249 5366 Phone-Sex Ads Softened (from {Marketing} magazine, Toronto, April 5, 1993) By Jim McLegunn The Telecaster Committee of Canada has moved to rein in the methods phone-sex services use to advertise themselves on television. The committee, which approves commercials aired on Canadian private television, toughened its guidelines on 976 lines after a spate of criticism from the public and the media. [Note from NDA: The committee has no jurisdiction over advertising on radio or in newspapers. Individual radio stations and newspapers make their own decisions on what advertising they will accept.] Some people objected to sexual imagery in the advertising, while others claimed the spots could mislead viewers. The revised guidelines do not affect spots approved before March 8, 1993, which can air indefinitely. Major changes include: Advertising for 976 services cannot feature negative or degrading sex-role portrayals, or sexual innuendo and provocativeness. It cannot imply that the model seen and/or heard in the commercial is the one who will answer calls to the sex line. It must make clear that long-distance charges apply, and cannot use the term "toll charges," which the committee said many people do not understand. It must state the price of the call, including taxes. It must state that callers must be 18 years of age or older. It must identify the advertiser under the name listed with Bell Canada [i.e., in the phone directory or with directory assistance] Pat Beatty, the committee's executive director, says many commercials airing under the previous guidelines "were selling the girl and not the service. They would show a model mouthing 'Call me.' But you weren't calling them -- they were just models appearing in the ads." Beatty said some callers didn't realize that long-distance charges applied, and that many of the services are based outside Canada -- in the U.S., Venezuela and, ironically, the Virgin Islands. Sex-line advertisers are complying with the new guidelines, using third-person references ("call them"), longer explanations of the service and more discreet camera shots in their ads. Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@r-node.hub.org ------------------------------ Date: 8-APR-1993 14:51:23.69 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: NYNEX/NY <-> BAMS/DC Call Delivery NYNEX/NY (SID 00022) and BAMS/DC (SID 00018?) have recently started call delivery between their two systems. I just heard of this addition yesterday, and today called a NYNEX/NY customer who was in DC to confirm it. (I called NYNEX for the roam port for DC to reach the guy, and the customer service representative very casually tells me that a port is no longer needed, as if everyone knew ...!) I think I'll have to eat my words about how the "B" side always lags behind the "A" in terms of networking; it seems in this case that the "B" side has at least temporarily surpassed the "A". The "A" carrier in NY (Cell One/NY) currently delivers calls to MOST of CT, Springfield, Mass, ComCast of New Jersey, Sussex Cellular of New Jersey, ComCast Metrophone/Philly, and ComCast/Delaware. It also delivers to other non-adjacent cities via the NACN, such as Albany, San Francisco, Miami, most of Canada, etc. However, locally, CONY does not connect with many neighboring systems (such as Orange County, NY). Also, in markets that are connected, roam rates are usually $.99 per minute. NYNEX and other local "B" carriers have a $.75 per minute rate in all call delivery markets (incoming and outgoing calls). A NYNEX/NY customer can now get calls in: Washington/Baltimore (00018), Philly/DE/South Jersey/North East PA (Allentown, Bethlehem, Reading; maybe even further west), all of New Jersey (including Sussex, Ocean County, and Atlantic City), Orange County, NY (00486?), Poughkeepsie, NY, Albany, NY, all of Mass (Boston, Pittsfield, Franklin County), all of Connecticut (including Litchfield County, not connected on the "A" side to Metro Mobile), and Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire. Phew! A rather sudden and major improvement on the "B" side in terms of networking. In my opinion, quite impressive. (BTW, features work in SOME markets, and from what I am told calls will STILL not go back to voicemail if unanswered in the visited market. Anyone care to confirm or refute this?) Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 14:25:03 -0700 From: Maxime Taksar KC6ZPS Subject: Red Boxes (was Free Calls With a Captain Crunch Whistle?) In article , marcb@access.digex.com (Marc Blackwood) writes: > Radio Shack makes a tone dialer that can be modified easily. > Replacing the crystal inside to make the device run faster yield the > correct coin signaling tone. The tone requirements are: > 5 - quarter > 3 - dime > 1 - nickel > This is called a "red box". I saw one demonstrated recently. > Interesting stuff. The amount of misinformation on this topic is simply amazing! PAT -- do you think, perhaps, that this should go in the FAQ? I believe I've already posted something on this topic. In the US, the vast majority of coin phone use the ACTS (I believe this stands for Automated Coin Telephone System or Signalling, but I could very well be wrong on the terminology). The same signalling format is used both by the LECs and AT&T for coin service. Contrary to what has been posted here recently, there *is* a degree of Out of Band (OOB) signalling involved. It's just that what is transmitted OOB is a precisely one binary condition -- whether or not there is a real coin on the tray (I'll let someone else explain how coin phone coin mechanisms work). For a local call, the phone will signal this only if the full amount needed has been depositted (e.g. 20 cents here in sunny California). For a toll call (I believe the phone can tell the difference because the switch reverses line voltage -- someone please correct me if I'm wrong), any of a nickel, dime, or quarter will set the required "bit". Because of the way the OOB signalling behaves, "Red Boxes" only do interesting things for toll calls. So what do they do? They simulate the tones that the coin phone would send if coins were inserted. These "tones" are actually just one sound that is timed and spaced differently to represent the different coins. The sound itself is dual-tone, made by mixing a 1700Hz sine wave and a 2200Hz sine wave. Take a look at the DTMF frequencies: it should become relatively obvious why a DTMF encoder can be modified to make the "Red Box" sound. The following table represents the timing for each coin. The numbers represent timing in milliseconds. Numbers with asterisks (*) around them represent sound, plain number represent silence. nickel *80* dime *80* 40 *80* quarter *80* 40 *40* 40 *40* 40 *40* 40 *40* Spacing between each coin is in the hundreds of milliseconds, I would guess, but I've never cared enough to find out. Any comments, questions, or corrections are appreciated. Maxime Taksar KC6ZPS mmt@RedBrick.COM ------------------------------ From: tstark@access.digex.com (Timothy M. Stark) Subject: SkyPagers: Looking For More Information Date: 8 Apr 1993 19:29:52 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA I am looking for more information about skypagers (aka SkyTel pagers) about their services. Can you give me a listing of pager companies with service information? If so, I will appreciate that. Thank you! I am looking for specific options about skypagers: * 800 Number * TDD/Modem Access for deaf people * Mexico/Canada/USA-wide service * Additional services for roaming service, etc.. * Affordable service pricing Timothy Stark Digex: tstark@access.digex.net (Preferred) 837 North Van Dorn St Portal: Timothy_M_Stark@cup.portal.com Alexandria, Va. 22304-2723 TDD: (703) 212-9731 Pager: (703) 702-4078 ------------------------------ From: LCHIU@HOLONET.NET Subject: ATT Universal Card Problem? Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access BBS: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:41:52 GMT Recently I caught the tail end of a news item about the ATT Universal card. It seemed to be about ATT's misrepresentation of the card's discount structure -- i.e. you get 10% off calls but they fail to mention that the calling card surcharge is 80 cents. Trouble is it was on a Chinese News channel and the speed of the Cantonese spoken taxed my comprehension abilities somewhat! I never saw a similar item on a local news station or in the newspapers. Can anybody elaborate on this? I have a vested interest as a ATT Universal card holder. Thanks, Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ Subject: Line-In-Use Indicator? Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 21:49:13 CDT From: thoth@uiuc.edu (Ben Cox) Reply-To: thoth@uiuc.edu (Ben Cox) I'm looking for a design for a simple line-in-use indicator. All I want is a box I can put between the wall and the phone that will light a LED when the line is in use. All the designs I've seen for this are part of the phone (or coupler) and are triggered by the hookswitch, rather than by activity on the line. Is such a device possible? Unfortunately, although I know what the line looks like when nobody's on it (48V DC), I don't know much about what to look for when it's in use (does the 48V disappear? Are the other signals just superimposed on it?). Thanks in advance for any help. Ben Cox thoth@uiuc.edu [Moderator's Note: This comes up all the time here. Perhaps one or more readers will send you the schematics directly via email. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 11:31:01 PDT From: pierpont@snax.enet.dec.com Subject: Help for Book -- I'm Sure Some of You Have Bits to Add "Navigating The Internet Workshop List" Remember me? I bombarded you with e-mail from November to January with the workshop "Navigating the Internet: An Interactive Workshop." I hope you've used the Internet enough now to consider yourself an expert. Several notes. I'm inputting the evaluation into a database. I'm about a third of the way through at 377. I'll send you results when I'm done. Those of you who are librarians and are going to ALA in New Orleans if you want to get together let's meet at the Cafe Pontalba off of Jackson Square in the French Quarter on June 27th about 7:30. That is a bit after the library school reunions so we can have ours at that time. I've been asked to write a book on the Internet and I could use your help. In particular, I'd like to hear from those of you that use the Internet and how it has been helpful in your job, coursework, research or in any other way. Do you have any favorite Internet resources that would be of interest to others to learn? Do you have any anecdotes, stories or 'faux pas' that you would like to share with new users of the Intenet. (I have a few of the latter!) I'd appreciate any stories you have that might tell people about your favorite place to hang-out on the net, best place to get marvelous things, best tricks to do a particular thing on the net. Where to go for MAC stuff, meteorology, or space stuff, sound related stuff, graphics, etc. Stories from outside the U.S. would be especially welcome. We're also looking for your tips and opinions on technical issues. Things like commercial connections (MCI, Compuserve, the WELL and others) and software that you use to access the Internet. If you have anything you'd like to contribute, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Let me know if you want your name and Internet address to go with the story. The ten best contributions in the authors' estimation will recieve a FREE copy of the book!!! Your stories will not only help with the book but will add spice to future workshops. Thanks in advance. Richard J. Smith rs@usl.edu University of Southwestern Louisiana Durpre Library Lafayette, LA 70503 ------------------------------ From: sommer@tpdhp.teleglobe.com (Tom Sommer) Subject: Information Wanted on High Speed Buses Organization: Teleglobe Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 14:47:35 GMT I am looking for a good survey paper which compares high speed digital buses. This includes the likes of Futurebus +, VMEBus, Quickring, etcetera. I'd like a chart which contains comparisons of information such as electrical (throughput, arbitration scheme, sync/async, etc), physical (# slots, connector, board size, hot swappable, etc), and cost (interface chips, connector, backplane, etc). Recent publication is a must. I've been using DiGiacomo's book "Digital Bus Handbook" but it does not offer comparitive information and is several years old. I'm also looking for information on building a switch rather than bus based system. The ultimate application for all this is a multimedia hub so information along those lines is also appreciated. ------------------------------ From: 00mtsummers@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu Subject: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users Date: 8 Apr 93 09:50:06 EST Organization: Ball State University, Muncie, In - Univ. Computing Svc's I would like to inform you of what is recently going on on *P*. This is as close to real news as USENET gets. *P* has decided to institute a timed rate on their bulletin board system. As you may not know, it is extreamly slow. The users of the boards have all become angry. Those with *P* access can quickly get a comprehension of how many people feel this way by JUMPing to PRODIGY BB and selecting the topic "Pricing Plans". Wow! Try the subject BB FEES PETITION and see a note with so many replies that the computers cannot handle any more. There is a massive boycott planned on 4/15. Amazing that one small change could upset so many people! Many on that topic are searching for another service to use. I am trying to direct them to Internet, the best value in the business, through the use of NIXPUB. Unfortunatly, NIXPUB doesn't seem to be too acurate. [Moderator's Note: I have recently put a complete copy of Nixpub in the Telecom Archives under the file name 'public.access.sites' and will try to finish up my work there (in the archives) and have the file on line and available before I lose my phone service Friday. The Telecom Archives is available using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Ross Subject: Help or Instruction Manual Needed for Displayphone Organization: UTCC Public Access Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 11:47:22 -0400 I have inherited an old Northern Telecom Displayphone, which unfortunately did not come with an instruction or user's manual. Does anyone out there have one of these? Thanks, John ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 10:36:46 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: I Received First Orange Card Bill It arrived in what the postal service calls a "flat": an envelope large enough to handle a flat 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet. I received five sheets of paper (apparently the top one, as in my local phone bill, is to go in the return envelope along with my payment). The bill in which the envelope was sent had 52 cents postage, H meter 342322, Merrifield, VA. Return address is Long Distance Service, Inc., 8180 Greensboro Drive, 4th Floor, McLean, VA 22102. The payment is to be mailed to same firm name but at P.O. Box 9670, McLean, VA 22102-0670. Phone 703-442-0220, fax 703-448-6792. On the invoice, one of the lines having zero amount is "GROSS RECEIPTS SURCHARGE: MD (2%), DC (9.7%)". I don't know why I get that line. The calls I made were from Delaware to Maryland and vice versa. I made seven calls for a total of 14.2 minutes (billing is in six second increments, and six seconds is 1/10 minute). At 25 cents a minute, this would be $3.55 (it came out as $3.57 because of rounding, given four calls each of 0.5 minute duration, charged at 13 cents each). In the itemized list, the column I don't quite understand is FRM (From?). What is it telling me? I made two calls, partly for test purposes right at the outset, from my Newark (Del.) residence phone to Aberdeen, MD, and they are showing MAK in FRM column. Other calls were from Maryland to Delaware, and they display BAL (Baltimore, right?) in FRM column. Front page says customer number must be present on checks. Would that be the account number displayed elsewhere on that page? (Itemized list has that number plus an "authcode" and an "acctcode".) The itemized list has a call at 2:10 PM to a certain number for 0.5 minutes and that same number at 2:12 PM to that same number for 10.4 minutes, both on March 30. If I tried calling twice, I do not recall getting through the first time. (I did call that same number again on April 1.) [Moderator's Note: You must be on a different billing cycle than me. I got the first card (about a week before anyone on this list) and I still don't have my first bill yet. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #252 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08716; 9 Apr 93 5:11 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11830 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:45:10 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01648 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:44:30 -0500 Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 02:44:30 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304090744.AA01648@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #253 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Apr 93 02:44:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 253 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson I'm Sorry ... (TELECOM Moderator) Re: AT&T Blacklisting? (Mike McNally) Re: AT&T Blacklisting? (Charles Mattair) ISDN on Local Loop Pairs (Michael J. Hayes) Re: FAX-Machine/FAX-Modem (David Y. Chang) Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed (Jeff Sicherman) TDD Specification In Telecom Archives (Curtis E. Reid) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Mark Walsh) GTE Mobilenet Woes in CA (Dave Rand) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 23:30:18 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: I'm Sorry ... Due to circumstances beyond my control the Digest has to be put 'on hold' at this time. I'm getting out a couple issues early Friday morning to clear as much of the queue as I can. I received an eviction notice today and the telephone company quite coincidentally notified me that my phones will be placed on incoming only service effective Friday until I get the bill paid. When I've resolved the problem of the rent and the phone bill I'll try to resume publication. To those of you who assisted by your subscriptions to the Orange Card and the 800 / 1+ services, I give my thanks. Although remittances based on the residuals have not yet come in, I beleive I'll be able to use that money to at least get the phone turned back on later this month. If you have questions about the Orange Card or the 800 / 1+ programs you can direct them to the customer service offices of those companies. Those programs and my participation are still intact. My main problem is I cannot do the Digest if I have no telephone or place to live. Please DO NOT send further articles to the telecom account until you hear from me that the Digest is again operational. I send my best wishes to all of you, and my apologies that things have turned out the way the did. If you need to reach me, you can still do so through my Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: vail!m5@cs.utexas.edu (Mike McNally) Subject: Re: AT&T Blacklisting? Date: 8 Apr 93 13:58:37 GMT telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > ...I am saying that from a purely pragmatic, or practical standpoint, it > is better to have organizations like AT&T or the federal government > remain neutral to us -- if not necessarily friendly with us -- than it > is to have them as enemies or antagonists. If anything, this situation calls *not* for BBS operators to bend over further in efforts to "appease" the system, but rather for everyone to raise public consciousness bring down the Big Brothers who now feel free to wield this kind of oppressive power. > ...and if you don't mind -- I've got a warrant here -- we'll seize all > your equipment *which even resembles something electronic* while we set > about proving our case. Give us six months, a year or two years to work > on it, won't you? After the successful litigation and establishment of damage-award precedent by Mr. Steve Jackson, I suspect that the Secret Service et al will be somewhat less cavalier. > ... And, you could be considered a co-conspirator. This turns my stomach. > Police officer comes to your door with AT&T man (purely a hypothetical > example, you understand) ... it only happens somewhere in these United > States once every couple weeks or so ... Once again, this must stop. *That* is where the energy of every "good citizen" must be directed. > "I know my rights!" you loudly proclaim, "get a warrant to come in my > house." Most people would not say that, but from what you are saying, > you probably would. "The innocent need not fear." I guarantee you that I'd "say that". > Police officer and AT&T man look at each other and snicker. This is believable, and revolting. I wonder whether I could get a police officer to accompany me and snicker when I visit the AT&T office to complain about an egregious billing error? > He calls on his radioo ... in the cop's estimation, you're an asshole; > you know your rights and he certainly knows his as an officer. His *rights* as an officer, or his *power*, vested in him by the gun on his belt and the festering corrupted system that put it there? > There are laws which say the authorities can act in a rather heavy > handed manner when they want to prosecute you if they choose to do so. !!!!!!!!! > They also get to have their equipment seized and sit in jail > if it comes to that ... they're nobody special. Oh boy. i.e., they have no special exemptions from the outrageous abuses likely to be committed against the citizenry by the "authorities". > Where your advice, John, is very irresponsible is because of the large > number of young people running BBSs who are naive enough to think > their knowledge of the constitution will protect them from the govern- > ment. When young people cease to have this "naive" view of the Constitution, my love for this country will dry up and blow away. > They know their rights ... but they have yet to be bopped over > the head with a policeman's billy club for their impudence. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.......... > I do not have the time, or money, or inclination to argue with the > government. I'd prefer they ignore me. If/when they do come to see me, > I'll have my papers in order ... Fine. Sit in your hole and just hope they leave you alone. It's not for me, brother, and I rejoice in the knowledge that there are people like John around who are similarly committed. I am confident that if Sam Adams could read what you've written here, he'd immediately begin signing up volunteers. I'd be first in line. Call me a naieve wide-eyed air-head, but this plucks a big string for me. Elevating blood pressure prevents me from continuing. I don't run a BBS, but more than anything this discussion has made me want to. [Moderator's Note: You say 'when young people cease to have this view, your love for America will dry up and blow away ...' Well, mine already has dried up. How about that ... This isn't the same place I was born and raised in, not by a long shot. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 11:22:53 CDT From: mattair@synercom.hounix.org (Charles Mattair) Subject: Re: AT&T Blacklisting? Organization: Synercom Technology, Inc., Houston, TX In article PAT writes: > [Moderator's Note: I'm not sure I agree entirely with your dire > outlook. I don't think things are *quite* that bad, but I must say > you did a great job of helping me make my point: knowing that the > [etc...] PAT: They are that bad. Read comp.org.eff.talk, sci.crypt or most of the privacy groups for a while. Civil Forfeiture is a serious problem WRT to law enforcement these days and in many ways is more corrupting than "mob" money ever was. While not directly related to telecom and computer seizures, the article included below will illustrate the problem. The article was extracted from a thread concerning the FBI wire tap proposal. I have more comments after the article. Xref: synercom sci.crypt:1391 comp.org.eff.talk:2770 From: mbeckman@mbeckman.mbeckman.com (Mel Beckman) Newsgroups: sci.crypt,comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Prof. D. Denning's trust in the FBI Date: Wed, 31 Mar 93 00:48:27 PST Organization: Beckman Software Engineering Message-ID: <01050810.tt6mrh@mbeckman.mbeckman.com> Reply-To: mbeckman@mbeckman.com In article <1993Mar30.161012.3079@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu> denning@ guvax.acc.georgetown.edu writes: > I said that the events that Marc and the other CACM commentators of > my article referred to did not occur under the current wiretap > statutes, which date back to the 1968 wiretap law and the 1978 Foreign > Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Dorothy, But in your article, and in online discussions, you many times pointed to the laws against illegal wiretapping and said "those laws will protect citizens against illegal taps." But the taps on King and the others *were* illegal under any wiretapping laws that were in force at the time, which seems good evidence that we can't count on such laws for protection from offensive government taps. Here is what you can expect from the government: in Ventura County, CA, where I live, the LA County Sheriff's Dept. raided a (later shown to be innocent) rancher's house near Malibu. They broke down his front door, and when the alarmed rancher appeared with a gun, they shot and killed him. Their "probable cause" for obtaining a warrant was spectrographic indications from an aircraft survey that marijuana was growing on the rancher's property. No plants or drugs or contraband or evidence of any crime was ever found. The rancher, Don Scott, had no record. A subsequent aircraft survey still showed the same "spectrographic" evidence (never before used to obtain a warrant). The ranch was in Ventura county, and the warrant was for a nonexistent LA county address. The Ventura county sheriff started an investigation, as he was never consulted in the raid (as required by law). The investigation, released today, revealed the LA county sheriff had the rancher's property assessed before the raid, and had prepared paperwork for asset forfeiture in anticipation of success. Also today, the LA sherrif's own investigation conclued the shooting was "justified" because the rancher had a weapon in his hand when his door was kicked in. Earlier reports, however, said that the elapsed time between kicking the door in and shooting the rancher was under five seconds. [This time has now been verified.] My point is that the motivations of individuals in government are no more immune to corruption than anybody's. The system can be manipulated (in this case, perhaps out of a desire to cash in on an 8-million dollar asset seizure) to obtain warrants, and such warrants often are executed unsafely, with devastating results to innocent civilians. You simply cannot trust the law as a practical restraint against official abuse. This article was written shortly after the incident and certain of the facts have proven to be incorrect as initially reported. There actually was no spectroscopic evidence, this was confusion on the reporter's part. The LA county DA, after some amount of prodding, ruled that excessive force was used. The {Ventura County Star Free Press} reports that the Ventura County DA has stated that he now has incontravertable evidence that the LASD deliberately obtained the warrant using false evidence. Unfortunately, juristictional issues may prevent Ventura from directly filing charges. I can also send you a series of articles from the {Pittsburg Press} detailing abuses in civil forfeiture in you are interested. Believe ... Charles Mattair (work) mattair@synercom.hounix.org (home) cgm@elmat.synercom.hounix.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 20:43 GMT From: Michael J. Hayes <92700977@vax1.dcu.ie> Subject: ISDN on Local Loop Pairs I am currently working on modelling the transmission properties of copper "voice-grade" pairs in the local loop. Implementation of ISDN here in Ireland requires 2B+D+housekeeping= 160 kbit/s. This "high" bit-rate is not what the copper was designed for, but it works surprisingly well, up to a point. It has been said that a call can be set up on a 0.50 mm copper pair of length six loop kilometers. Can anyone tell me is this claim true or false? I know from my tests on an 800 metre length of this stuff that the high-frequency components of the signal die off into background noise after a couple of hundred meters (which is probably a good thing, because if they reached the far end, they would be behind time and cause inter-symbol interference.) Has anyone else done testing/know of tests like this? I would be much obliged to hear. Email or post to group, but please email me personally if your posting isn't published / is truncated. Thanks. MiX. email main: in%"92700977@vax1.dcu.ie" email secondary: in%"mjhayes@ca.dcu.ie" paper: Michael J. Hayes, Dept. of Computer Applications, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, IRELAND ------------------------------ From: davidyc@unix386.Convergent.COM (David Y Chang) Subject: Re: FAX-Machine/FAX-Modem Date: 9 Apr 93 03:07:27 GMT Organization: Unisys/Convergent, San Jose, CA > Hi there ... sorry to trouble you, but I have been unable to find > references to the ftp site where the telecom archives are kept in the > past little while. > I'm specifically interested in the recent (one or two months ago) > discussion on connecting a FAX machine to a FAX modem directly, to be > able to use the FAX machine as a scanner/printer. I've been watching for this kind of product and the one I bought and used is called "FaxScanner" which allows you to scan images from a fax machine and stores as PCX file on your PC via a PC-FAX, but it doesn't work the other way around (i.e. use FAX machine as a printer by sending FAX from a PC-FAX) which it really should theoretically. Product : FaxScanner Company : SVA Software, Inc. Coral Gables, FL 33146 Phone : (305)446-9905 David Y Chang - Unisys Corp., San Jose, CA INET: davidyc@convergent.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 23:30:10 -0700 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Organization: Cal State Long Beach In article richgr@netcom.com quotes the {Los Angeles Times}: > A CA PUC judge has recommended that Pac Bell be fined $65 million for > repeatedly charging its customers improper late fees. This stems from > Pac Bell routinely assessed customer's late payment charges because of > delays in the company's own bill processing operations. [ deleted ] > The suit was originated by a San Francisco consumer group known as > TURN (Toward Utility Rate Normalization). "Its unprecedented for a > fine of this size" said Thomas Long, a staff attorney for TURN. > [Moderator's Note: I strongly suspect the fine (or at least the size > of it) will be reversed or reduced on appeal, as telco is certain to > do. Some consumer groups frankly have no idea what they are talking > ahout most of the time. PAT] Nor do some Moderators, who, though they have no specific knowledge about the merits of the case under discussion, the behaviors of the parties to it, or the history of the dispute, feel qualified to throw some reactionary, generic remarks at it to show their superiority. Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ Date: 08 Apr 1993 09:44:45 -0500 (EST) From: Curtis E. Reid Subject: TDD Specification For Telecom Archives TDD Specifications are now available in the Telecom Archives. The archives can be accessed using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Curtis E. Reid CER2520@ritvax.isc.rit.edu Rochester Institute of Technology/NTID REID@DECUS.org (DECUS) 52 Lomb Memorial Drive 716.475.6089 TDD/TT 475.6895 Voice Rochester, NY 14623-5604 U.S.A. 716.475.6500 Fax (Business Use Only) [Moderator's Note: Curtis gave me this file a few weeks ago, but I've been mentally occupied with other things and did not get a chance to work on the archives for a couple weeks until Thursday (partially), and I will try to finish straightening out the newly arrived files on Friday morning if I can do so before my phone is shut off. PAT] ------------------------------ From: walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Date: 8 Apr 93 21:09:22 GMT Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA Here in 707 land, POP-xxxx works as it did in 415 (now 510) land where I grew up. I had thought that this POP-xxxx thing was universal. A few years back, I was on business in 617 and called it at about midnight from my hotel, only to wake somebody who refused to believe that such a thing as POP-xxxx exists. As we all know by now, this time comes off of a WWV/WWVH clock. A few years ago, people calling POP-xxxx found that it was off by an hour. To make a long story short, someone had bumped a switch that read "Normal/Daylight Savings." > [Moderator's Note: Why did anyplace have any exchange for this other > than the most logical one which we used here in Chicago 'WEATHER'. I > think London used WEATHER for a long time also, maybe they still do. PAT] When I was a kid, NWS was 936-1212. Mark Walsh (walsh@optilink) -- UUCP: uunet!optilink!walsh Amateur Radio: KM6XU@WX3K -- AOL: BigCookie@aol.com -- USCF: L10861 ------------------------------ From: dlr@daver.bungi.com (Dave Rand) Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1993 22:30:56 PDT Subject: GTE Mobilenet Woes in CA Recently, thanks in part to our Esteemed Moderator's long distance programs, I had occasion to look at the long distance portion of my GTE Mobilenet Cellular telephone bill. I saw several calls that I had made that seemed to be higher in cost than I would otherwise expect. Thinking that perhaps rates were different on cell phones, I called GTE Customer service. After the mandatory wait for a representative, I was told that: 1) GTE uses AT&T as their primary outgoing long distance service; 2) Sprint is used as a backup; 3) AT&T Direct Dial rates are charged for any calls outside of your service area, plus airtime; 4) A selected long distance carrier is not available from GTE; 5) AT&T would have to rate any calls, as GTE did not have any rating information, and they "selected the cheapest service for you automatically"; I checked the calls in question with AT&T, and found that the AT&T rates were about 1/3rd of the GTE billed rates. A 0.30/min call on GTE would cost 0.10/min on AT&T. A call to GTE again confirmed that they charge only the AT&T rates -- no surcharge. I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor confirmed the story. I asked *HIM* to call AT&T and check their rates. A very nervous supervisor called me back a few minutes later, and promised to check in to it further -- apparently there *WAS* a surcharge, or something ... that was 04/02/93. He promised a call back 04/05/93. On 04/06/93, I called again, and was given the same "we charge AT&T rates" story. I again asked for a supervisor, explained the situation, and asked for a timely resolution. On 04/07/93, I also asked for the telephone numbers of the CPUC. They gave me disconnected numbers (both 800 and 415). They did, however, promise me an answer by 10 AM. At 4 PM, a *VERY* worried and upset supervisor called me to explain that they still didn't have a good answer, and would I please give them another day or two to solve the problem. Today, I spoke with the head of the Customer Service department -- Gail Carpenter (number available on request). GTE Mobilnet apparently did not notice that AT&T had changed its rates, and has been billing customers with an old billing tape for the past few *YEARS*. They promised that I would receive a credit for my calls billed in error. I asked them if they were going to notify any other customers ... According to Ms. Carpenter, GTE Mobilnet has no plans at this time to notify existing or past customers of their error. She indicated that the decision to do so (or not) would be done at "a higher level". There is no expected date of such a decision. She further indicated that it would be "very hard" to re-rate all of the calls made by customers over the years. If you are a GTE Mobilnet Customer, or if you would like more information, please feel free to contact me. Dave Rand 10288 0-700-FOR-RAND {pyramid|mips|bct|vsi1}!daver!dlr Internet: dlr@daver.bungi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #253 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa18796; 9 Apr 93 19:15 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13414 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 16:45:14 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14041 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 9 Apr 1993 16:44:24 -0500 Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 16:44:24 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304092144.AA14041@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #254 TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Apr 93 16:44:15 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 254 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson One Last Time ... (TELECOM Moderator) Workshop - ATM in the Government Sector (Michael R. Brown) Re: Stupid Switch Tricks (Warren Burstein) Re: Answering Machine Feature (Mark Steiger) Re: How to Busy Out a Line? (Warren Burstein) Re: Jacking In at the Demarc (John Gilbert) Where to Find Official Docs on ... (Michael Cox) Re: 911 Service for Deadbeats (Rebecca Snyder) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Rob Boudrie) Re: NPA-NXX by County Database (Rob Boudrie) Looking For Panel Mounted 1-A Keyset (Warren Tucker) Atmel, Intel and Flash Memories (Tyler R. Holcomb) Max RS-232 Cable Lengths at 9600 Baud (George A. Perkins) Re: A Very Interesting Intercept (Michael Jennings) Re: Line Busy Out (Floyd Davidson) Re: I Received First Orange Card Bill (Matt Simpson) Re: Truly Amazing, Truly Amazing (Michael Lyman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 14:30:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: One Last Time ... Through the courtesy of someone whose office I visit a lot, I was able to check in for my personal mail this afternoon and decided to make a real quick issue of the Digest with things which came in during the wee hours of the morning on Friday. I hate to see anyone left out with an article if it is at all possible to include them. Things are sort of grim for me right now; but we'll stay in touch, I'm sure. Pat T. ------------------------------ From: Michael R. Brown Subject: Workshop - ATM in the Government Sector Organization: Advanced Telecommunications Group Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 12:40:59 GMT ATM Networking for the Late 1990's The MITRE Corporation and the ATM Forum are pleased to announce a 1 day workshop on ATM networking in the government sector, to be held on 27 April 1993. The focus of this workshop is on the government's need for broadband network technology and services, and industry's plans for to meet these needs over the next 5-10 years. Senior representatives from the Government and Industry will discuss a wide range of issues including requirements, technology developments, early (ATM) trial results, and product and service plans. Workshop sessions include: Keynote Speakers Dr. Bob Lucky Vice President, Bellcore Mr. John Grimes Deputy ASD, Defense-wide C3 Mr. Don Scott Associate Director FTS2000, GSA ATM Networking Standards Richard Vickers Senior Manager, Northern Telecom Mike Goguen Senior Product Manager, Synoptics Glen Estes Director of ATM Technology, Bellcore ATM Networking - Early Trials Hank Dardy Supervisory Research Physicist, NRL Dan McAuliffe Director, Telecom Division, Rome Labs Scott Anderson Fujitsu America Federal Government Requirements Dr. Dave Signori Associate Director, DISA Col. John Barnes Project Manager, Pentagon IM&T Dan Scott Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA Cindy Peak Manager, Comm Systems Engineering, FAA Vendor and Carrier Plans Eric Cooper President, Fore Systems Bob Halligan VP & GM, Government Systems Division Gil Falk Director, Strategic Systems, BBN Robert Doyle Director of Marketing, Gov Systems, Sprint John Strickland Director, Broadband Services, USWest In addition to these sessions, vendor demonstrations will be conducted throughout the workshop. Given the recent interest in related initiatives such as NREN, NII, and Global Grid, this workshop offers a unique opportunity for government and industry officials to discuss potential applications of this enabling technology. The workshop will be held at : The MITRE Corporation Hayes Auditorium 7525 Colshire Drive McLean, VA 22102 For registration information contact: Linda Ericson lericson@mitre.org 703.883.5948 703.883.5914 (FAX) ------------------------------ Michael R. Brown mrb@mitre.org Advanced Telecommunications Group 617.271.7390 The MITRE Corporation 617.271.7231 MS B280 Burlington Road Bedford, MA 01730 ------------------------------ From: warren@worlds.COM (Warren Burstein) Subject: Re: Stupid Switch Tricks Date: 9 Apr 93 14:04:04 GMT Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org Organization: WorldWide Software In oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > I suspect a wet phone line somewhere between your home and the CO. Or > a weak short. Your theory about the ringing voltage burning through > the obstruction is actually quite apt. Do you suppose there's a dog tied up in the yard? warren@nysernet.org [Moderator's Note: This of course is part of an old, old story we've published here many times before. It goes to show that truth can often times be stranger than fiction. If the story's true, that is. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: MARK.STEIGER@tdkt.kksys.com (MARK STEIGER) Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1993 15:07:09 -0600 Subject: Re: Answering Machine Feature Organization: The Dark Knight's Table BBS: Minnetonka, MN (Free!) >> To bring this back to answering machines, I am continually amazed t >> they continue to use such antiquated technology as analog magnetic >> tape. How difficult/expensive would it be to put a small hard driv >> (10MB or 20MB, say) inside an answering machine, and record digitiz >> voice on it? At 64Kbps/sec using u-law encoding (we're shooting fo >> "phone-quality" here, after all), that's a bit less than 8K/sec. A >> 10MB hard disk would hold a bit over 20 minutes of messages, minus >> little for housekeeping and data structures. This would allow for >> easy time/date stamping, random access to messages (including delet >> a message in the middle of the "tape"), and probably better-quality >> sound as well. If you really want to save space, use 2-bit or 3-bi >> ADPCM encoding (19.2Kbps and 28.8Kbps, respectively). A 10MB hard >> drive then holds 72 minutes and 48 minutes, respectively. > That's fine while it works. What does the non-electronic customer do > when their storage device breaks? > Replacement cassette tapes holding up to 90 minutes cost less than $1 > each. Hard drives and non-volatile memory chips aren't anywhere near > that cheap. > It's true that ANYthing produced in the massive quantities demanded b > consumer items like answering machines would become cheap enough, but > at the moment magnetic tape products are; computer storage products > aren't. Which one would a company want to risk their profit margin > on? Personally, what I do is run "The Complete Answering Machine" on my computer. It runs totally in the background. I am running a BBS under desqview along with other applications and it doesn't miss a beat. It can deliver outbound messages, notify me when a message comes in, and it can handle 999 mailboxes. If you're looking for a great sounding machine that uses a hard drive, this is the one to get ... I don't work for the CAM company. Just a happy customer ... Mark Steiger, Sysop, The Igloo BBS (612) 574-2079 Internet: mark@tdkt.kksys.com Fido: 1:282/4018 Simnet: 16:612/24 ------------------------------ From: warren@worlds.COM (Warren Burstein) Subject: Re: How to Busy Out a Line? Date: 9 Apr 93 13:49:15 GMT Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org Organization: WorldWide Software In roy@mchip00.med.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) writes: > Personally, I'd suggest using a 2W resistor somewhere around > 600 to 1000 ohms. It needs to be small enough to make sure it looks > like a phone off hook, but large enough that you don't draw an > unreasonable amount of current. The power rating has to be large > enough to not burn up if you get 100V ringing voltage. 100V into 1K > is 10W, but I would guess that for the low-duty cycle ringing signal, > a 2W resistor would do fine. Make it 5 or 10 if you're worried about > that. I suspect current limiting on the line won't allow you to > actually draw that much power anyway. Well since 600 ohms looks like an off-hook phone, would it be safe to rely on the telco to not deliver ring to it for longer than it takes for them to figure out that the phone is off-hook? If so, I would guess that a smaller wattage resistor would be able to take the ring voltage for this brief interval, which I would guess off the top of my head lasts a few milliseconds. I've taken apart el-cheapo brand telephones on the way to the trash; they don't have anything in them that I would think is designed to dissipate 2W. I wonder why no one has come out with a black-and-white "generic" telephone yet. warren@nysernet.org ------------------------------ From: johng@comm.mot.com (John Gilbert) Subject: Re: Jacking In at the Demarc Organization: Motorola, Land Mobile Products Sector Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 15:17:44 GMT In article Russell Nelson writes: > That happened to me also. I have a two-line set with in-use > indicators on both lines. I saw that someone was using one of the > lines and it couldn't be anyone in the house. I picked up on the > line, and asked the lineman what was going on. He said that he was > just calling back to the office. Since I pay flat rate, I didn't > care. Most of the numbers that the linemen call at the telco seem to be programmed for "free terminating service." This way you don't pay message units when they borrow your line and they don't have to carry quarters for coin phones. John Gilbert johng@ecs.comm.mot.com ------------------------------ From: mcox@access.digex.com (Michael Cox) Subject: Where to Find Official Docs on ... Date: 9 Apr 1993 08:00:50 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA I am trying to find the name of official (government or otherwise) documents that discuss the OSI model and where I can get them. My situation is that I am designing a system that involves dial-up modems. One requirement is that they follow the OSI standards. Now, even if a vendor says his modem supports v.32 which, I think, is part of the OSI model, what document can I refer to that says v.32 is in the OSI model? Also, any other documents that talk about LAN media (10BaseT/2/5) and the protocols (Ethernet TCP/IP) as being part of the OSI model would help. And, finally, is anyone familiar with the AT&T FTS 2000 system? What is it? Can I use regular modems (USRobotics, Hayes, etc) on this system or do they need to be a special type? Oh, one more thing. Where can I learn more about how a MUX operates? I can FTP so FTP sites would be appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide. Michael Cox Work: mcox@access.digex.com Play: aj639@cleveland.freenet.edu Fido: 1:109/456.0 ------------------------------ From: msnyder@prism.nmt.edu (Rebecca Snyder) Subject: Re: 911 Service for Deadbeats Organization: New Mexico Tech Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 20:08:42 GMT One problem with DEBTline -- since the deadbeat is only recieving calls from bill collectors, there really isn't much in it for them to keep their phone plugged in. ------------------------------ From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Organization: Center For High Perf. Computing of WPI; Marlboro Ma Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 18:13:26 GMT In article rothen+@pitt.edu (Seth B Rothenberg) writes: > In New York City, the number for time used to be NER-VOUS until they It still is NER-VOUS (actually, NER-xxxx) in the Boston (617) area code. ------------------------------ From: rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) Subject: Re: NPA-NXX by County Database Organization: Center For High Perf. Computing of WPI; Marlboro Ma Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 18:11:21 GMT In article mkenny@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (michael r. kenny) writes: > Does anyone know of a database commercial or other that has the > NPA-NXX's that are within a county? If you want to find a PLUS system ATM which is near you, call 1-800-THE-PLUS. You will be asked to touch tone in the area code and first three digits of the phone number you are calling from. If any machines are near you, the recording will tell you about them. Very convenient for locating ATM's based on NPAs. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Apr 93 12:56:40 EDT From: wht@n4hgf.Mt-Park.GA.US (Warren Tucker) Subject: Looking For Panel-Mounted 1A Keyset Maybe some of the historian/archeologists in here can help me. I am a quadriplegic computer programmer who spends a good bit of time on the phone while typing at the computer. (OK, I am a "low quad" who has use of arms and wrists, but no hands.) I'm having a workstation built to take advantage of what capability I have. We've solved most of the problems, but the telephone is a problem. I've seen multi-line "subscriber sets" (1A-ish, like a reshaped 565 or 630 set) integrated into equipment. The phone is just a dial and a few buttons on a panel, with a headset jack "under the table" somewhere. While a number of these things have been obviously custom, I'm sure there must be some off-the-shelf stuff around. (I don't think I'm up to the 200-line ringdown arrays I've seen in some old film about SAC installations, heh heh). My workaday telecom experience ends in 1982, so I'm still in love with the simple 1A2 I already understand. It is all "hard copper" and keeps the flexibility that digital or "home PBX" stuff excludes. Besides, I'm poor and I have a bunch of it already :-). I'm open to any (low-cost I hope) suggestions that will give me a flat-faced multi-line phone based on the old 1A arrangement (or at least has one T/R/A/A1 circuit). Could some kind soul please give me a clue? As an aside, does anyone know of a junk dealer with 400 cards and other 1A archeological artifacts? I got a price on a 400 card the other day of $45 from someone who treated me like I was some time-displaced H. G. Wells :-). Please E-MAIL as well as posting. THANKS!!!!!!!!! Warren Tucker (404)587-5766 n4hgf!wht or wht@n4hgf.Mt-Park.GA.US ------------------------------ From: tylerh@cco.caltech.edu (Tyler R. Holcomb) Subject: Atmel, Intel, and Flash Memories Date: 9 Apr 1993 17:35:41 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena I am seeking informatin on a company call Atmel that makes flash memories. In particular, I want to know: 1. Is this a "good" company? In particular, do they seem "well run" and do they have satisfied customers? 2. If (and when) does Intel plan to re-enter this market? 3. I understand that the Atmel products have "proprietary" features that differentiate them from "commodity" flash memories. How important are these features? What types of users find these features most useful? Do these features "lock-in" users and and build "brand loyalty?" THank you for your input. Tyler Holcomb tylerh@juliet caltech.edu ------------------------------ From: george@crayola.East.Sun.COM (George A. Perkins) Subject: Max RS-232 Cable Lengths at 9600 Baud Date: 9 Apr 1993 16:00:02 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Reply-To: george@crayola.East.Sun.COM Folks, Can someone tell me what the EIA says are the max cable lengths for RS-232 at differing baud rates? Specifically I am interested in 9600, but if you have 1200, 2400 and 19,200 I would be interested in that as well ... Please reply to me at "george.perkins@east.sun.com". Thanks, George A. Perkins Systems Engineer Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation 6200 Courtney Campbell Causeway Suite 840 Tampa, FL 33607 Phone: (813) 289-7228 Fax: (813) 281-0219 EMail: george.perkins@East.Sun.COM ------------------------------ From: M.J.Jennings@amtp.cam.ac.uk (Michael Jennings) Subject: Re: A Very Interesting Intercept Organization: University of Cambridge, DAMTP Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 14:53:28 GMT In article DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA (David Leibold) writes: > I tried the +81 45 33 0000000 number with the Unitel long distance > service. Completion time was quite fast, especially considering that I > forgot to end the overseas digit string with a '#' to speed up the > call completion. Nice music, with the English intercept announcement > first, then the Japanses one, then repeat of the English one at which > time I disconnected. The connection did sound a bit scratchy, though > the results weren't expected to be high-fidelity stereo. > I haven't tried this through Bell Canada's service, though I note the > recent posting regarding Bell's own intercept for this. > All international calls placed in Canada (other than to the U.S.) > would be routed through Teleglobe, the monopoly international carrier. > Thus the intercept would be a Bell thing, while Unitel just lets the > other end intercept the call. I tried it from a payphone belonging to Cambridge cable (the local cable television company (which also provides telephone services)), which I think gets its long distance connections via Mercury (British Telecom's one major competitor for long distance calls). The first couple of times I simply received an engaged signal, but eventually I did get the same message and music, English first, followed by Japanese. (Fast connection, very clear line). Has anybody tried this from a non-English speaking country, or does it just give an English message for anything that is not Japanese? Michael ------------------------------ From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) Subject: Re: Line Busy Out Organization: University of Alaska Computer Network Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 14:12:57 GMT In article hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) writes: > So, I agree with John that users need not worry about most of > the part 68 regulations, except for 68.102, which requires that > terminal equipment be registered (is that resistor or bridging clip > registered? Is it a "transparent extension cord"?). If telcos have > no problem with a line short for make-busy, then maybe we should > petition the FCC for a rule change. Meanwhile, we probably otta > follow the rules. Certainly one should follow the rules ... and if you intend on the manufacture or sale of Customer Premise Equipment, please do read and understand part 68. It does NOT apply to me, I just use or work on the stuff. Others have claimed that a short on the cable causes too much current which leads to a trouble call ... but I don't know of any switch that does that. All line switchers that I know of do get excited about an off hook that does not result in a call attempt within a preset amount of time. None can tell the difference between a dead short and an off-hook phone (technically there isn't any difference). What happens as a result depends ... but usually it is exactly as John described: Nothing. And two years later it will work fine if you remove the short. There are exceptions, but the telco will cheerfully call you up and inform you of how they view your short if they don't like it. There won't be a charge either. Floyd floyd@ims.alaska.edu A guest on the Institute of Marine Science computer system at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Salcha, Alaska ------------------------------ From: sysmatt@aix3090b.uky.edu (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: I Received First Orange Card Bill Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 08:29:20 GMT I got my first Orange Card bill yesterday, too. Much the same as the previous description. Flat envelope, I didn't notice the postage. Five sheets of paper, including all kinds of irrelevant information. I had one 0.5 minute call ... total cost, including tax, $0.14. Including the 0.29 it's going to cost me to mail them a 0.14 check, total cost comes to 0.43. I still saved money over the 0.95 MCI would have charged me to make that call with their card. But it hardly seems profitable for the company. Pat - Do you know if they have any plans to offer either billing to Visa/MC or billing via LEC bill, to reduce their overhead in handling small individual bills such as this? [Moderator's Note: Yes, they are now set up to bill to VISA/MC. Call the customer service number on the bill, although I think there is a minimum they are willing to bill that way. I'd say for a 14 cent bill you could easily hold it over a month before paying. No one is going to get rich or go broke from the 14 cents. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Michael_Lyman@sat.mot.com (Mike Lyman) Subject: Re: Truly Amazing, Truly Amazing ... Feds Reply-To: Michael_Lyman@sat.mot.com Organization: Motorola Inc. - Satellite Communications Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 15:28:02 GMT In article 1@eecs.nwu.edu, naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) writes: >In , is written: > I wonder, is the signal only digitally encoded or digitally encoded > and *additionally* encrypted? Yes on both counts. On the air interface between the base station ( BSS ) and mobile station ( MS ) the signals are digitally encoded. Traffic channel rate is 13 Kb/s. In addition to this, ciphering is done to protect the signalling channel such that user data privacy is provided then, encryption is provided for all voice traffic. As an aside, the GSM system also assigns "alias" subscriber numbers which are changed automatically with ( usually ) every call -- the subscribers real phone number is never ( well, almost never ) used over the air. > I'm getting a little paranoid over this, but in Germany when you buy > an approved wireless phone you are told that it is impossible to > listen in to it. Bullsh*t. In fact it's only impossible to listen in > with another (unmodified) wireless phone -- just get a scanner and > you're in. For GSM, the level of privacy for both signalling and voice is considerable. Just to give you an idea, encryption keys change for each call made by the subscriber and the encryption algorithms use the changing physical properties of the radio channel. As a matter of fact, GSM is SO secure that several European governments including Britain are insisting that the scrambling algorithm ( called A5 in GSM ) be modified to allow at least government operatives ( read "undercover eavesdroppers" ) to listen in on suspected criminal activities. Agencies such as GCHQ, the British government's listening post near Cheltenham and the FBI in America are concerned that the A5 scrambling algorithm provided with the GSM Mobile Stations is equivalent to many military systems and in fact when exported may be adapted for military applications. Vendors of GSM equipment are starting to run into export problems due to the nature of the encryption / ciphering. Although there are some industrious "scanners" out there, I dare say that listening in on a GSM conversation will be a bit of a job. Michael Lyman Motorola - Iridium Phoenix, Arizona [Moderator's Note: I don't know when I will be able to get the next issue of the Digest out, so I loaded this one with everything on hand as of this writing. Thanks for your notes to me thus far, I hope to be able to resume the Digest at an early date ... nothing definite yet however. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #254 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05693; 12 Apr 93 19:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05147 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 11 Apr 1993 14:22:17 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31518 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 11 Apr 1993 14:21:46 -0500 Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 14:21:46 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304111921.AA31518@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #255 TELECOM Digest Sun, 11 Apr 93 14:21:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 255 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A Quick Visit to a Friend's Office (TELECOM Moderator) How Real is SCI at This Point? (Tom Sommer) Cellular Reprogramming Handbooks (Anton Mitchell) Re: Leukemia From LF Magnetic Fields? (Jamie Hanrahan) Re: Leukemia From LF Magnetic Fields? (Mark Fraser) Re: First Cellular Telephones Go Into Service In Cuba (John R. Levine) Re: Secret DTMF Voice/Data/Fax Switch? (James J. Alles) Re: Does Anyone Remember Who Makes the Distintive Ring Box? (Jack Winslade) Cellular Systems Simulation Project (Rick Dennis) NAPLPS/JPEG Group For ONLINE Apps (Ed Pimintel) Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed (Bill Campbell) Re: Win/NT to Make CO Sw (Craig Ford) Re: Truly Amazing, Truly (Laurence Chiu) Good Source For Telecom Supplies? (Gabe M. Wiener) Tip/Ring, Red/Green, etc. (Steve Summit) Re: Can I Get a Modem Jack For My NORSTAR? (Larry D. Tumbleson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) Subject: A Quick Visit to a Friend's Office Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 13:45:00 CDT I got a friend to let me use his office this afternoon (Sunday) since they don't need their terminals, etc today. Checking in for mail, I find despite several notes saying 'do not send mail please' the telecom mail queue is as full as always. So, here is some of what has come in since I last created an issue. I'm otherwise working on this end to get things corrected, but nothing is definite yet. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sommer@tpdhp.teleglobe.com (Tom Sommer) Subject: How Real is SCI at This Point? Organization: Teleglobe Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 20:59:54 GMT I am looking for comments on how real the IEEE's Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) is at this point. SCI allows for a 1 gigabyte/sec interconnection scheme for up to 64K processors. SCI is IEEE P1596. Questions that come to mind include has anyone built a system that uses it, does anyone make chipsets which are available to handle the interface, if someone has used it -- what was their experience, what applications currently need 1 gigabyte/sec, etc. ------------------------------ Organization: City University of New York Date: Sunday, 11 Apr 1993 08:55:34 EDT From: EH1QC@CUNYVM.BITNET Subject: Cellular Reprogramming Handbooks Does anyone have reviews of the several books advertised about cellular phones. I have seen two books listed in Radio Electronics, such as Cellular Telephone Hackers Guidebook by Dynaspek and another one by Spy Supply called Cellular Telephone Modification Handbook. I was wondering if they are worth the 69 and 79 dollar price tags. Any reviews or views on these books would be great. Thanks. Anton Mitchell ------------------------------ From: Jamie Hanrahan Subject: Re: Leukemia From LF Magnetic Fields? Date: 11 Apr 93 05:54:39 PDT Organization: Kernel Mode Systems, San Diego, CA In article , hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) writes: > A report in {Microwave News} summarized in CE states that > Sweden's National Board for Industrial and Technical Development > (NUTEK) announced that it will act on the assumption there is a link > between exposure to power frequency magnetic fields and cancer, > especially childhood cancer. Oh, please. Not again. > Finally, although there seems to be a cause and effect > relationship, no one knows how the low frequency electromagnetic > fields actually affect the body. Um, in the absence of a known mechanism, it's impossible to establish a "cause and effect relationship". You can establish a statistical correlation, but that isn't "cause and effect". If you HAD a suspected mechanism you could design experiments to see whether it really works or not. In the absence of a suspected mechanism, you can't pick out one aspect of the subjects' environment and assume that that's the *cause*. Simply plotting one set of numbers against another doesn't establish anything except that two *might* be related. Remember the _post hoc_ fallacy? That's what you've got here. You might as well conclude that children's cancer causes magnetic fields ... More realistically, there is suspicion that living near power distribution transformers and capacitors (which used to contain PCBs, known carcinogens), wooden utility poles (formerly preserved with materials we now know contain carcinogens), and utility easements (often defoliated with ... but you get the idea) is the real problem. In other words the cancer rates would have been the same had the power lines been somehow shielded so as to not emit magnetic fields. Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Systems, San Diego CA Internet: jeh@cmkrnl.com Uucp: uunet!cmkrnl!jeh CIS: 74140,2055 ------------------------------ From: mfraser@wimsey.bc.ca (Mark Fraser) Subject: Re: Leukemia From LF Magnetic Fields? Organization: Wimsey Information Services Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 03:11:20 GMT The studies that showw an increase in superstition during recessions or other hard times are also fascinating. PErsonally, I think the rumors about leukemia etc. are originated by demented and superstitious seniors named Ursula who keep goats under power lines and think that space ships are poisoning her cats too. I also don't deny that there could be some link. Creosote from power pole treatment? Pesticides in the carrot patch? I need better evidence than a statistical correlation that could be right 5 % of the time but which could be corrupted by the phase of the moon. Mark ------------------------------ Subject: Re: First Cellular Telephones Go Into Service In Cuba Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 11 Apr 93 10:10:12 EDT (Sun) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > I'm SO sure! C'mon, are people THAT dumb? After all the news stories > all around the world about how easy and cheap it is to eavesdrop on > cellular phone calls, ... What makes you think that they don't eavesdrop on wired phone calls? Who do you think owns the wires? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: jjast7@pitt.edu (James J Alles) Subject: Re: Secret DTMF Voice/Data/Fax Switch? Date: 11 Apr 93 03:13:49 GMT Joel M. Hoffman (joel@wam.umd.edu) wrote: > Is there a machine that will monitor a call on the receiving end, and > listen for DTMF tones and then transfer the call appropriately? What > I'd like is to leave a modem on my voice line in answer mode, but have > an answering machine on the line also. When most people call, they > just get the answering machine (with no annoying message to "press 1 > to leave a message, now). But if a caller presses, say, the number 7, > the call is transfered to the modem. > Any ideas? Yes, a product, now sold by Damark. I bought one, yet to be installed on my second line. An input port, a answering machine port, and four extension ports. It gives you intercom capability, also. Made by Areanex. It is neat -- it produces a ring signal out to the extension ports. Peace, JA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Apr 93 11:29:28 CST From: Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Re: Does Anyone Remember Who Makes the Distintive Ring Box? Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha In a message dated 27-MAR-93, Gregory Youngblood writes: > I've recently come across a situation where one of those boxes that > recognizes the different incoming ring signals that some telcos can > provide would be ideal. > Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the company or anything > else. I think you're thinking of the Ring Director made by Lynx Automation. I have the four-line version and it's been working fine for over two years. Hello Direct sells some different models of the Lynx line. Good day. JSW Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.14 r.1 Department of Redundancy Department (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ From: rad@eusdatl.attmail.com Date: 11 Apr 93 16:03:19 GMT Subject: Cellular Systems Simulation Project I am currently taking a class in parallel architecture. I have selected a project that involves the simulation of a cellular phone network. Does anyone out there have any good references for the factors involved in modelling a cellular system? The project must be reasonable enough to be completed in nine weeks, so it can't be too complex. Please reply directly to attmail!rickdennis or rickdennis@attmail.com. Thanks in advance! Rick Dennis AT&T Information Management Services Systems Development Organization-Conversant Systems Suite 600 email: attmail!rickdennis 5555 Oakbrook Parkway Phone: (404) 242-1552 Norcross, GA 30093 ------------------------------ Subject: NAPLPS/JPEG Group For ONLINE Apps From: edimg@willard.atl.ga.us Date: Sun, 11 Apr 93 13:47:33 EDT Organization: Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 I have proposed that all of us in the promotion of NAPLPS/JPEG form a consortion/task force to openly discuss ways, method, procedures, algorythms, applications, implementation of NAPLPS/JPEG standards. These standards should facilitate the creation of REAL_TIME Online applications that make use of Voice, Video, HiRes graphcis, Fax plus more ... This would be a NOT-FOR PROFIT group with bylaws and charter. It would have public domain software repository just as GNU & OSF. This would give us more clout in getting access to other upcomming technology. Already many corporation have decided to support this endeavor, so do not delay joining if you are a developer. For a name I am proposing ONG "Open Naplps Group" or something along these lines. In addition I will attempt to form a Usenet newsgroup and allocate a directory on SIMTEL for such software. This group would have a quarterly NAPLPS/JPEG newsletter as well as a hardcopy version. I hope that all of you that would like to see CMCs based the NAPLPS/JPEG G R O W decide to join and mutually benefit from this NOT-FOR_PROFIT endeavor. If you would like to get involve write to me at: IMG (Inter-Multimedia Group) P.O. Box 95901 Atlanta Ga. 30347-0901 Data: 404-985-1198 zyxel 14.4k Voice: 404-985-1763 internet: epimntl@world.std.com Cis: 70611,3703 edimg@willard.atl.ga.us (Ed pimentel) gatech!kd4nc!vdbsan!willard!edimg emory!uumind!willard!edimg Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 ------------------------------ From: bill@Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) Subject: Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Organization: Celestial Software, Mercer Island, WA Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 16:47:17 GMT In Jeff Sicherman writes: > In article richgr@netcom.com quotes the > {Los Angeles Times}: >> A CA PUC judge has recommended that Pac Bell be fined $65 million for ?> repeatedly charging its customers improper late fees. This stems from ?> Pac Bell routinely assessed customer's late payment charges because of >> delays in the company's own bill processing operations. :> [Moderator's Note: I strongly suspect the fine (or at least the size :> of it) will be reversed or reduced on appeal, as telco is certain to :> do. Some consumer groups frankly have no idea what they are talking :> ahout most of the time. PAT] Nor do some Moderators, who, though they have no specific knowledge :about the merits of the case under discussion, the behaviors of the :parties to it, or the history of the dispute, feel qualified to throw :some reactionary, generic remarks at it to show their superiority. I would agree with this from personal experience. I'm involved with a dispute with Tandy Radio Shack Credit where they consistently took 10-15 days to process my payments assessing a $15.00 "Late Charge" to an account. I have very strong feelings on this subject because I refused to pay these "Late Charges", Tandy filed an adverse credit report, and I cannot refinance my house as a result. INTERNET: bill@Celestial.COM Bill Campbell; Celestial Software UUCP: ...!thebes!camco!bill 6641 East Mercer Way uunet!camco!bill Mercer Island, WA 98040; (206) 947-5591 ------------------------------ From: Craig.Ford@p0.f2001.n106.z1.fidonet.org (Craig Ford) Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 08:51:20 -0600 Subject: Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switch In article , bcapps@atlastele.com (Brent Capps) writes in part: >> "Gates boldly predicted that NT servers running multimedia >> applications over ATM WANS, PBXs, cable TV and high-speed >> backbones would make central telephone switches obsolete." > Heh heh heh. I recall ten years ago the PBX/CO manufacturers were > claiming that their own multimedia applications would soon make LANs > obsolete. Remember CO-based LANs? > NT, AT&T, etc. lost a bundle chasing after that will o' the wisp. As > long as Gates is about to start shoveling bags of money out the > window, I wonder if he'd mind throwing some of it my direction ... If you take a look at his hiring practicies over the past 18-36 months, I'm not so sure he can't pull it off. There are some awfully talented teleco-wizards working in Redmond these days (Eg. besides dead president's portraits in green ink on white paper, why would Toby Nixon go to work for Billy-Boy????). Craig Ford | Futures Past Systems, Ltd. | (713)-425-3498 FAX INTERNET: Craig.Ford@f2001.n106.z1.fidonet.org | (713)-458-0237 BBS CIS: 74276,2374@compuserve.com | Origin: Dayze of Futures Past Systems [H14-V32B 713-458-0237] (1:106/2001) ------------------------------ From: Lchiu@holonet.Net Subject: Re: Truly Amazing, Truly Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access BBS: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 04:13:54 GMT In a message to comp.dcom.telecom <04-08-93 12:30>, naddy@mips.ruessel. sub.org writes: > In , is written: >> The GSM system is digital and sends phone calls in an encoded or ?> encrypted signal. This encryption makes it virtually impossible to tap >> the radio signals sent out on GSM handsets. > I wonder, is the signal only digitally encoded or digitally encoded and > *additionally* encrypted? I have heard talk of a new system called Digital AMPS. Does such a system exist? If so how would it compare with GSM. Is encryption involved. Apparently phones which can use this new system scan for a digital signal, if none found then they look for an analogue one. Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ From: gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) Subject: Good Source For Telecom Supplies? Organization: Columbia University Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 04:17:11 GMT Can anyone recommend some good mail-order sources for telecom supplies? I usually order tools from Jensen, but I'm looking for things like 66-blocks and other such items that prove useful for doing your own telecom installations and networking. Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu 72355,1226 on CI$ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 12:10:19 -0700 From: scs@eskimo.com (Steve Summit) Subject: Tip/Ring, Red/Green, etc. I'm sure this sort of thing gets discussed here from time to time, but it probably can't hurt to see it again. I'm doing some wiring, and I'd like to know *definitively* what the correct polarity is, in a number of situations. (I know that many DTMF generators have bridge rectifiers such that they don't care about polarity, and that a simple empirical test suffices for those that do care, but as I say, I'm trying to be definitive this time.) I'd like to know, for each of the following, which is ring and which is tip: 1. The red wire, and the green wire. 2. The negative wire, and the positive wire, when on-hook (if you wish to show off, you may also discuss polarity reversals when ringing/answering). 3. In 25-pair cable, the blue/white wire (blue with a white stripe), and the white/blue wire. 4. On a modular plug, with the pins numbered as in: 123456 _________ /\ \\\\\\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \________\ \/___\ \__/ \ \ \ \ (cable) (where the other end of the cable is connected to an instrument), pin 3, and pin 4. 5. On a modular plug (as above) wired for two lines, pin 2, and pin 5. 6. On a modular plug wired for three lines, pin 1, and pin 6. 7. For a second line, the black wire, and the yellow wire. 8. For a third line, in 6-wire modular cable, the white wire, and the blue wire. 9. In a 1A2-style ribbon connector, pin 1, and pin 26. 10. In a 66-style punch-down block mounted vertically, the top line, and the bottom line, of a pair of terminals (there may not be a definitive answer for this one). 11. For a simple piece of red/white bell wire, the red wire, and the white wire. I think I have answers for some of these, but I don't want to bias anyone's replies by revealing them prematurely :-) . Finally, and I hope I'm not sounding too particular, but since parity problems are so easy to get wrong, and since it's so easy to "resolve" them empirically, I'd really appreciate it if you could back your answer(s) up with a reference. (That's actually part of my question; I'd love to know what the official reference is for this sort of thing. I had no luck trying to answer these questions in what I thought was a good engineering library.) Please respond by mail, and I will post a summary once I have some answers. Steve Summit scs@eskimo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1993 17:10:09 +0000 (GMT) From: tumbleld@ucunix.san.uc.EDU (Larry D Tumbleson) Subject: Re: Can I Get a Modem Jack For My NORSTAR? Organization: University of Cincinnati In article j4scott@sms.business.uwo.ca (Jason Scott) writes: > I have a Norstar in my office. My modem won't work in the jack. Can I > get a splitter, or something to allow my modem to work on it? The Norstar key switch only has digital station ports. To hook up an analog device, such as a modem or fax machine, you need to get an analog terminal adaptor. You would hook the adaptor into your station port and your analog device into the adaptor. If you have the money another option would be to get a DCI, a digital computer interface. This will work as a 9600 baud modem for internal station to station calls and a 2400 baud for calls outside your Norstar. The nice thing about the second option is that you can plug your phone into the DCI and use both simultaneously on one station port. The digital station set using the B2 channel and the DCI the B1. The DCI is kind of expensive though. You will have to guage your needs and balance them against the cost/benefit. Rick Goodrich PROSTYLE@delphi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #255 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10077; 13 Apr 93 6:31 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06064 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 13 Apr 1993 03:48:06 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06070 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 13 Apr 1993 03:47:06 -0500 Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 03:47:06 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304130847.AA06070@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #256 TELECOM Digest Tue, 13 Apr 93 03:47:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 256 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Just Me and the Cleaning Lady (TELECOM Moderator) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Jack Winslade) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Robert L. McMillin) Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed (Jim Graham) Re: Sears Catalog 800 Number - Down or Overloaded? (Robert L. McMillin) Re: Does Anyone Remember Who Makes the Distintive Ring Box? (Bill Campbell) Re: Truly Amazing, Truly (Dan J. Declerck) Re: ISDN Goes Hollywood! (Liron Lightwood) Re: AT&T Blacklisting? (Robert L. McMillin) Help Us Install ISDN (was Connecting Work to Home via ISDN) (Peter Gordon) Help with Call Management (USR10144@cbos.uc.edu) When to Not Replace Old Technology With New (Rajan Srikanth) Update: ATM Networking in the Government Sector (Michael R. Brown) Mitel PBX Mailing List (Dave Johnston) Need Computer Interface to a Pager (Will Estes) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Just Me and the Cleaning Lady Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 00:18:00 CDT These folks have been nice to let me come in and out late at night the past couple of days ... but it cannot be abused; I cannot stay all night or come around during the day. I am accumulating the money I need to make peace with Mother; maybe another week or so before it all gets paid off. Here is a few more messages from the queue. Patrick ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 11:14:38 CST From: Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@axolotl.omahug.org Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha In a message dated 05-APR-93, TELECOM Moderator notes: > I know that in New York City for many years, the Time-of-Day was > available by dialing NERVOUS. It was a service sponsored by some > jewelers, I think. Perhaps some old time ... Back in the early 1970's, dialing 637/NE7-{anything} would get you the time. I don't remember it being sponsored by anyone. I always assumed it was NYT. The 'official' number was 637-1212, but somehow the name NERVOUS was popular. Good day! JSW Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.14 r.1 Department of Redundancy Department (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 16:03 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch In Lost Angels and vicinity, we mark time with recordings like, "at the sound of the riot, the time will be..." :-(. We've always had it as UL3-1212 as far back as I can remember. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include [Moderator's Note: Yeah? Well then get ready to synchronize your time pieces when the Jury in El Lay comes back with their verdict. Is it true what a knowledgeable snitch in the Justice Department has said: that the Assistant US Attorney in Los Angeles was instructed by higher authority to try and tamper with two recalcitrant jurors -- using cash if necessary, and threats of exposure about something the feds have on one of the two -- to get a 'proper decision' in the matter? Nah, the United States government wouldn't operate that way ... even when they are really scared of the likely possibility the defendants will be found not guilty, they would not try anything like that ... would they? Of course not; the US Injustice Department is not corrupt even though half the software in the place is stolen or pirated -- only Usenet moderators who peddle telephone calling cards on the side are to be considered corrupt for 'commercializing the Internet'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jim@n5ial.mythical.com (Jim Graham) Subject: Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 16:07:30 GMT In article sadler@lachman.com (Jonathan Sadler) writes: [regarding paying on time and still getting charged late fees] I've run into this problem quite a few times -- not just with phone service (though when I was using Sprint, this was the cause of all three strikes against them that caused them to lose a customer), and in each case, I was able to make one quick phone call to my bank and determine that my check had cleared before the date payment was due (sometimes well before), and yet there was a late charge (usually saying I hadn't paid at all). > Each of these months I had to call them up and ask for the late charge > to be reversed ... I have a very simple solution to all of this ... it looks something like this on the bill (usually in bright red ink and lots of big, ugly caps): [late charge and past due amount crossed out, net amount due adjusted accordingly] YOUR RECORDS ARE IN ERROR. CHECK NUMBER xxxx FOR $ xx CLEARED [bank name] ON [date]. I TRUST YOU WILL CORRECT YOUR RECORDS IMMEDIATELY. [IMMEDIATELY underlined several times] And if, such as was the case with Sprint, this has happened before, and I have another option for the service (not applicable otherwise), they also see something along the lines of: MUST I GO TO [company xyz] TO GET ACCURATE BILLING? With Sprint, on strike two, someone who, if memory serves, was fairly high up sent me a long, detailed apology. On strike three, they lost a customer (and I made sure they understood *EXACTLY* why). Oh yeah, with Sprint, there was *NO* due date on the bill at all (I understand they have fixed that particular part of the problem now). The way I see it, if I'm going to pay my bills on time (and I make a point of doing just that), I expect them to credit me for paying on time. Anyway, enough rambling. Got lots of stuff to do today, including some really important stuff (grabbing my cast net and going fishing again to get the ones that escaped from the net this morning). jim #include INTERNET: jim@n5ial.mythical.com | j.graham@ieee.org AMATEUR RADIO: n5ial@w4zbb (Ft. Walton Beach, FL) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 15:46 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: Sears Catalog 800 Number - Down or Overloaded? Talking about Sears' going out of business sale ... > Overloaded. Since they are closing up catalog sales this year, they > are offering 30% off everything except electronics and tools/hdw. > This is on top of existing sale prices. Toys are 50% off (MERRY > CHRISTMAS!). Their call volume is extensive. If you do get through, > you might get the message where they ask odd area codes to call on odd > numbered days and even on even days. Boy, does this ever favor people in big cities like Los Angeles (818, 714, 310, 213, 619, 818 are all within the L.A. county borders). Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include ------------------------------ From: bill@Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) Subject: Re: Does Anyone Remember Who Makes the Distintive Ring Box? Organization: Celestial Software, Mercer Island, WA Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 15:18:51 GMT In Jack.Winslade@axolotl.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) writes: > In a message dated 27-MAR-93, Gregory Youngblood writes: >> I've recently come across a situation where one of those boxes that >> recognizes the different incoming ring signals that some telcos can >> provide would be ideal. > I think you're thinking of the Ring Director made by Lynx Automation. > I have the four-line version and it's been working fine for over two > years. We too have been using the Lynx units for several years now with no major problems. Their customer support has been excellent (and they're only about 20 miles from here :-). Lynx Automation, Inc. 2100 196th Street SW #144 Lynnwood WA 98036 (206) 744-1582 There is a possiblity of noise problems due to ground loops when using these automatic switch boxes. Lynx pointed out to me the possibility of ground loops when I complained about noise on the line with their box. The solution is to disconnect the outer two wires on each modular connector. Bill INTERNET: bill@Celestial.COM Bill Campbell; Celestial Software UUCP: ...!thebes!camco!bill 6641 East Mercer Way uunet!camco!bill Mercer Island, WA 98040; (206) 947-5591 ------------------------------ From: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com (Dan J. Declerck) Subject: Re: Truly Amazing, Truly Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 20:11:59 GMT In article Lchiu@holonet.Net writes: > In a message to comp.dcom.telecom <04-08-93 12:30>, naddy@mips.ruessel. > sub.org writes: >> In , is written: >>> The GSM system is digital and sends phone calls in an encoded or >>> encrypted signal. This encryption makes it virtually impossible to tap >>> the radio signals sent out on GSM handsets. >> I wonder, is the signal only digitally encoded or digitally encoded and >> *additionally* encrypted? The system is digitally encoded, and optionally at the option of the base-site operator/manufacturer digitally *encrypted* also. > I have heard talk of a new system called Digital AMPS. Does such a > system exist? If so how would it compare with GSM. Is encryption > involved. Apparently phones which can use this new system scan for a > digital signal, if none found then they look for an analogue one. Digital AMPS, basically applies TDMA to analog AMPS channels by slicing up the spectrum into 3 timeslots (the mobiles per channel). It uses analog signalling, then if a digital Base is available, can initiate the Voice coding and timeslot control of TDMA. Thus mobiles must be dual mode ... both analog and digital. I'm not sure if any digital AMPS systems are in commercial service as of yet. Dan DeClerck EMAIL: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com Motorola Cellular APD Phone: (708) 632-4596 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 00:19:08 +1000 From: Liron Lightwood Subject: Re: ISDN Goes Hollywood! Regarding the use of ISDN to deliver CD quality audio to the home. I was under the impression that this currently requires 256 Kb/s at present, thus requiring four or so B channels (1 B channel = 56 or 64 Kb, not sure which in the US). Does anyone know how many B channels are being used in the demo to deliver the CD quality audio? Would such a service require more than one ISDN line to deliver the audio? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 19:23 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: AT&T Blacklisting? Yes, I know the thread is dead (officially), but Pat, I find your willingness to knuckle under to petty authority (a choice phrase gleaned from Matt Groening) uncharacteristic, and damn near pathetic. You would cede our civil rights because it's convenient to let the government take them rather than fight. That's cowardice. The men who founded this country were willing to stick their necks out to give birth to new and unheard of freedoms in a new and unheard of country. You mock their bravery by proposing to let the datacops snag whatever they want in the name of "cooperation." If we meekly cooperate in the destruction of our civil liberties, we have only ourselves to blame when the constitution turns out to be a hollow shell. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include [Moderator's Note: Don't confuse civil liberties with civil rights; they are two different things. And don't misunderstand. I *know* what is going on and I don't like a lot of what is going on. Eventually, I suppose I will get riled up and do something. I do not make mock of the Founder Fathers. It is difficult to know 'what the founders intended'; or indeed, to decide if what they intended should have any bearing on what we wish to do today. President Rodham-Clinton will demonstrate how hollow the constitution is during the next four years: Watch for an historic event during the term of the resident president now in power when a portion of the Bill of Rights is *repealed* -- the Second Amendment will be history before this term is finished. The Reagan/Bush bashers said it would be that hot team that trumped up a national emergency to get martial law installed and the Bill of Rights repealed or suspended. I say the current president will do it at least with the Second. I've already written Jim and Sarah Brady and our man in Washington and suggested while they're at it, why not repeal the First Amendment also; like the Second, it has become quite a nuisance in recent years. If it is true that a 'well-regulated militia' refers to the Army, thus freeing the people of the 'need to bear arms' and obliviating the need for the Second, I suggest that since the Government Printing Office and my competitor the {New York Times} publish lots of speech every day, there is no 'need' for the rest of us to speak out about anything; why not kill the First also. So just give them what they want; if you don't, they'll take it at gun point anyway. The difference between us, Roger, is that you'll continue playing the role of Bad-Ass until they point a gun in your face as they inevitably will and tell you to shut up. I already know the guns are there; the paperwork up to that point is a mere formality intended to humor the people. I'll go along with the joke; I got worn out from protesting back in the seventies sometime. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pgordon@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Peter Gordon) Subject: Help Us Set up ISDN (was Connecting Work to Home via ISDN) Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 14:55:54 -0700 (PDT) Greetings! Here on the wet, wind-swept coast of British Columbia, we folks of the Victoria Free-Net Association have talked our local telco into providing us a major grant of their services -- including ISDN access to a couple of locations here in town. The catch is, no one on our committee has any experience with ISDN technology. According to the note below, you may have an electronic journal with some recent information which could help us. Could you please forward this to me, along with any other information or advice which you feel could benefit us? I am most concerned about the hardware requirements at the residence end of the ISDN connection. Thanks a million! [Moderator's Note: His letter went on to refer to an article published here recently of Wil Dixon's. I forwarded this to Wil and put it here in the hopes our resident ISDN-experts will correspond with the Victoria Free-Net and help them get things going. Thanks! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 11 Apr 93 16:33:00 -0400 From: USR10144@cbos.uc.edu Subject: Help With Call Management When our office moves, we'll be getting a new AT&T Merlin Legend PBX system. Unfortunately, we don't have funds for call management software. I am looking for inexpensive software for telephone call traffic management. I am hoping to find freeware or shareware. Although it would be a plus to have call management/accounting software, I am primarily interested in software that would run on an IBM compatible PC and provide call traffic analysis. I want to be able to ensure we have enough of the right trunks and that the PBX/trunks are performing as they should. The PBX will have an SMDR port to provide data to the PC. If you are aware of any free/shareware or inexpensive commercial software, please drop me a note. I'll summarize responses for the Digest. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: srikanth@garnet.berkeley.edu (Rajan Srikanth) Subject: When to Not Replace Old Technology With New Date: 12 Apr 1993 01:54:25 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley At the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, we are doing a study of what factors influence the decision to replace or not replace old information technology/products with new information technology/products. *** If you were involved with such a technology replacement situation, we *** would like to include you in our study. We are especially interested in *** responses from people who evaluated a replacement but DECIDED AGAINST. Your participation will contribute to the progress of information technology! In exchange for your participation, we would be happy to give you information about our findings- to help you in future decision making. We are interested in all technology areas and are especially interested in the areas of DATABASES, IMAGING, and CLIENT-SERVER technology. For example, we are looking for companies who considered replacement of a non-relational database with a relational database. Or, replaced older applications with new generation (e.g. client-server) applications. If you can help, please provide us a regular (not just email) postal address. To contact us, send email to: (Asst. Professor) Rajan Srikanth at srikanth@garnet.berkeley.edu or call him at 510-643-9994 or call (MBA Student) Rehan Syed at 415-312-8420. If we are not in when you call, please leave a message indicating when you can be called back. Thanks very much for your interest! ------------------------------ From: Michael R. Brown Subject: Update - ATM Networking in the Government Sector Organization: Advanced Telecommunications Group Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 13:14:03 GMT *** Update on "Workshop - ATM in the Government Sector"**** Due to the overwhelming response to the "ATM in the Government Sector" workshop posting, MITRE has decided to limit enrollment to Governent (Federal, State, and Local) at this time. However, consideration will be given to a follow-up session if there is sufficient interest. Please refer any further questions, comments, or suggestions to the undersigned below. Michael R. Brown mrb@mitre.org Advanced Telecommunications Group 617.271.7390 The MITRE Corporation 617.271.7231 (fax) MS B280 Burlington Rd Bedford, MA 01730 ------------------------------ From: Dave Johnston Organization: Santa Rosa Junior College Date: 12 Apr 93 12:49:17 PST Subject: Mitel PBX Mailing List Reply-To: dave@cs.santarosa.edu As a result of my previous TELECOM Digest posting and the volumes (well 11 actually) of interest I've received, a Mitel PBX Mailing List was created. The list is intended to provide a forum for users, installers, technicians, engineers and other interested parties to discuss Mitel PBX equipment. The entire Mitel product line is fair game, including the Entrepreneur, SX-5, SX-10, SX-20, SX-50, SX-100/200, SX-200D, SX-200 Light, SX-2000 and SX-2000 Light and their assorted variations. The address for joining the list is: mitel-request@odie.santarosa.edu The list address is: mitel@odie.santarosa.edu Thanks, Dave Johnston, WD6AOE Santa Rosa Junior College Supervisor, Campus Data/Telecom 1501 Mendocino Ave. dave@cs.santarosa.edu Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Voice +1 707 527 4853 Fax +1 707 524 1542 ------------------------------ From: westes@netcom.com (Will Estes) Subject: Need Computer Interface to a Pager Organization: Mail Group Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 23:01:27 GMT Does anyone know of a way to interface a computer to a pager? I need some way that the pager data can be sent to a computer instead of to human via a pager. Maybe there is a board that slips into a computer? The actual application for this is that a windmeter is going to send wind data every hour to a pager number, which will then get read by an Internet-attached host and fed by email to interested parties. I think this would be a good question for a mailing list or newsgroup on computer operation centers, so if you know of such a group maybe you could point me there. Will Estes Internet: westes@netcom.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #256 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24884; 15 Apr 93 3:51 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14523 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 15 Apr 1993 01:31:03 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29244 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 15 Apr 1993 01:30:32 -0500 Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 01:30:32 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304150630.AA29244@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #257 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Apr 93 01:30:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 257 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Roll Your Own PBX / Internal Phone System (Robert J. Granvin) New York Telephone Using Sun Platform (Sun Press Release via Mike Bender) Deregulation of Telcos in Texas (Mike Coyne) Residential ISDN (Russ Wilton) Southern Bell Anonymous Call Rejection (Atlanta Constitution via L Reeves) Where Can I Find Phrack? (Jinmo Ahn) We Want Your Work (Bowyer Jeff) Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing (Andrew M. Dunn) Information Needed on Bahamaian Phone System (Tom Perrine) Telco Uses My Lines (James Gleick) Re: Test Equipment (Keith Willox) Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed (jeanc@pro-cynosure.cts.com) Re: Information Needed About Plex (John Edmond Auckett) Re: A Very Interesting Intercept (Andrew M. Dunn) Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? (Tony DeSimone) AI/Exp Sys in Telecom Information Needed (rsl30@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rjg@umnstat.stat.umn.edu (Robert J. Granvin) Subject: Roll Your Own PBX/Internal Phone System? Organization: School of Statistics, University of Minnesota Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 21:43:40 GMT I got a fun one. :-) And I admit I know NOTHING other than proper wiring schemes and that I haven't even bothered to talk to our local phone companies (the latter because I already know there's NO way we can afford it ... :-) Anyways, I volunteer for a group that is, like most non-profits, incredibly broke. We have two phone lines to handle our voice and data needs. That is all we can essentially afford to do. We continue to run wire all over the place so that each desk can have a phone at it if desired. This has become a real mess and I plan to scrap the existing wiring and replace it all with something logical. At the same time, I will be RE-installing a PC with voicemail capability. It will sit as a "front end" on the voice line and answer. It has the ability to issue the sequences necessary to forward the call to another physical telephone number, which is how we'll manage voice communications. Data will suffer, to a degree. In any case, the ultimate solution (Especially after a bunch of new offices are built in the long-distant future :-) is that we find some ability to develop our own internal telephone network -- to be able to call up a specific phone or at least be able to forward incoming calls to a specific phone (as opposed to the current procedure -- expecting SOMEONE to answer that ringing nightmare and YELL for the person who the call is for). I realize I'm talking about a small office PBX. But I also realize that it is something that is way beyond our budget or abilities to acquire. I also realize that we do NOT need any other special features -- we don't need long distance control. reporting, area code tables, etc. etc. etc. Just the ability to deal with a single phone internally. Is there any way to do this cost effectively, cheaply or better yet, on your own? Has anything of this nature ever been done with hardware enhanced common-market (i.e., PC) computers? As usual, I greatly appreciate any insights that people may have, and also appreciate EMAIL as time prevents me from keeping up with many newsgroups. Robert J. Granvin User Services Specialist School of Statistics - University of Minnesota rjg@stat.umn.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 93 10:58:20 PDT From: Michael.Bender@Eng.Sun.COM (Duke of Canterbury) Subject: New York Telephone Using Sun Platform Here's something that was sent via our internal e-mail that I thought that telecom readers might find interesting: SUN SPARC PLATFORM TO BE USED FOR ADVANCED TELEPHONE SERVICES MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --April 14, 1993-- For the first time in U.S. history, telephone customers can get flexible, low-cost private line services so they can tailor their communications network to fit their business needs. New York Telephone's NYNEX Enterprise Services is using more than 100 SPARCserver(TM) systems from Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) to deliver advanced communication capabilities, including multimedia services for the transmission of voice, data and video, to customers. NYNEX Enterprise Services was introduced today by New York Telephone. The services are available immediately in specified areas within the New York City area. A private line is a direct channel, leased from a carrier, between specified points. In the past, private line services offered by carriers like New York Telephone were inflexible, expensive and difficult to maintain. By using technology based on open systems, like the Sun(TM) SPARC(R)/Solaris(R) platform, New York Telephone was able to build Enterprise Services on a system that is scalable, flexible and interoperable. Private line services will now be less expensive and the services available can be changed or modified without interrupting private line access. New York Telephone can now deliver to its ever-growing customer base in the financial services, retail, insurance, publishing and healthcare markets advanced features like bandwidth-on-demand, flexible provisioning and proactive trouble reporting. As a result, customers can use their private lines efficiently and avoid losing time making changes to their services or recovering from a system shut-down. Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., is the world's leading supplier of open client-server computing solutions. The company has its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. # # # Sun Microsystems, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, Sun, the Sun logo, and the Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. SPARCserver is licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other products are referred to herein by the trademarks as designated by the companies who market those products. For reader inquiries, telephone 1-800-821-4643. This announcement was made today, April 14, 1993. For more information, please contact: Lauren Swingle, SMCC PR at (415) 336-7273. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ mike bender DOD# 007 415-863-8913 (home) 1991 FJ1200bender@oobleck.eng.sun.com 415-336-6353 (work) ------------------------------ From: coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Deregulation of Telcos in Texas Date: 14 Apr 1993 14:19:27 GMT Organization: At UT? You must be kidding Yesterday thousands of telephone company representatives and employees rallied at the state capitol in support of a bill to deregulate telephone rates in Texas. According to the story in our student newspaper, they want to switch to a regulatory system based on rates of return to a price-based calculation. They claim it will enable them to install fiber optic networks and give them flexibility to compete with 800/900 based competition. It is opposed by newspapers who claim it forces them to compete with the phone company. The article and TV reports, frankly, did not make much sense. But then there are two thinga a man ought not to see. One is how sausage is made, and the other is how laws are made. This is especially true in Texas. Somebody has been advertising on TV to get us to call 800-669-6903 to learn about how we can get Texas into the technology future with fiber optic communication etc. Other than that, there has been very little hint of what is going on. There has certainly been no reportage of any issues in Texas papers. Can any of your readers shed light on this matter? If you liked unregulated cable -- you'll love unregulated telcos. Mike Coyne Coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:14:14 MDT From: Russ Wilton Subject: Residential ISDN Hi: I manage a Northern Telecom Meridian exchange which supports digital (ISDN) telephones. Each telephone requires it's own pair of wires running back to the exchange, so multiple phones on the same number are done by programming the exchange, not by just wiring them in parallel off a single pair. This is not a problem on a university campus, but I'm sure it would not be acceptable for residential service. So how do they connect multiple extensions in a house to an ISDN circuit? Does it allow the same functionality as with analog phones? That is, can two people on different extensions talk simultaneously to a third remote party? If so, how do they mix the signals? This is beginning to sound like I need a short course on ISDN. :-) Any pointers to a good ISDN reference book would be appreciated. Thanks. Russell D Wilton E Mail: WILTON@HG.ULeth.CA Telecommunications Manager Voice: (403) 329-2525 Computing Services FAX: (403) 382-7108 University of Lethbridge 4401 University Drive Lethbridge, Alberta, CANADA T1K 3M4 ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 14 Apr 93 01:04:25 GMT Subject: Southern Bell Anonymous Call Rejection Southern Bell will begin offering Anonymous Call Rejection May 6 to to it's Georgia customers. The service will route callers who have selected to have their number identify as "private" to a recording informing the caller that the number they are calling is rejecting calls from private numbers. Numbers may be set to identify as "private" in Georgia permanently for no charge. Per-call selection of "private" is not available in Georgia. "Anonymous Call Rejection" can be activated and deactived by pressing a code. Cost of the service, which becomes available May 6, is $2.75 a month for residential customers. Southern Bell thinks the new service will boost demand for the controversial caller identification service, which has about 40,000 Georgia subscribers." ------ Atlanta Constitution 4/08/93 -------- ------------------------------ From: Jinmo Ahn Subject: Where Can I find Phrack? Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 04:38:15 -0400 Organization: Senior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA I'm looking for a ftp site which has back issues of {Phrack}. Could someone tell me where I can find it? Thanks, Jim ------------------------------ From: Bowyer Jeff Subject: We Want Your Work Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:55:42 GMT Reply-To: jbowyer@cis.vutbr.cs Organization: Technical University of Brno, Czech Republic We want you to announce your work on our mailing list! Do you use a program that has a non-English interface? Have you converted any software to support more than one language for its interface? Will you sponsor a conference that might concern software with a non-English interface? Please tell us! INSOFT-L on LISTSERV@CIS.VUTBR.CS Internationalization of Software Discussion List Internationalization of software relates to two subjects: 1. Software that is written so a user can easily change the language of the interface; 2. Versions of software, such as Czech WordPerfect, whose interface language differs from the original product. Topics discussed on this list will include: -- Techniques for developing new software -- Techniques for converting existing software -- Internationalization tools -- Announcements of internationalized public domain software -- Announcements of foreign-language versions of commercial software -- Calls for papers -- Conference announcements -- References to documentation related to the internationalization of software This list is moderated. To subscribe to this list, send an electronic mail message to LISTSERV@CIS.VUTBR.CS with the body containing the command: SUB INSOFT-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname Owner: Center for Computing and Information Services Technical University of Brno Udolni 19, 602 00 BRNO Czech Republic INSOFT-L-REQUEST@CIS.VUTBR.CS ------------------------------ From: amdunn@mongrel.UUCP (Andrew M. Dunn) Subject: Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Date: Wed, 15 Apr 93 05:29:58 GMT Well, it had to happen! After years of people complaining about being charged more for TouchTone (which actually costs less to provide), Bell Canada has solved the problem. They've phased out rotary service. But, of course, you still pay the surcharge for TouchTone. Now _everybody_ pays it. Sheesh. To quote from a Bell information circular: "Starting March 8, 1993, Touch-Tone(tm) became the standard service offered to individual-line residence and business customers who move or request a new telephone line. This change was recently approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Rotary-dial service will continue to be available to customers who do not now have Touch-Tone, until such time as they move or request a new individual telephone line. Rotary-dial service will also continue to be offered to customers ordering a two-party line or a four-party line ... Touch-Tone service provides customers with speed and ease of dialing, as well as access to interactive voice-response systems (IVR). These systems are automated services such as ... Prior to standardization, close to 92 per cent of customers ordering new individual-line service requested Touch-Tone. Touch-Tone will continue to be offered at the existing monthly rates ..." Yeah, right. Andy Dunn or ------------------------------ From: tep@sdsc.edu (Tom Perrine) Subject: Information Needed on Bahamaian Phone System Date: 14 Apr 1993 17:51:43 GMT Organization: San Diego Supercomputer Center @ UCSD Reply-To: tep@sdsc.edu I am looking into the state of phone service in the Bahamas. The specific things I need information about are the availibility of the following services: Data links to the U.S. (probably X.25 or maybe satellite); cellular (which standard, and the availability); The specific area is a small island that is due North of Great Exuma (about 15 minutes by boat), which already has a microwave link to Great Exuma. Anyone have any contact at the Bahama PTT? Thanks, Tom E. Perrine (tep) | tep@SDSC.EDU San Diego Supercomputer Center | Voice: +1 619 534-8328 P. O. Box 85608 | FAX: +1 619 534-5177 San Diego CA 92186-9784 ------------------------------ From: gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) Subject: Telco Uses My Lines Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 21:07:08 GMT It drives me nuts to find NYTel repairmen using my phone lines, presumably from the terminal on the street, to make calls to the office or even (I believe) personal calls. I assume personal calls are against the rules, but the phone company contends (though somewhat fuzzily) that there's nothing wrong with the repairmen picking up a handy line to call in to call in to the office. Am I not paying for these lines? When pressed, the phone company promises to have the box, or the file, or something, marked so that the repairmen will use someone else's line. However, experience shows that this is a sham -- if anything is getting marked, the repairmen either don't see it or ignore it. Any thoughts? Is this really allowed? Jim ------------------------------ From: philp@hpqmoitt.sqf.hp.com Subject: Test Equipment Available Date: Wed, 14 Apr 93 9:10:30 BST To: Norman Gillaspie Hi Norman, I'm responding to your message requesting information on DS0 Test Equipment. Your request for information was passed on to me by one of our engineers who is on Unix -- unfortunately I'm not. Can you fax or telephone me with information on your fax number, or address so that I can send you information on our products. My telephone number is - (UK) 031-331-7388 fax number - (UK) 031-331-7443 Sorry about the delay in contacting you but I've been trying to get an address or node I could use. Best regards, Keith Willox Hewlett Packard South Queensferry Scotland. ------------------------------ From: jeanc@pro-cynosure.cts.com Subject: Re: Pac Bell Caught Red Handed Organization: ProLine [pro-cynosure] Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 21:14:47 EDT OUCH!! That really *stinks*!! I hate big corporations ... grumble, grouch, groan...! j.a.c. ProLine: jeanc@pro-cynosure Internet: jeanc@pro-cynosure.cts.com UUCP: crash!pro-cynosure!jeanc ------------------------------ From: s851708@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (John Edmond Auckett) Subject: Re: Information Needed About Plex Date: 14 Apr 1993 14:43:13 GMT Organization: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology chandy@seas.smu.edu (Alexy Chandy) writes: > Could somebody give me some information on Plex? I think it is used > for programming switches and may resemble Pascal. Plex is a language for programming signalling protocols (any-one correct me if I am wrong). As far as I know it is used exclusively by Erricson for inhouse software developement on AXE exchange equipments. I have never seen any Plex source code so I wouldn't know if it was procedural like Pascal. ------------------------------ From: amdunn@mongrel.UUCP (Andrew M. Dunn) Subject: Re: A Very Interesting Intercept Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Date: Tue, 13 Apr 93 16:17:50 GMT In article msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) writes: >> The number to try is +81 45 33 000 0000. > Using Bell Canada from Toronto, I got a Bell intercept: "We're sorry, > because of technical difficulties we are unable to route your call. > 416 22." It works from Kitchener, Ontario (area code 519). I got the KDD recording with the music. Neat! Andy Dunn or ------------------------------ From: news@cbnewsh.att.com Date: Wed, 14 Apr 93 00:58:32 GMT Subject: Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? Reply-To: tds@hoserve.att.com (Tony DeSimone) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories On Wed, 7 Apr 1993 14:38:12 GMT, deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) said: > I feel I must agree with my distinguished colleague from Ericsson > ... When someone shows me an NT server/LAN/WAN/Cable TV network that > can handle 150 million calls per day and will have < four minutes > per year downtime, I'll start believing it. Well, I certainly hope my distinguished colleague from Illinois is right ... still, I'm nagged by a similar sentiment that might have come from some three-letter company about a decade ago: "When someone shows me a desktop computer that can handle a multi-gigabyte disk farm and a dozen tape drives and will support hundreds of 3270 terminal sessions, I'll start believing it." I guess if users had been as insistent as providers about doing things the same old way, IBM wouldn't be where it is today. Not that I'm really worried about the Windows NT gassing. Still, some of the stuff some of the workstation and router vendors are doing is enough to make me nervous. Of course there's always billing to screw them up ... ------------------------------ From: rsl30@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu Subject: AI/Exp Sys in Telecom Information Needed Date: 15 Apr 93 00:32:44 CST Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services I am interested in recent publications (last two or three years), mainly books or general articles, on AI/Expert Systems in Telecommunications, Intelligent Networks, or Network Management. If you know of such publications, please send me an e-mail, with some description, if available. Thanks in advance. Merzad ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #257 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21721; 16 Apr 93 4:55 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA21060 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 01:27:40 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00823 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 01:26:53 -0500 Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 01:26:53 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304160626.AA00823@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #258 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Apr 93 01:26:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 258 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Telco Uses My Lines (Fred Goldstein) Re: Telco Uses My Lines (John Nagle) Re: First Cellular Telephones Go Into Service In Cuba (Robert Wiegand) Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager (Bob Frankston) Re: Free Calls With a Captain Crunch Whistle? (Thomas Grant Edwards) Re: Truly Amazing, Truly (Laurence Chiu) Re: Where Can I Find Phrack and Chaos Digest? (jbcondat@attmail.com) Re: Where Can I Find Phrack? (Frederick Dean) Re: NYNEX/NY <-> BAMS/DC Call Delivery (Scott Eckelman) Re: Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Residential ISDN (Fred Goldstein) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before sumbitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: goldstein@carafe.dnet.dec.com (Fred Goldstein) Subject: Re: Telco Uses My Lines Reply-To: goldstein@carafe.dnet.dec.com (Fred Goldstein [k1io; FN42jk]) Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 17:37:16 GMT In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > It drives me nuts to find NYTel repairmen using my phone lines, > presumably from the terminal on the street, to make calls to the > office or even (I believe) personal calls. ... > Any thoughts? Is this really allowed? This is one of my pet peeves about NYNEX too! A couple of weeks ago I reported a problem with a line to my house. They dispatched somebody. It was daytime and I wasn't home. The protector was outside so he had no real need to come in, or at least that's the understanding I had with the repair supervisor. But he left without fixing anything. Why? Because he couldn't call the CO up to run the tests. He would have had to come into the house and use my other, working phone line. No cellular phones. No land mobile radios. Nothing in the trucks at all. When they need to communicate, they need a live phone line, and think it's their right to beg, borrow or steal one. And this is part of the same conglomerate that owns the local cellular (B) carrier. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com k1io or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice:+1 508 952 3274 Standard Disclaimer: Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: Telco Uses My Lines Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 18:59:17 GMT gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > It drives me nuts to find NYTel repairmen using my phone lines, > presumably from the terminal on the street, to make calls to the > office or even (I believe) personal calls. I assume personal calls > are against the rules, but the phone company contends (though somewhat > fuzzily) that there's nothing wrong with the repairmen picking up a > handy line to call in to call in to the office. You might build a device which connects to your phone line and detects off-hook voltage without off-hook current. This indicates a phone off-hook upstream of the device, so if placed just past your demark, it indicates someone is using your line. Use this to turn on a tape recorder. This should give you ammunition to deal with the problem. John Nagle ------------------------------ From: wiegand@rtsg.mot.com (Robert Wiegand) Subject: Re: First Cellular Telephones Go Into Service In Cuba Reply-To: wiegand@rtsg.mot.com Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 18:34:25 GMT mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com writes: >> CELCUBA is now marketing its service among diplomatic missions, >> foreign companies and trade representatives ... > I'm SO sure! C'mon, are people THAT dumb? After all the news stories > all around the world about how easy and cheap it is to eavesdrop on > cellular phone calls, do they really think that ANY of those groups > are going to use cellular service inside a Communist country? Or > anywhere, for that matter? Do you really believe the regular phone lines in Cuba are any more private? The government can just as easily tap the regular phones as well. Bob Wiegand ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 16:31 -0400 Simple answer. If your pager is 555-1234 and you want to send the message "98-25-26", then send ATDT5551234@98*25*26 Where the first part is the standard dial string, the @ waits for silence and the *, in some systems, is a dash. No board necessary, just a com port. ------------------------------ From: tedwards@eng.umd.edu (Thomas Grant Edwards) Subject: Re: Free Calls With a Captain Crunch Whistle? Date: 15 Apr 1993 21:24:28 GMT Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park In article Joe@nyx.cs.du.edu writes: > Let me begin by saying that it is a shame that I feel that I have to > forge this note. It is much better to use anonymous remailers. If you do not trust an anonymous remailing service, then use multiple cypherpunk sites. By multiply encrypting your message with PGP, and sending it through multiple cypherpunk sites, there is no way to link you to your message or recipient, even by the individual remailing sites. Thomas [Moderator's Note: Anonymous articles are generally not accepted here at telecom. There are some exceptions, but very few. PAT] ------------------------------ From: LCHIU@HOLONET.NET Subject: Re: Truly Amazing, Truly Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access System: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 01:47:41 GMT In a article to Comp.dcom.telecom, Declrckd@rtsg.mot.com had the following to say about Re: Truly Amazing, Truly > In article Lchiu@holonet.Net writes: >> In a message to comp.dcom.telecom <04-08-93 12:30>, naddy@mips.ruessel >> sub.org writes: >>> In , is written: [ . some stuff about GSM deleted ... ] >> I have heard talk of a new system called Digital AMPS. Does such a >> system exist? If so how would it compare with GSM. Is encryption >> involved. Apparently phones which can use this new system scan for a >> digital signal, if none found then they look for an analogue one. > Digital AMPS, basically applies TDMA to analog AMPS channels by > slicing up the spectrum into 3 timeslots (the mobiles per channel). It > uses analog signalling, then if a digital Base is available, can > initiate the Voice coding and timeslot control of TDMA. Thus mobiles > must be dual mode ... both analog and digital. > I'm not sure if any digital AMPS systems are in commercial service as > of yet. The reason I asked was because I have been told by a friend in the Telecom industry in New Zealand that Telecom New Zealand, who are currently the only cellular provider, are planning (or have already done so) to install Digital AMPS. The equipment may already be in place. This presumably is to counter the upcoming competition from Bell South who have been granted a licence to operate the second cellular service in the country. They will be using GSM. Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ From: jbcondat@attmail.com Date: 15 Apr 93 23:59:59 GMT Subject: Re: Where Can I Find Phrack and Chaos Digest? In article , Jinmo Ahn writes: > I'm looking for a ftp site wich has back issues of {Phrack}. Could > someone tell me where I can find it? You can found _Phrack_ on a lot of ftp sites, e.g. * kragar.eff.org [192.88.144.4] in /pub/cud/phrack * uglymouse.css.itd.umich.edu [141.211.182.91] in /pub/CuD/phrack * halcyon.com [192.135.191.2] in /pub/mirror/cud/phrack * ftp.ee.mu.oz.au [128.250.77.2] in /pub/text/CuD/phrack * nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100] in /pub/doc/cud/phrack * orchid.csv.warwick.ac.uk [137.205.192.5] in /pub/cud/phrack Some others very interesting underground e-journals or newsletters are available on the same ftp sites, like _Chaos Digest_. Only change "phrack" by "chaos" in the precedent ftp list and ask for chaos-1.xx, with xx as the issue number. If you don't have an ftp access, don't hesitate to send and e-mail message to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with the following message in the body of the text: connect ftp.eff.org chdir /pub/cud/chaos get chaos-1.15 quit . If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me! Jean-Bernard Condat Chaos Computer Club France [CCCF] B.P. 8005 E-Mail: jbcondat@attmail.com 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Phone: +33 1 40101775 Fax: +33 1 47877070 Editor of _Chaos Digest_ the French computer security e-journal Available on request at: cccf@altern.com or by: ftp.eff.org, in /pub/cud/chaos/chaos.1-xx (xx=issue nbr) ------------------------------ From: deanrd@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Frederick Dean) Subject: Re: Where Can I Find Phrack? Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois. Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 15:27:12 GMT Here is a listing of anonymous ftp sites from an archie search of "phrack"... peacock% archie phrack Host cs.dal.ca Location: /pub/comp.archives DIRECTORY drwxrwxrwx 512 Jan 28 14:12 phrack Host cs.ubc.ca Location: /pub/archive/mirror/EFF/cud DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Aug 26 1992 phrack Host bric-a-brac.apple.com Location: /pub/stud_reps DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jul 1 1992 phrack Host titania.mathematik.uni-ulm.de Location: /pub/info DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 May 25 1992 phrack Host uxc.cso.uiuc.edu Location: /pub DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1536 Aug 13 1992 phrack Host f.ms.uky.edu Location: /pub3/mailing.lists DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Jan 19 02:29 phrack Host nic.funet.fi Location: /pub/doc/cud DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Jan 13 05:53 phrack Location: /pub/doc DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 3584 Aug 24 1991 phrack Location: /pub/doc/phrack DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 1024 Feb 14 1992 phrack Host nic.cic.net Location: /pub/nircomm/gopher/e-serials/alphabetic/p DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Apr 2 09:19 phrack Host kragar.eff.org Location: /pub/cud DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Mar 31 12:54 phrack Host src.doc.ic.ac.uk Location: /usenet/comp.archives/hackers/journals DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 May 3 1991 phrack Host clover.csv.warwick.ac.uk Location: /pub/cud DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Jan 7 05:02 phrack Rick Dean deanrd@nwu.edu ------------------------------ From: scott@uswnvg.com (Scott Eckelman) Subject: Re: NYNEX/NY <-> BAMS/DC Call Delivery Date: 14 Apr 93 18:42:19 GMT Organization: U S WEST NewVector Group, Inc. Douglas Scott Reuben (DREUBEN@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU) wrote: > (BTW, features work in SOME markets, and from what I am told calls > will STILL not go back to voicemail if unanswered in the visited > market. Anyone care to confirm or refute this?) Inter-switch call delivery is offered in two ways: 1. Manufacturer proprietary 2. IS41 Rev A. I don't know too much about the first case (it's proprietary, after all), but 'regular' IS41A call delivery works like this: 1. mobile roams in another market. Visited switch detects roamer by one of three methods: a. Roamer makes a call. b. Roamer receives a call. c. Switch has autonomous registration turned on, and the phone sends registration messages to the switch at regular intervals. 2. Visited switch passes 'Registration Notification' message to home switch. Home switch answers with the customer's service profile if the customer is good, or a denied reason if the customer is invalid. (delinquent account, stolen phone, wrong serial number). 3. Home switch receives an incoming call for the mobile. Since the mobile is not in the home market, home switch sends a 'Routing Request' message to the visited switch. 4. If the mobile is busy, visited switch sends back a 'busy' message to the home switch. If the mobile has CFBusy activated, the home switch will forward the call to the appropriate number, e.g., voice mail. If not, the home switch will provide busy tone to the caller. If the mobile is idle, the visited switch sends back a temporary number (tldn) to the home switch. 5. Home switch routes the call to the temporary number through the customer's preferred interexchange carrier (PIC) if the home switch is an RBOC, or to whatever IXC the home carrier chooses if it's not an RBOC. 6. Roaming switch receives the call to the temporary number, looks up which mobile it assigned the tldn to, and pages the mobile. 7. If the mobile is busy, or does not answer, and the service profile received (step 2) indicates that the customer has CFbusy or CFN/A active, it sends a 'Redirection Request' message back to the home switch indicating that the mobile is either busy or not answering. 8. Home switch tears down the tldn/IXC connection, and forwards the incoming call to the appropriate number. With the MFJ and recent rulings from Judge Green, RBOCS are restricted to the following: 4. The RBOC must always receive a tldn, and never a 'busy' message, even if the mobile is busy. The call _must_ be given to the customer's PIC. This means that the visited switch software must be modified for non-standard IS41 to always send back a tldn, or an intermediary clearinghouse must provide the tldn to the home switch. 5. Home switch routes the call to the temporary number through the customer's preferred interexchange carrier. 6. Roaming switch receives the call to the temporary number. If the tldn was assigned by the roaming switch, it pages the mobile. If not, it requests the mobile associated with the tldn from the intermediary clearinghouse, then pages the mobile. 7. If the mobile is busy, or does not answer, and the service profile received (step 2) indicates that the customer has CFbusy or CFN/A active, it sends a 'Redirection Request' message back to the home switch indicating that the mobile is either busy or not answering. This is where it gets a little tricky -- depending on how you read the most recent ruling, the RBOC home switch may have to ignore this 'Redirection Request' message and not forward the call. One interpretation is that an RBOC may not tear down the IXC call. Other interpretations suggest that this is ok, since the IXC has at least had a shot at delivering the call, and the call may then be forwarded to voice mail or elsewhere as appropriate. Depending on the RBOC lawyers, the home switch will either ignore or handle the Redirection message. If it ignores the message, the visited switch will provide either a busy tone or an announcement that the mobile is not answering and the caller will not get routed to the customer's voice mail. ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 17:49:07 GMT So, are switches going to stop accepting pulse dialing? Harold ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.dnet.dec.com (Fred Goldstein) Subject: Re: Residential ISDN Reply-To: goldstein@carafe.dnet.dec.com (Fred Goldstein) Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 17:30:16 GMT In article , Russ Wilton writes: > So how do they connect multiple extensions in a house to an ISDN > circuit? Does it allow the same functionality as with analog phones? > That is, can two people on different extensions talk simultaneously to > a third remote party? If so, how do they mix the signals? You don't really want ISDN phones in a house: It doesn't provide the bridging capability that we take for granted. Some Centrex features can simulate it by automatically making a three-party conference, but it's a kludge. Better to have an analog terminal adapter for the phones, with the ISDN left digital for data devices. Gandalf, Motorola-UDS and Xancomm, among others, provide analog TA capabilities. > This is beginning to sound like I need a short course on ISDN. :-) > Any pointers to a good ISDN reference book would be appreciated. > Thanks. Far be it from me to plug my own works... :-) But I did write a book, "ISDN In Perspective", which might make nice bathroom reading. It's from Addison-Wesley with ISBN 0-201-50016-7. Be forewarned, it's not unopinionated. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com k1io or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice:+1 508 952 3274 Standard Disclaimer: Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. [Moderator's Note: Fred, your reviews are always welcome here, opinion- ated or not. Keep sending 'em in! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #258 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27450; 16 Apr 93 23:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09858 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:01:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13101 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:01:19 -0500 Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:01:19 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304170201.AA13101@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #259 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Apr 93 21:00:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 259 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Crossed Lines Day (Randy Gellens) Scheduling/Control Systems For Video Teleconferences (Chuck Ludinsky) Magazine Review: Disaster Recovery (Bob Ackley) Why Wasn't Bell Labs Part of the Original Arpanet? (Ronda Hauben) In Search of SNMPPP 56K CSU/DSU (Steve Baum) Wanted: "Snergy: Technical Integration in the Bell System" (Ronda Hauben) AT&T / NT Integration/Networking etc ... (Frank Blau) Correction to NYNEX <-> DC Delivery (Douglas Scott Reuben) How Are 900 Numbers Terminated? (Yoav Weiss) Cellular Protocol Analyzer Information (Roupen Nahabedian) Testing Phone Lines For a Modem (pls@cup.portal.com) Undersea Fiber Optics (Tracy Richardson) Mysterious Charges on Phone Bill (Joe Roden) Minor But Puzzling Problem (Ed Casey) Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? (Lynne Gregg) Information On Signalling System 7 and PABX's (John Edmond Auckett) Anonymous Messages (Jason Garner) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: MPA15AB!RANDY@TRENGA.tredydev.unisys.com Date: 15 APR 93 18:03 Subject: Crossed Lines Day Yesterday, there was an odd message on my voice mail. I could hear, quite plainly, a receptionist for a different company answer the phone, and converse with a caller, who asked to speak with someone (not me), was told he wasn't in, and left a message (with the receptionist, not voice mail). In the background, I could hear another conversation moderately well. Further in the background were many other conversations, but very faint. Today, I had a doctor's appointment. As I was talking to the secretary, she asked if I got her "strange message" on my voice mail yesterday. She had tried to call me, and had gotten someone else's voice mail. She hung up and called back, and got my voice mail, but it didn't respond to her pressing any keys. In her call, she could hear, very loudly, half of a conversation with a rude woman who was going on and on about losing her cigarettes on a walk. While the secretary was telling me this, another patient overheard, and told us that when she tried to make a call yesterday (at about the same time) she heard other conversations, including one with a woman talking about a pregnancy. Both my office and the doctor's office are on (714) 380, which last time I checked was a 1AESS due to be converted to a 5ESS at some point this year. Randy Gellens randy%mpa15ab@trenga.tredydev.unisys.com| A Series System Software if mail bounces, forward to| Unisys Mission Viejo, CA rgellens@mcimail.com| Opinions are personal; facts are suspect; I speak only for myself| ------------------------------ From: cjl@mbunix.mitre.org (Ludinsky) Subject: Scheduling/Control Systems For Video Teleconferences Organization: The MITRE Corp., Bedford, Ma. Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 12:56:05 GMT Does anyone know of any scheduling and control systems for video teleconferences on private T1-based networks? Such a network would consist of a relatively large number of "smart" multiplexers or digital acess and cross-connect systems (DACS) that are interconnected in a mesh network using T1 lines. User connections to the network would also be via one or more T1 lines from the user's site to a network node (multiplexer). A multiplexer at the site would combine inputs from two or more video codecs for transmission over the T1 access line. The scheduling/control system would support a dialog with site users, allow the users to identify and reserve available time periods and system resources for scheduled conferences, then, at the appropriate times, issue commands to the multiplexers/DACS, codecs, and ancillary equipment (e.g., multipoint control units) to establish the connections and appropriately configure the equipment. Any leads/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Please reply via e-mail. Regards, Chuck Ludinsky cjl@mitre.org ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 01:10:43 CST From: Bob.Ackley@axolotl.omahug.org (Bob Ackley) Subject: Magazine Review: Disaster Recovery Reply-To: bob.ackley@axolotl.omahug.org In a message of <31 Mar 93 19:12:44>, Seth B Rothenberg (11:30102/2) writes: > We've seen a lot of discussion lately about disaster recovery, so I > thought it would be a nifty topic for my paper for my Impact Analysis > class, a cross listing between the School of Business and our Master > of Telecom program. I am interested in comments/references anyone can > suggest. (For example, I was duly impressed with CBS' ability to > recover from the WTC blast.) There is a magazine called 'Disaster Recovery' aimed primarily at those in charge of such things for large computer installations. Most material and articles should also be applicable for communications recovery. There is also an organization specifically for such people and 'Disaster Recovery' is their professional journal, I suppose it's somewhat similar to the NFPA in Boston. Check the index of periodicals/ publications at your library. Bob's Soapbox Plattsmouth (1:285/1.7) ------------------------------ From: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben) Subject: Why Wasn't Bell Labs Part of the Original Arpanet? Date: 15 Apr 1993 22:45:55 GMT Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH Reply-To: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben) I'm doing some research for a paper about the development of the net for a communications conference. From my research about the early days of the Arpanet, it seems that Bell Labs was not part of the original Arpanet. Given the important role that Bell Labs has played in the development of new technology in the U.S. (and world), this seemed a bit of a surprise to me. I wondered if anyone knew if that was true and if so why. Thanks, Ronda Hauben write for a copy of the Fall '92 Amateur Computerist Special Supplement on P.O. Box 4344 "The Wonderful World of Usenet News" Dearborn, MI 48126 ae547@yfn.ysu.edu or ronda@umcc.ais.org ------------------------------ From: stevebau@netcom.com (STEVE BAUM) Subject: In Search of SNMPPP 56K CSU/DSU Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 22:52:16 GMT I am looking for a SNMP manageable 56K CSU/DSU or one that has a net management systemthat is SNMP compatible. I am also looking a Netview LPDA maneable 56K CSU/DSU other than IBM and AT&T. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben) Subject: Wanted: "Snergy: Technical Integration ... in the Bell System" Date: 15 Apr 1993 23:06:11 GMT Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH Reply-To: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben) I wondered if anyone could suggest how I might find a copy of the book about Bell Labs called "Synergy: Technical Integration and Technical Innovation in the Bell System" by H.W. Bode which was privately printed by Bell Labs in 1971. I have looked in the University of Michigan library which is my local library and it wasn't listed. I am working on a paper on the development of the global computer network. I have found the role of Bell Labs in the development and propagation of unix as an important contribution to the development of the current global network. I hoped to draw some perspective from the history of the Royal Society in England and the role that experimen- tation and science played there in contributing to new forms and principles of production. I have found Bell Labs an interesting parallel and felt that the book "Snergy" would be helpful in the research I am doing but it seems hard to locate. Thanks, Ronda Hauben write for a copy of the Fall '92 Amateur Computerist Special Supplement on P.O. Box 4344 "The Wonderful World of Usenet News" Dearborn, MI 48126 ae547@yfn.ysu.edu or ronda@umcc.ais.org ------------------------------ From: fblau@well.sf.ca.us (Frank Blau) Subject: AT&T / NT Integration/Networking etc ... Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 18:06:24 GMT I am looking for information on integration of a heterogeneous phone network, consisting of AT&T G1, System 75, NT Option 21, and NT Option11. The only piece of software that I've seen that does this is the TFMS package from TDS in Plano TX. Does anyone know of any others. I want to be able to do remote administration, ACD/CMS reporting, cable inventory, etc ... All hopfully running under UNIX on a Sequent ... Thanks, Frank Blau Preferred Health Care ------------------------------ From: dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: Correction to NYNEX <-> DC Delivery Date: 16 Apr 93 06:22:45 EDT Organization: Wesleyan University I posted recently about NYNEX getting Call-Delivery to DC, Albany, Boston, etc. I stated, *ERRONEOUSLY*, that both incoming and outgoing calls had no daily surcharge. This is not the case. ALL calls placed/rec'd in BAMS/DC WILL be will a roam charge. So how do you know if you are in the BAMS/Philly system (no charge?) and the BAMS/DC system? Well, you don't. And unless you want to put the SID for DC into your phone (assuming you can), if you are on the border between two systems, you are taking chances with a roam charge when you answer a call. (Sort of like the Springfield/Franklin County Mass split for Cell One/Boston and Cell One/NY customers.) Calls rec'd in Albany have no daily charge; calls placed in Albany do. Calls rec'd in Boston have no daily charge, and no one seems to know about placed calls. As to Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Mid-Hudson, Eastern PA, Philly, Atlantic City, etc ... I dunno ... they give different answers each time I ask (how nice! :( ), so I figure 'get a name, and if I'm billed say "so and so told me otherwise"'. Anyhow, PLEASE check to see how roam charges are levied in each one of NYNEX's auto-call delivery markets. IMHO, its ridiculous to have such an inconsistent policy -- and leave it to NYNEX to diminish from the otherwise superior utility of their delivery system with these inane charges/roaming agreements. Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: yoav@tau.ac.il (Yoav Weiss) Subject: How Are 900 Numbers Terminated? Organization: Tel-Aviv University Computation Center Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 11:38:58 GMT Hi all, Here in Israel, we have a (relatively) new service called 056, which is identical to the 1-900 of the USA. I heard that for every 1-900 number which exists, there is a regular-toll line, that connects to the same line. Is that true? What if I run a company, using 900? Can people find my regular number, and call it directly for no fee? Is there a way for them to find it? Thanks in advance. Yoav Weiss, ISRAEL yoav@datasrv.datasrv.co.il [Moderator's Note: I can only address the USA system for 900 numbers. Some do and some do not have 'regular' lines. It depends on how it was set up when installed. The carrier servicing your 900 numbers can set it up so there is a 'private' or 'leased' line direct from his switch to you. Unless you have a very high volume of 900 traffic (in which case microwave -- or some form of local telco bypass -- between the carrier and yourself might be cost effective), the most common way to get the private or leased circuits between the carrier and yourself is via the telco. But, this can be expensive; the cost of the wire pairs between the 900 carrier and yourself (via telco) will drive the cost of the 'carriage' -- or what you have to pay the carrier for the call before adding on your own fees -- up quite a bit unless you can keep the leased lines packed or loaded with calls most of the time in order to amortize or spread the cost a little thinner among all calls. So, the real low traffic (like what? maybe a dozen calls per day?) 900 information providers sometimes opt for having the 900 carrier just drop their calls on a POTS line with call-forwarding attached; a 900 call comes in, it gets redialed or call-forwarded out to the person or company receiving the call on a 'regular' line, possibly a line with distinctive ringing on it so they can identify the call (as coming from 900) before they answer. This can be a real inexpensive, simple way to receive 900 calls, on your phone at home for example. The other side of the coin is if someone finds out the number to which the 900 carrier is forwarding calls, *they* can dial that number also. The information provider assumes the call is coming in via 900, but it is not. They get no fees for that call as a result, and the caller only gets charged for a call to the regular number also. Here in Chicago there were a number of information providers of all stripes (sex, astrology, tarot, etc) downtown in the Opera Building a few years ago -- or at least that is where the 900 carrier dropped off their calls. The calls all went outbound from there on 312-609-xxxx. Fortunatly (for the IPs), not too many people knew that. So, it is an applications thing: you don't have the volume of traffic to justify T-1 or telco bypass on your 900 numbers; you want to keep the carriage costs down to a minimum; then you use the 900 ==> POTS ==> call for- warding routine ... but keep those numbers *very confidential* and preferably in some exchange unrelated to the rest of your lines, and with a real obscure numbering sequence, etc to make it harder for the phreaks and crackers to find them. Your choice: definitly pay more to start with or risk earning less later on. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nahabed@ntmtv.com (Roupen Nahabedian) Subject: Cellular Protocol Analyzer Information Wanted Reply-To: nahabed@ntmtv.com (Roupen Nahabedian) Organization: Northern Telecom Inc, Mountain View, CA Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 16:49:23 GMT I'm looking for infomration on celluar CAI (Common Air Interface) PROTOCOL ANALYZERS such as amps, CT2, etc. Make, model, views and reviews would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Roupen Nahabedian nahabed@ntmtv.com ------------------------------ From: pls@cup.portal.com Subject: Testing Phone Lines For a Modem Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 23:20:01 PDT I'm having problems using my modem at 9600 baud. The line sounds fine for voice although the levels seem abnormally low. Is there any testing I can do with simple test equipment that might isolate the problem to either the line or the modem? PLS ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 14:23:46 EDT From: TLR108@PSUVM.PSU.EDU Subject: Undersea Fiber Optics I am doing a paper on Undersea Fiber Optics and was wondering if you could give me some in-depth information on these questions. * How is it put together? * When was the whole project started? * What you can do with it? * Advantages and Disadvantages? * How long have they used it? If you can think of anything else I could use for my paper I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot :) Tracy Richardson ( tlr108@psuvm.psu.edu ) ------------------------------ From: roden@Aig.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Joe Roden) Subject: Mysterious Charges On Phone Bill Reply-To: roden@aig.Jpl.Nasa.Gov Organization: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 18:00:11 GMT Can anyone explain to me how I could receive a charge on my phone bill when someone called me from a hotel while using her own AT&T calling card? We got a $9 charge for a 12 minute call from Zero Plus Dialing, Inc., for a call that they claim was made on our calling card. We've called the company, and they are "researching" it. They claim that the call was made on our calling card, but they can't tell which of our cards was used. We have Pac Bell and MCI calling cards. The caller received no charges on her own bill. Thanks, Joe Roden [Moderator's Note: The party calling you from a hotel used one of the AT&T calling cards with a scrambled number -- a number which has no direct, obvious relationship to the telephone number to which it is assigned. They were probably tricked into thinking their call was being placed over AT&T when in fact 'Zero Plus Dialing' intercepted the call. Once 'Zero Plus Dialing' got the call and realized they had no way to bill the calling party (the rip off carriers are no longer getting a free ride via the AT&T data base, etc) they simply decided to reverse the charges, putting them through to *your* line instead. I've received many complaints about this outfit; almost as many as Integretel. Perhaps I should do a corporate records search for 'Zero Plus Dialing, Inc' and publish the names and addresses of their corp- orate officers and their attorney. Let *them* start handling customer service inquiries. Not to toot my own horn too much, but there are calling cards available (since January) which eliminate all this hassle once and for all at 25 cents per minute calling with no sur- charge. Request the Orange Card file from 'ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: m19701@mitre.org (ejc) Subject: Minor But Puzzling Problem Organization: mitre.org Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1993 19:05:22 GMT Greeting, Help ... With a teenage daughter in the house I was finding it difficult to maintain the peace and talk to the world at the same time so I had a second phone number added. It is the same four-wire line; she's on red-green and I've got black-yellow. The final result is alot of "cross-talk". We can heare each other whilst talking on our respective lines. Additionally, I seem to have developed a slight buzz on the line(s). The worst part is that my modem doesn't really like it. Especially at 9600 or higher (I tend to get disconnected). The problem got so disturbing that I rewired the house putting each phone plug on its own line from a terminal and my modem on a direct line to the grey junction box. The buzz remains as does the cross-talk although not as bad. All wires are terminated (no loose hanging wires anywhere) and no two bare wires are touching (from where I can legally enter the grey box to the phone jacks). No phone wires (location wise) have changed their general location. Some do run near, with, or across electrical and cable wiring. I am beginning to feel that the problem has always been here but the second line with cross talk has caused the problem to manifest itself into a real headache. Is there a filter or something I can add to quiet the lines? Or do I need to get the phone company to run a seperate line (yeah, right) from the pole/box, whatever)? Anyone else ever have this problem and how was it solved? Thanks, ed casey m19701@mitre.org or m19701@mwvm.mitre.org [Moderator's Note: Responses from anyone? There are a lot of things this fellow should check out; he may need telco assistance also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Subject: Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 07:46:00 PDT > When someone shows me a desktop computer that can handle a > multi-gigabyte disk farm and a dozen tape drives and will support > hundreds of 3270 terminal sessions, I'll start believing it. Stranger things have happened ... It's the NETWORK that supports the devices ... try lashing together some RS/6000's (the serial optical will connect to high speed devices, channels, or networks). Believe it! A small net of RS/6000's can outperform a Cray (a take up a lot LESS SPACE). Lynne ------------------------------ From: s851708@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (John Edmond Auckett) Subject: Information on Signalling System 7 and PABX's Wanted Date: 16 Apr 1993 14:47:18 GMT Organization: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Any help/info greatly appreciated. JA (s851708@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au) [Moderator's Note: Well, that is an awfully big topic. Can you narrow it down a little, or did you have specific questions? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 02:55:27 -0700 From: jgarner@netcom.com (Jason Garner) Subject: Anonymous Messages Why don't you accept anonymous messages? There have been many times I wanted to comment on something posted here but won't because signing my name to it would incur the wrath of the government or worse, telco (this may seem like a toungue-in-cheek joke but if you'd ever seen the surveillance equipment telco has you wouldn't think it was so funny). Without sounding paranoid, I know that there are many things that THEY don't want you to know but, in fact, should be known to the general public. Are you a fascist Pat? (or just an attorney). Moderator's Note: I'm a facist. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #259 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa29405; 17 Apr 93 0:56 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32441 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:44:33 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22557 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:44:02 -0500 Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 21:44:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304170244.AA22557@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #260 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Apr 93 21:44:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 260 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson White House Encryption Proposal (Steve Forrette) Information Needed on Bellcore V&H (Jeffrey P. Bakke) Problems With the GSM Subscriber Units (Samir Soliman) Another Way of Expanding Calling Area? (Carl Moore) Re: Roll Your Own PBX/Internal Phone System (David S. Roland) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Lukas Zahas) Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch (Cliff Barney) Re: A Very Interesting Intercept (Charles Hoequist, Jr.) Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? (Al Varney) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 16:34:52 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: White House Encryption Proposal [Moderator's Note: Steve caught this item and sent it in. Thanks! PAT] THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 16, 1993 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY The President today announced a new initiative that will bring the Federal Government together with industry in a voluntary program to improve the security and privacy of telephone communications while meeting the legitimate needs of law enforcement. The initiative will involve the creation of new products to accelerate the development and use of advanced and secure telecommunications networks and wireless communications links. For too long there has been little or no dialogue between our private sector and the law enforcement community to resolve the tension between economic vitality and the real challenges of protecting Americans. Rather than use technology to accommodate the sometimes competing interests of economic growth, privacy and law enforcement, previous policies have pitted government against industry and the rights of privacy against law enforcement. Sophisticated encryption technology has been used for years to protect electronic funds transfer. It is now being used to protect electronic mail and computer files. While encryption technology can help Americans protect business secrets and the unauthorized release of personal information, it also can be used by terrorists, drug dealers, and other criminals. A state-of-the-art microcircuit called the "Clipper Chip" has been developed by government engineers. The chip represents a new approach to encryption technology. It can be used in new, relatively inexpensive encryption devices that can be attached to an ordinary telephone. It scrambles telephone communications using an encryption algorithm that is more powerful than many in commercial use today. This new technology will help companies protect proprietary information, protect the privacy of personal phone conversations and prevent unauthorized release of data transmitted electronically. At the same time this technology preserves the ability of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to intercept lawfully the phone conversations of criminals. A "key-escrow" system will be established to ensure that the "Clipper Chip" is used to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans. Each device containing the chip will have two unique "keys," numbers that will be needed by authorized government agencies to decode messages encoded by the device. When the device is manufactured, the two keys will be deposited separately in two "key-escrow" data bases that will be established by the Attorney General. Access to these keys will be limited to government officials with legal authorization to conduct a wiretap. The "Clipper Chip" technology provides law enforcement with no new authorities to access the content of the private conversations of Americans. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this new technology, the Attorney General will soon purchase several thousand of the new devices. In addition, respected experts from outside the government will be offered access to the confidential details of the algorithm to assess its capabilities and publicly report their findings. The chip is an important step in addressing the problem of encryption's dual-edge sword: encryption helps to protect the privacy of individuals and industry, but it also can shield criminals and terrorists. We need the "Clipper Chip" and other approaches that can both provide law-abiding citizens with access to the encryption they need and prevent criminals from using it to hide their illegal activities. In order to assess technology trends and explore new approaches (like the key-escrow system), the President has directed government agencies to develop a comprehensive policy on encryption that accommodates: -- the privacy of our citizens, including the need to employ voice or data encryption for business purposes; -- the ability of authorized officials to access telephone calls and data, under proper court or other legal order, when necessary to protect our citizens; -- the effective and timely use of the most modern technology to build the National Information Infrastructure needed to promote economic growth and the competitiveness of American industry in the global marketplace; and -- the need of U.S. companies to manufacture and export high technology products. The President has directed early and frequent consultations with affected industries, the Congress and groups that advocate the privacy rights of individuals as policy options are developed. The Administration is committed to working with the private sector to spur the development of a National Information Infrastructure which will use new telecommunications and computer technologies to give Americans unprecedented access to information. This infrastructure of high-speed networks ("information superhighways") will transmit video, images, HDTV programming, and huge data files as easily as today's telephone system transmits voice. Since encryption technology will play an increasingly important role in that infrastructure, the Federal Government must act quickly to develop consistent, comprehensive policies regarding its use. The Administration is committed to policies that protect all Americans' right to privacy while also protecting them from those who break the law. Further information is provided in an accompanying fact sheet. The provisions of the President's directive to acquire the new encryption technology are also available. For additional details, call Mat Heyman, National Institute of Standards and Technology, (301) 975-2758. --------------------------------- QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS INITIATIVE Q: Does this approach expand the authority of government agencies to listen in on phone conversations? A: No. "Clipper Chip" technology provides law enforcement with no new authorities to access the content of the private conversations of Americans. Q: Suppose a law enforcement agency is conducting a wiretap on a drug smuggling ring and intercepts a conversation encrypted using the device. What would they have to do to decipher the message? A: They would have to obtain legal authorization, normally a court order, to do the wiretap in the first place. They would then present documentation of this authorization to the two entities responsible for safeguarding the keys and obtain the keys for the device being used by the drug smugglers. The key is split into two parts, which are stored separately in order to ensure the security of the key escrow system. Q: Who will run the key-escrow data banks? A: The two key-escrow data banks will be run by two independent entities. At this point, the Department of Justice and the Administration have yet to determine which agencies will oversee the key-escrow data banks. Q: How strong is the security in the device? How can I be sure how strong the security is? A: This system is more secure than many other voice encryption systems readily available today. While the algorithm will remain classified to protect the security of the key escrow system, we are willing to invite an independent panel of cryptography experts to evaluate the algorithm to assure all potential users that there are no unrecognized vulnerabilities. Q: Whose decision was it to propose this product? A: The National Security Council, the Justice Department, the Commerce Department, and other key agencies were involved in this decision. This approach has been endorsed by the President, the Vice President, and appropriate Cabinet officials. Q: Who was consulted? The Congress? Industry? A: We have on-going discussions with Congress and industry on encryption issues, and expect those discussions to intensify as we carry out our review of encryption policy. We have briefed members of Congress and industry leaders on the decisions related to this initiative. Q: Will the government provide the hardware to manufacturers? A: The government designed and developed the key access encryption microcircuits, but it is not providing the microcircuits to product manufacturers. Product manufacturers can acquire the microcircuits from the chip manufacturer that produces them. Q: Who provides the "Clipper Chip"? A: Mykotronx programs it at their facility in Torrance, California, and will sell the chip to encryption device manufacturers. The programming function could be licensed to other vendors in the future. Q: How do I buy one of these encryption devices? A: We expect several manufacturers to consider incorporating the "Clipper Chip" into their devices. Q: If the Administration were unable to find a technological solution like the one proposed, would the Administration be willing to use legal remedies to restrict access to more powerful encryption devices? A: This is a fundamental policy question which will be considered during the broad policy review. The key escrow mechanism will provide Americans with an encryption product that is more secure, more convenient, and less expensive than others readily available today, but it is just one piece of what must be the comprehensive approach to encryption technology, which the Administration is developing. The Administration is not saying, "since encryption threatens the public safety and effective law enforcement, we will prohibit it outright" (as some countries have effectively done); nor is the U.S. saying that "every American, as a matter of right, is entitled to an unbreakable commercial encryption product." There is a false "tension" created in the assessment that this issue is an "either-or" proposition. Rather, both concerns can be, and in fact are, harmoniously balanced through a reasoned, balanced approach such as is proposed with the "Clipper Chip" and similar encryption techniques. Q: What does this decision indicate about how the Clinton Administration's policy toward encryption will differ from that of the Bush Administration? A: It indicates that we understand the importance of encryption technology in telecommunications and computing and are committed to working with industry and public-interest groups to find innovative ways to protect Americans' privacy, help businesses to compete, and ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to fight crime and terrorism. Q: Will the devices be exportable? Will other devices that use the government hardware? A: Voice encryption devices are subject to export control requirements. Case-by-case review for each export is required to ensure appropriate use of these devices. The same is true for other encryption devices. One of the attractions of this technology is the protection it can give to U.S. companies operating at home and abroad. With this in mind, we expect export licenses will be granted on a case-by-case basis for U.S. companies seeking to use these devices to secure their own communications abroad. We plan to review the possibility of permitting wider exportability of these products. ------------------------------ From: bakke@plains.NoDak.edu (Jeffrey P. Bakke) Subject: Information Needed on Bellcore V&H Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 16:53:16 GMT Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network This seems to be the place to ask this question. My employer has an old copy of the Bellcore V&H tape (two years old?) that he assigned to me to see if there i a way to get the Long/Lat coordinates of a areacode+prefix from the tape. I think that information is contained in the data but I can't make heads or tails of the format. This is what I'm looking at: ROCHESTER,MN 507-286-XXXX Location: Approx 43deg 52' N and 92deg 30' West The corresponding record in the Bellcore tape lists: 0591604326 00620010310000507286000126 009631310060ROCHESTER MN09158600 I can spot the Location name and the AREA+PRE but I can't figure where coordinates may be. Area the coordinates stored LONG/LA or is it some other funky format. Any and all information would be appreciated. And yes, I did call Bellcore. They said, "Gee sorry, its an old tape. Buy our new one for $350 and we'll talk to you" -- Thanks ever so much. Jeffrey P. Bakke bakke@plains.NoDak.edu UUCP : ...!uunet!plains!bakke BITNET : bakke@plains.bitnet [Moderator's Note: We have a regular reader here who presents an analysis of the 'State of The Network' once each quarter as the new tapes come out. Perhaps he will respond and explain things. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 09:57:48 -0700 From: Samir Soliman Subject: Problems With the GSM Subscriber Units Recently I learned that using GSM portables inside vehicles cause some problems. Either the GSM waveform or the way they turn the power up or down can accidentally activate the airbag system also can interfer with the automobile automatic break system (ABS). Also it has been noticed that the GSM mobile interferes with people with hearing aids! The problem has to do with the GSM waveform more than the frequency band. Does anyone have more information on these issues? There there any recent articles that address these problems. Samir Soliman Qualcomm Incorporated ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 14:30:39 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Another Way of Expanding Calling Area? In previous notes to the Digest, I have discussed that, given an exchange area near Baltimore and Washington, you may find that the prefixes serving it have differing local calling areas. Normally, the prefix with the smallest calling area is expected to be the one found on the pay phones there, but now I notice an exception: Glenwood and vicinity, Maryland (Howard County, west of Baltimore along I-70): 410-489 has no local service to Baltimore city; 410-442 (Woodstock service) is local to Baltimore metro area; and I recently found 442 in use on C&P pay phones, although I also stopped in a shopping center where at least one store was using 489. ------------------------------ From: dsr@roland.com (David S. Roland) Subject: Re: Roll Your Own PBX/Internal Phone System Organization: Roland Projects, Inc Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 20:16:05 GMT In article of comp.dcom.telecom, rjg@umnstat.stat.umn.edu (Robert J. Granvin) writes: > ... I volunteer for a group that is, like most non-profits, > incredibly broke. We have two phone lines to handle our voice and > data needs. That is all we can essentially afford to do. > At the same time, I will be RE-installing a PC with voicemail > capability. It will sit as a "front end" on the voice line and > In any case, the ultimate solution (Especially after a bunch of new > offices are built in the long-distant future :-) is that we find some > ability to develop our own internal telephone network -- to be able to > call up a specific phone or at least be able to forward incoming calls > to a specific phone (as opposed to the current procedure -- expecting > SOMEONE to answer that ringing nightmare and YELL for the person who > the call is for). > I realize I'm talking about a small office PBX. But I also realize.... I recommend a PC ISDN BRI interface card. All of the issues that you speak of are perfect for ISDN. Put your office on CENTREX, and use BRI only on your main "gateway" number. If you choose a board with a voice interface (I know of only two), you can provide an integrated solution. Display information that is sent to the ISDN device contains called number (and where available, calling number). The ISDN interface allows you to "answer", speak your message, collect routing information (such as extension), and forward the call to what ever desk you want. (I understand you want to do this under PBX control). But in addition, with the display information that you receive with the incoming call, you can request access codes to be entered before you transfer them into a modem or other secure device. If you get Caller ID, you can verify the caller based on the incoming number. Further, with ISDN you will get the data connection capability without modems (of course you can still use the analog ones too). The ISDN interface opens up an opportunity to provide ACD type services without being an ACD. It allows you to provide additional information and voice services that are not available any other way. The KEY is which hardware, and software to purchase and that depends on how you configure your system. Roland Projects provides software in this arena especially within a UNIX environment. Hope I helped. Dave <<----Ask me about the Residential (ISDN based) Information Appliance ---->> ROLAND PROJECTS, Inc. - P.O. Box 491/Fairport, New York 14450/(716) 223-0007 Interactive Voice Response Application and System Telecommunication Software ------------------------------ From: lzahas@acs2.bu.edu (Lukas Zahas) Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch Date: 16 Apr 93 06:18:33 GMT Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA In article walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) writes: > Here in 707 land, POP-xxxx works as it did in 415 (now 510) land where > I grew up. I had thought that this POP-xxxx thing was universal. A > few years back, I was on business in 617 and called it at about > midnight from my hotel, only to wake somebody who refused to believe > that such a thing as POP-xxxx exists. I tried the same thing when I came to Boston for school. After two years, someone finally told me that the number is 637-xxxx. It seems to be less common knowledge than POPCORN is in the Bay Area. The weather report number is the same as in the Bay Area -- WEather 6-xxxx. (I first found out that one from a question on Jeopardy). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 12:25:16 PDT From: Cliff Barney Subject: Re: The Use of POPCORN to Set Your Watch San Franciscans have used POPCORN for years. However actually all one needs is the 767 prefix; after that, any four digits will do. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1993 09:30:00 +0000 From: Charles (C.A.) Hoequist Subject: Re: A Very Interesting Intercept In Digest issue 243, msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) writes: > However, the accents were still interesting. The sentence > was said with a *very faint* accent which I took to be French -- > probably the speaker is a highly bilingual Quebecois. The numeric > code was in a different voice and "22" was clearly "twenny-two". > For a considerable period which ended a few years ago, all Bell Canada > recordings that I heard were done by a single speaker, named something > like Carole Gault if I correctly remember the newspaper article about > her retirement. Now some of them are quite poor, sounding offhand and > amateurish. I suspect the poor quality of some of these are due to freelancing by local telcos, rather than a new voice being used. There are any number of IVR application generators out there which allow you to roll your own. I know, for example, that New Brunswick Tel does exactly that, and I doubt they're alone. The current 'voice of Bell Canada' (if you will) is a fluent bilingual named Claudia Theriault. She started doing Bell work around 1988-1989, but I suspect the intercept you heard is older (intercepts are pretty stable -- most of them have been around a long time). The numeric code is definitely not her voice. I've both recorded and 'coached' Claudia, and she *never* says 'twenny'. Charles Hoequist, Jr. | Internet: hoequist@bnr.ca BNR, Inc. | voice: 919-991-8642 PO Box 13478 | fax: 919-991-8008 Research Triangle Park NC 27709-3478 USA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 13:47:54 CDT From: varney@ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: Win/NT to Make CO Switched Obsolete? Organization: AT&T In article tds@hoserve.att.com (Tony DeSimone) writes: > On Wed, 7 Apr 1993 14:38:12 GMT, deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com > (david.g.lewis) said: >> I feel I must agree with my distinguished colleague from Ericsson >> ... When someone shows me an NT server/LAN/WAN/Cable TV network that >> can handle 150 million calls per day and will have < four minutes >> per year downtime, I'll start believing it. > Well, I certainly hope my distinguished colleague from Illinois is ^^^^^^^^ Actually, David is at Holmdel ... > right ... still, I'm nagged by a similar sentiment that might have > come from some three-letter company about a decade ago: > "When someone shows me a desktop computer that can handle a > multi-gigabyte disk farm and a dozen tape drives and will support > hundreds of 3270 terminal sessions, I'll start believing it." > I guess if users had been as insistent as providers about doing things > the same old way, IBM wouldn't be where it is today. > Not that I'm really worried about the Windows NT gassing. Still, some > of the stuff some of the workstation and router vendors are doing is > enough to make me nervous. Of course there's always billing to screw > them up ... One can always imagine faster CPUs/memories to compensate for inefficient OS application support. But speed alone can't compensate for an architecture that isn't reliable (both hardware and software). Initial versions of ESS(tm) central offices had about 75% of their software concerned with diagnostics, fault detection, fault recovery and routine internal testing of redundant hardware. I'm sure the number is somewhat less today, but the point is that an un-reliable or un-testable hardware base can't be saved by using a fancy OS. If Windows NT can support high-speed switching, why couldn't it support real-time FAA radar displays, on-board aircraft controls and defense radar threat analysis? Want to have Windows controlling BART? Al Varney - just my opinion ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #260 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa04129; 17 Apr 93 3:16 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08645 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 17 Apr 1993 00:55:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25476 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 17 Apr 1993 00:54:20 -0500 Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 00:54:20 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304170554.AA25476@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Apr 93 00:50:00 CDT Special: Telecom Archives Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 (TELECOM Moderator) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 23:00:00 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 A couple times each year I specifically update the indexes to the Telecom Archives files and present them here as a reference tool for users searching for specific files. The indexes will be presented below, but first, a few words about what you will be seeing. I have captured the directory 'telecom-archives' and several of the sub- directories. The directories labeled 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, etc are the files of back issues of this Digest. We have almost 12 year's worth, going back to the start of the Digest in August, 1981. The further back we go, the more likely an issue here and there is missing, but most of the several thousand back issues are available. The file 'telecom-recent' is the most recent (at any given time) bunch of back issues. This file contains issues x01 through x50 *or* issues x51 through x00. In other words, it gets flushed after the fiftieth and hundredth issues. Currently, the file opens with issue 251 as an example. It will be closed and moved to the 1993.volume.13 file when we reach issue 300, and a new 'telecom-recent' file will begin with issue 301. The file 'index-vol.9-10-11.subj.Z' is a HUGE file which contains all the subjects during the years 1989-91 in alphabetical order. You take it back to your site (be sure to use 'I', or binary mode to haul it!), then you uncompress it. Use 'grep' to search for subjects and authors. The file 'index-vol.12.subj.Z' is the same thing for 1992. The other files which begin with the word 'index' are mirrors, or copies of the directories. One of the most popular files in the archives is 'areacode.guide', a complete and detailed list of USA area codes in numerical order. The sub-directory dealing with security issues has also been very popular among archives visitors. The 'country.codes' sub-directory has had a lot of additions done to it recently as well, and is seeing a lot of traffic. How to obtain the files: As is briefly noted in the Digest masthead, anyone with anonymous ftp access can get any of the files for free; just go pull them. Just ftp lcs.mit.edu then login 'anonymous'. You should give your username@site.domain as your password. Then, you would 'cd telecom-archives'. You can also use 'gopher' to go to the archives, and I think 'web' will work at some sites. If you wish, you can use an ftp <=> email service. You can get the past two year's or so of back issues from the Net Exchange BBS operated by PC Pursuit, and the last year's worth more or less from Compuserve in the TELECOM Forum Library #1. Then too, there is a dialup you can use to a BBS where quite a few Archives files are kept (sorry, I cannot remember the number off hand, please write and mention it in a ply. Caveat Emptor to UUCP users, people at Fido sites, and those similarly situated where telephone connections or limited-traffic gateways are concerned (or if you are at a site where your email is metered and you have to pay for it): -- Many Archives files are quite large. The back issues files are the biggest, as you will see from the indexes below. *Before* you send away via ftp <=> email server or whatever, please consult your postmaster and or site administrator. Notify that person you are expecting very large files. Accept their counsel on the how/when/where aspects of it. Sites handling each other's UUCP traffic tend to get hostile at their neighbors when a user begins hauling great gobs of stuff back and forth, keeping toll-charged phone lines up for hours at a time. Even on the Internet, ftp is best done late at night or on weekends as resources are not infinite. Newsgroups and mailing lists are not to get first priority. Just a couple weeks ago, our site here (eecs.nwu.edu) slowed down to almost a halt; the admin looked at the mailq and saw me in there gobbling all those cpu's -- I got a no non- sense note: DO NOT RUN SENDMAIL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY ON A BIG LIST LIKE YOURS! I ask the same of you where the Telecom Archives is con- cerned. Be considerate. Now let's look at the directories: First, the main directory: total 5688 drwxrwxr-x 15 telecom telecom 6144 Apr 10 04:55 ./ drwxrwxr-x 24 root wheel 1024 Apr 10 01:05 ../ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1981-86.volumes.1-5/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1987.volumes.6-7/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 1991 1988.volume.8/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Oct 27 1991 1989.volume.9/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Oct 27 1991 1990.volume.10/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Jan 1 1992 1991.volume.11/ dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Jan 2 01:05 1992.volume.12/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Apr 10 03:38 1993.volume.13/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17903 Oct 25 22:03 19th-century-telegraphers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 40940 Mar 4 13:50 800.collect.callbacks -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 663 Jan 27 1991 READ.ME.FIRST -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 25799 Sep 12 1990 abernathy.internet.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17389 Oct 1 1992 ada.phone.requirements -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14124 Mar 24 1992 air.fone.frequencies -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13983 Apr 19 1992 alascom.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3551 Jan 27 06:12 ans.mach.exclusion.scheme -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68508 Mar 14 1991 aos-new.fcc.proposals -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68224 Nov 20 1990 aos-rules.procedures -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60505 Feb 24 1991 apple.data.pcs.petition -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18580 Jan 1 01:07 area.210-512.split.tx -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18238 Nov 9 1990 area.214-903.split.tx -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 34805 Jul 30 1991 area.301-410.split.md -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 41444 May 19 1992 area.404-706.split.ga -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 34771 Jan 31 08:25 areacode.guide -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9444 Apr 10 01:06 areacode.history -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10662 Jan 31 08:05 areacode.program.in.c -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20987 Jan 31 08:32 areacode.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8734 Dec 13 1991 att-reach.out-calculator -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 474 Feb 11 1990 att.service.outage.1-90 -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 18937 Aug 1 1989 auto.coin.collection -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16833 Nov 3 23:06 autovon-dod.phone.co -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18962 Jun 20 1992 autovon.instructions -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5795 Jan 27 02:40 bellcore.public.documents -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8526 Dec 29 20:44 boing.zip -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4788 Jun 10 1990 books.about.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21206 Nov 18 1991 breaux.bill.call.blocking -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 23355 Feb 14 22:28 cable.role.in.telephony -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 61504 Jul 30 1990 caller-id-legal-decision -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4569 Feb 2 1992 caller-id-specs.bellcore -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6807 Feb 2 1992 caller.id.specs -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35488 Aug 22 1992 cellular.and.900.in.uk -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39449 Dec 14 1990 cellular.carrier.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16188 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.abernathy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2755 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.prevention -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17016 Aug 5 1990 cellular.phones-iridium -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24455 Feb 6 1991 cellular.program-motorola -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 15141 Aug 1 1989 cellular.sieve -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 298 May 31 1990 cellular.west.germany -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16292 Mar 18 1990 class.ss7.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 40784 Feb 25 12:37 clinton.hi-tech.speech -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15023 Sep 30 1990 cocot-in-violation-label -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38981 Oct 12 1990 cocot.complaint.sticker -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 52871 Apr 10 00:57 coming.of.the.fibersphere -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70477 Sep 5 1990 computer.bbs.and.the.law -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37177 Aug 22 1992 computer.in.hotel -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 23944 Aug 1 1989 computer.state drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Apr 10 01:37 country.codes/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11267 Feb 25 1990 cpid-ani.developments -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 436 Mar 16 1991 deaf.communicate.on.tdd -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 86136 May 19 1992 deregulated.telecom.mkt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15877 Sep 1 1990 dial.tone.monopoly -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28296 Sep 29 1990 dialup.access.in.uk -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9087 Jan 27 02:56 dialups.to.internet -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 29980 Oct 29 1991 docket.87-215 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13622 Aug 18 1991 e-mail.system.survey -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16367 Sep 1 1990 e-series.recommendations -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3422 Jan 20 1990 early.digital.ESS -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 1 1989 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 4 1990 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39956 Jul 14 1990 elec.frontier.foundation -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5922 Feb 22 1991 email.middle-east.troops -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20660 Sep 5 1990 email.privacy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 enterprise-funny-numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8234 Sep 26 1991 exploring.950-1288 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19836 Nov 20 1990 fax.products.for.pc -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24706 Oct 29 1991 fcc.modem.tax.action -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 33239 Aug 1 1989 fcc.policy -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 19378 Aug 1 1989 fcc.threat -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 484 Jan 14 1990 fcc.vrs.aos-ruling -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9052 Aug 1 1989 find.pair -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 47203 Aug 1 1989 fire.in.chgo.5-88 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1998 Jan 27 1990 fire.in.st-louis.1-90 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 377 Jan 27 1990 fires.elsewhere.in.past -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1247 Feb 10 1990 first.issue.cover -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62927 Feb 22 11:02 frequently.asked.question -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14105 Nov 24 1990 genie.star-service -rw-r--r-- 1 map telecom 118496 Jul 31 1992 glossary.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43101 Jan 27 1991 glossary.isdn.terms-kluge -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 115757 Jul 31 1992 glossary.naval.telecom -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 9444 Apr 9 00:03 history.of.area.splits -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2337 Jan 27 1990 history.of.digest -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17129 Jan 5 1992 history.of.stock.ticker -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27984 Nov 23 1991 history.of.teletype -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30996 Feb 26 1992 history.of.western.union -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 53628 Dec 6 1991 house.of.reps.bill.3515 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32625 Mar 29 1990 how.numbers.are.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31520 Aug 11 1991 how.phones.work -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15302 Jan 20 1991 how.to.post.msgs.here -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 54041 Dec 13 1991 hr.3515.federal.law -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1616 Nov 20 1990 index-canada.npa.files -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Apr 16 19:36 index-country.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 411 Nov 20 1990 index-minitel.files -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Apr 10 05:53 index-telecom.archives -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1936 Feb 1 10:23 index-telecom.security -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 343 Jan 20 1991 index-tymnet.info -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 568541 Jan 1 1992 index-vol.9-10-11.subj.Z -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 220055 Jan 2 15:06 index-volume.12.subj.Z -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9087 Jan 27 02:42 internet.dialup.access -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43671 Nov 16 01:09 internet.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 936 Mar 3 1991 intro.to.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19745 Mar 12 13:50 isdn.paper -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12896 Nov 20 1990 isdn.pc.adapter-hayes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 73366 Feb 15 12:40 ixo.program.scripts -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 42150 Feb 14 22:33 ixo.tap.protocol -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10590 Aug 11 1991 lata.names-numbers.table -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4816 Aug 1 1989 lauren.song -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 801 Aug 1 1989 ldisc.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2271 Aug 1 1989 ldnotes.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 13675 Aug 1 1989 ldrates.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12961 Aug 18 1991 lightning.surge.protect -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12260 Jan 20 1990 london.ac.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12069 Mar 5 1990 london.codes.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15604 Aug 1 1989 mass.lines -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19158 Nov 16 01:03 mcimail.interconnect -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 463 Aug 1 1989 measured-service dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Nov 20 1990 minitel.info/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 36641 Aug 1 1989 mnp.protocol -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 106028 Aug 22 1992 modem.for.digital.data -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 103336 Jan 28 1992 modem.tutorial -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2450 Jan 20 1990 modems.and.call-waiting -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30981 Feb 9 1992 modems.and.hotel.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 29973 Aug 11 1991 monitor.soviet.xmissions -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 23449 Jan 18 1992 motorola.programming -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 7597 Feb 10 1990 named.exchanges -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16590 Oct 21 1990 net.mail.guide -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3014 Jan 27 1990 newuser.letter -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32815 Mar 25 1990 nine.hundred.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 190125 Jan 31 08:05 norway.goes.8.digits -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2795 Aug 3 1991 npa.510.sed.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45105 Mar 2 1991 npa.800-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17618 Feb 2 1992 npa.800.carrier.list -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13779 Sep 19 1990 npa.800.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45109 Mar 2 1991 npa.800.revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35934 Dec 13 1991 npa.809.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15488 Nov 20 1990 npa.900-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15099 Mar 8 1991 npa.900.how.assigned dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Jan 5 1992 npa.exchange.list-canada/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16534 Feb 11 1990 nsa.original.charter-1952 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9886 Jan 23 1990 occ.10xxx.access.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6847 Mar 2 1991 occ.10xxx.list.updated -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 7714 Jul 23 1991 occ.10xxx.new.revision -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8593 May 5 1990 occ.10xxx.notes.updates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14354 Aug 12 1990 octothorpe.gets.its.name -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 85802 Apr 19 1992 ohio.decree.on.caller-id -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 old.fashioned.coinphones -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2756 Jan 27 1990 old.hello.msg -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3417 Feb 22 01:27 orange.calling.card -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60707 Aug 18 1991 pager.bin.uqx -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13079 Aug 22 1991 pager.ixo.example -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70153 Aug 1 1989 pc.pursuit -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 5492 Aug 1 1989 pearl.harbor.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 41112 Jun 20 1992 phone.hardware.you.build -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11489 Sep 29 1991 phone.home-usa -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28922 Aug 11 1991 phone.patches -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38772 Aug 1 1989 pizza.auto.nmbr.id -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14189 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11696 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8452 May 6 1991 radio-phone.interfere.3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17950 Jan 14 1990 rotenberg.privacy.speech -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4184 Jul 27 1991 sprint.long-dist.rates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20526 Jun 11 1991 st.louis.phone.outage -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9764 Jan 20 1990 starline.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 46738 Jan 18 1990 starlink.vrs.pcp -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 103069 Apr 26 1990 sysops.libel.liability -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3864 Aug 22 1992 tat-8.fiber.optic -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5921 Apr 8 13:50 tdd.specificaitons -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 85906 Apr 10 02:04 telecom-recent -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 610 Sep 5 1991 telecom-recent.read.first drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Apr 10 04:55 telecom.security.issues/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32160 Feb 26 1992 telex.from.internet -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21831 Jan 20 1991 telsat-canada-report -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 11752 Aug 1 1989 telstar.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14429 Jan 18 1992 test.numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18138 Sep 29 1991 toll-free.tolled.list dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Dec 10 1990 tymnet.information/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 26614 May 29 1990 unitel-canada.ld.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 75793 Apr 8 13:43 unix.public.access.sites -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 427 Sep 20 1991 usa.direct.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 116 Oct 22 1990 white.pages -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37947 Aug 1 1989 wire-it-yourself -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4101 Aug 1 1989 wiring.diagram -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24541 Aug 1 1989 zum.debate Next, a look at just one of the sub-directories with back issues. There are too many to do them all, but this example, '1992.volume.12' will give you an idea of how the files there are organized when you go looking for them. This convention works back through the start of Volume 8. Before that, check it out! total 17195 dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Jan 2 01:05 ./ drwxrwxr-x 15 telecom telecom 6144 Apr 17 01:14 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 900594 Jan 20 1992 vol12.iss001-050 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 921470 Feb 1 1992 vol12.iss051-100 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 905907 Feb 20 1992 vol12.iss101-150 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 920896 Mar 7 1992 vol12.iss151-200 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 886584 Mar 22 1992 vol12.iss201-250 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 948652 Apr 7 1992 vol12.iss251-300 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 936106 Apr 29 1992 vol12.iss301-350 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 895354 May 20 1992 vol12.iss351-400 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 884860 Jun 6 1992 vol12.iss401-450 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 936120 Jun 21 1992 vol12.iss451-500 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 898774 Jul 15 1992 vol12.iss501-550 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 986567 Aug 2 1992 vol12.iss551-600 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 941731 Aug 22 1992 vol12.iss601-650 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 951483 Sep 11 1992 vol12.iss651-700 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 952503 Oct 2 1992 vol12.iss701-750 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 986788 Oct 25 04:13 vol12.iss751-800 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 990138 Nov 16 02:07 vol12.iss801-850 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1053771 Dec 12 15:09 vol12.iss851-900 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 593668 Jan 2 01:03 vol12.iss901-928 As you can see, these are large files. All the sub-directories for the years 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 are this size and use this same naming convention for the files. Just change the 'vol' number in the file name. Next is the sub-directory 'telecom.security.issues': total 1054 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Apr 10 04:55 ./ drwxrwxr-x 15 telecom telecom 6144 Apr 10 05:55 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24515 Sep 3 1991 atm-bank.fraud -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6144 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.abernathy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2755 Mar 14 1991 cellular.fraud.prevention -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13343 Feb 25 1990 computer.fraud.abuse.act -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27395 Jun 23 1990 craig.neidorf.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9354 Jul 30 1990 craig.not.guilty -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67190 Jun 23 1990 crime.and.puzzlement -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 12 1990 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 12 1990 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6303 Apr 10 04:54 herb.zinn.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21918 Dec 2 1990 illinois.computer.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 1990 len.rose-legion.of.doom -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2516 Jun 14 1991 len.rose.in.prison -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 184494 Jun 22 1991 len.rose.indictment-1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 192078 Jun 22 1991 len.rose.indictment-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15355 Feb 1 10:16 sentencing.guidelines -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67099 Nov 4 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31995 Nov 20 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10833 Nov 20 1990 telecom.usa.call.block-3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6344 May 24 1992 virgin.islands.phreak -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14821 Sep 12 1990 war.on.computer.crime Next, the 'country.codes' index: total 733 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Apr 16 23:50 ./ drwxrwxr-x 15 telecom telecom 6144 Apr 10 05:55 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11370 Feb 9 1990 country.code.list-covert -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9150 Jan 31 1990 country.code.list-djl -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6089 Dec 27 1991 introduction-read.first -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 190125 Jan 31 09:29 norway.goes.8.digits -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 645 Dec 27 1991 zone.1 -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 267 Apr 10 01:37 zone.1.canada.area.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35934 Apr 10 01:34 zone.1.npa.809.countries -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35128 Jan 27 02:50 zone.2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31857 Dec 27 1991 zone.3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37294 Dec 27 1991 zone.4 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 141455 Apr 8 13:47 zone.4.uk.44.detailed -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 56224 Jun 20 1992 zone.5.codes.50-54 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60921 Jun 20 1992 zone.5.codes.55-59 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27587 Dec 15 1991 zone.6 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8787 Nov 16 01:11 zone.7 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17716 Nov 16 01:11 zone.8 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43018 Sep 27 1992 zone.9 The Canadian area code/place name file: total 228 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Nov 20 11:39 ./ drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 4608 Nov 20 11:28 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 Nov 20 11:39 index.to.canada -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 The Tymnet and Mintel sub-directories are listings of dialup numbers and other items for use with those services. So, that's about it. There are additions to the Archives on an almost weekly basis, so please remember that what you see here is only a picture of what it looks like today. Have a nice weekend, and enjoy your visit(s) to the Telecom Archives! Patrick T. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest Special Issue: Telecom Archives ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07449; 17 Apr 93 5:00 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17447 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 17 Apr 1993 02:43:31 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18108 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 17 Apr 1993 02:42:56 -0500 Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 02:42:56 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304170742.AA18108@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #261 TELECOM Digest Sat, 17 Apr 93 02:40:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 261 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Using the Accelerated Index to Subjects and Authors (TELECOM Moderator) Bell Canada Phasing Out Rotary Dialing (David Leibold) Eastern Europe Telecommunications Mailing List (David Leibold) Deregulation of Telcos in Texas (James Hartman) Need PD IXO Pager Software For PC (Dub Dublin) Re: Roll Your Own PBX/Internal Phone System? (David H. Close) Re: Telco Uses My Lines (Gary Breuckman) Re: Minor But Puzzling Problem (Brian T. Vita) Re: Residential ISDN (Bob Frankston) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 01:56:55 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Using the Accelerated Index to Subjects and Authors I have been asked to elaborate further on the Subject/Author Accelerated Index to the Digest. A project I started two years ago was a compilation of the subjects and authors in the Digest. I began with volume 9, which is when the present style of header information started. (You will notice we are indented by five spaces, with subject followed by author name in parenthesis). Prior to volume 9 the style was different, and getting those subject titles would tax a good programmer, which I am not. So we have volumes 9,10, and 11, covering the years 1989, 1990 and 1991 in one file, and volume 12 which covers 1992 in another file. The 1993 titles will be merged into the latter file at the end of this year. These files are compressed in the archives. What you do is ftp them to your site, *then* uncompress them. Don't uncompress them in the archives, heh heh! Then you 'grep' them as desired or if you actually want to print out a file many thousands of lines long, you can send it to your printer if desired. The list is in alphabetical order, with any reference to 'Re:' ignored in the sort. Where subjects have the same name (with one being the 'original' and the remainder being 'Re:' followups), then the sort continues further by author's FIRST name then last name. For example, two articles with the same name, the first by Adam Smith and the second by John Bunyan would appear in that order, because A comes before J. Due to oddities in the file, it is suggested you use the most liberal arguments to 'grep': 'grep -iw' seems to work best and avoids missing a possible hit because of upper/lower case differences, the way words are presented in the line, etc. It is also a good idea to include the argument in single quotes so grep will avoid misunderstandings about what you want when symbols like {, [ , ^, etc could appear in a subject name. Experiment with search keys. Too broad a search key will produce reams of titles and authors ... too narrow a search may miss the hit you are looking for. The output to your screen will look something like this: Let's say you were grepping for an article by Mr. Bunyon: 12/101-150 My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is (John Bunyan) This is interpreted as follows: Volume 12, the file of issues 101-150. So you would then go to the archives using anonymous ftp. cd telecom-archives cd 1992.volume.12 get vol12.iss101-150 The lowest numbers you will see on the right side are 09/xxx-xxx meaning Volume 9. The largest number at the present time will be 12. When you get the proper file back to your site, then you would grep further to find where the article was in the file. For more help within the accelerated index itself, grep 'intro'. Each of the index files has several lines at the top keyed that way with helpful text. Let me know if you really have a hard time finding something. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 23:43:01 EDT From: David Leibold Subject: Bell Canada Phasing Out Rotary Dialing Below is material from the CRTC regarding Bell Canada's new mandatory touch tone network access for new and changed installations. Bell Tariff Item 70 sets out the local monthly rates for primary exchange (local) service. There is now a rider which requires the Touch-Tone service according to rates specified in Item 2150.5, namely $3.80 extra/month for business service, and $2.55/month for residential service, or a special $1.90/month rate for those with certified disabilities. (All rates in CAD$, incidentally.) This proceeding was buried in the general stream of tariff approvals. There was no formal public proceeding or public notice issued regarding this change which effectively raises local phone rates for those who previously wanted rotary dial service without the touch tone rate. While this was technically available to the public, it takes a bit of an inside jon to find out such plans before it's too late. Bell Canada's application letter was as follows: -------------- 1992 12 23 Mr. G.G. Henter, Executive Director, Telecommunications, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2 Dear Mr. Henter: Associated with Tariff Notice No. 4653 Attached for the Commission's approval are proposed revisions to the Company's General Tariff Items 70, 2150 and 2300 to provide for the grandfathering of rotary dial access service and the standardization of Touch-Tone (TT) access service for individual line customers. Under the Company's proposal, which is similar to those recently approved by the Commission for MT&T and NBTel, TT access will be the standard service offering for individual line customers. Customers who request installation of an individual line service or a move of their existing individual line service to a different premises will be provided TT access at existing tariffed rates. Individual line customers who have rotary dial access service will be able to retain their rotary service until such time as they move to other premises. Rotary dial access service will also continue to be available for all two and four-party line service customers. In conjunction with the grandfathering of rotary dial access for individual line services, the Company also proposes to no longer provide the 500-type telephones, in item 2300.1, for new installations, except for two and four- party line customers. The implementation of TT access as the standard service offering for individual line customers on new installations and moves is consistent with both the Company's plans to increase revenues through increased penetration and customer expectations of the service. The Company has made TT access technically feasible throughout its territory and has actively promoted the service, with the result that the TT access penetration rate was 75.4% overall as of October 1992. Touch-Tone's ease of dialing and its ability to facilitate customer access and use of a growing number of services, including the Company's various calling services, have also helped increase Touch-Tone's penetration as well as the penetration for calling services, with the resultant increase in overall revenues from local services. Because of the current level of penetration and because more than 90% of customer requests for new installations or moves already involve Touch-Tone, the Company's view is that the gradual process of standardizing TT access by grandfathering rotary dial access will minimize disruption for customers and to the Company's operations. The Company proposes to implement the standardization of TT access on 1993 03 08 and will advise customers of the change via bill inserts. At current monthly rates, the Company expects that the implementation of TT access will generate additional revenue of approximately $2.3 million in 1993 and $8.2 million in 1994. At the monthly rates proposed in Tariff Notice No. 4552 the impacts are expected to be $2.6 million and $9.0 million respectively. The Company respectfully requests approval of the proposed tariffs by 1993 01 22. In the event that the Commission is unable to approve the proposed tariffs by 1993 01 22 the Company requests that the Commission allow 45 days between the approval date and the effective date to facilitate implementation of the proposed changes. Yours very truly, Director General - Regulatory Matters Attachment [Approved by Telecom Order CRTC 93-23, issued 14 January 1993] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Apr 93 23:59:16 EDT From: David Leibold Subject: Eastern Europe Telecommunications Mailing List There is a mailing list for discussions of Eastern Europe telecommunications. This is on a listserv at UBVM.BITNET, list EUEARN-L. Recent posts include progress of e-mail networks in eastern Europe, among other things. To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@UBVM.BITNET with the first text line set up as: SUBSCRIBE EUEARN-L Firstname Lastname (with the Firstname Lastname part being your name that you will register under) The listserv should return a message with details on how to use the mailing list, but once that happens, you will receive the EUEARN-L postings. dleibold1@attmail.com dleibold@vm1.yorku.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Deregulation of Telcos in Texas From: phaedrus@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (James Hartman, Sysop) Date: Sat, 17 Apr 93 00:32:32 GMT Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu writes: > Somebody has been advertising on TV to get us to call 800-669-6903 to > learn about how we can get Texas into the technology future with > fiber optic communication etc. [...] That "somebody" includes -- guess who! -- Southwestern Bell! Reading that fine print as it sped by made me immediately want to talk to my representatives in Austin and tell them NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. Anything that SWB wants so badly that they need to advertise it on TV can only mean that we're gonna get reamed again. James Hartman (phaedrus@unkaphaed.jpunix.com) Listen to "Weightless" Friday mornings on KPFT 90.1 Houston at 3:00 a.m. ------------------------------ From: hwdub@cyberia.hou281.chevron.com (Dub Dublin) Subject: Need PD IXO Pager Software for PC Organization: Chevron Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 05:32:10 GMT I've tried the more common ways to get this kind of info, and I haven't had any luck. I need a PD/free program for a PC to send a message to an Alphanumeric pager using the IXO (same as TAP, I think) protocol. I'm currently using tpage 2.0 (with a lot of my own hacks to make it work - that's another story) on UNIX to do this, but I need something that will work on the PC. (Before anyone suggests it, it would be easier to start over than to port the tpage programs to the PC...) Also, there is apparently some way to send an alpha message to an alpha pager using only DTMF signalling (assuming, of course, that my paging company's terminal can handle this...) If someone can provide me with info on this protocol as well, I would really appreciate it. If there is enough interest in this subject, I'll summarize and post the results. Dub Dublin Chevron Information Technology Company hwdub@chevron.com (713) 596-3199 [Moderator's Note: Just the very information you are seeking is in the Telecom Archives. Check out the ixo files. There are two or three you should pull and review for programming examples, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dhclose@cco.caltech.edu (David H. Close) Subject: Re: Roll Your Own PBX/Internal Phone System? Date: 17 Apr 1993 02:29:08 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena rjg@umnstat.stat.umn.edu (Robert J. Granvin) writes: > I realize I'm talking about a small office PBX. But I also realize > that it is something that is way beyond our budget or abilities to > acquire. Have you considered used equipment? There are quite a few vendors who specialize in used key systems suitable for your needs. Depending on your organization, you might even be able to arrange a donation ... Dave Close, dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu, BS'66 Ec ------------------------------ From: puma@halcyon.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Telco Uses My Lines Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. (206) 455-3505 Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 03:06:52 GMT In article gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > It drives me nuts to find NYTel repairmen using my phone lines, > presumably from the terminal on the street, to make calls to the ... > Am I not paying for these lines? Any thoughts? Is this really allowed? A group I am with has a line set up as a "info-line" with an answering machine that members can call for late-breaking events, etc. Now that the local telco is charging for outgoing calls, the person in charge of the line and billing noticed two outgoing calls charged for one month. All previous months had no calls outgoing and of course there is no telephone set on the line. It was only 12-cents, but he pushed the issue and the telco sent an itemized list of the calls (number,time and duration). Despite his assurances that previous months had no calls and there was no instrument on the line, they insisted that he review the list first to see if he recognized the numbers before they would issue a credit -- what a waste of time all around. I don't think they (the telco) were concerned about the fraud issue or tried to explain it. [Moderator's Note: After 'looking it over', I'd have identified both numbers (as being internal numbers at telco) then called back telco and yelled for awhile ... using phrases like 'theft of service'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 17 Apr 93 01:14:03 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Minor But Puzzling Problem > It is the same four-wire line; she's on red-green and I've got black-yellow. I think that your problem is right here ... most of the red/green/black/ yellow telephone wire that I've seen is straight quad. The individual conductors lay straight next to each other. A better wire for your application would be two twisted pairs (while your at it, you might want to install three or four pair to make future expansion easy). The twisted pairs tend to keep crosstalk at a minimum. BTW -- have you checked for crosstalk at the demarc with your house wiring disconnected? Brian Vita CSS, Inc. Somewhere on Compu$erve ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: Residential ISDN Date: Sat 17 Apr 1993 02:22 -0400 I want residential ISDN but it seems strange that I would have to have a line for each extension running back to the CO. Given the state of technology isn't there a small box that would be a local (i.e., house-level, economical) ISDN switch? This would be a requirement for a 90's implementation of ISDN. If there is no such economical device, then ISDN ain't very interesting. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #261 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23161; 18 Apr 93 4:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31936 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 18 Apr 1993 02:27:47 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24891 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 18 Apr 1993 02:27:09 -0500 Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 02:27:09 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304180727.AA24891@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #262 TELECOM Digest Sun, 18 Apr 93 02:27:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 262 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A Mailing List Ripped Off (TELECOM Moderator) Computer Professionals Call For Debate on Encryption (Dave Banisar) Re: White House Encryption Proposal (EFF Statement via Andrew Blau) Re: Zero Plus Dialing (Alan Munn) Re: Zero Plus Dialing (Jason Garner) Re: Minor But Puzzling Problem (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 (Eric Engelmann) Re: Crossed Lines (Brian T. Vita) How to Receive All Chaos Digest Issues (Jean-Bernard Condat) Re: Calling 800 Numbers to Harass Their Owners (S. Spencer Sun) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 00:27:40 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: A Mailing List Ripped Off I am sorry to report that due to an error by myself in leaving one of the mailing lists used by the Digest in a position where it could be read by outsiders, a bozo came along and did just that: copied it all out (several hundred names on that list) and no doubt is using it for his own purposes by now. It has been fixed so it should not happen again, but I guess I should never underestimate the extent to which some people will go to invade the privacy of others. What is so sad is the way so many net people squall and squeal and carry on about their own privacy so much, then think nothing of cracking right into someone else's account and personal files to rip them off. Admittedly, I left a sneaky way into the file I had forgotten about, but still, don't you feel violated when that kind of thing happens? I know I do. Anyway, sorry, and if you get strange mail, you'll know why. Thank goodness he only got one of the mailing lists, only about 600 names and net addresses were copied out. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Organization: CPSR Civil Liberties and Computing Project From: Dave Banisar Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 16:43:02 EST Subject: Computer Professionals Call For Debate on Encryption April 16, 1993 Washington, DC COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS CALL FOR PUBLIC DEBATE ON NEW GOVERNMENT ENCRYPTION INITIATIVE Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) today called for the public disclosure of technical data underlying the government's newly-announced "Public Encryption Management" initiative. The new cryptography scheme was announced today by the White House and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), which will implement the technical specifications of the plan. A NIST spokesman acknowledged that the National Security Agency (NSA), the super-secret military intelligence agency, had actually developed the encryption technology around which the new initiative is built. According to NIST, the technical specifications and the Presidential directive establishing the plan are classified. To open the initiative to public review and debate, CPSR today filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with key agencies, including NSA, NIST, the National Security Council and the FBI for information relating to the encryption plan. The CPSR requests are in keeping with the spirit of the Computer Security Act, which Congress passed in 1987 in order to open the development of non-military computer security standards to public scrutiny and to limit NSA's role in the creation of such standards. CPSR previously has questioned the role of NSA in developing the so-called "digital signature standard" (DSS), a communications authentication technology that NIST proposed for government-wide use in 1991. After CPSR sued NIST in a FOIA lawsuit last year, the civilian agency disclosed for the first time that NSA had, in fact, developed that security standard. NSA is due to file papers in federal court next week justifying the classification of records concerning its creation of the DSS. David Sobel, CPSR Legal Counsel, called the administration's apparent commitment to the privacy of electronic communications, as reflected in today's official statement, "a step in the right direction." But he questioned the propriety of NSA's role in the process and the apparent secrecy that has thus far shielded the development process from public scrutiny. "At a time when we are moving towards the development of a new information infrastructure, it is vital that standards designed to protect personal privacy be established openly and with full public participation. It is not appropriate for NSA -- an agency with a long tradition of secrecy and opposition to effective civilian cryptography -- to play a leading role in the development process." CPSR is a national public-interest alliance of computer industry professionals dedicated to examining the impact of technology on society. CPSR has 21 chapters in the U.S. and maintains offices in Palo Alto, California, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. For additional information on CPSR, call (415) 322-3778 or e-mail . ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 19:51:37 -0500 From: Andrew Blau Subject: Re: White House Encryption Proposal The following is extracted from an EFF statement released yesterday in response to the Clinton Administration's cryptography statement: The Clinton Administration today made a major announcement on cryptography policy which will affect the privacy and security of millions of Americans. The first part of the plan is to begin a comprehensive inquiry into major communications privacy issues such as export controls which have effectively denied most people easy access to robust encryption, and law enforcement issues posed by new technology. However, EFF is very concerned that the Administration has already reached a conclusion on one critical part of the inquiry, before any public comment or discussion has been allowed. Apparently, the Administration is going to use its leverage to get all telephone equipment vendors to adopt a voice encryption standard developed by the National Security Agency. The so-called "Clipper Chip" is an 80-bit, split key escrowed encryption scheme which will be built into chips manufactured by a military contractor. Two separate escrow agents would store users' keys, and be required to turn them over law enforcement upon presentation of a valid warrant. The encryption scheme used is to be classified, but the chips will be available to any manufacturer for incorporation into its communications products. This proposal raises a number of serious concerns. First, the Administration has adopted a solution before conducting an inquiry. The NSA-developed Clipper Chip may not be the most secure product. Other vendors or developers may have better schemes. Furthermore, we should not rely on the government as the sole source for the Clipper or any other chips. Rather, independent chip manufacturers should be able to produce chipsets based on open standards. Second, an algorithm cannot be trusted unless it can be tested. Yet, the Administration proposes to keep the chip algorithm classified. EFF believes that any standard adopted ought to be public and open. The public will only have confidence in the security of a standard that is open to independent, expert scrutiny. Third, while the use of the use of a split-key, dual escrowed system may prove to be a reasonable balance between privacy and law enforcement needs, the details of this scheme must be explored publicly before it is adopted. What will give people confidence in the safety of their keys? Does disclosure of keys to a third party waive an individual's Fifth Amendment rights in subsequent criminal inquiries? These are but a few of the many questions the Administrations proposal raised but fails to answer. In sum, the Administration has shown great sensitivity to the importance of these issues by planning a comprehensive inquiry into digital privacy and security. However, the "Clipper Chip" solution ought to be considered as part of the inquiry, and not be adopted before the discussion even begins. Andrew Blau Electronic Frontier Foundation 202-544-9237(v) Associate for 666 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. 202-547-5481(f) Telecommunications Policy Washington, DC 20003 blau@eff.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Apr 93 21:56:06 -0400 From: amunn@gibbs.oit.unc.edu (Alan Munn) Subject: Re: Zero Plus Dialing It seems that some pay phones around Chapel Hill are "serviced" by Zero Plus Dialing. I placed a call to LA *which didn't connect* and received a bill with my phone bill for $7.76! They charged me for a three minute call. When I got the bill, I called them up 800-456-7587 and complained. They didn't argue at all, just took my phone number and told me a credit would appear on my next bill (which it did.) My guess is, though, that they make quite a bundle on those folks who don't check their bills too closely, or place a lot of payphone calls without worrying about the LD carrier. Someone from ATT mentioned something about reporting payphones which deny 10xxx access. I don't think I've come across one yet that *allowed* it. Could s/he get e-mail me the information. Thanks. I did notice that the payphones at the Virginia interstate rest stops have signs telling you that there's no 10xxx access along with the 800 numbers to reach MCI, ATT and Sprint. Alan [Moderator's Note: All the 'genuine Bell' payphones around here allow it even if the default carrier on the phone is other than AT&T. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Apr 93 22:06:40 -0700 From: jgarner@netcom.com (Jason Garner) Subject: Re: Zero Plus Dialing I've had problems with this company as well. The PUC says that they're a "billing agent" solely and do not provide long distance service. I disputed some Allnet charges. Allnet removed them and they later showed up on my bill as ZPD Long Distance. Apparently, this company exists just to bill for calls that there already may be some problem with (hence the large number of complaints against it) and when a company like MCI or Allnet doesn't want to risk their reputations by pressing the matter (or investigating) they just turn it over to ZPD. ZPD is foreign owned and based out of Texas. Since you get so many billing complaints perhaps you could set up some sort of system where people could send the complaints directly to your archive to be stored by company name. When someone has a grievance against a company they could search the archive to find similar situations to bolster their case to the PUC etcetera. I'm sure you have an abundance of free time in which to do this. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are not opinions at all. They are the words of God HIMSELF! [Moderator's Note: One of the things I'd like to do eventually here as part of my enterprises is operate such an archive where people could share information with each other about those companies. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Minor But Puzzling Problem Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 23:31:30 GMT In Digest <04.17.93.A@eecs.nwu.edu> is written: >> It is the same four-wire line; she's on red-green and I've got >> black-yellow. > I think that your problem is right here ... most of the red/green/black/ > yellow telephone wire that I've seen is straight quad. The individual > conductors lay straight next to each other. > A better wire for your application would be two twisted pairs (while > your at it, you might want to install three or four pair to make > future expansion easy). The twisted pairs tend to keep crosstalk at a > minimum. > BTW -- have you checked for crosstalk at the demarc with your house > wiring disconnected? Both suggestions are right on point. In my experience, the wire that has pair one as blue/white and white/blue, and pair two as orange/white and white/orange, and so on, tends to be twisted pair. And anybody doing their own wiring should install network interface jacks at the demarc point ... so that tests of this kind are easy to do just by plugging in two phones. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (intellectual property lawyer) 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112-0228 voice 212-408-2578 fax 212-765-2519 ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 1993 03:16:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Engelmann 38488 Subject: Re: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 I think it would be interesting to put all the archives on CD-ROM with a text search tool to locate articles on different equipment. Could you make a WILD guess as to how many people would buy a copy if it cost, say, $79? Are there copyright issues? I produce a number of CD-ROMs already, and this sounds like a fun project. [Moderator's Note: Gee, you read my mind. Another goal of my enterprise is to make the Telecom Archives popularly available on a wide variety of media such as CD-ROM, a direct dialup phone number, etc. I think people might pay $79 for such a product. We'd have to issue updates now and then however, as the archives is always growing. You'd have to clear it with the Holy Fathers in Usenet first though. I think you are expected to work on it for nothing and give it away free. I even had one of 'em ask me today if I got individual permission from each person who had been in the Digest in the past four years before creating the master index of subjects and author's names. I replied that if he was trying to cause me to have a heart attack, he was doing a damn good job. I'd say go with it if you can make just a few to test out interest. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 93 00:47:36 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Crossed lines > A better wire for your application would be two twisted pairs (while > your at it, you might want to install three or four pair to make > future expansion easy). The twisted pairs tend to keep crosstalk at a > minimum. A footnote to my earlier post ... If you're going to run extra pair, be sure to ground the extra pair(s) at one end. Failing that, you may end up hearing an occassional "Radio Free Europe" or "Voice of America" broadcast. ------------------------------ From: jbcondat@attmail.com Date: 18 Apr 93 03:59:59 GMT Subject: How to Receive All Chaos Digest Issues Bonjour, You may have written me to receive the new computer security e-journal called Chaos Digest. The Digest presents some security aspects: frauds, hacking, swapping, legislation, phreaking ... The delivery costs are extremely expensive on the CCCF AT&T account, and if you would receive all issues, don't hesitate to subscribe. SUBSCRIBE: Send a message to: linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi with a mail Header or First line containing the following informations: X-Mn-Admin: join CHAOS_DIGEST BACK ISSUES: Available on some ftp anonymous, like: * kragar.eff.org [192.88.144.4] in /pub/cud/chaos * uglymouse.css.itd.umich.edu [141.211.182.91] in /pub/CuD/chaos * halcyon.com [192.135.191.2] in /pub/mirror/cud/chaos * ftp.cic.net [192.131.22.2] in /e-serials/alphabetic/c/chaos-digest * ftp.ee.mu.oz.au [128.250.77.2] in /pub/text/CuD/chaos * nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100] in /pub/doc/cud/chaos * orchid.csv.warwick.ac.uk [137.205.192.5] in /pub/cud/chaos Ask for file "chaos-1.xx" with "xx" as the issue number. If you have some question, don't hesitate to ask me, directly! Jean-Bernard Condat CCCF, B.P. 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Phone: +33 1 47874083, Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: jbcondat@attmail.com or cccf@altern.com ------------------------------ From: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun) Subject: Re: Calling 800 Numbers to Harass Their Owners Reply-To: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun) Organization: Society for Promotion of Entropy in the Universe (SPEU) Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 07:08:01 GMT Speaking of overloading 800 numbers, a friend of mine who graduated last year mailed me and some mutual friends (one also '92, one a fellow '94) about 1-800-NEW-WORD, provided by one of the major dictionary publishers... each day it had a new "interesting" word and explained the definition and origins of it (the day he told us about it, the word was kludge" and since we're all CS majors ... :-) ) Note use of past tense ... apparently the way this friend found out about it was because it was posted to the net somewhere. It doesn't seem to have survived very long past that, because it's been disconnected now ... (not that I think it was because of any malicious dialing in this case ... probably just the sheer volume of the Internet ...) sss / PU Class of '94 Dept of Computer Science ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #262 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12655; 19 Apr 93 3:12 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05597 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 19 Apr 1993 00:50:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02555 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 19 Apr 1993 00:50:00 -0500 Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 00:50:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304190550.AA02555@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #263 TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Apr 93 00:50:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 263 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Lucky Number? (TELECOM Moderator) Caller ID Display Suggestions Wanted (Tad Cook) Information Sought on Video Phone (John Conwell) Re: White House Encryption Proposal (Richard Osterberg) Re: Need PD IXO Pager Software For PC - Clarification (Dub Dublin) Needed: Someone to Scan a Large Article For Archives (TELECOM Moderator) From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Telephones (Various, January 1988) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 23:17:39 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Lucky Number? The {Chicago Tribune} for Sunday, April 18, 1993 began a multi-part series on the changing face of telecommunications. In the first article, entitled "Lucky Number?" {Tribune} writer Jon Van discussed the coming of 640 new area codes two years from now and 'lifelong personal telephone numbers'. An Uncertain Prize in Technology Race ===================================== (some excerpts follow) ... "The portable, personal phone number -- one that will reach *you* rather than reach your home or office -- is nearly here. "You may get this number from your local phone company, but it might also come from a cellular company, a cable-TV firm, or someone else entirely. And, once assigned, the number may become yours for life regardless of who is supplying your phone service. In fact, some regulators support making not only your telephone number, but your area code, portable. If you live now in Elmhurst (a Chicago suburb) but move to Omaha, your area 708 telephone number might move with you. "Whether many people will actually want lifelong personal phone numbers is anyone's guess. But the likelyhood they'll have that choice illus- trates just how fundamentally what used to be a monopoly business, local telecommunications, is changing." .... .... Later in the article, Mr. Van discusses Ameritech (the regional Bell Company here) plans for competition. He notes that the firm is inviting competition to vie for its customers. In return, Ameritech wants government regulations eliminated or cut significantly. And how would those competitors install their network? Well, the competitors would rent our network, said one Ameritech executive. .... .... Mr. Van reports that Ameritech is not alone in this approach. He noted that Pacific Telesis has split into two companies, one retaining the traditional regulated monopoly telephone services and the other becoming an unregulated firm selling cellular and other communication services. On the east coast, Bell Atlantic recently announced it intends to defy earlier court rulings and deliberatly offer television services in the Washington, DC area; a Bell Atlantic spokesperson said the company intends to challenge the government restrictions placed on it and (if successful) forge the way for other telephone companies to enter fields of their choosing. .... The article discusses in some technical detail how the existing 144 area codes are used and the reason for the expansion with 640 more codes beginning in about two years. Ron Connors, a spokesman for Bellcore is quoted in at length in the article. An interview with George Gilder is included in a sidebar, focusing on 'light fiber' and 'dark fiber'. 800 number portability, now just about two weeks away is mentioned, with notice given that the sure loser in 800 portability will be AT&T, which presently dominates the market. A discussion of Ameritech's 'Wisconsin Health Information Network' is part of the article, and its plans to expand this medical communications network into other states in the near future. The failed 'Picturephone' service of the 1960-70's is discussed along with the new video phone services being offered today. Overall, this was an excellent start to a series which will be published occassionally in the {Chicago Tribune}. If you would like to have the complete article, let me know, as there was far too much to run it all here. ----------------------- To get a copy sent to your fax: (my preference) ... Write me and send a dollar for the toll charges or two dollars if outside the USA. Be sure to include your fax number and anything I need to know to connect. To get a copy sent on paper through the mail: I'll send it to you for the cost of copying and postage if you write me and include a LONG self-addressed, stamped envelope with *two* stamps on it and a dollar bill to feed the Metro Office Building community copy machine downstairs in the building where my office is located. If you are outside the USA, send me the dollar in US currency if you happen to have any, otherwise skip it and just send the the LONG self-addressed envelope. Send Postal Union coupons good for two ounces, or give me three US dollars in total, etc. I think it will come out on four or five legal-size (8.5 by 14 inch) sheets of paper, and weigh in at a little over an ounce. Write to: Patrick Townson ATTN: Tribune Telecom Article Post Office Box 1570 Chicago, IL 60690-1570 USA If you prefer to get it directly from the {Chicago Tribune} then write: Chicago Tribune Public Service Department 440 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611 USA Ask for "Business News, Section 7", Sunday, April 18. The paper costs $1.50 on Sunday and they like getting the postage, so I guess you would send them a couple dollars. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Subject: Caller ID Display Suggestions Wanted Date: Sun, 18 Apr 93 15:33:36 PDT From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) U S West is finally introducing Caller ID in Seattle on May 5. I have two lines at home on residential Centrex service. I looked at the Hello Direct Catalog, and their single line display boxes that show both name and number are about 80 bucks each. Anyone have any cheaper suggestions? Does anyone make a lower cost CLID decoder that handles two lines? Tad Cook | Phone: 206-527-4089 (home) | MCI Mail: 3288544 Seattle, WA | Packet: KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 3288544@mcimail.com | Internet: tad@ssc.com or...sumax!ole!ssc!tad ------------------------------ From: John Conwell Date: 18 Apr 93 11:58:13 EDT Subject: Information Sought on Video Phone Does anyone know when Bellcore introduced the Video Phone? I seem to think it was at a 1960s Consumer Product Show. Also, if a truly interactive video phone is available for residential use today. I am aware of Sony's teleconferencing, although I don't know the particulars. Thanks for any info. T.T.F.N! {Ta Ta For Now!} J.F.C. [Moderator's Note: The {Chicago Tribune} article I mentioned earlier in this issue said 'the failed Picturephone project' was being marketed heavily in 1964-65. This was a comment from A. Michael Noll, Dean of the School of Communications at UCLA who was employed by the old Bell System at the time. 'Video phone' is the name for it now; 'Picturephone' was the name back then. Of course there was no Bellcore back then and there is no Bell System now. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: White House Encryption Proposal From: osterber@husc8.harvard.edu (Richard Osterberg) Date: 18 Apr 93 23:25:29 GMT OK ... this all seems rather stupid ... doesn't it? What's to stop all these "Criminals" that we'll have warrants to wiretap from simply adding *more* encryption to the telephone system? If they simply encrypt before going through a Clipper Chip and then decrypt on the other end of the Clipper Chip ... then we'd be right back where we started. Or did I miss something here? Rick Osterberg osterber@husc.harvard.edu 617-493-7784 617-493-3892 2032 Harvard Yard Mail Center Cambridge, MA 02138-7510 USA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 22:38:46 -0500 (CDT) From: Dub Dublin Reply-To: Dub Dublin Subject: Re: Need PD IXO pager software for PC - Clarification Pat: Thanks for checking, but I had already checked the archives. The only thing there for the IXO/TAP protocol (at least that I could find) is the same tpage program I'm already using on UNIX (but without the fixes that will let it work reliably -- it kind of sucks as distributed), a HyperCard IXO/TAP program, and a description of the IXO/TAP protocol. I don't really want to roll my own here -- I was searching to see if someone on the Net has already written such a program FOR THE _PC_. Unless you have another suggestion, please post this note to the net and lets see if we can find something out there to do this job! Thanks, Dub Dublin Chevron Information Technology Company email: hwdub@chevron.com phone: (713) 596-3199 PROFS: never again... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1993 23:38:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Needed: Someone to Scan a Large Article Kevin Bluml very kindly sent me a copy of New York Telephone's publi- cation 'FIRE: The Second Avenue Story' -- the detailed account (from the company's perspective) of the disasterous fire which devastated the company's Second Avenue Building, February 27, 1975; the fire which knocked out phone service in lower Manhattan for a month. I'd love to put this in the Telecom Archives, but it is far to much for (even me!) to type. There are about twenty pages of text, and quite a few pictures, maybe forty pages in total. If someone with a scanner would be so kind as to take this into their care, returning the finished work to the Digest for publication here then placement in the Archives, I'll be happy to mail it out to you. If by chance you already have a copy of 'FIRE' and want to scan it, that would be even better. Please let me know. PAT ------------------------------ From: Various Writers Subject: From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Phones (January, 1988) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 00:30:00 CDT By request, a reprint of some items from a popular thread which appeared in the Digest during January, 1988 which originally was entitled 'Enterprise and Other Funny Phone Numbers'. Enjoy! --------- Date: 7 Jan 88 22:39:45 GMT From: decvax!ima!johnl@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John R. Levine) Organization: Not enough to make any difference Subject: Re: Enterprise Numbers and other funny phone numbers In article <2257@cup.portal.com> Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com writes: >OTHER MORE OR LESS STANDARDIZED PHONE NUMBERS IN THE 1930'S - 1950'S: >... >Coin phones always began with a 9, as in 9xxx. This was universally >recognized ... Well, not quite universally. My phone number is -9650 and as far as I can tell hasn't been changed since the house got dial service, other than changing the prefix from UNIversity to the equivalent 864. (I'm not that old, but the number came with the house.) I note that -9649 is indeed a payphone in a nearby bar. -9950 used to be the local business office, causing a certain number of strange calls. My understanding is that they put special relays on pay phone lines that bounced when they connected, making a distinctive ticky-ticky sound that the operator could recognize. For that matter, when you make a toll call from a payphone, how does the long distance company know that it's a payphone? Special trunks? Special bits in ANI messages? Only AT&T does anything interesting with direct dialed calls from payphones, but the other LD companies at least know to block them. John Levine, ima!johnl ------------------------------ Date: 8 Jan 88 05:32:22 GMT From: ptsfa!perl@ames.arpa (R. Perlman) Organization: Pacific Bell Marketing Subject: Re: Enterprise Numbers and other funny phone numbers In article <838@ima.ISC.COM> johnl@ima.UUCP (John R. Levine) writes: >In article <2257@cup.portal.com> Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com writes: >>OTHER MORE OR LESS STANDARDIZED PHONE NUMBERS IN THE 1930'S - 1950'S: >>... >>Coin phones always began with a 9, as in 9xxx. This was universally >>recognized ... > >Well, not quite universally. My phone number is -9650 and as far as I can tell >hasn't been changed since the house got dial service, other than changing the >prefix from UNIversity to the equivalent 864. Actually you are both right! In step-by-step offices the 4 and 9 levels were ofter tied together when all line thousands groups were'nt needed. A non-coin would be assigned the number -4xxx and a coin -9xxx, in fact it didn't matter whether you dialed a 4 or nine, you get the same number. BTW, Operators have listings by area code showing all the NNXs (actualy NXXs) that have coin stations. Usually only 1 code per CO has coin lines. If a number (for 3rd number or collect calling) is a -9xxx & is in a coin NNX then the Operator checks with Rate & Route for a "coin check" to see if the number is indeed a coin box. -- Richard Perlman 1E300 2600 Camino Ramon, San Ramon, CA 94583 ------------------------------ Date: 8 Jan 88 16:59:14 GMT From: codas!ablnc!maxwell@bikini.cis.ufl.edu (Robert Maxwell) Organization: AT&T, Maitland, Florida Subject: Re: Enterprise Numbers and other funny phone numbers > >Coin phones always began with a 9, as in 9xxx. This was universally > >recognized ... > Well, not quite universally. Back in the days before the TSPS operator positions, the operators had an indexed list at their positions that they used for identifying area codes that listed almost every city or exchange in the USA. One of items also listed in this index was the pay phone number series in any exchange that used a special group of numbers. It has been a few years since I last saw one, but I do remember the numbers for pay phones could be anything from an exchange + 1 digit (ie: 321-9) to a group of numbers (ie: 321-7800 to 321-8299). As I remember the instructions with the list, this was a group to be checked for possible pay phone, not necessarily an absolute list. I don't consider myself very old, but I can remember when the phones were so automatic, you didn't have to turn a dial or push buttons, you would just speak the number you wanted into the mouthpiece and the connection would be made. :-) > For that matter, when you make a toll call from a payphone, how does > the long distance company know that it's a payphone? Special trunks? > Special bits in ANI messages? Only AT&T does anything interesting with > direct dialed calls from payphones, but the other LD companies at > least know to block them. With ESS offices, the programming takes care of handling special needs for a given line. It is reasonably simple to prevent charging LD calls to a given line, no matter which company you use for LD. The same basic technique that gives you 1+ dialing to your LD company can control how the calls are accepted from a pay phone. Bob Maxwell AT&T DP&CT | All standard (and most non_standard) Maitland, FL ihnp4!ablnc!maxwell | disclaimers apply. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Jan 88 06:43:03 GMT From: portal!cup.portal.com!Patrick_A_Townson@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU Organization: The Portal System (TM) Subject: Re: Enterprise Numbers and other funny phone numbers Perlman points out a method of detecting coin service which is correct. If in fact the receiving number is coin; and if the caller insists on making the call collect, and provided some fool on the receiving end agrees to accept the collect call then he has to deposit the money as if he were making the call. The only problem is, the distant operator cannot supervise the collection properly. The operator tells called party to hang up and wait a minute....she calls inward in the city in particular, and asks for assistance from a local operator in manipulating the coin collection table; assistance in dumping the coins in the box, collecting for overtime, etc. The local operator calls the coin box, gets the money and connects the parties. Does anyone on here remember when coin phones had on the top for nickles, dimes and quarters AND had no trap door on the coin return AND had regular -- not armored -- cable to the handset? As little kids we rarely paid for calls. We either applied ground to the line through a tiny pin hole in the handset cord (which we put there, of course) or we used a coat hanger bent in a funny way which we stuck up the coin return. We would deposit the money which fell on the table inside. The process was the operator would apply the tip and ring one way to throw the table and toss the money in the box or would apply it in reverse to throw the table in the direction of the return slot, to give the money back if there was no answer, etc. To make long distance calls, we would use the same quarter(s) over and over. The operator would ask for two dollars -- in would go two or three quarters (clung clung clung)...."just a minute operator, I am looking for more change!..."and that coat hanger would go up the return slot and trip the table, sending our quarters down the chute and back to us.... "Ok operator, here is the rest of the money...." and if we were fast enough, or the operator was not suspicious, the coat hanger could be used to retrieve the three quarters ...some operators immediatly collected when there was an answer, especially if they suspected hanky panky on the other end...some would not wait for the full collection, but grab the coins as they came in, hitting that ring key over and over knowing the brat-child on the other end of the line had been thwarted in the process.... Some of the older exchanges in downtown Chicago years ago had to have the assistance of a special "trunk operator" to return the money if a call was not complete. Your operator would give up on completing the call and tell you to hold on...after a few seconds and a click, someone would answer "Wabash trunking"....and your operator would say something like "return on circuit 5096"....and the phone would clatter and your coins would fall back out to you. And there was also (downtown) the Franklin Coin Central Office which handled nothing but pay phones in the downtown area. --------------------- If you have other favorite threads from the past, feel free to supply them for use on a space available basis. Be sure to include the date they appeared in the Digest if possible. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #263 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21107; 19 Apr 93 19:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27615 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 19 Apr 1993 16:30:47 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29608 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 19 Apr 1993 16:30:02 -0500 Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 16:30:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304192130.AA29608@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #264 TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Apr 93 16:30:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 264 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Wireless City (S. Spencer Sun) 3DO Demo (Robert L. McMillin) USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (Colin Smale) Re: White House Encryption Proposal (Dream Weaver) Re: From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Phones (Jan, 1988) (Dave Niebuhr) Re: From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Phones (Jan, 1988) (Les Reeves) Re: A Very Interesting Intercept (rathinam@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (Sandy Kyrish) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (Joe Bergstein) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (Jim Rees) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (Jon P. Knight) Re: Caller-ID Devices (A. Padgett Peterson) Motorola UDS V.32 to MAC Info Needed (Rhett Glover) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun) Subject: Wireless City Reply-To: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun) Organization: Society for Promotion of Entropy in the Universe (SPEU) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 16:54:20 GMT Taken from the current (May 1993) issue of _Discover_, page 21, all typos are my fault. At 12:01 AM on December 2, 1992, Quitaque, Texas, was cut off from the rest of civilization. But the 513 residents of this rural town 80 miles northeast of Lubbock did not notice the difference. Moments later Quitaque (pronounced KIT-a-kway) [why do publications, the NY Times e.g., insist on providing the pronunciation of foreign names/places halfway through the first paragraph, instead of after the FIRST USAGE where it would make the most sense? -- Spencer] became the world's first "wireless city" -- that is, the first whole community whose telephone calls are transmitted by radio signals rather than overhead or underground cables. From each of the 400 or so telephones in Quitaque, an underground wire leads to a "cluster box" that serves 24 phone lines. Next to each cluster box stands a 30-foot pole bearing an antenna. The antenna beams and receives 454-megahertz digital radio signals to and from a radio transmission tower ten miles to the east, in Turkey, Texas. From there the signal travels to a switching station 30 miles northeast of Quitaque in Lakeview. When a Quitaque resident picks up the phone, a dial tone returns to him from Lakeview in about 40 milliseconds; even when he dials another Quitaquean, the call is routed through Lakeview. The high-frequency digital signal delivers better sound quality than an analog cellular phone, and unlike analog signals it is encoded in such a way as to make eavesdropping prohibitively expensive. In addition, the range of the digital system is greater than that of analog cellular phones; anyone within 37 miles of the Turkey transmitter can be connected to the network by installing a cluster box and antenna. Some isolated ranches north of Quitaque are now getting telephone service for the first time. Residents of Quitaque itself are getting modern conveniences -- call waiting, call forwarding, speed dialing, and teleconferencing -- that had been unavailable on their antiquated system. "We're glad to be the first, and I'm excited by all the features," says Quitaque mayor Elgin Conner. "The major advantage of this product is what it does for rural America," says Reynold (Bob) Wolter of InterDigital Communications Corporation, the firm that patented the technology. InterDigital is planning to install a similar system in Haviland, Kansas, later this year. but since telephone cable is already strung all over the United States, the greatest market for digital radiotelephony may be in Third World countries that are just now developing a telecommunications infrastructure -- or have recently lost one. After the Gulf War, for instance, InterDigital provided telephone service to the royal family of Kuwait. sss / PU Class of '94 Dept of Computer Science ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 05:14 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: 3DO Demo Last Thursday night I got to see a demonstration of the 3DO game box at the Electronic Cafe in Santa Monica. The hardware consisted of what essentially was late beta (pre-production) silicon, code-named 'blue'. Everything was running out of a Macintosh Quadra and two PC clone boxes that supposedly had Quadra guts lying in them because of the larger capacity available. The name 3DO is a take on audio -- video -- 3DO; some of the software wags say that it really means "Three Dollars Only", referring to their licensing arrangements, which are much more agreeable than those Nintendo enforces. The 3DO Company will put out its first stock offering some time in the second quarter, probably May. 3DO only licenses its technology, manufacturing nothing. (They should ask Chips & Technologies how that works out if your competitors are your customers!) Two people led the demo, one from the marketing side of the 3DO organization and one from the engineering side. The engineer was really quite funny. I guess he needed a sense of humor: as he brought up the 'red' (first beta) hardware, it proceeded to break! That was really too bad, because most of the demo software was designed to run on the 'red' machine. Later on, he was able to move the 'blue' chipset over to the 'red' machine and cripple it appropriately for us to see the demo. We saw a lot of texture mapping on shaded polygons. For instance, they brought up a cube with three images on it, each image appearing on two faces of the cube. My guess is that they can draw shaded polys til the cows come home, but really good texture mapping isn't quite there yet, or may not even be in the plans. It may be hard to do a fly-through of a forest, for instance, the way you could with an SGI box, because you'd need to texture map large areas. Full-motion animation in the best compression mode looks as good as VHS videotape. They cut a tape of their Japanese show, which they later compressed and put on a 3DO CD (which runs at double speed, for a net bandwidth of ~300 KB/s). This will be a very nice effects box for home video use, and they have anticipated this use of it. Each disk holds a half-hour of full-motion video in the best compression mode. We saw clips from "Backdraft" (to prove the box doesn't drive video into color saturation), "Jaws", and the "old" trailer from "Jurassic Park." (My friend at Paramount assures me that the new one is much cooler.) They are using AT&T for their silicon foundry, which is odd, since Matsushita is really the big force behind 3DO. On the other hand, Matsushita doesn't have that much experience building digital systems, either. The first production boxes will carry the Panasonic label, natch. AT&T is very interested in selling networked versions of these boxes, possibly with ISDN or some other similar interface for networked game play. The Panasonic machines will arrive in October, and the AT&T machines some time in 1994. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include ------------------------------ From: colin@integow.integrity.nl (Colin Smale) Subject: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required Date: 19 Apr 93 16:51:14 GMT Organization: Integrity BV, Woerden, Holland My company has a fax product for Unix and Windows which is currently being marketed in Europe. We are seeing a lot of interest in our product in America. We would like to be able to produce a version for the North American market, but I think we are rather spoiled by the simple area code system which (in most European countries) years of state monopoly has produced. Can anyone help me get hold of an 'idiots guide' to the US telephone system so we can get our product set up properly? Questions which spring to mind include: When does one need to dial a '1' before a ten-digit number? When does one need to dial a '1' before a seven-digit number? Is it acceptable to use ten digit numbers exclusively, even within one's own area? If a phone is connected to a private exchange, what is the conventional digit to obtain an outside line? Would a product such as ours be expected to explicitly choose a LD carrier by using prefix codes? If so, how does that work? How many of these things need to be configurable because they are liable to vary from state to state for example? Well, that's a rough description of my problem. Can anyone help? Is there perhaps a few pages in a US phone directory which describe the procedures that someone might be able to fax to me? Please reply be mail as I don't get to read this group often. If anyone asks, I'll summarise to the net. Thanks in advance! Colin Smale colin@integrity.nl Integrity Software Consultants BV Woerden, Holland [Moderator's Note: Unfortunatly things are not yet totally standardized in the USA regards when and when not to use 1+ on long distance and/or inter/intra LATA calls. The front pages of any given telephone book would give instructions peculiar to that location. The general rule -- although as noted, exceptions exist -- is that you either dial seven digits or you dial 1 plus ten digits. In the Telecom Archives, some files of interest will be 'areacode.guide', 'history. of.area.splits' and others with 'area' or 'npa' as the first word. PAT] ------------------------------ From: trh42502@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Dream Weaver) Subject: Re: White House Encryption Proposal Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 14:13:50 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana In article osterber@husc8.harvard.edu (Richard Osterberg) writes: > OK ... this all seems rather stupid ... doesn't it? What's to stop all > these "Criminals" that we'll have warrants to wiretap from simply > adding *more* encryption to the telephone system? If they simply > encrypt before going through a Clipper Chip and then decrypt on the > other end of the Clipper Chip ... then we'd be right back where we > started. Or did I miss something here? This is exactly the reason for the uproar in some groups. Most agree that the Clipper Chip increases security, by adding a layer of encryption that is difficult for the average hacker to break and a bother for authorities. There also seems to be a consensus that to make this workable ALL other private cryptology and nonregistered keys will be outlawed. Tom Hilquist Internet:t-hilquist@uiuc.edu Disclamer: I didn't write this! Email for PGP Public Key PGP 2.2 Key fingerprint = 20 FF CA 46 1D B8 CD 55 F7 9D 71 B0 BD B7 B3 B5 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 09:15:49 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Phones (January, 1988) In TELECOM Digest V13 #263 many people wrote about Old Fashioned Coin Phones (January, 1988) and the mention of using a 9 as the first number in a phone number (XXX-9XXX) and how it was used for coin phones. Yesterday, I received a call from my wife's boss and his number is XXX-9XXX. Someone also mentioned that one exchange would carry the 9XXX as the coin phone numbers leaving any other exchanges in that community or communities available to use that series. I would tend to suspect that is the case here since he called from the third oldest exchange in that community and there were coin phones available prior to that. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 19 Apr 93 15:52:23 GMT Subject: Re: From the Archives: Old Fashioned Coin Phones (January, 1988) Re: Enterprise numbers and other funny phone numbers. As late as 1977, it was still possible to,uh-hum,"access" TTC (Terminating Toll Completing) Codes. The Rate and Route operator (TTC code 141) provided validation of Bell Coin Phones. When Rate and Route answered you blurted out "Checking for coin; NNX-XXXX" and R&R would look it up in the multi-leaf. This was long before TSPS/TOPS had a database in which such information now resides. If the number was non-coin, it could receive collect calls. [Moderator's Note: Besides doing coin number look ups, Rate and Route (which was a service operated by Illinois Bell in Morris, IL for all the Bell System companies) located dialing codes used by operators to place calls to 'inward' in other cities, etc. They also did the look- ups for 'Enterprise' numbers and other stuff. But you *could* call 'collect' to a payphone -- there had to be someone there willing to stick the money in the box of course, and the operator placing the call had no control over the collection of the coins in the box so she had to call 'inward' in the city where the pay station was located and ask them for assistance in grabbing the coins as they went in the phone. Those calls were rare I imagine. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rathinam@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com Subject: Re: A Very Interesting Intercept Organization: Honeywell Air Transport Systems Division Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 07:02:20 GMT Ok, so many different people called that number, which the original poster described as giving "A very interesting intercept" although he/she didn't tell us what exactly it was. From the postings on this topics, it seems like there is something of some "interest" in this intercept, but since not everyone is getting the same intercept (since they call from different area codes, I am assuming), WHAT DID THE ORIGINAL POSTER OF THE MESSAGE hear -- and what did he/she find interesting? I can tell you to call 1-800-BAD-TIME and listen because I think there is something "very interesting" ;-) [BTW, I am NOT asking you to]. Or may be a 900 # ;) rathinam@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com Opinions, if any expressed, are mine and may not represent my employer's. [Moderator's Note: Perhaps someone who got through to the annoucement will transcribe it and mail it to this reader. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:30 GMT From: Sandy Kyrish <0003209613@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone John Conwell asked when the Picturephone was introduced: the answer is the 1964 World's Fair. It used 1 MHz of bandwidth as I recall. (From the literature, not from a purchase!) I believe I remember a demonstration of one at Hemisfair '68 in San Antonio Texas ... AT&T is not having success with its residential videophone; it is cutting prices. IMHO, as a member of the teleconferencing industry, it will be a good while before residential videophones will be available. We are all very excited now because business vidphone prices have dropped to $13,000 each, and we all salivate at the tantalizing thought of $5,000 vphones coming around through use of the Pentium chip and the like. So there's a pretty far drop from $5K to home prices -- people don't spend $5K on TVs, stereos, even computers really. And to say that people might be willing to buy lesser quality at a lesser price -- well, what's out there for $13K now, over dual 56 kbps lines, is not the most fabulous image quaity in the world. Drop to a single 56K line, take out the heavy duty image processing, and you will get what you pay for -- not much. While people were willing to put up with a noisy phone line for cheap LD prices, what's the point of having a fuzzy, jerky video image. There's a big difference between hiss in the background that doesn't really obscure speech, and a "noisy" video image. And, the only real way to do heavy duty compression of video is with digitalization, so you won't see much til ISDN to the home. Sandy Kyrish 320-9613@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Joe.Bergstein@p501.f544.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Bergstein) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 09:29:43 -0500 Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone In a message on Sun. 4/18, John Conwell asked: > Does anyone know when Bellcore introduced the Video Phone? I > seem to think it was at a 1960s Consumer Product Show. AT&T introduced the original video phone at the 1964 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadow New York. > Also, if a truly interactive video phone is available for > residential use today. Both AT&T and MCI are selling versions of a slow motion interactive video system available for residential use. I believe the cost is around $1,000 per unit. [Moderator's Note: So is Sharper Image or DAK, or one of those catalogs. I forgot the price; they are the slow scan variety. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone Date: 19 Apr 1993 15:53:18 GMT Organization: University of Michigan CITI In article , John Conwell writes: > Does anyone know when Bellcore introduced the Video Phone? I seem to > think it was at a 1960s Consumer Product Show. If you mean the Picturephone, I think the first public installation was a three-way hookup between the 1964 New York World's Fair (Bell System exhibit building), the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and Disneyland. This is from memory so I could have it all wrong. PAT, do you remember when the one in Chicago was removed? And, while we're on the subject, do you remember the tic-tac-toe machine made out of Strowger switches? (Maybe it was crossbar, I'm not sure.) [Moderator's Note: After the New York Fair, Chicago MSI hooked it up to Disneyland for awhile if I recall correctly. The 'phone company' had a wonderful exhibit at MSI for many years. Yes, I remember the tic-tac-toe game, where you dialed your selection with a rotary dial, watched the stepper switch move and your choice light up on the display board. They also had a pay phone which was a speakerphone; demonstrations on a cross bar switch and other stuff. I lived directly across the street from MSI (56th and Hyde Park Blvd) for a number of years in the 1960-70 period. There was seldom a weekend I did not go over for lunch in the cafeteria and an hour or two brousing. When the Picturephone was operating, it was left continuously connected to the World's Fair. Anyone on that end who walked past stared into the camera at whoever walked past on the other end. Depending on the chemistry of the people involved, quite often the people on both ends who as luck had it walked past at the same time would sit down and chat. I talked to a lot of neat people on that thing. Chicago MSI happens to be one of the two buildings still remaining from the World's Fair of 1892-93 in Chicago, commonly known as the Columbian Exposition. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jon@hill.lut.ac.uk (Jon P. Knight) Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone Organization: Dept of Comp. Studies, Loughborough University of Tech., UK. Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 08:20:39 GMT In article John Conwell writes: > Also, if a truly interactive video phone is available for residential use today. I am aware of Sony's teleconferencing, although I don't know the particulars. In the UK, British Telecom have recently released an interactive video phone which can be used for either business or residential use. I don't know much about the technical details (Richard Cox or one of the other uk.telecomers who read this forum might like to fill in the details), but I do know that they cost 300-400 pounds each (with a special deal on buying more than one - handy! ;-) ) and are advertised to work practically everywhere in the world except for some Third World countries (I'm not sure why they can't be used in those countries; it could be either political reasons or something to do with the poor telephone service offered). Jon Knight, Research Student in High Performance Networking and Distributed Systems in the Department of _Computer_Studies_ at Loughborough University. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 08:43:58 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Re: Caller-ID Devices Tad Cook asks about Caller-ID devices. Well I have two and both connect to my PC for call filtering. The first was purchased about a year ago and is aptly named "Whozz Calling" and came from a copmany in Atlanta. It consists of a box with rj-11 in, rj-11 out and a serial cable for the PC. When a call comes in a database is queried and if accepted a signal is sent back to the box to let the call through to the "out" rj-11. If not in the db or marked "do not answer", the calling party just hears unending rings. This cost about $80.00 US. The other is a Supra 14,4 FAX Modem that I paid just under $300 for (I understand that they have an internal for $200 now and a 2400 baud for less). $20 US puchased the optional Caller-ID ROM and I wrote a PROCOMM + .ASP file to do essentially the same as the above. I also have a Gemini box purchased for $35 US at Home Depot that just records/displays the time and number. The downside of all this is that Southern Bell charges $7.50 US per month per line for Caller-ID service and IMHO the coverage is not broad enough. The last ten calls to come into the one line I have it on were all "Out of Area" (call blocking produces a different message). In fact calls from a subdivision less than three miles away (yes, it is inside my LATA and a free call) comes in as "Out of Area". Overall I am running about one in four identified calls. This is not worth $7.50 a month and if I were not using it for testing, would have it taken out. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 10:51:41 EST From: Rhett Glover Subject: Motorola UDS V.32 to MAC Info Needed Hello net land, I picked up a Motorola UDS V.32 modem, Model # LCD RM 16M SA, at a computer auction this weekend. Only problem is ... no documentation!. Can anyone help me get this thing hooked up to my Quadra 700? Any pointers to Documentation would be appreciated. Thanks, Rhett Glover USAF Air Warfare Center Eglin AFB Fl 32542 904 882-9341 gloverr@uv4.eglin.af.mil ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #264 ******************************  ^A^A^A^A Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16460; 20 Apr 93 6:06 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09769 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 20 Apr 1993 03:15:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29612 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 20 Apr 1993 03:15:03 -0500 Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 03:15:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304200815.AA29612@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #265 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Apr 93 03:15:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 265 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System (Jim Hart) Followup: How to Busy Out a Line (Jeff Wasilko) Looking to Sell PBX's (Bonnie J. Johnson) Still Another New AT&T Plan (TELECOM Moderator) Emergency Changes Made by Data Broadcasting News (Darren Ingram) Re: CD-ROM Archives (Steve Forrette) Strange Intercept on Personal 800 Number (Brian Gordon) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (John R. Levine) Reaching Out and Touching Someone, Anyone (Mark Brader) Re: Wireless City (Sean Malloy) Re: Mysterious Charges on Phone Bill (Russell Blau) Re: A Very Interesting Intercept (Paul Robinson) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) Subject: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: Open Communications Forum Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 19:47:49 GMT All the world should be made aware of the National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap chip, called the "Clipper Chip" in confusion with Intergraph's popular CAD station chip. The wiretap chip is being put in AT&T's new line of "secure" phones sold as a "privacy system" to domestic and international customers alike. The announcement, and the endorsement by naive Clinton Adminstration rookies, has been posted in sci.crypt. (If you are in another country and did not get to see these posts, please request and I will repost them publicly with international distribution). In this chip, the "private" encryption keys are in fact stored at the NSA's headquarters. This allows the NSA to monitor and store billions of of domestic and international telephone calls between businessmen, diplomats, government leaders, lawyers and psychiatrists and religious leaders and tax accountants and their clients, tourists, and everyday citizens. The NSA has spent several $billions on terabyte disk archives; they can search telephone calls recorded on these archives at their leisure with more $billions worth of high-speed computers. The U.S. government will soon be spending $28 billion per year for such intelligence purposes. Furthermore, NSA refuses to divulge its top-secret code in the chip, which may allow it to wiretap even if political pressure is applied on them to give up their key-archive system. It's time to take action now: * Boycott AT&T -- this is in your own best interest; you're an idiot if you use a phone service that has demonstrated its lack of respect for your privacy. * Lobby governments to take the following actions: -- Forbid the import of key-escrow phones, which jeopardize national security as well as the integrity of business and privacy of citizens; -- Forbid domestic government agency key-archiving schemes; -- Remove obsolete Cold-War restrictions on private use of electronic cryptography for private communications; -- (In U.S.) Publish the NSA Clipper algorithm immediately; -- Get government out of the crypto business; * Develop an open, international, non-archive, free market system of cryptography as a de facto standard for real telephone privacy. Accept no NSA-crackable weak algorithms, top-secret algorithms, key archiving, or secret government collusion with megacorporations like AT&T. jhart@agora.rain.com ------------------------------ From: Jeff@digtype.airage.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Followup: How to Busy Out a Line Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 22:58:45 EST Organization: Air Age Publishing, Wilton CT USA Reply-To: jeff@digtype.airage.com A few weeks ago I asked for the best way to busy out a line. A few people wanted to know why I needed to busy the line out: after hours, our Auto Attendant transfers calls to our answering service via two OPX lines when the customer wants to place an order. The problem was that we have three lines in the 800 hunt group, and only two OPX lines to our answering service. Unfortunatly our phone system and auto attendant (a Norstar) is really stupid in the way it handles analog lines, forcing us to limit incoming calls to two at a time. Many people suggested 600-1000 ohms or so ohms across tip and ring, and others suggested a dead short would be the same to the CO. After talking to the test board tech, I installed a switch to short tip to ring, and it's been working fine for two weeks. The test board tech marked our records about the fact that we are busying out the line in case an error is ever generated. We've had it busied out over a three-day weekend (Easter) and we get dial tone back in less than a minute every time when we remove the short. Thanks for everyone's help. Jeff Jeff's Oasis at Home. Jeff can also be reached at work at: jwasilko@airage.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 15:55:55 EDT From: Bonnie J Johnson Subject: Looking to Sell PBX's Two 4600 GTD Electronic digital PBX telephone switches; Manufactured by Automatic Electric; Feature rich, 15,000 line capacity when connected by tie lines; Software version on switch 1-1321, switch 2-1411; Recent change terminals for adds, moves and changes and traffic studies; Seven attendant consoles; Battery power plant used for back up; Available January 1994. Any ideas netters might have other than overseas and the salvage yard? ty, bj ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 22:49:58 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Still Another New AT&T Plan A letter in the mail today from AT&T tells of still another plan for long distance calling, called "Simple Savings", and later it is said to be part of "The 'i' Plan. There are so many of these things anymore, it is even starting to get confusing to me! This deal is based on your making $30 per month or more in long distance calls. If you do, then you get a 25 percent discount on calls to any one area code of your choice, and 15 percent discount on your calls to all other area codes. These discounts will be automatically deducted from your bill each month. This sounds a lot like the old 'Pick a Point' plan that Illinois Bell used to offer (maybe still does) on calls within their LATA in Illinois. I guess this turns out to be a better deal than Reach Out America, depending on your application; the time of day you make your calls, etc. To sign up, you call AT&T at 1-800-358-8231, extension 3269, tell them which area code you want, then continue calling as always. The two things I am curious about are a caveat emptor at the bottom of the letter which says 'subject to billing availability' and some code numbers. I guess they must bill for this through the local Bells like most of their other calling plans; apparently they are still at the mercy of those billing offices which do not have the software installed yet. At the very bottom of my letter, in small print is this legend: It includes one of my phone numbers, which I replaced with xxx. C31 312 xxx xxxx Y 074 VEI IWS SS01 9627 $ I think the 074 refers to the billing office at Illinois Bell here in Chicago. Does anyone know what the other letters and numbers mean? Most important, note the dollar sign on the right side ... does this mean I'd get money for leaving them then being lured back by the promise of some filthy money? :) I wonder how much? :) Or does the lack of figures after the dollar sign mean I get nothing? :( Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: dingram@dims.demon.co.uk (Darren P. Ingram) Subject: Emergency Changes Made by Data Broadcasting News Organization: Darren Ingram Media Services Reply-To: dingram@dims.demon.co.uk Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 22:47:14 +0000 This may interest some of you ... IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR DATA BROADCASTING NEWS READERS TELE-satellit, the operators of the facsimile polling service currently used by DBN, have advised that this service is to be withdrawn by the end of May 1993. Unfortunately it will not be possible to get a pollable fax service operational by this time. Arrangements have been made to ensure a faxed out or mailed out service for DBN readers, and in time a new polling service should be available. In order to be kept advised of developments, please fax the following sheet back to DBN. You will not be under any obligation by doing so, but it will enable DBN to advise you on the best methods of receiving Data Broadcasting News. You are advised to fax +44 (0) 203 717 418 immediately, as this fax service will shortly be discontinued and you may not have any point of contact with DBN. We hope that you will remain an avid reader of Data Broadcasting News, so please fax today. Darren Ingram, Editor. ---------- FAX TO +44 (0) 203 717 418 (0203 717418 IN UNITED KINGDOM) OR POST TO DBN, 184 BROOKSIDE AVENUE, COVENTRY CV5 8AD, UK [ ] Please send me details of the various ways of reading Data Broadcasting News after the fax polling service closes. I understand that I will not be under any obligations whatsoever. [ ] Please send me details of Satnews, the sister title to Data Broadcasting News, which provides a fortnightly insight into the worldwide satellite and cable markets. [ ] Please send me details of Tele-satellit, the monthly GERMAN language glossy features magazine. Name: Address: Country: Telephone: Facsimile: Darren P. Ingram / DIMS (dingram@dims.demon.co.uk) - Views expressed do 184 Brookside Avenue, Whoberley, Coventry CV5 8AD UK - not automatically Tel:+44 203 717 417/Fax:+44 203 717 418/Tlx 94026650 - represent those of 24-HOUR response number:+44 374 108 268 - DIMS or its clients News, features, marketing & PR support and research/consultancy services ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 14:06:07 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: CD-ROM Archives Sounds like a great idea to me. I'd certainly be willing to pay $79, although I think that many people might find that price a bit too high. They key part of it in my opinion would be the searching. I've tried sometimes to find an article in the archives that I remembered reading, but the volume of information in the back issues is so great that it takes a lot of time under the current system. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: Yes, the Telecom Archives in its present condition is hard to search at times. One of the reasons I compiled the subject and author index was to partly ease the task of locating things in the past, but there is still a lot of work to be done there. As my own personal circumstances change for the better -- and they will, they always have because I keep looking up! -- I'll be able to spend more time making the archives what they ought to be. Ditto here in the Digest, where I see many things in the editing and layout which need attention. I am oppressed by things undone. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 12:34:50 PDT From: Brian.Gordon@Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Gordon) Subject: Strange Intercept on Personal 800 Number Over the weekend, one of the kids was at a "retreat" at Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains (in CA). The only accessible phone was a Pac*Bell payphone (although I though that that was the heart of GTE territory). When he tried to call the home 800 number (a Pac*Bell Personal 800 number, to be exact), the call was intercepted by an operator (presumably Pac*Bell, but he didn't think to ask) who wanted to know if he was calling from jail. When (s)he was satisfied that the call was from a normal pay phone, (s)he wanted to know whose 800 number he was calling. When (s)he was told that it was just our own home 800 number, (s)he was shocked and said (s)he had never heard of such a thing -- but the call did go through. Of course, since there was now a long line at that one and only phone, he could then only talk for a few seconds ... I wonder if Pac*Bell still has switchboards in somebody's living room? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 19 Apr 93 16:41:45 EDT (Mon) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > Does anyone know when Bellcore introduced the Video Phone? AT&T, also known at that time as the Bell System, introduced the Picturephone with great fanfare at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. I used one of the demos there to talk to other family members in the next booth. At that time the major technical problem was that the bandwidth was prohibitively expensive. That problem has largely gone away (128KB ISDN is enough for the kind of cruddy video that picturephones provide) and now the issue seems to be that except for group-to-group teleconferencing there isn't a lot of interest in it. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Reaching Out and Touching Someone, Anyone Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 18:10:40 GMT A co-worker recently posted the following wrong-number story to a local newsgroup, and I thought it worth forwarding here. For foreign readers: both the Subject line and the last line are plays on slogans in Bell Canada advertisements. My home phone number must be similar to Bell's for the area that I live in and over the last six months I've had several calls but the one on sunday was the best one yet. It went something like this ... Me: Hallo Caller: This is Bell, right? Me: No, it's not. Caller: Oh, well anyway, my answering machine doesn't do blah, blah, blah Me: This is not Bell! Caller: Oh, it's not, oh, um ... but can I tell you anyway? Me: No! Ma Bell's surrogate partner answering your call! Forwarded by: Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ From: scm3775@tamsun.tamu.edu (Sean Malloy) Subject: Re: Wireless City Date: 20 Apr 1993 00:08:44 -0500 Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX This sounds very similar to a GTE (of all people ;-) offered service called UltraPhone. According to a guest lecturer in one of my telecom classes whose name escapes me, GTE is testing the service in remote areas, such as West Texas, where the current facilities are well below average, but the low subscriber-density makes it undesirable to lay new cable. I'm going from sketchy notes and handouts, but I'll relate what I remember. An UltraPhone CO Terminal terminates up to 6 T1 spans which go out to a Radio Carrier Station (of which the antenna is a part of). Here, the T1s are compressed (RELP), multiplexed (TDM), modulated (16 PSK), and transmitted. According to the speaker, the compression gets a VG channel down to 16kbps or so before transmission (which I personally find stunning, since he also claims that the system can handle 9600 fax -- though they had some "problems" with that at first). The subscriber location has a transceiver located near the premesis (usually located at the top of a pole, he claims) which receives, I believe, 16 channels. One of the channels is used for control and signaling, and the customer station tunes itself to the appropriate channel when a call is made or recieved. The subscriber station takes the incoming digital signal and expands it into a standard VG line, which is hardwired to the customer premesis. The subscriber station communicates nearly continuously with the RCS, and the status of a station can be monitored at the CO Terminal. Each Radio Carrier Station can serve up to 564 customers (obviously with a fair amount of blocking) in a 37.5 mile radius from the station. The distance limitation has to do with sychronization, and not with transmitter power. Forward radio path (network station to subscriber) is 454.025 to 454.650 MHz. Reverse radio path is 459.025 to 459.650 MHz. 20kHz bandwidth per channel, 25kHz bandwidth spacing, 5kHz guard band. No switching (concentration?) is done at the RCS, so if one subscriber wants to call his neighbor who is served by the same RCS, the call still has to be switched at the CO. Sean C. Malloy - Texas A&M University - scm@tamu.edu ------------------------------ From: Russell.Blau@f459.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Russell Blau) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 13:29:00 -0500 Subject: Re: Mysterious Charges on Phone Bill roden@Aig.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Joe Roden) wrote: > Can anyone explain to me how I could receive a charge on my phone bill > when someone called me from a hotel while using her own AT&T calling > card? > [Moderator's Note: The party calling you from a hotel used one of the > AT&T calling cards with a scrambled number -- a number which has no > direct, obvious relationship to the telephone number to which it is > assigned. They were probably tricked into thinking their call was > being placed over AT&T when in fact 'Zero Plus Dialing' intercepted > the call. Once 'Zero Plus Dialing' got the call and realized they had > no way to bill the calling party (the rip off carriers are no longer > getting a free ride via the AT&T data base, etc) they simply decided > to reverse the charges, putting them through to *your* line instead. > I've received many complaints about this outfit; almost as many as > Integretel. Pat, it may interest you to know that Zero Plus Dialing Inc. is *not* an operator service provider. It is a billing clearinghouse that compiles and process billing records on behalf of a number of different OSPs and forwards these to the local phone cos. for collection. Therefore, assuming your scenario is accurate, it was one of ZPDI's client companies that decided to put the call through as a collect call, not ZPDI itself. ZPDI simply received an apparently legit call record for a collect call and sent it along to the LEC. [Moderator's Note: In a personal note to me, Mr. Blau pointed out that his experience with Zero Plus Dialing, Inc. had been when errors of this sort were pointed out to them, they either corrected them or made a referral direct to their client. I hope Joe Roden will post a note soon following up and letting us know how ZPDI handled his case. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 01:21:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: A Very Interesting Intercept Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA I am the original poster of the message. The interrupt tells the caller they have called an invalid number in Japan. The interesting thing was not that some systems won't complete the call, but that the recording was in clear, American English *before* the announcement in Japanese: (music in background) "This is the KDD international telephone office in Japan. The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and dial again. This is a recording." (new voice) "Okida a KDD day. Okakinima fa dee o dango wa .... " Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #265 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa06898; 21 Apr 93 4:06 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11660 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 01:37:50 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30220 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 01:36:56 -0500 Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 01:36:56 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304210636.AA30220@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #267 TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Apr 93 01:34:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 267 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson GTE in California (Tony Harminc) Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort (David Horvath) Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision (Jim Fenton) Supercomm Atlanta (Les Reeves) Radio Transmitter Information Needed (Yuxing Tian) Problems in Austin TX (Monty Solomon) Acoustic Modem Vendors Wanted (Mike Crowe) Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (James Gleick) What States or PUCs Have Caller ID? (David Schanen) Looking for Database Software (Tony Dal Santo) NPA Stuff Wanted For United States (Aaron Woolfson) Bell Canada Restricts International Calls From Pay Phones (Mark Brader) From the Archives: Telecom Humor (Douglas W. Martin) Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager (Ken Thompson) Re: Telco Uses My Lines (Patton Turner) Re: A Mailing List Ripped Off (Lynne Gregg) Re: CD-ROM Archives (Bob Frankston) Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 00:18:43 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: GTE in California I was in California recently, and passed through several parts of GTEland on the way down the coast from SF to LA. Some curiosities and questions: A bank of pay phones in Santa Monica with numbers like nxx-9401, nxx-9502, nxx-9603. Coincidence, or some GTE pay station numbering scheme ? (Two of the three were out of order, BTW.) In either Santa Monica or Santa Barbara (I forget) a manhole cover labeled "B T Co.". Wasn't this a Bell System name? This led me to wonder about the history of GTE and the Bell System before the breakup and before LD competition. Was the Bell System ever the provider of local service in what are now GTE locations? And how did GTE make LD connections in those dim and distant days? Did GTE have lines between (say) Santa Barbara and Santa Monica? How about closer places such as Santa Monica and GTE parts of LA that would now be in one LATA? GTE pay phones in a couple of cases listed AT&T as the 0+ carrier, but actually used something else. It was MCI in one case (which was OK with me and accepted my Bell Canada calling card) but one in Santa Monica said nothing at the calling card ka-bong, but after entering the number (I know - I should have listened) said what sounded like "Encore". I didn't let it go through -- are they teleslime or reasonable? And is it accepted that GTE lists AT&T but actually uses another carrier? (I tried 10xxx and it did work.) What idiot designed those payphone keypads that break a fingernail on each use? The tiny rectangular keys with sharp metal bits on each side. What on earth was the point? I notice that newer phones have more normal keypads. And finally a non GTEland question: at the hotel in San Francisco, the 0+ ka-bong said the (one word) name of the hotel. It's a small hotel, and although part of a small chain its name is not that of the chain/owner. Is this common ? (10xxx worked fine.) Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: dhorvath@sas.upenn.edu (David Horvath) Subject: Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 18:06:11 EDT I got a telephone call today from a contract programming broker in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania area. Bell of Pennsylvania (a Bell Atlantic company) is looking for seven to thirteen IBM mainframe assembly and COBOL programmers. According to the broker, the additional staff needs are due to the area code split in the area. From our brief conversation, it seemed like they needed seven people yesterday and another six in the very near future. Any ideas why the heavy needs? I'm not affilitated with the contract broker *or* Ma Bell. If you're looking for work as a contractor and *know* IBM mainframe assembler very well and also know COBOL, I'd be willing to give you the name and number of the broker. David Horvath ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 17:10:36 PDT From: fenton@esd.WJ.COM (Jim Fenton) Subject: Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision For an upcoming demo, I need to find a coupling device to which I can feed audio that will answer when the line "rings", supply the audio over the line, the hang up when the far end does. Who might make such a device? Jim Fenton Watkins-Johnson Company, San Jose, CA 408 435-1400 ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 20 Apr 93 20:02:14 GMT Subject: Supercomm Atlanta Patrick, I plan to go to Supercomm Wednesday. Are there any vendors or particular industry groups that might interest you or TD? I went by the press room yesterday and got copies of of all releases and annoucements they had. It was slim pickings but the show did not actually begin until today. [Moderator's Note: I'll leave it to your option and let you be the Digest press correspondent. Bring us back a report on the show in general, and a vendor or two or three of your choice. Have a nice time. With all the money I'm supposed to be making from the commercialization of the net these days with the Orange Cards, etc, maybe I should use the liberal expense account the Digest Mega- corporation gives me to fly down today and cover the show myself. I'd fly first class of course ... ... be sure and turn in your expense account to the Comptroller of Digest Currency when you get back. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 14:17:41 -0500 From: Yuxing Tian Subject: Radio Transmitter Information Needed Hello, Does anybody know where I can get technical information of small radio transmitters, like the one used on wild animals. Thanks in advance. Yuxing [Moderator's Note: It appears to me you might be in Chicago, in which case you could try contacting the Lincoln Park Zoological Society, managers of the Lincoln Park Zoo here. I think they may use them on occassion in their wildlife exhibition areas sometimes. They'll know who/where to ask if they do not have the answers. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 15:16:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Problems in Austin TX I reached the following recording today trying to reach a business in Austin, TX. "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try your call later. 512 4T" This recording was on both their 800 and direct dial numbers. [Moderator's Note: After getting your note, I queried 512-555-1212. She knew of nothing amiss after asking the supervisor. Maybe it was just a fluke, a very temporary failure of some sort. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mwc@stimpy.handheld.com (Mike Crowe) Subject: Acoustic Modem Vendors Wanted Date: 20 Apr 1993 13:08:43 GMT Organization: Hand Held Products, Inc. Greetings, We are looking for a small, battery powered acoustic modem system with muffs for a battery powered application. We have located the company below, but would also like any information on other companies who may have similar products. We have located a company called 'Unlimited Systems Inc.' in San Diego, CA. They make a Konexx Modem/Acoustic coupler that is powered by a 9 volt battery, has integrated muffs, uses V.22bis/group3, and will send data at 2400 baud (9600 baud on digital lines). Their modem number is 305. Has anyone had experiences, positive or negative, with this company/product? Any information would be appreciated. Mike Crowe, Hand Held Products, Charlotte, NC Views expressed herein do not reflect the views of Hand Held Products ------------------------------ From: gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) Subject: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 13:14:54 GMT David Feldman, author of "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?" and other Imponderables books, is asking for help with several telephone-related mysteries for his next book. Can anyone offer knowledgable assistance with any of the following? 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? 3) Why were the old crank phones (at least as depicted in movies) placed so high on the wall the users stretched to reach them. 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another within their own area? 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone companies money? 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire or crosspiece? 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are there particular specifications? Thank you in advance. Comments may be posted here or e-mailed to Dave in care of: James Gleick gleick@panix.com [Moderator's Note: By all means, post the answers here. A couple of the questions should have fascinating answers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mtv@halcyon.halcyon.com (David Schanen) Subject: What States or PUCs Have Caller ID? Date: 20 Apr 1993 13:06:37 -0700 Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. Thanks! David Schanen ------------------------------ From: tony@mtu.edu (Tony Dal Santo) Subject: Looking for Database Software Organization: Michigan Technological University Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 16:24:25 GMT I am looking to buy some software for storing information about our network. The information I want to store includes the wiring plan (twisted pair, coax, fiber), along with host information like IP address, Ethernet address, administrator, etc. This software should also be able to store the information for the phone system (phone number, circuit origin, cable pair, etc). The ability to store billing info is a big plus. Does anyone know of some software that can meet some or all of these needs? If so, I would REALLY like to hear about it. I would appreciate replies by mail (tony@mtu.edu) since my news feed isn't the most reliable. Thanks, Tony Dal Santo tony@mtu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 00:18:40 -0700 From: Aaron Woolfson Subject: NPA Stuff Wanted For United States Hi! I am trying to locate a few files which would help me greatly in my efforts. I am searching for a listing of NPA.xxx.exchanges-united states for area code 201 through 919 -- basically all of the NPA exchanges, etc. Also it would be nice to be able to get longitude/ latitude and lata- number for each prefix or switch serving a group of prefix'es ... I didn't want to send Bellcore the $990 for their stuff. Anyway, thanks a million! Aaron ... awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu Are there also any other ftp'able sites which have such an extensive amount of telecommmunications data? Thanks! [Moderator's Note: I expect at least a couple people here who collect this information in great quantities will be in touch with you soon. Other than our own Telecom Archives, I do not know of an ftp-able site with an extensive set of telecom files. But ours has only started! Wait until I get the time to work on it right ... I would like to add all the npa-usa files to ours over the next couple months or so. PAT] ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Bell Canada Restricts International Calls From Pay Phones Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 16:35:56 GMT I didn't send this in sooner because I expected that Nigel Allen or someone else would do so, but I haven't seen it in comp.dcom.telecom. According to a note on my last phone bill from Bell Canada: Due to a growing fraud problem, it is now no longer possible to make Calling Card or credit card calls from Bell payphones to overseas destinations. Temporarily, card reader payphones will not accept cash for calls to China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Macao or Hong Kong. Please call your business office for more information. Bell Canada's service area, of course, includes most of Ontario and Quebec and the eastern Northwest Territories. The restrictions were also noted in the newspapers, but I didn't see any further information there -- I'm particularly surprised that credit card calls need to be cut. Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com [Moderator's Note: We did have mention of this a month or two ago. But if the card reader phones won't accept cash to those points, and telco refuses to allow credit, then *what can* the card reader phones be used for where international calls are concerned? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 08:55:12 -0700 From: martin@cod.nosc.mil (Douglas W. Martin) Subject: From the Archives: Telecom Humor Sorry, I lost both the poster and the date, but if we're going to requote the story of the dog ringing the phone, we mustn't forget this one. Subject: More True Stories of Telephony One of the best telephone jokes I've ever heard. And like any good telephone joke, it strikes a chord in all of us from the industry. If you haven't worked with Special Services, you may not appreciate it fully ... Did you hear about the Telephone Man who was drafted into the Army? Seems he did well enough until he got out on the rifle range. As the sergeant approaches, he notices the Telephone man has his M-16 on full automatic and is blazing away firing rounds at a phenomenal rate. There's a rapidly growing pile of spent cartridges on the ground next to him. The Sergeant lifts his field glasses to observe the accuracy of this over confident trainee, and sees absolutely no marks on the target. Now, Sergeants are painstakingly trained by Uncle Sam to build the confidence and ability of all boot camp soldiers, so the Sergeant sizes up the situation and acts: "Soldier, you've wasted hundreds of perfectly good rounds of ammuntion and a thousand dollars of the taxpayer's good money and you haven't hit the target once! What in the [several arcane military terms deleted] is wrong here?" Now the Telephone Man knows he must immediately analyse the situation and correct the problem. His years of technical training from Ma Bell are called into play: The Telephone Man looks down the barrel of the gun. Then he carefully inspects the chamber. (Probably looking for the KS number so he can refer to the correct BSP for this weapon, no doubt.) He then rams a cartridge home into the chambers, arms the weapon, puts his finger over the end of the barrel and pulls the trigger. Of course, this neatly blows off the tip of his finger. The Telephone Man inspects the end of his finger, and thinks for a moment ... "Well, gee, Sarge, I don't rightly know what the problem is ... but it must be at the other end, 'cause its leaving here just fine!" Doug Martin martin@nosc.mil ------------------------------ From: Ken Thompson Subject: Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager Date: 20 Apr 93 17:26:58 GMT Organization: NCR Corporation Wichita, KS Bob_Frankston@frankston.com writes: ) ATDT5551234@98*25*26 ) Where the first part is the standard dial string, the @ waits for ) silence and the *, in some systems, is a dash. ) No board necessary, just a com port. ... and a modem! Ken Thompson N0ITL NCR Corp. Peripheral Products Division Disk Array Development 3718 N. Rock Road Wichita KS 67226 (316)636-8783 Ken.Thompson@wichitaks.ncr.com ------------------------------ From: turner@Dixie.Com Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 17:06 EDT From: rsiatl!turner@rsiatl.UUCP Subject: Re: Telco Uses My Lines Fred Goldstein writes, refering to Nynex: > No cellular phones. No land mobile radios. Nothing in the trucks at > all. When they need to communicate, they need a live phone line, and > think it's their right to beg, borrow or steal one. And this is part > of the same conglomerate that owns the local cellular (B) carrier. This seems to be a growing trend. I have noticed several telco's sending techs out with only pagers. Most of the affected techs I have talked to (Special Service, Toll, Cable, most everybody but residental installers) don't like it worth a damn, for safety reasons in addition to having problems calling into the office. I suggested to one craftsperson who shot cable problems on several mountaintops that he take it up with the CWA. He said their union reps prefer it because it reduces accountability (his words). At least one tech with a rural co-op in SC disconnected his land mobile to make room for a ham rig. He did still have an IMTS !! rig in the van. With some of the dispatch/test equipment combos out there, they have no choice but to steal your pair in order to get their next ticket. I suppose the cellular contract has to be bid out to prevent cross subbing? If the proposed Part 90 changes are implemented, the telcos may have to buy new radios anyway. I wonder if they will go cellular, or steal even more pairs. What happens if all you have are Special Service circuits? Patton Turner KB4GRZ FAA Telecommunications turner@dixie.com ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: A Mailing List Ripped Off Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 14:25:00 PDT Patrick, Actually, I'd like to know who else is out here on the Digest. It doesn't particularly disturb me that one individual happened to obtain a copy. But, I believe in full disclosure. Many of the internet mail list servers support REVIEW and WHO commands, so users can obtain subscriber lists. Sometimes it can be handy to know Who's Who out here in the interland! I'd like to know WHO's out here with us. Regards, Lynne [Moderator's Note: Like almost all mailing lists, there are people who ask to be added with the explicit understanding their name and net- address will NOT be given out to anyone. Not everyone necessarily wants everyone else to know who/where they are. I've always respected the privacy of readers here by keeping the lists confidential, letting users who want to correspond with others make their own arrangements. The telecom lists are not for sale or free giveaway, and believe me, a few companies have asked, usually the second way, and after resistance by myself, the first way. It still won't happen. Now the person who grabbed one of the lists the other day agrees his act was inappropriate and claims he destroyed the copies he made ... but then he adds there is nothing to prevent him from compiling a list of authors in each issue and using that instead. Well yes, there is: I could do like one Digest does and only print the names without the net addresses, forcing all correspondence to come through me, but that seems to me to unethically and needlessly restrict the exchange of mail and informa- tion between users. He's probably busy compiling his author's list now; so he can show his stuff one of these days with a splash mailing to everyone. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Re: CD-ROM Archives Date: Tue 20 Apr 1993 21:06 -0400 For reference, the street price for CD's of data is now about $29 or less. On the other hand, it would be helpful to have a full telecom reference disk. 600MB can provide lots of reference info. Perhaps more info from the mythical (yeah, I know they are real to some people) V&H tapes, dialing codes for all the cities in the world. Perhaps even a magic table that tells when one needs to dial one to each one exchange from another within a dialing area as well as other anomalies. For small amounts of info, going to the archives online is fine, but if making large amounts of data available locally would be valuable. Of course, the more valuable, the higher the price and/or the wider the distribution. [Moderator's Note: Ah, just give me a few months alone with the archives to whip them into shape. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 20:42:23 -0500 From: Gil Kloepfer Jr. Subject: Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan Organization: Southwest Systems Development Labs, Sugar Land, TX In Pat's article, he writes: > [...] I am curious about are a caveat emptor at the bottom of > the letter which says 'subject to billing availability' Must be, in part, due to all the complaining I did after Sugar Land Telephone (an independent) claimed not to be able to bill for one of the services I tried to order a year ago (something about still negotiating with AT&T regarding the billing arrangements). Since I work for the company which provides SLT's software (not SSDL, but my daytime job), I was able to locate someone who said that our software did, indeed, support it (the plan I was inquiring about). My own experience is that some of the independent local phone companies need some training on how to handle these calling plans as well as in customer relations. I never did get the AT&T calling plan I originally asked for, and I'm scared to death to try to change it now! Gil Kloepfer, Jr. gil@limbic.ssdl.com / ...!ames!limbic!gil ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #267 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08766; 21 Apr 93 5:06 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12731 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 02:33:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23890 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 02:33:03 -0500 Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 02:33:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304210733.AA23890@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #268 TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Apr 93 02:33:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 268 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (J. Maddaus) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (S. Forrette) Re: White House Encryption Proposal (Brent Capps) Re: Wireless City (Jim Kresse) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 16:52:28 EDT From: jsm@angate.att.com Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: AT&T In article , jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) writes: > All the world should be made aware of the National Security Agency > (NSA) wiretap chip, called the "Clipper Chip" in confusion with > Intergraph's popular CAD station chip. The wiretap chip is being put > in AT&T's new line of "secure" phones sold as a "privacy system" to If you are implying that your average everyday AT&T phone available through AT&T Phone Center Stores contains Clipper, you are wrong. > domestic and international customers alike. The announcement, and the > endorsement by naive Clinton Adminstration rookies, has been posted in > sci.crypt. (If you are in another country and did not get to see > these posts, please request and I will repost them publicly with > international distribution). > In this chip, the "private" encryption keys are in fact stored at the > NSA's headquarters. This allows the NSA to monitor and store billions NOT TRUE ... See below > of of domestic and international telephone calls between businessmen, > diplomats, government leaders, lawyers and psychiatrists and religious > leaders and tax accountants and their clients, tourists, and everyday > citizens. The NSA has spent several $billions on terabyte disk > archives; they can search telephone calls recorded on these archives > at their leisure with more $billions worth of high-speed computers. > The U.S. government will soon be spending $28 billion per year for > such intelligence purposes. Furthermore, NSA refuses to divulge its > top-secret code in the chip, which may allow it to wiretap even if Why should they? > political pressure is applied on them to give up their key-archive > system. > It's time to take action now: > * Boycott AT&T -- this is in your own best interest; you're an > idiot if you use a phone service that has demonstrated its lack of > respect for your privacy. > * Lobby governments to take the following actions: > -- Forbid the import of key-escrow phones, which > jeopardize national security as well as > the integrity of business and privacy of citizens; > -- Forbid domestic government agency key-archiving schemes; > -- Remove obsolete Cold-War restrictions on private use of > electronic cryptography for private communications; > -- (In U.S.) Publish the NSA Clipper algorithm immediately; > -- Get government out of the crypto business; > * Develop an open, international, non-archive, free market system of > cryptography as a de facto standard for real telephone privacy. > Accept no NSA-crackable weak algorithms, top-secret algorithms, key > archiving, or secret government collusion with megacorporations like > AT&T. Please take two anti-paranoia pills and call your doctor in the morning! Sorry, but the misinformation in this article forces me to respond. Standard disclaimer's apply, I speak for myself and not my employer. This is just not true. The current offering is in stand-alone devices which YOU can buy at YOUR discretion. There is no purposefully crippled telephone system. No one is forcing you to attach these devices to your telephone or buy a telephone which has the Clipper chip in it. Even if you attach one of the Telephone Security Devices to your phone, it does nothing unless you push the little red button, i.e. you have the choice of enabling/disabling the security feature completely on each call. There is however a strong need for multi-national U.S. companies such as AT&T to be able to secure voice/data/fax from foreign agencies and competitors. This is a documented need that DOES NOT impact your rights as an individual for privacy from anyone, including the government. As far as that is concerned, you can be no worse off than you are currently with no voice protection. To put it bluntly, the only reason you may consider your telephone conversation private is because any number of foreign agencies, companies and individuals have made a conscientious decision that your phone conversations are not worth listening to! I do take issue with the current thread in some Usenet groups that implicates AT&T (and therefore I presume those working on the TSD and other secure products) as subverting a person's individual right to privacy by offering a product line with the Clipper chip installed. As a Product Manager who's function in life is to place a TSD (with Clipper) in the cellular market-place, I would hope that most would realize that many things are said on Usenet that are based upon assumptions gleaned from reading more between the lines than really exists. The facts are that there is no government mandate to prevent people from choosing the encryption scheme of their choice. There are others available. You can purchase them now. What the government has said you can not do all along is export them, UNLESS you get their prior approval which is not often granted. Clipper is a compromise. In my mind, it is the best compromise (actually the only viable one I've seed to date) obtainable now. Despite the whining on other news groups, I have never seen a solution suggested that satisfies the needs of law enforcement and U.S. business in an equitable manner. The decision to use Clipper was not made lightly or without investigation by knowledgeable people in AT&T (and we do have what I would consider to be experts in the field). For your edification, I am attaching a post which appeared on sci.crypt that will explain a bit more about Clipper. Hope you find it interesting. John S. Maddaus Product Manager Secure Cellular Communications AT&T Bell Laboratories jsm@angate.att.com Subject: THE CLIPPER CHIP: A TECHNICAL SUMMARY Date: 19 Apr 93 18:23:27 -0400 Organization: Georgetown University The following document summarizes the Clipper Chip, how it is used, how programming of the chip is coupled to key generation and the escrow process, and how law enforcement decrypts communications. Since there has been some speculation on this news group about my own involvement in this project, I'd like to add that I was not in any way involved. I found out about it when the FBI briefed me on Thursday evening, April 15. Since then I have spent considerable time talking with the NSA and FBI to learn more about this, and I attended the NIST briefing at the Department of Commerce on April 16. The document below is the result of that effort. Dorothy Denning THE CLIPPER CHIP: A TECHNICAL SUMMARY Dorothy Denning April 19, 1993 INTRODUCTION On April 16, the President announced a new initiative that will bring together the Federal Government and industry in a voluntary program to provide secure communications while meeting the legitimate needs of law enforcement. At the heart of the plan is a new tamper-proof encryption chip called the "Clipper Chip" together with a split-key approach to escrowing keys. Two escrow agencies are used, and the key parts from both are needed to reconstruct a key. CHIP STRUCTURE The Clipper Chip contains a classified 64-bit block encryption algorithm called "Skipjack." The algorithm uses 80 bit keys (compared with 56 for the DES) and has 32 rounds of scrambling (compared with 16 for the DES). It supports all 4 DES modes of operation. Throughput is 16 Mbits a second. Each chip includes the following components: the Skipjack encryption algorithm F, an 80-bit family key that is common to all chips N, a 30-bit serial number U, an 80-bit secret key that unlocks all messages encrypted with the chip ENCRYPTING WITH THE CHIP To see how the chip is used, imagine that it is embedded in the AT&T telephone security device (as it will be). Suppose I call someone and we both have such a device. After pushing a button to start a secure conversation, my security device will negotiate a session key K with the device at the other end (in general, any method of key exchange can be used). The key K and message stream M (i.e., digitized voice) are then fed into the Clipper Chip to produce two values: E[M; K], the encrypted message stream, and E[E[K; U] + N; F], a law enforcement block. The law enforcement block thus contains the session key K encrypted under the unit key U concatenated with the serial number N, all encrypted under the family key F. CHIP PROGRAMMING AND ESCROW All Clipper Chips are programmed inside a SCIF (secure computer information facility), which is essentially a vault. The SCIF contains a laptop computer and equipment to program the chips. About 300 chips are programmed during a single session. The SCIF is located at Mikotronx. At the beginning of a session, a trusted agent from each of the two key escrow agencies enters the vault. Agent 1 enters an 80-bit value S1 into the laptop and agent 2 enters an 80-bit value S2. These values serve as seeds to generate keys for a sequence of serial numbers. To generate the unit key for a serial number N, the 30-bit value N is first padded with a fixed 34-bit block to produce a 64-bit block N1. S1 and S2 are then used as keys to triple-encrypt N1, producing a 64-bit block R1: R1 = E[D[E[N1; S1]; S2]; S1] . Similarly, N is padded with two other 34-bit blocks to produce N2 and N3, and two additional 64-bit blocks R2 and R3 are computed: R2 = E[D[E[N2; S1]; S2]; S1] R3 = E[D[E[N3; S1]; S2]; S1] . R1, R2, and R3 are then concatenated together, giving 192 bits. The first 80 bits are assigned to U1 and the second 80 bits to U2. The rest are discarded. The unit key U is the XOR of U1 and U2. U1 and U2 are the key parts that are separately escrowed with the two escrow agencies. As a sequence of values for U1, U2, and U are generated, they are written onto three separate floppy disks. The first disk contains a file for each serial number that contains the corresponding key part U1. The second disk is similar but contains the U2 values. The third disk contains the unit keys U. Agent 1 takes the first disk and agent 2 takes the second disk. The third disk is used to program the chips. After the chips are programmed, all information is discarded from the vault and the agents leave. The laptop may be destroyed for additional assurance that no information is left behind. The protocol may be changed slightly so that four people are in the room instead of two. The first two would provide the seeds S1 and S2, and the second two (the escrow agents) would take the disks back to the escrow agencies. The escrow agencies have as yet to be determined, but they will not be the NSA, CIA, FBI, or any other law enforcement agency. One or both may be independent from the government. LAW ENFORCEMENT USE When law enforcement has been authorized to tap an encrypted line, they will first take the warrant to the service provider in order to get access to the communications line. Let us assume that the tap is in place and that they have determined that the line is encrypted with Clipper. They will first decrypt the law enforcement block with the family key F. This gives them E[K; U] + N. They will then take a warrant identifying the chip serial number N to each of the key escrow agents and get back U1 and U2. U1 and U2 are XORed together to produce the unit key U, and E[K; U] is decrypted to get the session key K. Finally the message stream is decrypted. All this will be accomplished through a special black box decoder operated by the FBI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND DISTRIBUTION NOTICE. All information is based on information provided by NSA, NIST, and the FBI. Permission to distribute this document is granted. ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 20 Apr 1993 20:53:43 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) writes: > In this chip, the "private" encryption keys are in fact stored at the > NSA's headquarters. This is not true. There will be two key escrow agencies, which have not been named as of yet. > Furthermore, NSA refuses to divulge its top-secret code in the chip, > which may allow it to wiretap even if political pressure is applied on > them to give up their key-archive system. This is really stupid on the part of the government, IMHO. How do they expect to build public confidence in a system where public scrutiny of the algorithms is not possible? One reason mentioned for them keeping it secret is to prevent other companies from producing a compatible chipset that doesn't have the keys deposited with the escrow agencies. > * Boycott AT&T -- this is in your own best interest; you're an > idiot if you use a phone service that has demonstrated its lack of > respect for your privacy. So I guess you don't plan on using any phone, ever again? I don't see how introducing the Clipper Chip in cordless phones does anything to compromise personal privacy. If the government wishes to listen in on your calls, it is far more efficient to just place a tap at the telco (which would pick up all of your calls), rather than park a van in front of your house and intercept only your cordless telephone calls. But, this technology will provide some measure of protection from non-government interceptions, which at least for me are much more of a concern. Since the current telephone system (landline, cordless, cellular, etc) has absolutely no encryption of any kind in it, you don't plan on using it at all? > * Lobby governments to take the following actions: > -- Forbid the import of key-escrow phones, which > jeopardize national security as well as > the integrity of business and privacy of citizens; > -- Forbid domestic government agency key-archiving schemes; > -- Remove obsolete Cold-War restrictions on private use of > electronic cryptography for private communications; > -- (In U.S.) Publish the NSA Clipper algorithm immediately; > -- Get government out of the crypto business; I couldn't agree more. > Accept no NSA-crackable weak algorithms, top-secret algorithms, key > archiving, or secret government collusion with megacorporations like > AT&T. There is no secret collusion going on here -- it seems to me that AT&T is being quite open about their use of the Clipper Chip. I think we need to have a much more reasoned approach to opposing government proposals such as the Clipper Chip. It has uses which can benefit society (such as in protecting the link layer of cellular and cordless telephones), and other areas where society's privacy concerns could be severely compromised (such as statutes restricting non-approved encryption systems). Let's not spend our time worrying about the former. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: bcapps@atlastele.com (Brent Capps) Subject: Re: White House Encryption Proposal Organization: Atlas Telecom Inc. Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 16:07:57 GMT In article trh42502@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Dream Weaver) writes: > Most agree that the Clipper Chip increases security, by adding a > layer of encryption that is difficult for the average hacker to break > and a bother for authorities. There also seems to be a consensus that > to make this workable ALL other private cryptology and nonregistered > keys will be outlawed. I seriously doubt whether a prohibition like this would stand up to a court challenge. This would be tantamount to the government setting up an official approval process for certain kinds of speech (encrypted) which it is clearly forbidden to do under the First Amendment. Brent Capps bcapps@agora.rain.com (gay stuff) bcapps@atlastele.com (telecom stuff) ------------------------------ From: jim@atvl.panasonic.com (Jim Kresse) Subject: Re: Wireless City Reply-To: jim@atvl.panasonic.com Organization: Panasonic ATVL Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 16:02:13 GMT In article 10@eecs.nwu.edu, scm3775@tamsun.tamu.edu (Sean Malloy) writes: > This sounds very similar to a GTE (of all people ;-) offered service > called UltraPhone. According to a guest lecturer in one of my telecom > classes whose name escapes me, GTE is testing the service in remote > areas, such as West Texas, where the current facilities are well below > average, but the low subscriber-density makes it undesirable to lay > new cable. I used to work for International Mobile Machine (IMM, now known as InterDigital Communications), which built these systems. With some refinements (such as the cluster box), it is the same system which GTE uses in West Texas. > I'm going from sketchy notes and handouts, but I'll relate what I > remember. > An UltraPhone CO Terminal terminates up to 6 T1 spans which go out to > a Radio Carrier Station (of which the antenna is a part of). Here, > the T1s are compressed (RELP), multiplexed (TDM), modulated (16 PSK), > and transmitted. According to the speaker, the compression gets a VG > channel down to 16kbps or so before transmission (which I personally > find stunning, since he also claims that the system can handle 9600 > fax -- though they had some "problems" with that at first). The RELP actually runs at less than 16kbps. The original system could only handle data up to 1200 bps. I worked on a modification to the system to add 2400 bps data and fax capability (and yes, it was difficult to do!). > The subscriber location has a transceiver located near the premesis > (usually located at the top of a pole, he claims) which receives, I > believe, 16 channels. One of the channels is used for control and > signaling, and the customer station tunes itself to the appropriate > channel when a call is made or recieved. The subscriber station takes > the incoming digital signal and expands it into a standard VG line, > which is hardwired to the customer premesis. Only one time slot on one RF channel is used for control and signaling. > The subscriber station communicates nearly continuously with the RCS, > and the status of a station can be monitored at the CO Terminal. > Each Radio Carrier Station can serve up to 564 customers (obviously > with a fair amount of blocking) in a 37.5 mile radius from the > station. The distance limitation has to do with sychronization, and > not with transmitter power. > Forward radio path (network station to subscriber) is 454.025 to > 454.650 MHz. Reverse radio path is 459.025 to 459.650 MHz. 20kHz > bandwidth per channel, 25kHz bandwidth spacing, 5kHz guard band. > No switching (concentration?) is done at the RCS, so if one subscriber > wants to call his neighbor who is served by the same RCS, the call > still has to be switched at the CO. This was at least partially due to the fact that it was desired that the system look like a subscriber loop carrier system instead of a switch. Jim Kresse jim@atvl.panasonic.com Standard disclaimers apply ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #268 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27629; 22 Apr 93 2:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04623 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 23:58:22 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19890 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 21 Apr 1993 23:57:16 -0500 Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 23:57:16 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304220457.AA19890@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #266 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Apr 93 14:22:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 266 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (James Ebright) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Henry Mensch) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (Jim Rees) Re: Information Sought on Video Phone (John Marvin) Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (Carl Moore) Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (Richard Cox) Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan (John C. Fowler) Re: Problems With the GSM Subscriber Units (Nigel Elliot) Re: Wireless City (Bill Walker) Re: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 (Ed Greenberg) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: The Ohio State University Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 13:40:03 GMT In article jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) writes: > All the world should be made aware of the National Security Agency > (NSA) wiretap chip, called the "Clipper Chip" in confusion with > Intergraph's popular CAD station chip. The wiretap chip is being put > in AT&T's new line of "secure" phones sold as a "privacy system" to [...] > In this chip, the "private" encryption keys are in fact stored at the > NSA's headquarters. This allows the NSA to monitor and store billions > of of domestic and international telephone calls between businessmen, > diplomats, government leaders, lawyers and psychiatrists and religious > leaders and tax accountants and their clients, tourists, and everyday > citizens. [...] Well, they CLAIM this isn't true. And I doubt it is. NSA would not design an encryption scheme for the public market that they could not crack even WITHOUT the keys :) But we may never know, because, as the original poster points out, the NSA won't let the public know just how the chip works. While the chip will keep kids and scanners from listening in on your conversations, It certainly won't stop Big Brother or the friends of Big Brother or Big Brother wannabees. The trap door which will always let the govenment listen to your conversation is justified because only bad people like drug dealers would not like that :) Of course, I wonder how many big time drug dealers are going to use the government's wiretap phone? There are plenty of real encryption systems available to them ... (the only thing WE have is PGP!). The real problem with this new technology is it makes it very easy for the government to do centralized wiretaping. It effectively automates the system for them. > -- Remove obsolete Cold-War restrictions on private use of > electronic cryptography for private communications; Hey ... right now there are NO restrictions for electronic cryptography in the US ... the Clintons are getting ready to put them ON! And I voted for them :( George Orwell got the year wrong ... Where is Thomas Jefferson now that we really need him? Bitch to your congressperson ... political pressure works, I hope. Information farming at... For addr&phone: finger THE Ohio State University jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu [Moderator's Note: Many people believe the Clintons will oversee the dismantling of the Bill of Rights during their term in office. For example, the Second Amendment will most likely be repealed during their term. National Identity Cards, to be issued at the time a person is born, will begin. The Clipper Chip is just one of several distasteful things we'll see during the president's term in office. PAT] ------------------------------ From: henry@ads.com (Henry Mensch) Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 06:18:06 -0700 Subject: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Reply-To: henry@ads.com jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) wrote: > In this chip, the "private" encryption keys are in fact stored at the > NSA's headquarters. If you're going to publish such a warning, you ought to (at least) tell the whole story ... the proposal states that incomplete keys will be kept at two separate government agencies, and petitions must be made to both in order to get a complete, useful key. (I don't advocate this approach; I just think it's important to tell the whole story). # henry mensch / booz, allen & hamilton, inc. / [Moderator's Note: And it will be almost as hard to get approval from both agencies for use of the keys as it is now for a police officer standing at your door to get a search warrant on the fly if you insist on the officer 'respecting your rights'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone Date: 20 Apr 1993 16:07:02 GMT Organization: University of Michigan CITI Here is a very old message I have from the proud owner of an original Picturephone. Date: mon, 26 aug 85 03:42:50 From: ... Subject: Picturephone data Well, the Picturephone has the following dimensions - Base -to- top of head 15 1/4 inches head height 9 1/4 inches head width (at bottom) 8 inches screen 5 1/4w x 4 3/4h circular base 10 1/2 inches weight 26 pounds control box 6w x 3 1/2h * Ok, the face plate and internal frame is made out of case aluminum. The face plate is matt black with the camera "eye" on top and the tv screen below it. The base is made of magnesium (?) and is plated in matt finish nickel (?). The cover is not-so-high impact plastic (green in this case, most were beige) and can be taken off by removing two screws on the bottom. Vent slots are located on the top and bottom of the unit. The base has a neck that sticks up at a 45 deg angle from the back of the base (where the cables go in and out). The control box is the little box that has the following controls: ----------------------------------------------------------------- | - - | | | | ---------- ----------- ----------- | | | | | | BRIGHT | PRIVACY | ON OR | VU SELF | ZOOM | | | | | | | | QUIET | | | | | | - | | | | - | | - | | | | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | VOLUME | | OFF | | HEIGHT | | | | | | ---------- ----------- ----------- | | | | - - | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- The three middle boxes are flat-top rocker switches, the thin things are thumbwheel pots. The Picturephone had a few major drawbacks. 1) It didn't really run on normal phone lines. They had to be conditioned and couldn't contain any non-picturephone repeaters or other hardware attached. Normal local lines worked ok but long distance lines (normal) were out. 2) For each two PP's there was a power supply, line control, audio video filter/amps and other misc junk in a box about 3w x 2.5h x 1.5d (ft). these boxes had tons of option connections that were used to "tune" the lines. Audio and video were sent on separate lines. 3) The video ran at 1/2 the normal TV sweep freq. with 1/2 (or less) the number of lines and about 1/2 the resolution (per line). 4) You had to know someone else with one. The picture tube was a custom-blown job and the vidicon tube went out of production so long ago that Hitachi doesn't even have the part number on record! There are no IC's in the unit. Connection to the head is through a 25 pair ribbon connector (like a standard keyset). I hate to say this but I doubt that I am going to get rid of this fossil but I can check with the only other guy I know with one that might want to get rid of his (not too likely). My unit showed up when the construction crew were putting in a new hallway to an old building. They had to break through a wall and connect the new building with the old. The room that they had to turn into a hallway was a very old storage room with some old unclaimed video test gear and about 45 dead Picturephones (in their original boxes). The construction crew said that if they didn't get moved in 24 hours, they'd be chucked in the dumpster (a flatbed tractor trailer that gets hauled once every two weeks). My department sucked-up about four of them and the rest got trashed. I ended up with one of the four remaining Picturephone test-sets in existence as well. Too bad there's no way to power them up! (No one has any idea about the schematics -- let alone the custom parts labled "AX-1" and "AX-4", etc.) Well, so much for that, I've got to go to bed ... I hope that's answered your questions about it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 02:11:54 -0600 From: John Marvin Subject: Re: Information Sought on Video Phone In article , John Conwell writes: > Does anyone know when Bellcore introduced the Video Phone? I seem to > think it was at a 1960s Consumer Product Show. As mentioned previously, it was introduced at the 1964 Worlds Fair. Now, does anyone know how many Picturephones were manufactured? Were they ever actually used for anything other than demonstration purposes (i.e. were there any commercial customers)? One reason I ask is that we had three or four of the Picturephones installed in our high school physics laboratory (1973-1974). Our physics teacher obtained them from a friend who worked for Western Electric. We were led to believe that these phones were the actual ones installed at the 1964 Worlds Fair, and that there were not many others in existence. John Marvin jsm@fc.hp.com [Moderator's Note: There were others. Here in Chicago, all the Picture Phone customers were on the 312-467 exchange. At the IBT Building downtown, they had something called the 'video shopping mall' with three or four Picture Phones, each in an individual booth. You sat down in one then could call for free to one of about a dozen business places which had them installed to display their merchandise. You could order over the phone and pay with your Diners or Amex card. (We did not have VISA (it was called 'BankAmericard' originally) in those days; it got underway about the same time. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 11:05:43 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (I've been supplying the archive file history.of.area.splits ; let me know if you want that file and cannot get the archive yourself. It has a few notes in it about dialing instructions, which are expanded on below.) The original author wrote: > When does one need to dial a '1' before a ten-digit number? As far as I know, you can always insert a 1 before a 10 digit number. This would even be true in published instructions which tell you to dial area code + 7 digits (i.e. may omit leading 1): 1. local calls to another area code (I know of Washington DC and Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas) 2. long distance calls from San Jose, California, and from parts of New York City area (Long Island suburbs and southern Westchester) to other area codes. Some other places, such as New York City, used to make other-area-code long distance calls that way but now have to use leading 1, due to their need for N0X/N1X prefixes. The remaining examples I cited should go away (I have received definite word for the California case) when it is time to accommodate NNX area codes. > When does one need to dial a '1' before a seven-digit number? As explained in the history.of.area.splits file mentioned above, 1+7D should be going away in preparation for the NNX area codes. Many areas are still using it at this writing for long distance within an area code. > Is it acceptable to use ten digit numbers exclusively, even > within one's own area? I doubt it. That setup does appear with the Orange Card (noted recently in the Digest) and with the phone service I once used from on board an airplane. If you don't always require a 10 digit number, you have to use leading 1 to signal "area code follows", or you get situations that can only be resolved with time-out (example: 413-abcd versus 413-abc-defg, where 413 is the area code in western Massachusetts). > If a phone is connected to a private exchange, what is the > conventional digit to obtain an outside line? 9 is often used for this. My office has such, but I do NOT get a second dial tone. > Would a product such as ours be expected to explicitly choose > a LD carrier by using prefix codes? If so, how does that > work? If you do not supply a prefix code (of the form 10xxx), you will get the default LD carrier assigned to that telephone. So you are not REQUIRED to make explicit choice here. > How many of these things need to be configurable because they are > liable to vary from state to state for example? Most of the above varies from place to place; some instructions have been made statewide-uniform and/or areawide-uniform. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 11:35 GMT From: Richard Cox Subject: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required Reply-To: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk colin@integow.integrity.nl (Colin Smale) asked: >> How many of these things need to be configurable because they are >> liable to vary from state to state for example? Whenever you are designing telecom equipment, you should always make it configurable, because the network administrators are bound at some stage to come along and change things. When they do, some equipment will continue to work -- while other equipment will fail. If you were the supplier of the equipment that failed, you may make a few quick bucks or guilders selling the modifications: but you can be sure that next time, customers will go to the suppliers who made sure their equipment would not need modification! Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, Cardiff Business Park, Llanishen, CARDIFF, Wales CF4 5WF Voice: +44 222 747111 Fax: +44 222 711111 VoiceMail: +44 399 870101 E-mail: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk - PGP2.2 public key available on request ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 14:45 GMT From: John C. Fowler <0003513813@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan I got a similar letter a month or two ago. After scrutinizing the plan closely enough to determine that "no startup charges apply," I figured, why not? So I signed up. I've already received one bill, which saved nearly $15. There's no code on my original introductory letter, but they did print a similar code on my confirmation letter. In my case, it's: C16 303 545 xxxx Y 078 VE1B VEW ATL OCPZ1 ATL L68 E Again, for comparison, Pat's was: C32 312 xxx xxxx Y 074 VEI IWS SS01 9627 $ So it looks like they have more info on me, but they wouldn't be willing to pay me anything to switch. :-) John C. Fowler, 351-3813@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: elliotn@rtsg.mot.com (Nigel Elliot) Subject: Re: Problems With the GSM Subscriber Units Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 11:07:01 GMT > Recently I learned that using GSM portables inside vehicles cause some > problems. Either the GSM waveform or the way they turn the power up or > down can accidentally activate the airbag system also can interfer > with the automobile automatic break system (ABS). Also it has been > noticed that the GSM mobile interferes with people with hearing aids! > The problem has to do with the GSM waveform more than the frequency > band. Does anyone have more information on these issues? There there > any recent articles that address these problems. I think you'll find the problem lies with the systems that fail (ie their EMI immunity) rather than with the GSM mobiles ! ------------------------------ From: wwalker@qualcomm.com (Bill Walker) Subject: Re: Wireless City Organization: Qualcomm, Inc. Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 16:54:23 GMT In article , scm3775@tamsun.tamu.edu (Sean Malloy) wrote: > This sounds very similar to a GTE (of all people ;-) offered service > called UltraPhone. According to a guest lecturer in one of my telecom > classes whose name escapes me, GTE is testing the service in remote > areas, such as West Texas, where the current facilities are well below > average, but the low subscriber-density makes it undesirable to lay > new cable. It should sound similar to Ultraphone. It's from the same company (it may even be the same system, or a variation on it). Ultraphone was a product of International Mobile Machines (IMM), which, after the acquisition of SCS Mobilecom, changed its name to Interdigital Corp. Interestingly, the Ultraphone system was originally developed by M/A-COM Linkabit under contract to IMM. The founders of Linkabit later founded Qualcomm, the company I work for, and we are competing with IMM/Interdigital in the cellular telephone area. Bill Walker - WWalker@qualcomm.com - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA All opinions expressed are mine, and do not reflect those of my employer. ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Telecom Archives Index of Files - Spring, 1993 Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 17:03:49 GMT In article EENGELMANN@worldbank.org (Eric Engelmann 38488) writes: > I think it would be interesting to put all the archives on CD-ROM with Walnut Creek CDROM sells compilations of various archives, such as SIMTEL-20 and CICA Windows. They get $24.95 for those two, and between $25 and $100 for others. Most of their stuff is compilations. I expect they could do one of the digest archives, but the big questiona is how much volume there would b. Edward W. Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0511 | edg@netcom.com 1600 Stokes St. #24 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95126 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #266 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa00693; 22 Apr 93 4:08 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06121 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 01:05:16 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31885 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 01:04:32 -0500 Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 01:04:32 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304220604.AA31885@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #269 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Apr 93 01:04:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 269 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (James Turner) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Dale Farmer) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Steve Forrette) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Jon Gauthier) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Carl Moore) Re: Problems in Austin TX (Fritz Whittington) Re: Problems in Austin TX (Syd Weinstein) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Joel Levin) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (James Ebright) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Arthur Rubin) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Ron Dippold) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (John Levine) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 11:32:19 EDT From: turner@buffalo.HQ.Ileaf.COM (James Turner) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries In comp.dcom.telecom is written: > David Feldman, author of "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?" and other > Imponderables books, is asking for help with several telephone-related > mysteries for his next book. Can anyone offer knowledgable assistance > with any of the following? > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? Because no windows means no bombs thrown through them. Also probably makes them less vulnerable to weather-related problems like hurricanes and tornados. Since most of an old office was the (fairly massive) crossbar or step switch, and a lot of the rest was batteries and incoming cable, you ended up with a big building with no windows. > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and > another within their own area? Because they can get a better rate for their instate calling customers from the local Baby Bell, but need a national 800 number for their out of state customers. For example, say State Street Bank in Boston wants to set up 800 service for their customers. New England Telephone (Nynex) offers them a plan that allows anyone in the 617/413/508 area code to call them for .19c/minute. This is lower than what ATT/MCI/SPRINT can offer under their national 800# plans, but since New England Telephone is not allowed to offer 800 service outside their area, State Street must make arrangements for a different 800 number provided by a national carrier. With 800 number portability, it might be possibile to have an 800 number go to a regional provider for in-state calls and a national provider for national calls, but I don't think they're going to make the switches that smart. > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? There is probably some minor administrative costs associated with it, since they have to flag them in the company database so that they are not printed or given out by directory assistance. But the basic answer is no, since many BOCs will not list the second number coming into a home (the data line, for example) as long as the primary number IS listed. It's a phone company moneymaker, pure and simple. James M. Turner Member, Technical Staff Interleaf, Inc. (617) 290-0710 turner@HQ.Ileaf.com uunet!leafusa!turner ------------------------------ From: dale@access.digex.com (Dale Farmer) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 21 Apr 1993 12:55:11 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA James Gleick (gleick@Panix.Com) wrote: > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? I guess, (I have no basis in fact here tho) that it was a requirement to withstand enemy bombardment of US cities prior to the end of WW2 that was not such an unreasonable fear. Later on for fallout protection from the nuclear war. Telco as important infrastructure for the aftermath and eventual recovory. > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? Beats me. > 3) Why were the old crank phones (at least as depicted in movies) placed > so high on the wall the users stretched to reach them. Short actors? :-) > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? Because thats the way mother sold them to use :-) > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? Any special handling of a number costs extra. not listed, not published, multiple names per number, whatever ... > 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire or crosspiece? Why bother cutting them off, It's so high up there, and then it will fall down and knock down the wires and who is it bothering anyway ... :_) > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? Out in the forest... Wooden ones not too short, not too tall, not to thick, not too thin, just right. Dale Farmer ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 21 Apr 1993 19:16:38 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? It's usually one 800 number for out-of-state, and another for in-state. Back in the Dark Ages (early 1980's and before), this was a required configuration for 800 service. Although the requirement is no longer in place, some companies still want to maintain both old numbers so that existing customers using old reference material will be able to get through. > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? There are at least two reasons here: First, telephone services in many cases are not priced in relation to their cost, but rather the perceived value to the consumer. Take for example TouchTone dialing, which actually reduces the telco's cost, but is often surcharged because the customer perceives that they are getting an extra service. Second, having an unlisted number works against the telco's desire for there to be as many telephone calls as possible. If someone wants to call you, but can't get your number because it's unpublished, then they can't place a revenue-generating call. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: exujlg@exu.ericsson.se (Jon Gauthier) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Reply-To: exujlg@exu.ericsson.se Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc. Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 21:47:46 GMT > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? One good reason, if not the real one, is for security: it would be real easy for someone with a .30-06 to partially knock out service in an exchange. A few years ago, I investigated the use of underground telecom environmental vaults/huts for our contract with USWest. Talk about no windows ... > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? Notice that the area codes for large metro areas use lower-numbered digits. Back in the days of rotary phones (remember those?), since the vast majority of calls were to these large metro numbers, it made economic sense to assign those to low numbers. Since older stepper- and XY-type switches progressively seized circuits as they recieved dial pulses, assigning low numbers in high traffic areas enabled circuits to be held for shorter setup times -- therefore increasing the overall traffic capacity of the system. More income for no more capital outlay. A little simplistic, but you get the general idea ... Jon L. Gauthier Ericsson Network Systems, Inc EXU/IS/N Systems Programmer P.O. Box 833875 +1 214 997-0157 Richardson, TX 75083-3875 exujlg@exu.ericsson.se or exu.exujlg@memo.ericsson.se ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 10:08:12 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries To (partially?) answer some items: > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? I have shipped a copy of history.of.area.splits. It does mention the (long-since-obsolete) practice of putting N0X area codes into states or provinces with only one area code and N1X area codes into states or provinces with more than one area code. I don't know about geographic logic, but I do have a FORTRAN program called "nclicks" which counts the number of dial clicks in area codes ("0" means 10 clicks, any other single digit has its face value); notice that the fewest dial clicks for the current area codes are found in 212,312,213 (area codes for New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles). > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? I don't know about now, but previously there was a distinction between calling toll-free within a state (commonly used 800-NN2 for this) and calling toll-free from out of state. > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? I read a while back that it does mean extra time and effort to have to remove someone's number from the list which otherwise goes to press. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 13:07:33 CDT From: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) Subject: Re: Problems in Austin TX In comp.dcom.telecom is written: > I reached the following recording today trying to reach a business in > Austin, TX. > "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call cannot be > completed at this time. Please try your call later. 512 4T" > [Moderator's Note: After getting your note, I queried 512-555-1212. > She knew of nothing amiss after asking the supervisor. Maybe it was > just a fluke, a very temporary failure of some sort. PAT] The phones in the TI plant in Austin were reported to be cut off from the outside world for most of Tuesday, due to a cable cut somewhere. Fixed now; I don't have any further details. Fritz Whittington Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 655474, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75265 Shipping address: 13510 North Central Expressway, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75243 fritz@ti.com Office: +1 214 995 0397 FAX: +1 214 995 6194 Since I am not an official TI spokesperson, these opinions contain no spokes. ------------------------------ From: syd@dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) Subject: Re: Problems in Austin TX Date: 21 Apr 1993 13:28:58 -0400 Organization: Datacomp Systems, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA Reply-To: syd@DSI.COM Monty Solomon writes: > I reached the following recording today trying to reach a business in > Austin, TX. > "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call cannot be > completed at this time. Please try your call later. 512 4T" A major fiber cut in Austin caused this. Directory Info probably went to another city, which was not effected. Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator - Current 2.4PL21 Datacomp Systems, Inc. Projected 3.0 Release: ??? ?,1994 syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd Voice: (215) 947-9900, FAX: (215) 938-0235 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 09:24:19 -0400 From: Joel B Levin In a comment on a message by jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright), Our Moderator writes: > [Moderator's Note: Many people believe the Clintons will oversee the > dismantling of the Bill of Rights during their term in office. For > example, the Second Amendment will most likely be repealed during > their term. National Identity Cards, to be issued at the time a person > is born, will begin. The Clipper Chip is just one of several > distasteful things we'll see during the president's term in office. PAT] Let's not be hysterical. The Second Amendment controversy is a matter of interpretation, which may undergo changes, but don't bet on its repeal. As far as the Clipper Chip, don't forget that it has been under development for at least FOUR years, and the contracts for its manufacture were let over a year ago. And just what great fan of the Bill of Rights was in charge during that time? /J ------------------------------ From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: The Ohio State University Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 15:02:02 GMT In article jsm@angate.att.com writes: > In article , jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim > Hart) writes: >> Furthermore, NSA refuses to divulge its >> top-secret code in the chip, which may allow it to wiretap even if > Why should they? You are putting you employer in the position of selling folks condoms that might very well have holes in them. :( One of the basic tenents of cryptography is you MUST assume others will get access to the code, -- REAL security is available only when, even knowing the code, eavesdroppers can't decrypt the message. Open, public scrutiny of the encryption scheme is necessary for confidence. In other words, TEST YOUR CONDOMS BEFORE YOU SELL THEM ... > There is however a strong need for multi-national U.S. companies such > as AT&T to be able to secure voice/data/fax from foreign agencies and > competitors. Agreed ... so do it! But the clipper chip fails to meet even minimal cryptography practices. Build a TSD (telephone security device) that DOES! > This is a documented need that DOES NOT impact your rights as an > individual for privacy from anyone, including the government. So you admit we do have a right to privacy! Good. I agree. > As a Product Manager who's function in life is to place a TSD (with > Clipper) in the cellular market-place, I would hope that most would > realize that many things are said on Usenet that are based upon > assumptions gleaned from reading more between the lines than really > exists. Well, I have NEVER previously seen a White House statement that said Americans MAY NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS WHICH CAN NOT BE INTERCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT. And the White House Clipper statement said just that! It didn't say we didn't. But it EXPLICITLY didn't say we did. Check it out. BTW ... the public is not going to have a lot of confidence in this and the tying of this to the issue of Big Brother is going to be a big headache for your employer. I hope your compensation is not tied to actual sales of these units. > For your edification, I am attaching a post which appeared on > sci.crypt that will explain a bit more about Clipper. Hope you find > it interesting. > > THE CLIPPER CHIP: A TECHNICAL SUMMARY > Dorothy Denning > April 19, 1993 Dorothy Denning is quite notorious in the crypt community as an apologist for giving the govenment the right to read your mail ... I notice you didn't post any of the annotated versions of this document found in sci.crypt. Information farming at... For addr&phone: finger THE Ohio State University jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu Support Privacy: Support Encryption [Moderator's Note: As a matter of fact, the condom manufacturers do perform quality control tests on their products. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) Date: 21 Apr 93 16:48:24 GMT Reply-To: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) TELECOM Moderator notes: > [Moderator's Note: And it will be almost as hard to get approval from > both agencies for use of the keys as it is now for a police officer > standing at your door to get a search warrant on the fly if you insist > on the officer 'respecting your rights'. PAT] Not if the agencies are the ACLU and EFF. (Note: the proposal did state that one agency would be a non-governmental agency.) Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea 216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal) My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer. ------------------------------ From: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 19:46:46 GMT stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes: > compromise personal privacy. If the government wishes to listen in on > your calls, it is far more efficient to just place a tap at the telco > (which would pick up all of your calls), rather than park a van in > front of your house and intercept only your cordless telephone calls. That, however, requires a valid warrant (tap at telco). I also believe they're more concerned about end to end encryption rather than handset to cradle and/or phone to telco precisely because of that ability. Hence the timing of the chip. Once they get it established they can start cracking down on and cease approving other encryption methods. After all, only drug dealers, child pornographers, civil libertarians, and other scum could possibly want encryption the government can't listen to. Is there anyone who actually thinks they can keep those two keys secure? It should perform one significant purpose, however -- make local police far more dependent on the feds, which fits neatly with Clinton's National Police Force wishes. I'm not coming down on AT&T for this, it's just another business opportunity. But this, along with the National ID card, increased espionage budgets, and other items, after only four months, is slightly scary. [Moderator's Note: You haven't seen the worst of it from that hot team which got elected last November. Watch and see. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 21 Apr 93 15:01:10 EDT (Wed) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > [Moderator's Note: Many people believe the Clintons will oversee the > dismantling of the Bill of Rights during their term in office. ... > blah blah blah Can I pleasantly request that we send the political diatribes somewhere else? There's plenty to say about Clipper and other telephone encryption without shooting political flames, and plenty of other places on the net to talk politics. (Indeed, the political comments are the only one of the zillion kvetches about the TELECOM Digest with which I have any sympathy.) You might also consider reports that Clipper has been in development for about four years, which means that the initial idea and most of the implementation happened under Reagan and Bush. Granted, Clinton has gone along with the plan, but it's not his initiative. And speaking of Clipper wiretaps, did you see the part in Dorothy Denning's note that says that the escrowed keys are based on the chip's serial number and two nominally secret scrambling keys, so anyone who knows they scrambling keys can decode messages sent by any Clipper chip. Now THAT's creepy. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl [Moderator's Note: And thanks also to several other writers who commented on this topic but couldn't be included for space reasons. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #269 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02769; 22 Apr 93 5:13 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24293 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:01:40 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24245 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:01:06 -0500 Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:01:06 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304220701.AA24245@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #270 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Apr 93 02:01:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 270 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Korea Goes CDMA (Ron Dippold) International Telephone Dialing (Marida Ignacio) Intelligent Telephone Boards/Boxes (Monty Solomon) Overview of Telephone Network Wanted (Rod Kline) Contel Cellular Offer in VT (Garrett Wollman) Small, PC-Based PBX? (Carl W. Neihart) "From" Data in Orange Card Bill (Carl Moore) New Fraud: Outright Thievery! (Steve Forrette) Re: Caller-ID Devices (Mike Ikotin) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) Subject: Korea Goes CDMA Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 22:06:29 GMT I don't normally pass the Qualcomm press releases onto here, thus sparing everyone dozens of them regarding companies signing on for CDMA, etc., but this one seemed of enough general interest. A brief CDMA history (public announcements only) follows. CDMA CHOSEN AS CELLULAR STANDARD FOR KOREA -Ministry of Communications Selects CDMA: Commercial Service To Begin 1995- SAN DIEGO Q April 21, 1993 - The Korean Ministry of Communications (MOC) announced that it has selected Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for the Korean cellular telephone system. QUALCOMM Incorporated, (NASDAQ:QCOM), the developer of CDMA technology, indicated that the MOC has set a 1995 date for commercial CDMA service. According to Director General, Mr. In Hak Lee of the Radio Regulatory Office of the MOC, CDMA was selected after a careful evaluation of both TDMA and CDMA technologies. The basis for the selection was CDMA's multiple advantages. "CDMA has larger capacity, six or seven times that of TDMA, and provides excellent voice quality," he said. "Also, we can expect to save 30% of the system installation and operating expenses by using CDMA," Lee continued. With the selection of CDMA, the schedule for digital service implementation in Korea, originally planned for 1997, has been advanced two years. The schedule outlined by Mr. Lee now calls for prototype equipment in September 1994, followed by commercial field trials in early 1995 and commercial service later that year. CDMA subscriber and infrastructure equipment for the Korean network will be supplied by Korean manufacturers. Four major Korean cellular telephone equipment manufacturers and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea will participate in the implementation of digital cellular equipment based on QUALCOMM's CDMA technology. "ETRI and the manufacturers will work closely with QUALCOMM to realize the early commercial deployment of CDMA network and subscriber equipment in Korea in 1995," said Dr. Seung Taik Yang, President of ETRI. "ETRI intends to make the first implementation of CDMA in Korea a showcase for other Asian countries." Each of the ETRI designated manufacturers, Goldstar Information & Communications, Ltd., Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd., Maxon Electronics Co., Ltd., and Samsung Electronics Co., has signed an agreement with QUALCOMM for the joint development of cellular telephone subscriber and infrastructure equipment. Maxon will produce subscriber equipment only, while the other three companies will develop both subscriber and infrastructure equipment. In addition to providing equipment for the Korean market, these manufacturers will provide alternate sources of CDMA equipment for networks in the U.S. and other countries interested in implementing CDMA. "The Korean MOC's choice of CDMA for its digital network demonstrates the growing international acceptance of the CDMA technology developed by QUALCOMM as a next generation mobile technology," said Irwin Jacobs, QUALCOMM's Chief Executive Officer. "With their new schedule for commercialization, Korea will parallel U.S. carriers in the implementation of CDMA." Three U.S. carriers, Bell Atlantic Mobile, PacTel Cellular and U S WEST NewVector Group, have announced purchases of, or plans to implement, CDMA networks in their U.S. cellular markets. U S WEST NewVector's plans include CDMA installation in its Seattle market beginning in late 1993 with commercial service available in late 1994. QUALCOMM Incorporated develops, manufactures, markets, licenses and operates advanced communications systems and products based on digital wireless technology. QUALCOMM's products include the OmniTRACSR system and digital wireless telephone systems and products based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. The company also develops and markets a range of VLSI devices. ### OmniTRACS is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS March 17, 1993 QUALCOMM Evaluates InterDigital Corporation's CDMA patents and determines they are either not necessary to build CDMA equipment compliant with the draft CDMA standard or embody technology first invented, developed and belonging to QUALCOMM. The draft CDMA standard was approved on March 15th by TR45.5 Subcommittee and issued to members of TIA for ballot. Ballots are due by April 16, 1993. March 17, 1993 Four Manufacturers Sign on For Korean CDMA Development. Goldstar, Hyundai, Maxon & Samsung Electronics were chosen by ETRI to participate in the implementation of CDMA in Korea. Each company has signed an agreement with QUALCOMM to jointly develop CDMA cellular subscriber and infrastructure equipment. March 2, 1993 QUALCOMM Introduces Hand-Held CDMA Portable Phone. The CD-7000 is the industry's first CDMA/analog portable telephone and can operate as a digital CDMA phone wherever CDMA service is available, and otherwise as a high-quality standard analog phone. Production quantities will be available in Fall 1993. March 2, 1993 QUALCOMM Announces Design for Mobile Station Modem (MSM) ASIC, which replaces previous CDMA subscriber three-chip set. The MSM chip reduces portable phone power requirements by 50%, as well as increases portable talk time, and is immediately available to licensed CDMA subscriber equipment manufacturers. March 2, 1993 FCC Grants QUALCOMM Experimental PCS License to conduct field trials and studies in the 1850-1990 MHz band. The company will demonstrate the feasibility of using its CDMA digital cellular system for personal communications services (PCS). February 22, 1993 QUALCOMM Introduces First Dual-Mode CDMA-AMPS Mobile Phone. The CD-3000 operates as a digital CDMA phone wherever digital service is available, and otherwise as a high-quality standard analog phone. This is the first in a series of CDMA-based cellular telephones designed by QUALCOMM. January 18, 1993 QUALCOMM and GTE conduct joint CDMA Trials in Tampa, Florida. The 30-day trial, funded by GTE Mobile Communications, will validate previous findings, and confirm benefits of CDMA for cellular applications in the Tampa market. December 21, 1992 CDMA Digital Cellular Technology Nears Standardization. Technical parameters and baseline text for a CDMA digital cellular standard adopted by TIA TR45.5 Subcommittee after unanimous vote to begin validation and verification process. December 3, 1992 Telecom Australia's Research Laboratories (TRL) signs contract for CDMA digital cellular telephone equipment for testing in Australia in the 800MHz band. QUALCOMM will provide several base stations, a switch, several mobile units and CDMA-specific test equipment, as well as its proprietary distributed antenna. November 23, 1992 Telesis Technologies Laboratory (TTL), a subsidiary of Pacific Telesis, announce joint testing of CDMA PCS system (1850 - 1990 MHz) in San Diego. Tests are currently underway and will continue through first quarter of 1993. September 30, 1992 CDMA goes to Wall Street. LOCATE and Bear, Stearns sign contract for CDMA technology and equipment for PCS applications. Contract covers equipment to be used for testing prior to CDMA implementation on Wall Street at Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. September 21, 1992 QUALCOMM successfully completes CDMA cellular demonstration in Geneva with Swiss PTT. Trials were conducted in the 800 - 900 MHz band and allowed the Swiss to compare CDMA with European GSM standard. August 20, 1992 Ameritech announces first dual digital cellular trial of CDMA and TDMA technology. The trials will be based in Chicago metropolitan area beginning in September and lasting 60 days. August 18, 1992 QUALCOMM & ETRI announce commencement of Phase II of contract to jointly design and develop CDMA-based digital cellular system for metropolitan area in Korea. July 15, 1992 Mitsubishi Electric Signs CDMA Technology Support Agreement, positioning themselves to join as licensee. June 10, 1992 A resolution of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Board of Directors requests expeditions development of a CDMA wideband spread spectrum digital cellular standard. June 4, 1992 Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, Inc. announces plans to conduct field trials of CDMA digital technology in its Washington, D.C. cellular system. May 28, 1992 Demonstrations of a CDMA-based digital cellular system are completed in the Federal Republic of Germany in cooperation with Deutsche Budespost Telekom (DBP Telekom). Data garnered during the trials will be assessed for possible use in both mobile and fixed location wireless loop applications. May 21, 1992 QUALCOMM is awarded U.S. patent number 5,101,501 for its method of providing a "soft" hand-off in a CDMA digital cellular telephone system. To date seven CDMA patents have been issued, with 16 pending. April 16, 1992 American Personal Communications (APC) announces a multimillion dollar contract with QUALCOMM for the purchase of CDMA equipment to test APC's Frequency Agile Sharing Technology (FAST) in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area. April 13, 1992 Nokia Mobile Phones announces they have signed a multimillion dollar licensing agreement with QUALCOMM for CDMA technology. March 9, 1992 QUALCOMM'S CDMA Digital Cellular Common Air Interface (CAI) specification is accepted as a contribution by the Telecommunications Industry Association's subcommittee TR45.5 as a proposed wideband spread spectrum standard. March 2, 1992 QUALCOMM announces that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the company an experimental license to conduct trials demonstrating personal communications services (PCS) in the 1850-1990 MHz band. March 2, 1992 Matsushita Communications Industrial Co., Ltd. signs a support agreement with the company for CDMA technology. January 3, 1992 Northern Telecom signs a multimillion dollar licensing agreement with QUALCOMM for CDMA technology. It joins previously announced licensees AT&T, Motorola and OKI telecom. December 6, 1991 The company announces the successful completion of formal Phase Two field validation tests of CDMA with the participation of 14 carriers and manufacturers. Results of the trials show increases in capacity in excess of 10 times the current analog system, as well as improvements in quality. November 22, 1991 U.S. patent number 5,056,109 is awarded to the company for its method of controlling transmission power in CDMA digital cellular systems. October 7, 1991 QUALCOMM announces availability of its CDMA Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip set. The ASIC's are offered to manufacturers under licensing agreement. August 29, 1991 U.S. West NewVector Group joins the CDMA field trial evaluation team. August 7, 1991 OKI telecom, a participant in the CDMA field trials, signs a licensing agreement with QUALCOMM for CDMA technology. July 31, 1991 Formal Phase Two field validation trials of CDMA technology begin. July 25, 1991 Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, Inc. signs on as a CDMA field trial evaluation team member. July 23, 1991 Toronto-based Bell Cellular announces they will participate in CDMA field trials. July 17, 1991 GTE Telecommunications joins as a member of the CDMA field trial evaluation team. May 23, 1991 The Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and QUALCOMM sign a joint development agreement valued at $17 million to develop digital cellular network and subscriber equipment using CDMA technology. May 10, 1991 Alpine/Alps Electric and QUALCOMM create joint venture to manufacture, market and distribute CDMA digital cellular telephones and other wireless products worldwide. [ lots of early development here... ] ------------------------------ From: maridai@comm.mot.com (Marida Ignacio) Subject: International Telephone Dialing Organization: trunking_fixed Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 16:49:56 GMT Does anyone know of a compilation, a telephony handbook, or any book that contains _telephone dialing plans_ all over the world (ie. North America - 1+/0+, 411, 611,911, area code, etc.; Mexico - 91+ for LD, 95+ for US, 98+ for international?; etc.)? I have to make a design proposal for the telephone interface/product I handle at work to improvise a control/restriction per subscriber on top of the different dialing plans all over but it should be flexible enough to be usable and non-restricting for international market. Currently, this product is structured mainly for North American dialing standard and this has been causing restrictions and prohibitions when configured as so and utilized in other parts of the world. Upon grasping the 'jungle' of plans out there, this would help me establish a very flexible (and maybe simple) design that can be feasible and can easily be implemented for my product. Thanks for any help. Marida (maridai@ecs.comm.mot.com) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 05:38:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intelligent Telephone Boards/Boxes We are looking for some telephone interfaces (boards/boxes) to hook up to a computer which will be running one of Unix/DOS/Mac. We want to be able to communicate with a database on the computer using DTMF and the telephone interface. It would be nice if the telephone interface came with a set of library routines (preferably in C++) which we could use to write our own programs. We would also like to be able to record and playback voice using the computer's hard disk for storage. Does anyone here have any experience with, or knowledge of, any products which might meet our needs? Thanks, Monty ------------------------------ From: infmx!rod@uunet.UU.NET (Rod Kline) Subject: Overview of Telephone Network Wanted Organization: Informix Software, Inc. Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 22:24:59 GMT I am attempting to get an overview of the telephone network in the United States. I am hoping someone out there can point me to a good source of information. The most ideal overview would describe the connections necessary for a call to make if from a home in California to a business in New York or Washington. I am trying to understand how calls are routed to the different long distance carriers, what things are different in the prime long distance carriers, and key technology necessary for our current system. Please respond to rod@informix.com Thanks for any help. Rod Kline ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 07:44:38 -0400 From: Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU Subject: Contel Cellular Offer in VT I was listening to the radio the other day (it was an accident, I assure you!) and heard an adversisement for Contel Cellular, the `B' side carrier here in (at least Northern) Vermont. (I'd love to know how it is that Contel got the `B' license rather than NETel, considering their comparative landline service areas. The `A' side is a Cell One franchise.) What they are offering is free airtime on weekends for six months, to all customers who sign up for full-year contract before the end of this month. Now I don't even want a pager, never mind a cell phone, but since I haven't heard of this particular gimmick before, I thought Digest readers might be interested in it, even though none of you live here. :-) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ From: neihart@sunquest.com (Carl W Neihart) Subject: Small, PC-Based PBX? Date: 21 Apr 1993 17:35:29 GMT Organization: Sunquest Information Systems Inc., Tucson I am looking for a very small, inexpensive PBX and voice mail system to be used for a small office of about 20 people. Something with a max of 24 lines and four trunks or similar would be ideal. It would also be nice if it were a card that went into a dedicated PC, and controlled by software running in Windows. Does anyone know of a company that makes such a beast? Regards, carl neihart 4/21/93 neihart@sunquest.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 11:23:06 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: "From" Data in Orange Card Bill There was an earlier blurb from me about the bill I got for the Orange Card. I have mentioned that sometimes I read the data from the FROM portion of the call detail, and I only got a three-letter descriptor for some sort or region in the single Orange Card bill I have received at this writing. I previously mentioned making an occasional trip on unfamiliar roads and making phone calls along the way and then checking the FROM data, and the Orange Card bill does not seem to supply this. But I am using the Orange Card from places whose phone prefixes I am already familiar with. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 18:20:42 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: New Fraud: Outright Thievery! We've all heard of toll fraud as a way to steal telecommunications resources. Now the crooks have escalated the ante. I've heard of a report of a company on the East Coast that was having some minor troubles with their PBX. A technician showed up at the door and asked for directions to the PBX closet. Since they had been having some trouble, the company showed this person the way without checking any credentials. About five minutes later, the phones went completely dead. Of course, they went up to the PBX closet, and found that several boards from the PBX had been yanked out of the main cabinet, and that the 'repairman' had taken flight out the back door. I guess there must be money to be made in 'aftermarket' system boards for popular PBX's. I wonder how many large sites have this risk in their disaster recovery plans? Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: Firms would be well advised to keep their telecom facilities room under lock and key, with only one or two employees authorized to unlock and remain in the premises while work is going on anytime a 'different person than the regular guy' comes out from the vendor to do repairs. And don't hesitate to ask for ID or call the vendor to confirm the person's identity who is there. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ikotin@nmelh9 (Mike Ikotin) Subject: Re: Caller-ID Devices Organization: NorThern Telecom, Australia Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 22:51:50 GMT In article , padgett@tccslr.dnet. mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: > Tad Cook asks about Caller-ID devices. Well I have two and both > connect to my PC for call filtering. The first was purchased about a > year ago and is aptly named "Whozz Calling" and came from a copmany in > Atlanta. It consists of a box with rj-11 in, rj-11 out and a serial > cable for the PC. > When a call comes in a database is queried and if accepted a signal is > sent back to the box to let the call through to the "out" rj-11. If > not in the db or marked "do not answer", the calling party just hears > unending rings. This cost about $80.00 US. > The other is a Supra 14,4 FAX Modem that I paid just under $300 for (I > understand that they have an internal for $200 now and a 2400 baud for > less). $20 US puchased the optional Caller-ID ROM and I wrote a > PROCOMM + .ASP file to do essentially the same as the above. > I also have a Gemini box purchased for $35 US at Home Depot that just > records/displays the time and number. In Australia, we are just exploring the allowing of CLI to be passed to households and busineeses. Now the product you described, specifically the 'box' and 'modem' arrangment is no where to be seen around here. But more of interest, is the 'database' product, which you describe. Can you possibly elaborate on the product, features, cost and availiability as it sounds like a good concept, which I'd like to look at for the future down here. I especially agree with your comments on CO based call screening and the costs, and my issue with all this is the time we have taken in Australia to implement such functionality. Later, Mike Ikotin NorTel ( NT ) Australia DID: 613 206 4655 Internet: ikotin@nmelh9.bnr.ca These views are my own, not of my employer at all. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #270 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03145; 22 Apr 93 5:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02566 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:45:38 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17347 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:45:00 -0500 Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 02:45:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304220745.AA17347@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #271 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Apr 93 02:45:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 271 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Need PD IXO Pager Software For PC - Clarification (James J. Menth) Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager (Brad Houser) Re: Radio Transmitter Information Needed (Al Stangenberger) Re: Radio Transmitter Information Needed (Yuxing Tian) Re: Wireless City (Larry Svec) Re: Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort (Syd Weinstein) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jjm@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (james.j.menth) Subject: Re: Need PD IXO Pager Software For PC - Clarification Organization: AT&T Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 13:06:43 GMT In article Dub Dublin writes: > Thanks for checking, but I had already checked the archives. The only > thing there for the IXO/TAP protocol (at least that I could find) is > the same tpage program I'm already using on UNIX (but without the > fixes that will let it work reliably -- it kind of sucks as > distributed), a HyperCard IXO/TAP program, and a description of the > IXO/TAP protocol. > I don't really want to roll my own here -- I was searching to see if > someone on the Net has already written such a program FOR THE _PC_. > Unless you have another suggestion, please post this note to the net > and lets see if we can find something out there to do this job! Pat: Sorry for the length but feel free to trim as necessary. Here is a copy of the README file for a MS-Windows based IXO (TAP) paging package available free to end users (I got mine by return email) It works fine and has a cute icon included in the .exe. Note that not-for-profit unmodified distribution is allowed. Jim at Little Rock jjm@cbnewsb.cb.att.com -------------------- v0.95 swIXO by RTFM UN*X SOLUTIONS and beachSystems copyright 1992 Robert Swirsky and Steven Warner Swixo is designed to enable you to easily and quicky send text messages to alpanumeric pagers. Some paging systems disallow "manual" mode of page entry, only permitting IXO messages, presumably to discourage users from not using expensive messaging services. Swixo uses IXO protocol, so you should be able to use it on any system. IF YOU ARE UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION OF SWIXO, PLEASE DELETE SWIXO.EXE AND SWIXO.IXO FILES BEFORE RUNNING THE PROGRAM. 0. AS-IS, No Warranty, License to use. Swixo belongs to RTFM UN*X solutions and beachSystems. You are granted a license to use the software, provided to do not modify anything, and you do not sell it. You may distribute it to others, and are encouraged to do so. You may register with us for the enhanced version. DO NOT modify the .ZIP file or the 'authenticity flags' will be reset. Swixo is used entirely at YOUR OWN RISK. There is no warranty of any kind, either express or implied. If any law excludes us from providing software to you in this manner, then the license to use is VOID, and you must not use swIXO. 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS swIXO will operate on any machine that is running Microsoft Windows, version 3.1. swIXO requires a serial port, with a connected modem. Some knowledge of your modems setup commands will be helpful. 2. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION The distribution disk contains a .ZIP file, which when UNZIPPED should have given an authenticity notice. If it did not, then do not use swixo. See #0 above. To install swIXO, create a directory for swIXO on your hard disk, and copy the file swixo.exe, which was created from the .ZIP file. Start windows, and add swIXO to a program manager group, using NEW ... Start swXIO by double-clicking on the icon. swIXO will automatically create the file SWIXO.IXO, which contains setup information and other runtime parameters. You may delete the file SWIXO.IXO, to return swIXO to default settings later. 3. GETTING GOING swIXO requires a modem and serial port. Modem cards should work okay, but are untested. The free version of swIXO only supports COM1: and COM2: The first time you run swIXO, you must use the SETTINGS ... menu choice to define your system to swIXO. The default settings should work okay. If your modem has any funky strings that need be sent, then put them here. When you are done with this screen, click OK. RS-232 settings: Baud rate - Select the baud rate that swIXO should use to talk to your modem. If your modem uses a fixed DTE, then go ahead and use 9600. In this case you will need to add commands to the dial string that tell your modem to dial at 300 or 1200 baud. Most paging systems use 300 baud. Some use 1200. Experiment here and see what works best for you. Some paging system modems will get upset if your modem tries to negotiate an error free connection, and/or compression. (MNP3,4,5, LAP-M, V42.bis) etc.. You might have better luck if you initially put strings to temporairly disable these features into the dial string. On a Hayes modem this is commonly &Q0, and on a multi-tech modem, use &E0. Word Length, Stop Bits, Parity. Leave these at 7 bits, 1 stop bit and even parity. This is what most paging systems like to see. These settings are provided in case your situation is unusual. Modem Control: RESET: The sequence of characters that swIXO needs to send to get your modem to reset. If you modem does not need to be reset, or if dropping DTR will reset your modem, then leave this field BLANK. This text is automatically terminated with a C/R. use a tilde ~ to add a one second delay. If your modem becomes busy after sending reset or dropping dtr, add tildes ~ to make swIXO wait for the modem to become ready again. DIAL PREFIX: The characters you want swIXO to send before the telephone number in the dial string. We use ATV1Q0 as a default, which uses tone dialing, and verbose word responces. USE ATH0 TO HANGUP: Check this box if your modem will not hangup upon loss of DTR. GIVE UP TIME: Put the amount of time that swixo should wait for carrier, and the paging system. 40-60 seconds is about right. Modem reply strings: CONNECT: The string your modem sends when it receives carrier. BUSY: The string your modem sends when the line is busy. FAIL: The string your modem send if it never gets carrier. 4. SENDING PAGES To send pages, make sure you did the SETTINGS ... (#3) at least once since you installed swIXO. On the swXIO main screen is a picture of an ADVISOR pager. Click anyplace on the pager to send a page. The ENTER PAGE dialog will pop up, and provide you with some options. The Message to send area is where you type the text that you want to be transmitted to the pager. If you are sending to a POCSAG pager, you may use upper and lower case, along with most punctuation. If your pager is GSC, you may use only UPPER case, and limited punctuation. See appendix for pager identifications. You may enter up to 199 characters into the message screen. Note: some paging systems may impose limits less than this. The PAGER ID box is where you put the digital address of tha pager you wish to transmit to. Your paging company will provide you with this number. Sometimes this number is identical to the telephone number used to send NUMERIC only pages to this pager. PAGING SYSTEM PHONE #: This is the dial-in phone number that your paging service has provided to allow modem entry of alpha pages. It is usually the same number for everyone on the system. Your paging company will provide this number for you. PAGER TYPE POCSAG/GSC: Check the radio button indicating the type of pager you are sending to. Use GSC if you don't know (or care). If you want to use lowercase and punctuation, you might want to experament. See the appendix. CLEAR: Will erase the message text area. SAVE DEFAULT: Press this button to save the contents of this screen as the default. Very handy if you send pages to the same person most of the time. RECALL: A cool, handy feature that will cause swIXO to fill out the ENTER PAGE screen in the same way as the last 10 pages. This will allow you review pages and send one again easily. try it! CANCEL: Close this window and return to the main swixo screen. OK, SEND PAGE: Swixo will send your page when you press this. You will see dialog messages that describe the process, and complain when something goes wrong. When your page is accepted, swIXO will reply with 'PAGE SUCCESSFUL'. 5. PROBLEMS: ---MODEM WON'T DIAL--- Be sure you have used the settings screen to set up all RS232 parameters for your modem. Be sire settings are correct, and that cables are okay. Be sure your RESET string has enough delay in it so that your modem is READY when dialing begins. ---CANNOT LOG INTO PAGING SERVICE--- Be sure you are using the correct paging system phone number. Disable error correction and compression on your modem. Try using 300 baud. Your paging system may have a password on it. Swixo does not support passwords in this release. ---MODEM WON'T HANG UP--- We strongly suggest you set your modem to hang up with DTR. If you absolutely cannot do this, check the ATH0 box in the RS232 settings section of SETTINGS ... ---PAGE IS INCOMPLETE--- You may have a GSC pager, and are sending with POCSAG checked. Check the GSC button. Your paging system may have the MAX character limit set to less than 199. Send fewer characters. A. Appendix A GSC or POCSAG. GSC: Golay Sequential Code. POCSAG: Post Office Code Standard Advisory Group. (who thought of this stuff??) It is difficult to tell which is better, GSC or POCSAG, unless you like reading UPPERCASE LETTERS and no punctuation. GSC is UPPERCASE only, and seems to be popular with paging companies because it is faster to transmit in batch mode.. If you have a MOTOROLA ADVISOR, look on the back for the model number of your pager. It usually starts with A05 or A03. (A05 means 5-year warranty by the way, dunno anout A03). The 8th character in your model number will tell you POCSAG/GSC. Example: A03KLB5662AA ^ If the 8th character is 3 or 9, POCSAG. 6, GSC. The example is a GSC pager. B. TECH SUPPORT Swixo comes with NO technical support. We will however be happy to assist you by email with your problems or questions. Since this is a beta release, your comments and input are particularly welcome. Please email your technical questions and input to: rtfm@boy.com C. REGISTER! If you would like to register your copy of swIXO, you may send $20 to: S Warner RTFM/ BeachSystems 35451 Dumbarton Ct. Newark, CA 94560 Please email for availability. Registered users will receive the latest copy when available, and the enhanced copy when available. The enhanced copy will have an improved page database, and pager management features such as ENABLE and DISABLE a pager. D. MUMBO JUMBO Motorola and Advisor are trademarks of Motorola. Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, MS Windows are trademarks of Mircosoft corporation. ------------------------------ From: bhouser@sc9.intel.com Subject: Re: Need Computer Interface to a Pager Organization: Intel CTD Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 15:09:12 GMT In article , westes@netcom.com (Will Estes) writes: > Does anyone know of a way to interface a computer to a pager? I need > some way that the pager data can be sent to a computer instead of to > human via a pager. Maybe there is a board that slips into a computer? > The actual application for this is that a windmeter is going to send > wind data every hour to a pager number, which will then get read by an > Internet-attached host and fed by email to interested parties. Maybe I am missing something, but: Why not have the windmeter dial the computer directly? Brad Houser Intel Corporation bhouser@sc9.intel.com >>> ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 09:02:51 PDT From: forags@nature.berkeley.edu (Al Stangenberger) Subject: Re: Radio Transmitter Information Needed I know of two manufacturers of radio telemetry equipment for wildlife. Both are quite good according to our researchers, and can build equipment for anything from mice to elephants. Telonics 932 E. Impala Drive Mesa, AZ 85204-6699 (602) 892-4444 ABM Instrument Co. 2356 Research Drive Livermore, CA 94550 (510) 449-2286 Al Stangenberger Dept. of Forestry & Resource Mgt. forags@nature.berkeley.edu 145 Mulford Hall - Univ. of Calif. uucp: ucbvax!ucbnature!forags Berkeley, CA 94720 BITNET: FORAGS AT UCBNATUR (510) 642-4424 FAX: (510) 643-5438 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 16:18:26 -0500 From: Yuxing Tian Subject: Re: Radio Transmitter Information Needed Thank you very much. You guys are really kind. Yuxing Tian Computer Science student DePaul University [Moderator's Note: That's what the net is about: people helping others to find the answers they are seeking. Telecom-related questions are welcome from all here: this Digest is reserved neither for the highly technical telecom person nor the novice. The telecom mailing list has readers from both ends of the spectrum. Between myself and the far more technical readers, almost all telecom questions are answerable here and welcomed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: svec@rtsg.mot.com (Larry Svec) Subject: Re: Wireless City Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 21:55:20 GMT How cost effective is such an approach? Aren't those frequencies in the IMTS Telephone/Paging band thus limiting the total available channels, and if so, what does that do to the 500 subscriber limit? Can it send fax or data? Larry Svec - KD9OF home: 708-526-1256 e-mail: uunet!motcid!svecl VHF: 145.150- work: 708-632-5259 fax: 708-632-3290 UHF: 443.575+ ------------------------------ From: syd@dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) Subject: Re: Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort Date: 21 Apr 1993 14:45:04 -0400 Organization: Datacomp Systems, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA Reply-To: syd@DSI.COM dhorvath@sas.upenn.edu (David Horvath) writes: > I got a telephone call today from a contract programming broker in the > Philadelphia Pennsylvania area. Bell of Pennsylvania (a Bell Atlantic > company) is looking for seven to thirteen IBM mainframe assembly and > COBOL programmers. According to the broker, the additional staff > needs are due to the area code split in the area. > From our brief conversation, it seemed like they needed seven people > yesterday and another six in the very near future. Any ideas why the > heavy needs? Bell of PA does billing for themselves and many of the LD outfits under contract. They need to modify those 'dumb' billing apps to handle the 'free calling across A/C' stuff that will come into play. I am sure there were lots of 'assumptions' in the original code that the new split will destroy. Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator - Current 2.4PL21 Datacomp Systems, Inc. Projected 3.0 Release: ??? ?,1994 syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd Voice: (215) 947-9900, FAX: (215) 938-0235 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #271 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08869; 22 Apr 93 19:55 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11086 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 16:57:45 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11187 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 22 Apr 1993 16:57:10 -0500 Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 16:57:10 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304222157.AA11187@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #272 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Apr 93 16:57:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 272 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (David G. Lewis) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (Dave Bonney) Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) Re: Cell Rate Plans (Lynne Gregg) Ordering Information for ISDN Application Catalog (Steve Rogers) OCPZ1 - Still Another AT&T Plan (dquist@ben3b01.attmail.com) Information Request: Telecom Benchmarking Consortium (Barry Friedman) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: AT&T Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 14:35:01 GMT In article gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > David Feldman, author of "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?" and other > Imponderables books, is asking for help with several telephone-related > mysteries for his next book. Can anyone offer knowledgable assistance > with any of the following? Sure, I'll take a crack. Some of these I'm sure of (and may, given sufficient time and energy, be able to document); others are hypotheses. However, if anyone wins $10,000 on Jeopardy because they use my answers, I want a cut ... > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? Two reasons, I can think of. One, security: it's harder to break into a windowless building. Two, climate control: windows do not insulate as well as solid wall; more importantly, windows pass sunlight which heats inside air, and the last thing you need in a telco CO is more heat. (Hypothesis, but I might be able to find something in NEBS to back it up.) > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? The North American Numbering Plan was introduced in 1947, when a great deal of the interoffice signaling (as well as all the customer loop signaling) used dial pulses. Dial pulse is like "rotary dialing" on a telephone -- a "1" sends one pulse, a "2" sends two pulses, and so on up to 10 pulses for a "0". Therefore, the amount of time taken to signal an address is directly proportional to the sum of the digits of the address (with 0 = 10) (as opposed to MF signaling, where the amount of time taken to signal an address is directly proportional to the *number* of digits in the address, or common-channel signaling, where the amount of time taken to signal and address is independent of the address). The lower the sum of the digits, the less time taken to signal the address, and the less usage of network facilities for signaling. Therefore, to make the most efficient use of the network, those Numbering Plan Areas having the most incoming traffic were assigned the Numbering Plan Area Codes (area codes) with the fewest dial pulses required: New York = 212 (five pulses), LA = 213, Chicago = 312 (six pulses), Dallas = 214, Detroit = 313, Pittsburgh = 412 (seven pulses) (keep in mind we're talking 1947 here...), and so on. I don't know for certain how "deep" the Bell System went into this -- whether they used a strict allocation for all NPAs, or only for the few most heavily used - but knowing how we used to operate around here, I would not be surprised to find a strong negative correlation between 1945-46 traffic volumes and sum of area code digits ... (Some of this can be referenced in EOBS (Engineering and Operations in the Bell System); other parts would require more digging ...) > 3) Why were the old crank phones (at least as depicted in movies) placed > so high on the wall the users stretched to reach them. No idea. > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? Welcome to the wonderful world of telecom regulation. Intrastate and interstate telecommunications are regulated by different agencies -- intrastate by the 50 individual state utility commissions, and interstate by the FCC. In some states, long distance companies are prohibited by law from providing intraLATA (local) services; only the local telephone company is permitted to provide these services. However, the local telephone companies are prohibited by the terms of the AT&T divestiture agreement from providing interLATA (long distance) services. Therefore, if a company wants to provide an 800 number for both local and distant customers, they have to get 800 service from two different providers -- the local telco and a long distance company. As of today (for the next week or so, anyway), these must be different 800 numbers. The famous "800 Number Portability" regulation, which takes effect May 1, will enable companies to have a single 800 number which is handled by different companies based on such factors as time of day, calling location, and so on, so we may see this quirk disappearing over time. (This would require some digging to get all the correct references, but I'm sure they're out there.) > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? This will draw the usual run of "no, it's just a telco's way to suck more money out of people", but there is *some* justification. Subscribing to telephone service is a highly automated process. As with any highly automated processes, doing anything "different" from the default will add an incremental cost. For telephone service, the default is to put the number into the directory listing. Not putting the number into the directory listing requires something *different* to be done in any number of automated systems. The order entry system has to have a "non-published" flag which the service rep has to enter. The non-pub flag has to propagate to the work order system, to the directory services bureau (directory assistance) system, to the system that generates the paper directory, and to any number of other systems. All of these systems have to be developed by someone, and the incremental cost of development to support non-published numbers has to be recovered. So I would claim the answer is "yes, it does cost the phone companies money, but whether it costs as much as they charge for is a question that I'm not going to go near." As to references, well, I'm sure there are any number of tariff filings with detailed economic justifications of charges for non-published numbers, but I'm certainly not going to try to read them ... >6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire or crosspiece? My hypothesis would be that it is to provide room for adding more wires or crosspieces, especially in the days before carrier systems (multiplexing) and fiber. However, I don't know for certain. >7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? I know the answer to the second and third questions are "yes", but I don't know the details. However, a quick check of my Bellcore document catalog reveals a document entitled "Wood Utility Poles Generic Requirements", TR-NWT-000060, Issue 2, July 1991: "This Technical Reference contains Bellcore's view of criteria, technical background, general information and proposed generic requirements for wood telephone poles best suited to meet the typical needs of an Operating Telephone Company." Cost is $36.00; order by calling 1-800-521-CORE (1-800-521-2673). In addition to the information, Bellcore TRs generally have the name of a contact at Bellcore who can provide more information, so I'm sure that by ordering this you can track down probably the most knowledgeable person in the United States on the subject of telephone poles. David G Lewis AT&T Bell Laboratories david.g.lewis@att.com or !att!goofy!deej Switching & ISDN Implementation [Moderator's Note: Originally the idea behind two 800 numbers (on for in-state and one for out of state) was not that two carriers had to be involved; it was only AT&T involved -- they were the only 800 suppliers in the old days. It did have to do with the intra/inter-lata tariff however. Calls which arrived intra-state had to be billed at one price and calls from interstate at another price. I believe the equipment in those days required two separate numbers to do this. Likewise if a customer wanted 'banded' service (incoming calls only from a certain WATS band (one through six were interstate with one being closest to you and six being furthest away; band seven was the very local area and band eight was intrastate) they had to have different numbers for each band. That's the way the CO and billing offices could deal with it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 10:28:45 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries In TELECOM Digest Volume 13 : Issue 269 James M. Turner wrote: >> 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone >> companies money? > There is probably some minor administrative costs associated with it, > since they have to flag them in the company database so that they are > not printed or given out by directory assistance. But the basic > answer is no, since many BOCs will not list the second number coming > into a home (the data line, for example) as long as the primary number > IS listed. It's a phone company moneymaker, pure and simple. In NYTel land, a primary number can be unlisted or listed. It makes no nevermind to them as long as there is a legitimate billing name and address. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: rfranken@cs.umr.edu Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 11:05:33 CST gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) wrote: > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? I believe that phone companies will sell their white pages listing on magnetic media to companies (telemarketers, most likely) ... the more names in the book, the more money the electronic version is worth ... so, in a way, an unlisted number does cost them money, because the white pages are worth less. Brett (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 15:27:42 GMT From: dab@wiretap.spies.com (Dave Bonney) Subject: Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required In was written: > [a FAX product...] We would like to be able to produce a version for > the North American market, but I think we are rather spoiled by the > simple area code system which (in most European countries) years of Having lived in Europe, I don't think I'd call it 'simple' ! :-) > state monopoly has produced. Can anyone help me get hold of an 'idiots > guide' to the US telephone system so we can get our product set up > properly? > Questions which spring to mind include: > When does one need to dial a '1' before a ten-digit number? Usually, but not always. > When does one need to dial a '1' before a seven-digit number? Sometimes, but in some areas never. > Is it acceptable to use ten digit numbers exclusively, even > within one's own area? No, although there are/were some geographical areas where this is/was permitted. > If a phone is connected to a private exchange, what is the > conventional digit to obtain an outside line? Usually it's a '9', but like any PBX, it may be almost anything. e.g. '8', '99', '7', '80', etc. > Would a product such as ours be expected to explicitly choose > a LD carrier by using prefix codes? If so, how does that > work? No, but it might be advisable. I would suggest the ability to prepend up to possibly 16 digits. (And with a 'pause' capability.) > How many of these things need to be configurable because they are > liable to vary from state to state for example? All. See the Moderators Note. > Well, that's a rough description of my problem. Can anyone help? Is > there perhaps a few pages in a US phone directory which describe the > procedures that someone might be able to fax to me? > [Moderator's Note: Unfortunatly things are not yet totally > standardized in the USA regards when and when not to use 1+ on long > distance and/or inter/intra LATA calls. The front pages of any given And probably never will be totally standardized. Also:- As long as you may be working behind a PBX, allow for non-standardization! > telephone book would give instructions peculiar to that location. The > general rule -- although as noted, exceptions exist -- is that you > either dial seven digits or you dial 1 plus ten digits. In the Telecom It's becoming truer, but not a 'general rule'. > Archives, some files of interest will be 'areacode.guide', 'history. > of.area.splits' and others with 'area' or 'npa' as the first word. PAT] Regards, David A. Bonney <---> Telephone +1 (508) 692-4194 <--- ] dab [ A Telecommunications Professional Now Unemployed In Westford MA ] [No Employer, No Disclaimer. Just My Own Thoughts. ] [ Inquiries to MCIMail 422-4552 or Internet ] [ With a guest account at ] ------------------------------ From: rfranken@cs.umr.edu Subject: Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 11:06:44 CST Carl Moore writes: > As far as I know, you can always insert a 1 before a 10 digit number. > This would even be true in published instructions which tell you to > dial area code + 7 digits (i.e. may omit leading 1): >> Is it acceptable to use ten digit numbers exclusively, even >> within one's own area? > I doubt it. That setup does appear with the Orange Card (noted You cannot ALWAYS insert a 1 before a ten digit number ... in some places, the rule "1 means toll and the abscense of 1 means non-toll" is enforced strictly, and so if you have a number in a different NPA that is non-toll, you can't dial 1 first. (I believe Omaha, NE is one such place. They are in 402, and Council Bluffs, IA is in a different area code but is a local call ... I'm fairly sure that their switches reject 1+712+XXXXXXX (I think 712 is the Council Bluffs area code ... It's been a while since I was in Omaha). Also, your doubts about ten digits always working are confirmed ... In both Omaha, NE and St. Louis MO (And countless other places, no doubt), calls to the same NPA must NOT use ten digits. There places enforce a 'one and only one way to call a number' dialing plan :) (Unless, of course, you count 10XXX codes). Brett (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Cell Rate Plans Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 08:10:00 PDT Garrett Wollman wrote: > I haven't heard of this particular gimmick before, I thought Digest > readers might be interested in it, even though none of you live > here. :-) Free cell airtime on weekends and other off-peak times is not uncommon. Not offered in all areas, though. Check with your carriers and ask for the most favorable rate packages. Lynne ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 16:20:30 GMT From: srogers@tad.eds.com (Steve Rogers) Subject: Ordering Information for ISDN Application Catalog Organization: EDS Technology Architecture, Dallas North American ISDN Users' Forum Catalog of ISDN Applications "A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications" was approved by the North American ISDN Users' Forum (NIUF) Plenary in February 1993. The catalog provides a user-friendly description of 34 solutions fully implementable on the National ISDN - 1 platform and 4 PRI based solutions implementable in a proprietary manner in NI-1 or in a standard manner in NI-2. It also contains the most complete compendium to date of available National ISDN-1 terminal equipment. Fully more than 120 products from 60 suppliers are described in the document. The Catalog takes a "cookbook" approach. A brief description of the application is followed by a recipe of what type of equipment the user needs to purchase along with what type of service the user needs to order from his or her local service provider. The solutions are cross-referenced to suppliers who claim to support them with equipment. This allows the user to readily pursue the implementation of his or her critical applications. In addition, the Catalog provides technical notes and hints for implementation of the National ISDN based solutions. "A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications" can be ordered from the National Technical Information Services (see below) or you can download the catalog by anonymous ftp as follows: ftp isdn.ncsl.nist.gov User name: anonymous passwd: "you can type any password" cd niucatalog dir get "filename of the file you want" File niudoc.sit.hqx and niudoc.sit are the same files, but niudoc.sit.hqx is a bin hex file. .sit, .cdr, and .niu files must be downloaded as binary files. The catalog was produced on a Macintosh with Microsoft Word 4.0. The .cdr and .niu files were created with CorelDraw and WordPerfect 5.1. Before printing the Macintosh file, you need to "unpack" the file. This is done by using a Shareware package called, sit or unsit. This package can be found on the following machine: WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU ftp wuarchive.wustl.edu User name: anonymous passwd: "your user@machine" directory: mirrors/rascal.ics.utexas.edu/compression file: stuffit_1.5.1 If you have questions or problems with the document please contact: Dawn Hoffman National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) North American ISDN Users' Forum (NIUF) Secretariat Bldg 223, Rm. B364 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 301-975-2937 FAX: 301-926-9675 email: dawn@isdn.ncsl.nist.gov To order a paper or fiche copy of the catalog, please contact: National Technical Information Services 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 General Information: 703-487-4650 Ordering Information: 1-800-553-6847 FAX: 703-321-8547 NTIS Order Number PB93-162881 Hard Copy: $44.50 Microfiche: $17.50 Steve Rogers srogers@tad.eds.com EDS Dallas, Texas ------------------------------ From: dquist@ben3b01.attmail.com Date: 22 Apr 93 11:41:38 GMT Subject: OCPZ1 - Still Another AT&T Plan John C. Fowler <0003513813@mcimail.com> wrote re: Still Another New AT&T Plan: >> There's no code on my original introductory letter, but they did print >> A similar code on my confirmation letter. In my case, it's: >> C16 303 545 xxxx Y 078 VE1B VEW ATL OCPZ1 ATL L68 E The three digit code after the NPA-NXX-LINE # is usually a Customer Code. The OCPZ1 stands for Optional Calling Plan (OCP). Z1 = Simple Savings Plan Simple Savings Plan allows you to pick one NPA you call "MOST" often and gives you a 25% discount. Plus a 15% discount on all other area codes in the US. For a more detailed description, or further information, one should call the AT&T residence service center at 1-800-222-0300. Dave ------------------------------ From: Barry (B.L.) Friedman Subject: Information Request: Telecom Benchmarking Consortium Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 15:21:59 GMT [Moderator's Note: Mr. Friedman passed along this request from Colin McRae. PAT] Does anyone have any contact names for the 'Telecommunications Benchmarking Consortium'. I am told that it consists of approximately 18 companies -- including AT&T, MCI and Ameritech. Colin McRae Manager, Global Product Performance - Support Platform PHONE: (613) 765 4006 ESN: 395 4006 FAX: (613) 765 2518 ESN: 395 2518 FAX: (613) 765 4060 ESN: 395 4060 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #272 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa26334; 23 Apr 93 4:26 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29091 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 01:41:34 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32031 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 01:41:01 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 01:41:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304230641.AA32031@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #273 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Apr 93 01:41:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 273 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Another Kevin Poulsen Indictment (Ronald Marks) Rochester Tel Discusses Call Return (Don Wegeng) Found! Dos -> AlphaNumeric Pager Software [non-Windows] (Anne Mitchell) Faxmail Service in Manhattan (NYTel 212 Territory) (sameer@atlastele.com) Looking For Serial/SCSI/SBUS DID Capable FAX Modem (Sam Lipson) Did I Get Slammed? (Russell Kroll) ATM Information (Sean Stanek) ATM, the Ambiguous TLA (Todd Inch) ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet (Christina Lee) SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Justin Fidler) NTT Telephone Cards: How do They Work? (Anand Datragailda) Talk Tickets: New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (TELECOM Moderator) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Tony Waddell) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Robert L. McMillin) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Tim Schmitt) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Brian T. Vita) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 12:05:36 -0600 From: ad216@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (RONALD MARKS) Subject: Another Kevin Poulsen Indictment Reply-To: ad216@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU Computer hacker indicted; two others plead guilty A federal indictment was unsealed Wednesday against a computer hacker accused of rigging radio station promotional contests and compromising law enforcement investigations. The 19-count federal indictment charges Kevin L. Poulsen, 27, of Los Angeles with computer fraud, interception of wire communications, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Poulsen was featured on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries" after skipping bail for a separate San Francisco indictment that charged him with illegally retaining secret Defense Department documents. Ronald M. Austin, 29, and Justin T. Petersen, 32, both of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to computer fraud charges for their role in rigging giveaway contests by radio stations. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler said the trio used computers to seize incoming telephone lines to ensure they would be the correct callers to the stations. During a two-year period, the three defendants fraudulently won two Porsches, $22,000 in cash, and two trips to Hawaii from three different radio stations, he said. Poulsen also is charged with using his computer skills to attempt to access sensitive government files and setting up his own wiretaps to record private conversations. He also allegedly compromised law enforcement investigations by hacking into Pacific Bell computers to obtain information about court- ordered wiretaps and undercover businesses operated by the FBI. If convicted, Poulsen faces a maximum of 100 years in prison and $4.7 million in fines. Austin pleaded guilty to five counts and admitted his role in removing computer equipment belonging to Poulsen in order to prevent its seizure by FBI agents. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines when he is sentenced June 14. Petersen admitted to using computers to hack into TRW and Telenet computer systems. He also detailed his participation with Poulsen, including how the two physically broke into buildings containing Pacific Bell computers to obtain manuals and passwords about computer operating systems. Petersen faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and fines of $1.5 million when he is sentenced May 3. ------------------------------ From: wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com (Don Wegeng) Subject: Rochester Tel Discusses Call Return Reply-To: wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com Organization: Xerox Corp., Henrietta, NY Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 21:37:43 GMT My latest bill from Rochester Telephone contained the following message, offered without comment: *** Call Return Update *** Call Return allows a customer to return the most recent incoming call. If you receive anoyance calls due to this service, please use CALL TRACE (*64) and call our Annoyance Call Bureau at 777-5749. Don Wegeng wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com ------------------------------ From: shedevil@leland.Stanford.EDU (Anne P. Mitchell, JD) Subject: Found! Dos -> AlphaNumeric Pager Software [non-Windows] Reply-To: shedevil@gw.home.vix.com (Anne P. Mitchell, J.D.) Organization: Fathers Rights & Equality Exchange Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 22:48:48 GMT I found a paging company which has written its own software. The company is MetroCall, and the software is called "MetroText". It retails for $29.95. It even has a function so that you can send a page directly from your DOS prompt. MetroCall's # is (415) 572-1055. Ask for Bob Carpenter. Tell him Anne Mitchell sent you from the Internet [I told him I was going to post about this]. ------------------------------ From: sameer@atlastele.com Subject: Faxmail Service in Manhattan (NYTel 212 Territory) Organization: Atlas Telecom Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 20:52:39 GMT Hi all, I want to know if there is a Enhanced Faxmail Mailbox service available from NYTel/NYNex 212 area code folks. Something similar to the Faxtra/US West Enhanced Fax offering. The Droid in the NYTel Biz office didn't even know what enhanced fax services were. Thanks, Sameer ------------------------------ From: dirac!srl@uunet.UU.NET (Sam Lipson) Subject: Looking For Serial/SCSI/SBUS DID Capable FAX Modem Organization: I-Kinetics, Inc., Cambridge, MA USA Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 01:00:50 GMT I'm looking either for a "stand-alone" (e.g. serial), SCSI or SBUS interface DID Fax Modem -- or a box which will decode the DID signals (put the called number out an RS-232 port?), and present a nomal telephone line interface (out, say an RJ-11) where I'd hook up my regular FAX modem. The specific application is routing incoming FAesX, for which I need the called number from the trunk. I have to believe that someone at least makes a box that allows you to plug a normal telephone type instrument into a DID trunk, and gives the called number via some digital interface. DID -- Direct Inward Dial. There are at least two PC-bus products I know of -- GammaFax CPD and Brooktrout unfortunately the host computer for this project is a Sun. I'll post relevant responses. Thanks, Sam Lipson srl@i-kinetics.com ------------------------------ Subject: Did I Get Slammed? From: rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 20:07:30 GMT Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX Well, it looks as if I've been 'slammed' on one of our lines. Today, one of the people at my house attempted to place a long distance call from 713-270 to Colorado Springs. The result was an error message with something like 'operator 8. Your phone is not signed up with American Telephone' ... and right then, there was a loud be-boop on the line ... which repeated over and over. We are AT&T customers on all three of our lines, and use them as the default carrier. No one authorized any change of long distance provider. Is this considered 'slamming'? Is this legal? And who do I complain to? Thanks, rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX, (713) 481-3763 1200/2400/9600/14400 v.32bis/v.42bis [Moderator's Note: One problem ... if the call would NOT complete because you were NOT a customer of Company X, then it would seem you were NOT slammed. AT&T does not refer to itself over the phone lines as American Telephone and Telegraph -- at least not to my knowledge. They always play the tone then say 'AT&T'. Did the person attempting to place the call use 10-something in front of the number, producing the mentioned result from "American Telephone" about your not being a customer? Had you been slammed, your call(s) would have gone through without question ... any questions that is until you saw your bill the following month. Had you been slammed, *some* company would have picked up that call and processed it. Is it possible the announce- ment came from the other end; that the person being called had call- forwarded his line somewhere on a carrier code *he* couldn't use? It would be helpful to know at what point the intercept occurred (in the midst of his dialing; after it dummy-rang once or twice in the local switch; or after the call had set up and was processing somewhere in Colorado City.) It would also be helpful to know if other long distance call attempts (to other numbers) produce the same results; calls to the same number at different times, etc. If for some reason that line (did you try your other lines to check the results, and try the orig- inal line a second or third time?) was 'defaulted' in error by the local telco to 'no carrier', then generally the intercept is not from any particular carrier, but simply 'your call cannot be completed as dialed'. Can you provide more specifics and further test results? PAT] ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 17:54:53 EDT From: Subject: ATM Information A friend and I are doing a research paper on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), the new telecommunications transmission method that is supposed to be the hot test item in development. Through many journels we have found lots of useful things but are still looking for some critical information. We would like to know: When and where it was developed/first introduced (general history); Who developed it; and What future does it have in communications? also, If anyone could provide us with ANY OTHER useful information, PLEASE post it dirrectly to the newsgroup. Thanks A LOT (in advance), Sean Stanek ------------------------------ From: toddi@mav.com (Todd Inch) Subject: ATM, the Ambiguous TLA Organization: Maverick International Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 21:54:48 GMT In article rboudrie@chpc.org (Rob Boudrie) writes: > If you want to find a PLUS system ATM which is near you, call > 1-800-THE-PLUS. You will be asked to touch tone in the area code and > first three digits of the phone number you are calling from. If any > machines are near you, the recording will tell you about them. Presumably by ATM, you mean "Automated Teller Machine". Now that there is some new fancy networking something (that I obviously haven't gotten around to reading about) called "ATM", can someone (PAT?) specify a standard/definition for us (TD/c.d.t readers), or should I just become a more "context-sensitive" reader? I can't wait 'til ATM's communicate via ATM's. ------------------------------ From: clee@ssdslc22.asl.dl.nec.com (Christina Lee) Subject: ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet Organization: NEC America, Inc. Irving, Texas Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 21:15:22 GMT Anyone have info comparing these three besides price? I've read bits and pieces but nothing real informative. I'd appreciate any info. clee [Moderator's Note: Automatic Teller Machines, I suppose? I guess not in the context of FDDI and Ethernet. I just couldn't resist using my Moderator privileges to toss all three of these in one issue, one after another! :) Todd Inch, you think *you're* confused! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fidler, Justin Subject: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 17:00:00 EDT Recently, in the Washington, D.C. area, I've noticed that a lot of retail stores now have a device that will read the numbers from the bottom of a check. They all seem to have a sticker on them saying "SCAN: Shared Check Authorization Network" When I was paying by check the other day at a local store, when it scanned my check, all the numbers on the bottom appeared on the display of the cash register, then there was a pause of about four seconds, during which the registed said "Processing ... Please Wait." My question to Telecom readers is this: How exactly does this work? I'm not asking about OCR, I want to know if this device is connected to some type of network that dials up a nationwide clearinghouse with information on each person's account, or exactly how it works? Does it only check that the account is valid, or does it also check the account to see if funds are available? Justin Fidler jrf@b31.nei.nih.gov Opinion of author only. [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant debit is the direction things are going. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ops Mgr Subject: NTT Telephone Cards - How do They Work? Sender: bridge@tigger.jvnc.net (Anand Datragailda) Reply-To: lee%polarsun@rna.rockefeller.edu Organization: JVNC Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 20:29:21 GMT I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii and something that struck me as odd was the fact that NTT Telephone cards with a Hawaiian motif were being sold there at $15.00 a pop for 500 "credits". What are these cards and how are they used? Do they have a mag stripe embedded in them? The one I bought was real flimsy and doesn't seem to be thick enough to harbour such a stripe. The salesman at the souvenir shop mentioned that when its used, the payphone will stamp out a tiny bit of the card. Wonder how long before this gets popular in the US. Lee [Moderator's Note: Hawaii *is* part of the USA, but I'm sure you meant to say 'the mainland'. Actually, they are starting to catch on here. AT&T's largest reseller/aggregator, US Fibercom is ironing out the details now. See the details in the next message. PAT] ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 00:15:00 CDT When the largest aggregator/reseller of AT&T decides to get involved, then you can assume a trend is probably underway. The program, to be known as 'Talk Tickets' will not use mag stripes. Instead, there will be little carboard tickets, almost like bus or train tickets. Tickets will be available in several denominations including $5, $10 and $20 sizes. Each ticket will have a unique serial number on it. All calls will go to an 800 number where voice prompting will tell the person to enter their ticket number and the number they wish to call. Furthermore, all calls with ride with Mother (of course!), and at the 800 number there will be such nice extras as your own personal speed dialing directory, voicemail, news, and a couple other features. The tickets will be composed of 'units', each unit costing fifty cents. Call anywhere in the USA at fifty cents (or one unit) for three minutes. If you talk six minutes, you use two units, etc. International calls are permitted; I am not sure how many units (or fifty cent decrements) will be required. You pay for voicemail, news and the other features in the same way, by unit (or fifty cent) decrements. As the cards expire in value, you can call an operator on line who will accept your VISA/MC to load them up again ... or you can just buy a new card, as you wish. Each time you call the 800 number, the computer will tell you how many units remain unused. Now the nice part: AT&T/US Fibercom said to me they thought telecom readers would make a nice beta-test group for this new product, so if I would just give them my mailing lists they'd see to it that everyone got a chance to particpate. Nooo ... can't do that, but maybe if I'm feeling in a good mood *I'll* talk about your tickets, I told the man, and if I had some *sample tickets* to send readers, they'd probably be willing to try them out before anyone else got a chance to use them, and report back. So he is going to talk to his bosses and see if a special-issue of $2 tickets (good for four units, or twelve minutes of talk time or some voicemail/talk combination) could be arranged for y'all ... at 16.7 cents per minute, that's not a bad price for domestic calls from payphones, hotels, etc. Plus if I understood correctly, there will be additional discounts on volume purchases. I should have more details in a few days, and probably some sample cards worth a couple dollars each. I can't say or commit to anything firm until that time. One good thing about a program like this: fraud is limited to the value of the ticket. More news when I have it. Anyone interested in trying it out let me know; there won't be any obligations except to write back to the Digest with your honest opinion of how well they work, etc. Your reponses will be seen by concerned persons. Patrick ------------------------------ From: aawadde@ns.PacBell.COM (Tony Waddell) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Pacific * Bell Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 21:13:24 GMT In article turner@buffalo.HQ.Ileaf.COM (James Turner) writes: >> 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone >> companies money? > There is probably some minor administrative costs associated with it, > since they have to flag them in the company database so that they are > not printed or given out by directory assistance. But the basic > answer is no, since many BOCs will not list the second number coming > into a home (the data line, for example) as long as the primary number > IS listed. It's a phone company moneymaker, pure and simple. The administractive costs to keep a person's number out of the phone book and out of directory assistance records is indeed minor. But I doubt that it's much of a money maker. I used to work in the business office quite a number of years ago (1974-1983). At Pacific Telephone, the monthly fee for an unlisted number was fifteen cents. I think it's about 50 cents now. I don't know if any studies were ever made about the true cost of an unlisted number (to the TELEPHONE COMPANY), but I would suspect that it exceeds the revenue brought it. As a former service rep, I can tell you that we spent a great deal of time explaining to callers who wanted someone's unlisted number that we couldn't give it out, etc. etc. And I'm sure that operators had a much harder time with it than service reps ever did. Then there's always the customer who insists it's an emergency, so the operator has to call the unlisted party and relay a message to call the other party back. So while the cost of an unlisted number may be negligible, I'll bet the cost of what it causes is quite high. Again, I'm speaking of when it was a mere 15 cents. Now that the fee has gone up, maybe it creates a little profit. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 18:52 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries On Thu, 22 Apr 1993 14:35:01 GMT, deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) said: > In article gleick@Panix.Com (James > Gleick) writes: >> 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? > Two reasons, I can think of. One, security: it's harder to break into > a windowless building. Two, climate control: windows do not insulate > as well as solid wall; more importantly, windows pass sunlight which > heats inside air, and the last thing you need in a telco CO is more > heat. I rather wonder that this doesn't stem from the old AT&T attitude that the customer doesn't need to know what's going on in the CO, or with anything to do with telephony. > (Hypothesis, but I might be able to find something in NEBS to back it > up.) Please do. This would be interesting. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 13:28:50 -0700 From: tims@sgihbtn.sierra.halnet.com (Tim Schmitt) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special > logs? Are there particular specifications? One of my summer jobs during college was working for J.H. Baxter, a company which manufactures poles for utilities and telephones. Telephone poles are typically ceder or fir, and of course, must be pretty straight. Telephone poles are usually 35 - 40 feet long. 10% of the pole's height plus two feet go into the ground. If a pole has been treated with preservatives, some of them have a 30 year lifetime. At the yard, one of the favorite tricks was to send a rookie to go fetch the "pole strecther" to "strech short poles." Some one would tell the rookie to go look in one corner of the yard for it, and when he would get there, any person would tell him to go look in another corner of the yard. If the rookie was really stupid, it would be all day before he would catch on. Tim UUCP: uunet!sgihbtn!tims ARPA: sgihbtn!tims @uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 93 23:16:43 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? I can't believe that everyone is missing the boat on the answer to this one. Although the original reason may have been a predivestature tariff, the present reason is pure economics. AT&T charges me $10./hr for intrastate calls on my "Readyline" line (before term discounts, etc.). New England Telephone charges $6./hr for intrastate 800 calls on my "Valueflex" line. Although my AT&T line works in all 50 states, I encourage my Massachusetts customers to use my NET line. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #273 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27888; 23 Apr 93 5:12 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04067 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 02:38:36 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04509 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 02:38:01 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 02:38:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304230738.AA04509@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #274 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Apr 93 02:38:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 274 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Kevin Kadow) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (R. McMillin) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Tom Perrine) Re: Problems in Austin TX (Mark Armitage) Re: Wireless City (Jim Kresse) Re: Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort (Carl Moore) Re: Using LD Carrier to Call Next Door Illegal?!? (Todd Inch) Re: Sears Catalog 800 Number - Down or Overloaded? (Todd Inch) Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users (Arthur R. McGee) Re: Phone Service Expected to Save Lives (Todd Inch) Re: Contel Cellular Offer in VT (Kenny Crudup) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Jeff Stieglitz) Two New VSAT Networks For Hungary (Darren Ingram) Odds 'n Ends in the News (Les Reeves) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: technews@iitmax.iit.edu (Kevin Kadow) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: Technology News, IIT, Chicago, IL Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 22:39:45 GMT Clipper is a good compromise for BUSINESS communication which needs to be sent encrypted to a nation which is prohibited from having other US encryption schemes exported to them. For my impression of how Clipper CAN be used to improve personal privacy, read on ... In article rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) writes: > stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes: >> compromise personal privacy. If the government wishes to listen in on >> your calls, it is far more efficient to just place a tap at the telco >> (which would pick up all of your calls), rather than park a van in >> front of your house and intercept only your cordless telephone calls. > That, however, requires a valid warrant (tap at telco). I also > believe they're more concerned about end to end encryption rather than > handset to cradle and/or phone to telco precisely because of that > ability. Hence the timing of the chip. Once they get it established > they can start cracking down on and cease approving other encryption > methods. After all, only drug dealers, child pornographers, civil > libertarians, and other scum could possibly want encryption the > government can't listen to. > Is there anyone who actually thinks they can keep those two keys > secure? It should perform one significant purpose, however -- make > local police far more dependent on the feds, which fits neatly with > Clinton's National Police Force wishes. [anti-Clinton stuff (which I mostly agreed with) deleted] However, one BENEFIT of the Clipper Chip is that unless the wiretapper gets both codes for the Clipper then he won't be able to detect whether you're using additional encryption BEFORE the data is passed through the Clipper! So if they do attempt "warrantless searches" by tapping your Clipper based conversations, they'll just get you pre-encrypted traffic, and without a warrant they can't prosecute you for using illegal encryption as there's no legitimate way for them to have detected your additional encryption! Another brilliant mind ruined by higher education. technews@iitmax.iit.edu kadokev@harpo.iit.edu My Employer Disagrees. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 19:07 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System On Wed, 21 Apr 1993 15:02:02 GMT, jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) said: > Dorothy Denning is quite notorious in the crypt community as an > apologist for giving the govenment the right to read your mail ... I don't know how many people read her articles in the {Communications of the ACM} about crypto stuff, but it seemed just a tiny bit (okay, *very*) biased inasmuch as they gave her final say. In formal debate, the proponent of a proposition usually has to defend it, with gainsayers rebutting after each defense. In a similar vein, here's another plug for {Wired} (no, I'm not selling my way through gradual school on subscriptions). It's got an interesting sidebar about the Bivens Legal Action Movement (BLAM!), headed by one Scott McMillan (no *immediate* relation); his father sued several federal agents who accosted one Mr. Bivens, and won ({Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents}). At newsstands near you ... Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include ------------------------------ From: tep@galt.galt.sdsc.edu (Tom Perrine) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 22 Apr 1993 20:36:39 GMT Organization: /users/sy/tep/.organization In article johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes: > You might also consider reports that Clipper has been in development > for about four years, which means that the initial idea and most of > the implementation happened under Reagan and Bush. Granted, Clinton > has gone along with the plan, but it's not his initiative. Also, please note that "Clipper" is a trademark for a CPU chip that was developed six(?) years ago by Fairchild, and the trademark is now held by Integraph. I can't waith until they sue the government for trademark infringement and damages. > And speaking of Clipper wiretaps, did you see the part in Dorothy > Denning's note that says that the escrowed keys are based on the > chip's serial number and two nominally secret scrambling keys, so > anyone who knows the scrambling keys can decode messages sent by any > Clipper chip. Now THAT's creepy. Also note that once the keys have been handed out, that you can then decrypt any previously (illegally or otherwise) recorded communica- tions. e.g. once the keys are given out, all communications from that device PAST or FUTURE are available. Tom E. Perrine (tep) | tep@SDSC.EDU San Diego Supercomputer Center | Voice: +1 619 534-8328 P. O. Box 85608 | FAX: +1 619 534-5152 San Diego CA 92186-9784 | Every child is a gifted child ! ------------------------------ From: ma@tadpole.com (Mark Armitage) Subject: Re: Problems in Austin TX Date: 22 Apr 1993 18:36:40 GMT Organization: Tadpole Technology, Inc., Austin, TX Reply-To: ma@tadpole.com In article 7@eecs.nwu.edu, syd@dsi.com (Syd Weinstein) writes: > Monty Solomon writes: >> I reached the following recording today trying to reach a business in >> Austin, TX. >> "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call cannot be >> completed at this time. Please try your call later. 512 4T" > A major fiber cut in Austin caused this. Directory Info probably went > to another city, which was not effected. The story I heard, was that the cut (which lasted from sometime around midday until into the evening) affected the 512 219 area. It was caused by someone digging up a fibre (OK, "fiber" then if you must!). I am very surprised that cutting one bundle could cut off such a large area -- isn't there normally redundancy built in, ie multiple fibers taking different routes? Mark Armitage Tadpole Technology Yes, you guessed it, (512) 219 2200 ------------------------------ From: jim@atvl.panasonic.com (Jim Kresse) Subject: Re: Wireless City Reply-To: jim@atvl.panasonic.com Organization: Panasonic ATVL Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 18:47:23 GMT In article 5@eecs.nwu.edu, svec@rtsg.mot.com (Larry Svec) writes: > How cost effective is such an approach? It can be very cost effective in situations where the cost of running wire (e.g., low population density) or establishing service (e.g., emergency service, temporary service) is relatively high. > Aren't those frequencies in the IMTS Telephone/Paging band thus > limiting the total available channels, and if so, what does that do to > the 500 subscriber limit? It is a co-primary usage of the band which it uses (I'm not sure it's IMTS Telephone/Paging), so that the number of available channels can be limited, but in most cases isn't. This can affect the subscriber limit. > Can it send fax or data? It can handle at least 2400 bps data and fax. For more information, you might wish to check George Calhoun's two books, published by Artech House. Jim Kresse jim@atvl.panasonic.com Standard disclaimers apply ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 16:25:07 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Bell of PA A/C Split - Work Effort syd@dsi.com writes: > They need to modify those 'dumb' billing apps to handle the 'free > calling across A/C' stuff that will come into play. What does 'free calling across A/C' mean here? This is referring to 215 area (to split to form 610). 215 area (other than Denver and Adamstown) went to the scheme of: 7D for long distance within it (would become 1+NPA+7D later if crossing the 215/610 border); 1+NPA+7D for local calls to other area codes (and I guess later for local calls across the 215/610 border?) (Denver and Adamstown, which I guess will switch to 610, would later have to change dialing instructions in two stages): Local calls to other area code (Denver-Ephrata?) change from 7D to 1+NPA+7D; Once the dust settles from that, change from 1+7D to 7D for long distance within area code. ------------------------------ From: toddi@mav.com (Todd Inch) Subject: Re: Using LD Carrier to Call Next Door Illegal?!? Organization: Maverick International Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 21:18:22 GMT oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > The states vary on this. Some say it is illegal (I seem to recall > that SNET, the Connecticut telco, enjoys a monopoly in-state) while > others says it's okay if you have a tariff, and others (probably > rate-cap states) probably explicitly don't regulate it. Around here (Everett/Seattle WA) the ROC's usually handle the 1+ dialed intra-lata long distance calls (all toll calls are 1+ except 976, etc), but a LD salesperson told me, when I asked, that the LD companies are allowed to handle these calls via 10xxx, but are not allowed to advertise this ability. ------------------------------ From: toddi@mav.com (Todd Inch) Subject: Re: Sears Catalog 800 Number - Down or Overloaded? Organization: Maverick International Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 21:26:42 GMT In article jsm@angate.att.com writes: > Overloaded ... their call volume is extensive. Makes me wonder if they're selling so well that they may reconsider discontinuing catalog sales. Didn't they promise no more "sales" ever about fifty sales ago? No new taxes ... ------------------------------ From: amcgee@netcom.com (Arthur R. McGee) Subject: Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 21:32:11 GMT Don't forget to let them know that America Online is now CHEAPER than Prodigy! American Online is ONLY $9.95 month for five hours of service and $3.50 per hour thereafter. Prodigy is $14.95 per month and I forget what the price is per hour. [Moderator's Note: Mr. McGee's message was truncated at this point; sorry, I cannot reconstruct the remainder of it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: toddi@mav.com (Todd Inch) Subject: Re: Phone Service Expected to Save Lives Organization: Maverick International Inc. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 21:10:16 GMT Regarding the ROC allowing outgoing 911 calls only rather than entire disconnects to former customers: What does this really cost the telco (or the paying customers) to have this service *available*? I say "*available*" because we all probably agree that the actual use of this service (e.g. handling a 911 call) is paid for in other ways by (generally speaking) taxpayers or others who would pay regardless of who made the call from what phone (e.g. out-of-towner from payphone.) So my question is: Is there any real cost difference between disconnecting a line vs monitoring it for an outgoing call? Seems like the hardware is already in place and there would be few if any cases where a connected line would actually prevent another (paying) customer from being connected due to lack of hardware. The percent- ages should be so small that they aren't even considerations for the sizing of the hardware. If there is no actual extra expenditure to do this, the "give a car to people who can't afford it for emergency use" analogy is a poor one. I agree that I shouldn't be forced to pay for others who can't/won't pay for service, but WOULD I really pay more? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 19:32:24 EDT From: kenny@mvuts.att.com Subject: Re: Contel Cellular Offer in VT Organization: AT&T In article Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU writes: > I was listening to the radio the other day (it was an accident, I > assure you!) and heard an adversisement for Contel Cellular.... > What they are offering is free airtime on weekends for six months, > to all customers who sign up for full-year contract before the end of > this month. Unless I mis-read something, I can get that now from Cell (N)one Boston with no contract minimum for as little as $30/month. Kenny Crudup, ATT BL, MV20-3-T-5-B, X3219. kenny@mvuts.att.com ------------------------------ From: jest@netcom.com (Jeff Stieglitz) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 06:52:58 GMT > Why don't COs have windows? In an old issue of "Notes on the Network," a Bell Bible, it states that the buildings are windowless to help survive a nuclear blast. It also describes a CO that was built at a nuclear test site. A nuke was detonated nearby, and all of the switching equipment survived the electromagnetic pulse. The book said the equipment survived because of the grounding system now standard in all COs. It also mentioned that all calls in progress were disconnected. "Notes on The Network" is a must-read for the telecom enthusiast. It also has quite a few details on the numbering plan ... Jeff Stieglitz jest@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: dingram@dims.demon.co.uk (Darren P. Ingram) Subject: Two New VSAT Networks For Hungary Organization: Darren Ingram Media Services Reply-To: dingram@dims.demon.co.uk Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 02:47:14 GMT A large VSAT network for MTI -- the Hungarian state news agency -- has been installed by Satnet, the VSAT operating subsidiary of the Hungarian Telecommunications Company. The one-way distribution network will be used to provide multi-channel distribution of English and Hungarian news, financial information and company data. Comstream satellite modems and 2.4 metre antennas are being used within the 40-terminal network, set to be increased up to 250 sites in time. Six data channels are being relayed over Eutelsat SMS capacity on the Eutelsat II-F4 satellite, located at 7 degrees east providing enhanced coverage to the former Eastern European and USSR countries. The picture wire service will be relayed at 4.8kbit/s, with 2 x 1.2kbit/s, 2 x 600bit/s and a 300bit/s channel relaying the news services. The network will be installed and fully operational by the end of May, according to Miklos Papp, managing director of Satnet. Satnet is presently seeking joint investment opportunities with overseas companies who are keen to break into the lucrative VSAT and datacomms markets. A number of operating relationships have already been formed between Satnet and companies such as Telespazio, Teleport Europe, Unisource and Comsat. A further network is being provided by Banknet for the Generale Budapest Insurance Company. Details are scarce on this network, but it is understood that a two-way network providing links to regional offices linked into a shared hub in Vienna is being used. Darren P. Ingram / DIMS (dingram@dims.demon.co.uk) - Views expressed do - 184 Brookside Avenue, Whoberley, Coventry CV5 8AD UK - not automatically - Tel:+44 203 717 417/Fax:+44 203 717 418/Tlx 94026650 - represent those of - 24-HOUR response number:+44 374 108 268 - DIMS or its clients - ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 22 Apr 93 16:59:03 GMT Subject: Odds 'n Ends in the News * The Clipper Chip device introduced yesterday by AT&T may not be suitable for government use, says House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Markey. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Brown, Markey asked whether the use of the technology could lead to "inadvertently increased costs to those U.S. companies hoping to serve both" the government and private markets. Markey has ordered Brown to answer several questions about security and cost concerns by April 28. (Communications Daily, 4/20/93) * AT&T has launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to introduce its new 800 service called "Never Miss A Call Guarantee." For between $520-$550 per month and no installation fee through November, AT&T is offering three options to the plan. For multiple site customers, the service routes incoming 800 calls to a secondary customer location if the phone is not answered or if the line is busy. Calls may also be routed to AT&T Voice Mail, AT&T InfoWorx, a network-based voice-response system, or AT&T Transtech, with operators handling the calls. The second option is for single-site customers. The service provides alternative routes that may be used to get calls to the location. The final option, geared to customers who have a need for automatic rerouting, prevents too many calls from being routed to a single number. (Communications Daily, 4/20/93) * Sprint has introduced a new calling card that provides international travelers with U.S. and worldwide dialing instructions, including numbers for reaching an English-speaking operator from more than 60 countries. WorldTraveler FONCARD, similar to AT&T's USADirect card, allows callers to dial an in-country local access number that is routed to a U.S. operator, who completes the call in the U.S. The service allows travelers to customize the card for each trip to match their personal itinerary and to fulfill all their calling needs. In addition to eliminating the language barrier, WorldTraveler bypasses often excessively-high foreign PTT charges. (Communications Daily, 4/15/93) * Send-a-Song Corp. will send a song to someone you love, over the phone lines, at a specific time and date. The service is accessible by an 800 number and costs $9.95 a song; the sender can include a 20 second message at the end of the tune. (Business Week, "Honey -- Sinatra's on the phone," 4/19/93, p. 110B) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #274 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01382; 23 Apr 93 20:02 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19976 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:41:40 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12931 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:41:01 -0500 Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:41:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304232141.AA12931@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #275 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Apr 93 16:41:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 275 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Bip-Bop in Paris [France] - Luxuous Mobile Telephone (Jean-Bernard Condat) Warning! CENTREX Scam! (Tad Cook) Autodialer Recommendations, Please (Bob Izenberg) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Toby Nixon) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Terry Kennedy) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Bob Hofkin) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Greg Andrews) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (Chris Turkstra) Re: Did I Get Slammed? (Rich Greenberg) Re: Small, PC-Based PBX? (Robert B. Thompson) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jbcondat@attmail.com Date: 23 Apr 93 13:59:59 GMT Subject: Bip-Bop in Paris [France] - Luxuous Mobile Telephone PRESS RELEASE PRODUCT AVAILABLE APRIL 26TH, 1993 From: France Telecom International Press Office Mr. Stephane Barbe Phone: +33 1 44 44 42 27 Fax: +33 1 46 56 14 74 Bip-Bop in Paris: France Telecom launches the first mobile pocket telephone Bi-Bop, the new digital cordless pocket phone, will begin reaming the streets of Paris on April 26th, France Telecom has extended commercial service to the French capital following successful pilot service in the city of Strasbourg. Bi-Bop is the first-generation pocket phone. The lightweight terminals (about 180 grams) are the size of a calculator. They are used to call from anywhere within 50 to 200 meters of radio base stations installed in public places throughout Paris and Strasbourg. Some 3,000 base stations are already in place in Paris proper and nearly suburban areas. The network now covers most of the capital and all major thoroughfares and business districts. Beginning this fall, the French system will mark an important advance since Bi-Bop subscribers will also be used to receive calls in public places on any model terminal, thanks to the "Bi-Bop Reponse" option telephone type. Bi-Bop offers three phones in one, since in addition to its public roaming possibilities, it can also be used as a cordless phone at home, or for people on the move at the workplace. At a business site, the phones are linked to a private base station or to the company's own PBX. Bi-Bop is conform to the CT2 international standard, meaning that subscribers can also use it during foreigh travel. The telephones integrate a number of advanced features, such as last number redial and a 15 number memory for abbreviated dialing. Bi-Bop telephones will be sold at France Telecom ageneles for FRF 1,890 (including VAT). The Bi-Bop subscription rate is FRF 54,50 per month (FRF 45,95 excl. VAT). Calls made from public areas anywhere in the Bi-Bop coverage zone are billed FRF 0,88 (FRF 0,70 excl. VAT) per minute, in addition to the normal telephone rate. For example, a one minute call using a Bi-Bop phone from Paris to Marseille would cost FRF 3,40 including VAT. There is no surcharge for Bi-Bop calls from the home or workplace. Development and installation of the pilot network has been contracted to Dassault A.T., which leads a consortium with three other firms: Cap Sesa, Electronique Mecelec et Monetel SA. Bi-Bop terminals made by four manufac- turers have been approved for use: Sagem, Matra Communication, Dassault A.T. and Motorola. With the new Bi-Bop service in Paris, France Telecom further broadens its range of mobile services, ushoring in a new area of personal communications. Jean-Bernard Condat [Editor of _Chaos Digest_, the first computer security e-journal] Chaos Computer Club France B.P. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Bi-Bop' Phone: +33 1 47874083 Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: jbcondat@attmail.com or cccf@altern.com ------------------------------ Subject: Warning! CENTREX Scam! Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 23:36:09 PDT From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) My girlfriend works at the University of Washington, and was probably the victim of a telephone scam today. She got a phone call at work from an AT&T operator, who asked if she would accept a collect call from "John." She declined. A few minutes later she got another collect call, this time from someone asking for someone she had never heard of. When she said she didn't know who the person was, the caller broke in and inisisted that the person was a "student helper" in the department. She decided to go down the call and ask someone who might know who this person was. When she got back to the phone to tell them that the person was unknown to them, the caller was there and the operator was gone, leading us to believe that somehow the charges had been accepted. When she told the guy that they still didn't know who the person was, he got flustered and said, "Oh, could you please just transfer me to Nine-Zero-Zero??" Without thinking about it, and trying to be helpful, she did a hookflash and punched 900 and hung up. Later she asked me if she had been the victim of a scam. I told her that since she is on Centrex, when she transferred the guy to 900, she was in fact transferring him back to an AT&T operator, allowing him to call anywhere he wished at the university's expense! Dialing 9 gets you an outside line, dialing a single zero would get you a local operator, but dialing zero-zero gets you a toll operator for your default long distance carrier. So the guy called her at her employer's expense, and then made another call also at their expense. I suspect that the fellow was randomly calling numbers in the university, hoping to get some helpful person like Julie to unwittingly assist him in his scam. tad@ssc.com (if it bounces, use 3288544@mcimail.com) Tad Cook | Packet Amateur Radio: | Home Phone: Seattle, WA | KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 206-527-4089 ------------------------------ From: bobi@vswr.sps.mot.com (Bob Izenberg) Subject: Autodialer Recommendations, Please Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 08:41:06 -0600 (CDT) I'm looking for an autodialer to hang off of an uninterruptible power supply. The UPS will close a contact upon loss of commercial power, at which time we'd like to autodial four pagers. Perhaps :-) the Digest readership has some preferences or war stories that can be shared by electronic mail. Thanks! Bob Izenberg voice phone: 512-891-8680 Motorola RISC Software bobi@vswr.sps.mot.com ------------------------------ From: tnixon@microsoft.com (Toby Nixon) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 23 Apr 93 16:22:33 GMT Organization: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond WA, USA In article a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman. com wrote: >> [Moderator's Note: And it will be almost as hard to get approval from >> both agencies for use of the keys as it is now for a police officer >> standing at your door to get a search warrant on the fly if you insist >> on the officer 'respecting your rights'. PAT] > Not if the agencies are the ACLU and EFF. (Note: the proposal did > state that one agency would be a non-governmental agency.) It won't matter if it's the ACLU or EFF. The folks wanting the keys will show up with a court order from a federal judge requiring (not just authorizing!) release of the keys. There will be no opportunity for those holding the keys to review the probable cause for issuing the warrant, and no right to refuse unless they believe the warrant itself is fraudulent. All having the keys in the hands of a non-governmental agency does is help to insure that the police/FBI/ whoever actually get a warrant signed by a judge; it does nothing to keep the judges from issuing warrants for flimsy reasons. Sorry -- Pat's right on this one. Toby ------------------------------ From: Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 23 Apr 93 04:08:08 EDT Organization: St. Peter's College, US In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? Guess: First, switching equipment doesn't care if there's a view or not. Also, original operator stations had wiring behind them which reached to the ceiling. Additionally, the switching equipment was frequently located behind this wall, so it wasn't an outside wall anyway. If you want an exact answer, I'll go pull some of the old documents that specify the architectural requirements, but I'm not sure there will be any reason given. > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? There were a number of goals. The original proposal (Shipley, 1945*) proposed 86 area codes in a semi-regular pattern (for example, Canada would have been 915, 914, 913, 916, 917, 918, 919, 910 from east to west by province). This plan was modified* to eliminate the confusion caused by "similar" area codes adjacent to each other. A state initially assigned a single area code would have a middle digit of 0, a state with more than one area code would have a 1 as a middle digit. Areas where more inward calls were expected (major metro- politan areas like New York City) received "short pull" area codes like 212. (In those days, the length of time for dialing was related to the digits used, since the dial took longer for higher digits). "Status" numbers were things like xxx-2111 or xxx-1234. Things like xxx-6000 were not "status" back then. Of course, now that tone dialing is commonplace, this has changed. Trivia: New Jersey got area code 201 (the first code, but not the "shortest pull" because Bell Labs was here. * notes: Shipley, F. F. "Nation-Wide Dialing", Bell Laboratories Record 23, October 1945, p. 368 Nunn, W. H. "Nationwide Numbering Plan", Bell System Technical Journal 31, September 1952, P. 851 > 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another > within their own area? This is a combination of (long-solved) technical issues and tariff issues. Long distance 800 service covered an area *outside* your home area and could be expanded in "bands" to get greater and greater areas of coverage (for example, many 800 numbers aren't valid from Alaska and Hawaii). Due to the way interstate vs. intrastate rates were tariffed, it was often easier/cheaper to get a different number for just the home area. A lot of this dates back to "Enterprise" numbers which were manually-handled toll-free numbers before 800 service. > 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the phone > companies money? Because the phone company perceives that it is desired by some customers, and therefore those customers will pay for it. No, it doesn't cost them money (on a per-number basis, anyway -- the fact that there are *any* of them means that Directory Assistance needs a "not available" recording, that the package that generates phone books needs to understand this, as well). Note that there is a class of number ("non-published" as opposed to "non- listed") which is not in the phone book but is available from Directory Assistance. Since DA charges for requests in most of the country, the telephone company may actually make some small sum on these. > 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire or > crosspiece? Three reasons. First, to meet the requirements of guy wires to support the poles (a taller pole can use a guy wire with the anchor side closer to the pole, which is advantageous in urban or restricted-space areas). Second, the top of the pole is usually grounded, so a strike will usually harmlessly hit the ground wire rather than striking a working circuit lower down. Third, if you really mean "far" as in more than three or four feet, in some areas the phone company shares poles with power, cable TV, etc. and they may be placing the pole with space reserved. > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? There are vendors who handle specialty lumber. They are generally the sup- pliers of poles. Some types of wood are better than others, and the trees selected to be poles must be straight and not have any "Y" forks in them. The poles are then treated with preservative (in the past, creosote/tar, but now synthetic preservatives). Trees of the appropriate type but with defects such as splits, bends, etc. generally wind up as railroad ties. Some older installations by independent telephone companies used local evergreen trees for poles, but this practice has declined since most independents have been taken over by larger operations with centralized purchasing for poles. I can locate the procurement spec for you if you like. > Thank you in advance. Comments may be posted here or e-mailed to Dave in > care of: If any of these are used in the book, I'd like to see a copy ... Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA terry@spcvxa.spc.edu +1 201 915 9381 ------------------------------ From: Bob Hofkin Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Reply-To: hofkin@software.org Organization: Software Productivity Consortium Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 15:10:46 GMT Dave Niebuhr (dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov) wrote: > In NYTel land, a primary number can be unlisted or listed. It makes > no nevermind to them as long as there is a legitimate billing name and > address. Here in C&P territory, a secondary number can be listed or unlisted for no charge but unlisting the primary number always costs extra. At least that's what one rep told me this week. ------------------------------ From: gerg@netcom.com (Greg Andrews) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:46:20 GMT gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 3) Why were the old crank phones (at least as depicted in movies) placed > so high on the wall the users stretched to reach them. Perhaps to keep them out of the reach of children? Greg Andrews gerg@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: turkstra@cs.hope.edu (Screwtape) Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Reply-To: turkstra@cs.hope.edu Organization: Hope College Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 14:21:44 GMT In article 12@eecs.nwu.edu, TELECOM Moderator writes: > When the largest aggregator/reseller of AT&T decides to get > involved, then you can assume a trend is probably underway. The > program, to be known as 'Talk Tickets' will not use mag stripes. > Instead, there will be little carboard tickets, almost like bus or > train tickets. Tickets will be available in several denominations > including $5, $10 and $20 sizes. Each ticket will have a unique serial > number on it. All calls will go to an 800 number where voice prompting > will tell the person to enter their ticket number and the number they > wish to call. I remember in Japan, we bought (or often found) credit card sized phone cards. All of the public phones accepted this card, and even displayed the units remaining on the front of the phone. To make a call, you would put the card in the slot and dial. You can buy them in certain denominations which are always printed on the same side of the card. After a call was completed, the phone punches a little hole on the denomination scale so that you know how many units were left. I wish we could get regular public phones that worked the same way with these "Talk Ticket" things. They were very convenient, and the cards made nice souveniers because you could by them at tourist spots with the picture of the shrine or whatever on the card. The only bad thing was the tendency of the Japanese to leave the cards in the slots, I don't know if we Americans would be as forgetfull (under stress?), but I liked and took advantage of this idiosyncrasy. Maybe just more Public Phone 2000's -- they take a card swipe, don't they? I encountered one in Battle Creek, MI whose data functions were still disabled. Chris Turkstra Turkstra@cs.hope.edu [Moderator's Note: I think the reasoning here is that in the USA we have a dispropportionate number of 'regular' pay phones as opposed to the card reader type. Maybe one out of a thousand here is a card reader; the rest are not capable of handling cards that are swiped. Speaking of shrines, maybe I could get them to print up a series with my picture on it. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Did I Get Slammed? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 13:10:06 GMT In article rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) writes: > Well, it looks as if I've been 'slammed' on one of our lines. Today, In addition to Pat's suggestions, try calling 1-700-555-4141. This will give you a recording identifing the default carrier on your line. Rich Greenberg Work: rmg50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com 310-417-8999 N6LRT Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 What? Me speak for Amdahl? Surely you jest.... ------------------------------ From: Robert B. Thompson Subject: Re: Small, PC-Based PBX? Date: 23 Apr 93 08:46:58 EST Organization: Forsyth County, Winston-Salem NC In article , neihart@sunquest.com (Carl W Neihart) writes: > I am looking for a very small, inexpensive PBX and voice mail system > to be used for a small office of about 20 people. > Something with a max of 24 lines and four trunks or similar would be > ideal. It would also be nice if it were a card that went into a > dedicated PC, and controlled by software running in Windows. > Does anyone know of a company that makes such a beast? PCBX makes such boards, but the boards themselves are expensive (I think I remember about $1800 each) and you'd need 2 or 3 to get your 24 stations, plus of course the cost of the PC. I'd recommend that you consider the line of small Panasonic systems. They make them in 3 co line by 8 station (KX-T308), 6X16 and 12X32 versions. I have one installed in my home, and they work very well. One of the best features is that the ports are all hybrid -- they can be used with either a system phone or with a plain old telephone. I paid $400 for my 308 from Target Distributing (they're listed in the 800 directory), plus $130 for the system phone needed for programming. The 1232 comes equipped 4X16 for about $1,100 and can be expanded to its full complement of ports for about $600 additional. At home, I have ring on a single port that's attached to a Talking Technologies VMS card in an old XT. If you need multiple VMS ports, TT makes the PowerLine 2 board that provides two ports. It costs about $600, and you can put several in one PC. Alternatively, Panasonic makes the KX-TVP150 voicemail system which integrates easily with the KX-T switches. It costs $2805 from Target in a two port five hour version. Ports can be added in groups of two for $660 per two ports. They also have an incredibly expensive hard disk upgrade ($1100 for 40MB) that takes the voice storage up to 10.5 hours. Be aware that integrating VMS by whatever means takes station ports. That is, I have a 1232 on order right now fully ported and a TVP150 with eight ports. By attaching the eight-port VMS box to the switch, I occupy eight ports, leaving me with only 24 ports available for stations. Good luck. Robert Bruce Thompson thompson@ledger.forsyth.wsnc.org Forsyth County MIS Department (919) 727-2597 x3012 Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA (919) 727-2020 (FAX) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #275 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa26819; 24 Apr 93 7:28 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26458 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:09:57 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15274 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:09:17 -0500 Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:09:17 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304241009.AA15274@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #276 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 93 05:08:45 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 276 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! (Steve Forrette) Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! (Carl Moore) Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! (Gary Breuckman) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Steve Forrette) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Trey Valenta) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Carl Moore) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Steven Thornton) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Andy Behrens) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Andrew Klossner) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (David E. Sheafer) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Steve Forrette) Re: Looking For Serial/SCSI/SBUS DID Capable FAX Modem (Steve Forrette) Re: ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet (Aaron Good) Re: Free Airtime on Contel of VT (Douglas Scott Reuben) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! Date: 23 Apr 1993 23:32:44 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) writes: > My girlfriend works at the University of Washington, and was probably > the victim of a telephone scam today. > She got a phone call at work from an AT&T operator, who asked if > she would accept a collect call from "John." She declined. > When she told the guy that they still didn't know who the person was, > he got flustered and said, "Oh, could you please just transfer me to > Nine-Zero-Zero??" > Without thinking about it, and trying to be helpful, she did a > hookflash and punched 900 and hung up. > Later she asked me if she had been the victim of a scam. A friend of mine told me of a similar scam that happened to his father. He got a collect call at work, and the person asked for a non-existant name. When told that the person was not known, the caller asked to be transferred to the operator. At this point, the company operator would think the call was coming from an internal extension, and would likely honor a request for assistance in making a long distance call, billed of course to the company's bill. Well, the story doesn't end there. My friend's father's employer is none other than US West, and the father is a senior engineer there. Naturally, he had the feeling that something was up. He contacted network security, who went through the operator service logs and located the collect call to his extension. It originated from a local jail. Apparently the operators here don't announce that the caller is calling from jail (as they do in some juristictions); at least they didn't about a year ago when this happened. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: If the call came in person-to-person collect, then if the report was that no such person was there, what was telco oper- ator doing all this time? Why wasn't *she* (or the PBX/Centrex operator) still in control of the call? Situations like you and the original correspondent describe can *only* occur when the telco and/or PBX/Centrex operator are not in control of the call as they should be until it is properly connected or abandoned. In the case of a Centrex, all lines should have billed number screening in place, forcing such calls to be handled only through the main listed number so the Centrex/PBX operator can control them. And the telco operator is supposed to tell *the first person who answers* that the call is collect and ask for permission to charge it -- even if the call is person to person and 'Mr. Z' has to be called to the telephone from elsewhere. 'Mr. Z' does not find out the call is collect without the person who answered the call knowing about it first. 'Mr. Z' cannot, under the tariff consent to pay for the call unless the *first person to answer the line* says 'you will have to ask Mr. Z'. The assumption is to be that the person who answers the phone is the party responsible for the phone unless they state otherwise ("I'll have to ask the boss/owner, etc"). Telecom managers: teach your PBX/Centrex operators that *they* are to control calls through the switchboard if you are expected to pay the bill; not the callers, not the people who receive the calls. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 19:36:00 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! OK, so now the University of Washington is on alert to look for accepted collect calls on its next phone bill? ------------------------------ From: puma@halcyon.halcyon.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Warning! CENTREX Scam! Date: 23 Apr 1993 19:58:47 -0700 This wouldn't work on our Centrex, you can't transfer a call outside of our system. You CAN add on a third party who's outside, but if you disconnect yourself, the call path is broken for the other two parties. This is Ameritech, 414-288-xxxx ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 23 Apr 1993 18:15:40 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (david.g.lewis) writes: >> 4) Why do marketers sometimes have one 800 number nationally and another >> within their own area? > Welcome to the wonderful world of telecom regulation. Intrastate and > interstate telecommunications are regulated by different agencies -- > intrastate by the 50 individual state utility commissions, and > interstate by the FCC. > Therefore, if a company wants to provide an 800 number for both local > and distant customers, they have to get 800 service from two different > providers -- the local telco and a long distance company. As the Moderator previously mentioned, this is not strictly the case. For example, I have an 800 ReadyLine number provided by your employer, and it can be called from any location in the 50 United States, as well as Canada. It matters not whether the call is interstate or intrastate; even intralata calls work just fine. The "two number" 800 requirement for inter versus intra state service has not been around since the early 80's; any customers that still have this setup in service today are a result of their own choice to maintain their number assignments. >> 5) Why does an unlisted number cost extra? Does it really cost the >> phone companies money? > This will draw the usual run of "no, it's just a telco's way to suck > more money out of people", but there is *some* justification. > Subscribing to telephone service is a highly automated process. As > with any highly automated processes, doing anything "different" from > the default will add an incremental cost. For telephone service, the > default is to put the number into the directory listing. Not putting > the number into the directory listing requires something *different* > to be done in any number of automated systems. I think it's mostly just a way to extract more money from customers. Just last week, I added two Distinctive Ringing (or Custom Ringing as US West likes to call them) numbers to my second line. For these numbers, the default is that they are unlisted, and you have to pay extra for a directory listing! Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: fval_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (trey valenta -3-) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 22:00:16 GMT In TERRY@spcvxa.spc.edu (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr) writes: > In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James > Gleick) writes: >> 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? > Guess: First, switching equipment doesn't care if there's a view or > not. Also, original operator stations had wiring behind them which > reached to the ceiling. Additionally, the switching equipment was > frequently located behind this wall, so it wasn't an outside wall > anyway. I was told a while back (i.e. don't quote me on this) that the buildings were often unoccupied, and by leaving out windows, it was made harder for others to break into the places. trey valenta fval_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (716) 256-3460 [Moderator's Note: Bell/AT&T switch buildings are very often left unattended at night and over the weekends ... just ask the idiots at Illinois Bell who let Hinsdale burn down back in 1988 rather than pay one person to sit there all night and/or weekends doing some kind of trivial paperwork to keep them busy and earning their pay. I really doubt the public is aware that telcos leave multi-million dollar switches sitting alone and unguarded for hours/days at a time. They could have paid a clerk to babysit the switch on weekends and at night for *several years* for what it cost them to replace it after the fire plus the revenue lost for the month it was out, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 19:48:31 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries I hadn't heard of the Shipley reference before. There are a few cases where area codes off by one dial click have touched. 307 Wyoming touches 308 Nebraska, I believe (and would/still do) 302 Delaware, 301 Maryland (this went away when area code 410 was fully cut over) 501 Arkansas, 601 Mississippi. This next one would have been gone long before I can remember: 704 North Carolina, 703 Virginia. This is keeping with the old convention that N0X was only used in states/provinces with one area code; 919 in NC would then have come along later. Present 704 does not touch VA. But in the second week of this past January, I saw the notes about new area codes 610 in Pa. and 910 in NC. My reaction was "huh?", because 910 will be next door to the shrunken 919. Two exchanges in the future 610 (in southern Chester County) border on 410 in Maryland, but calls across that part of the border are long distance. I also recall reading that LONG ago 305 covered all of Florida? (813 would then have been the second area code, followed by 904 and 407.) But even with 813 around, 305 did touch 205 in Alabama until the formation of area code 904 in 1965. ------------------------------ From: stevet@eskimo.com (Steven Thornton) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Eskimo North (206) 367-3837 {eskimo.com} Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 21:18:55 GMT >> 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? Perhaps, since these buildings don't NEED windows (switches don't care about views), and since windows cost more than walls, they're just saving a buck. Then again, maybe they just enjoy presenting blank-wall ugliness to the public. Steve Thornton stevet@eskimo.com Seattle, Washington ------------------------------ From: andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy Behrens) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:26:36 -0400 Organization: Burlington Coat Factory Reply-To: Andy.Behrens@coat.com Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) > Recently, in the Washington, D.C. area, I've noticed that a lot of > retail stores now have a device that will read the numbers from the > bottom of a check. They all seem to have a sticker on them saying > "SCAN: Shared Check Authorization Network" .... > Does it only check that the account is valid, or does it also check the > account to see if funds are available? > [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the > money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant > debit is the direction things are going. PAT] Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. SCAN is a clearinghouse for bad-check information. If you write a bad check to any merchant that's a member of the clearinghouse, your account number gets written into the database, and stays there until you make the check good. SCAN doesn't verify your account balance -- it just sees if you have any outstanding bad checks. Some stores add additional precautions: for example, how many checks has this person written in the last 24 hours (large numbers might indicate a stolen checkbook). Andy Behrens, Burlington Coat Factory [ Burlington Coat Factory is a member of the SCAN clearing- ] [ house, but I'm not speaking for either SCAN or BCF.... ] P.O. Box 116, South Strafford, Vt. (802) 765-4138 Burlington Coat Factory, Schoolhouse Lane, Etna, N.H. 03750 (603) 643-2800 [Moderator's Note: You say 'banks don't give this sort of information to anyone who happens to know an account number ...' ha ha ha ... banks talk about anything and everything. What you say about the other functions are true, but more and more electronic transactions are going on. The float seldom will buy you more than a day or two now; it used to be I could go to the store on Tuesday and write a check for which funds would be deposited Friday and get by with it; now the banks are processing inter-bank things electronically; the debits are processed and the paperwork follows. Now-a-days I don't *dare* go to the grocery store until Wednesday night after the courtesy counter was flushed or balanced out by the corporate roving cashiers (they go from one branch of the chain to the next all day and evening in an armored car) for the night, around 8 PM. I know then my check will sit there all night. And at that, I have to get to the bank by Friday noon to cover it. The banks' largest customers, you know, operate their own 'banks' as it were, encoding the checks and issuing their own debits and credits. Amoco Credit Card encodes their checks and sends them right to the Fed, advising the interim bank electronically what should be done. When the paperwork actually gets to its final home these days is a moot point. It has long been a goal of banks to eliminate the float as much as possible, even when paper transactions still exist, and they are getting closer to this all the time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: 23 Apr 93 21:51:16 GMT Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com Organization: Tektronix Color Printers, Wilsonville, Oregon Justin Fidler writes of a point-of-sale check scanning device which phones for authorization, and asks: > I want to know if this device is connected to some type of network > that dials up a nationwide clearinghouse with information on each > person's account, or exactly how it works? Does it only check that > the account is valid, or does it also check the account to see if > funds are available?" To which our Beleaguered Moderator responds: > Both; all three actually. In fact, it most likely does none of the above. Check verification services are decades old, and they work by comparing the account number against a list of hot numbers -- accounts that have had problems. These services do not (yet) have a way of interrogating the account balance, or even its existence. > Instant debit is the direction things are going. Yes, but it looks like they're getting there via debit cards and ATM technology. Andrew Klossner (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com) [Moderator's Note: So how does Compuserve accept your 'check' over the computer and make automatic debits each month thereafter? They send a tape to their bank which sends a tape to your bank. How do some of the telephone information providers -- working on 800's in lieu of 900 numbers -- manage to 'take your check over the phone'? I guess the 'next best thing' to instant debit would be electronic transfers between banks which cut the float down to a single day or less. That's what I get now from the Illinois Bell pay-your-phone-bill- by-phone service I have used to pay them. IBT accepts your 'check' over the phone. They just send the bank a tape to charge me and credit IBT at the same time. I tell IBT to get the money Tuesday, they get it Tuesday it is gone from my account on Tuesday. Furthermore, I have heard from at least a few people that if you have an American Express card you authorize Amex to 'look into' your checking account at any time they wish to see if you have the money to pay them or not. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nin15b0b@merrimack.edu (David E. Sheafer) Subject: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: 23 Apr 93 19:47:23 GMT Organization: Merrimack College, No. Andover, MA, USA Fidler, Justin wrote: > Recently, in the Washington, D.C. area, I've noticed that a lot of > retail stores now have a device that will read the numbers from the > bottom of a check > My question to Telecom readers is this: How exactly does this work? SCAN is a joint venture between many retailers including Sears (I'm an employee of Sears). SCAN is what is called a negative file system, what happens when a merchant enters your account number (or license number) in the SCAN network for approval, it checks its national database to see if the account number or license number is currently in their database. The only way (other then computer error) for either of these items to get into their database is if you have bounced a check and either your bank or the place where you bounced the check uses the SCAN network. When I enter a returned check into our proprietary system at Sears, within 24-48 hours that customers information is in the SCAN network, and any checks they write to SCAN merchants will be denied. (If the check is paid off it is then deleted from the system. I don't know if "repeat offenders" will remain in the system or not.) SCAN nor does any check "authorization" network check your balance, etc. (Point of Sale ATM networks do, though)> ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: 23 Apr 1993 19:10:24 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA > [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the > money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant > debit is the direction things are going. PAT] This is generally NOT correct. All these check authorization networks do is check your account number (and/or sometimes your driver's license number) against a list of known deadbeats. It has no way of knowing whether or not funds are actually in the bank to cover the check. Once you write a bad check to a merchant that subscribes to a check verification network, you may be placed on the deadbeat list. In many cases, if you make an effort to clear up the bad check right away, they won't place you on the list. But once you are on the list, you can't write a check at participating networks, even if the check is good. Many of the check verification networks share their deadbeat lists with each other, much in the same way as multiple credit bureaus will have the same information. Also, the agreement between the merchant and the check verification network can vary. Some agreements call for a set fee per verification being charged, with the understanding that the merchant still has to deal with any bad checks that slip through. Others have the merchant pay a percentage fee and have the verification network guarantee payment (this setup makes accepting checks very much like accepting credit cards from the merchant's perspective). The only systems that can actually verify funds availability are those that are true Electronic Funds Transfer systems, where you enter a PIN and there's no check. But, these usually have a limited number of banks that belong to the network. The check verification systems work with any bank's checks, since there's no real data connection to the bank. At least that's the way this has always worked on every system I've used on the West Coast. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Looking For Serial/SCSI/SBUS DID Capable FAX Modem Date: 23 Apr 1993 18:59:56 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article dirac!srl@uunet.UU.NET (Sam Lipson) writes: > I have to believe that someone at least makes a box that allows you to > plug a normal telephone type instrument into a DID trunk, and gives > the called number via some digital interface. There are a few products out there that do this. Some are advertised in the back of Voice Processing Magazine. They have single line units, as well as multi-line units that handle, say, 6 lines. These devices usually collect the DID digits, then generate ringing on the line side of the device. When your loop-start device answers, they dump the DID digits via DTMF. So, as long as your fax modem can send and decode DTMF, then you're all set. A company called Nicollet Technology used to make a multi-line device that could do it either the DTMF way, or provide a serial port to dump the data. I don't know if they still make it, though. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: agood@netcon.smc.edu (Aaron Good) Subject: Re: ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet Organization: Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 16:21:36 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Automatic Teller Machines, I suppose? I guess not > in the context of FDDI and Ethernet. I just couldn't resist using > my Moderator privileges to toss all three of these in one issue, one > after another! :) Todd Inch, you think *you're* confused! :) PAT] Moderator: do you think we could start a trend, maybe put in a request to the "industry council on acronyms and funny names" to change ATM to ASTM - for ASynchron Trans Mode ... :-) well, that's my big contribution to the conference for the month ... :-) ------------------------------ Date: 23-APR-1993 23:14:59.49 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: Free Airtime on Contel of VT Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU wrote: > I was listening to the radio the other day (it was an accident, I > assure you!) and heard an adversisement for Contel Cellular, the `B' > side carrier here in (at least Northern) Vermont. > ...What they are offering is free airtime on > weekends for six months, to all customers who sign up for full-year > contract before the end of this month. And just where do you get to use this free airtime? Thier system is SO pethetic you can BARELY get a signal past Montpelier. They are SLOWLY putting up new towers, but when compared to Cell One/VT (which generally gives you 30 minutes free per month anyhow), their coverage area is laughable. I frankly don't see why ANYONE, regardless of your cellular needs, would use the "B" side in VT at this time, unless you MUST have Follow Roaming, which still won't help you when you get to Southern VT/NH, as US Cell down there is an equally poor carrier, with no FMR or call delivery to Northern VT. (They MAY be getting FMR soon, though ...) Basically, you get service on I-89 to Wilmington, and then down a bit on US-7. Cell One/VT has much more extensive "through" coverage, especially on US-7, I-91, NH-101 (continuous to the Manchester 00445 system and Boston, but no handoffs yet.) And you get Nationlink, which in general is slower than FMR and less reliable (not that FMR is all too great), but you can get reasonably fast setup so calls will follow you from the Canadian border all the way to Boston, Eastern NH, and Southern Maine, as well as other areas with Nationlink. Moreover, you can go to most systems in the Northeast, and callers will receive the roam port number to reach you at. Not too convenient, but better than nothing. > (I'd love to know how it is that Contel got the `B' license rather > than NETel, considering their comparative landline service areas. The > `A' side is a Cell One franchise.) I guess they won the lottery, so to speak. And now, of course, NETel will *eventually* have to work out some deal, ranging from buying them out (which will be soon if they continue to charge "big city" rates for their ten tower system!), to some sort of operating agreement (like Mid-Hudson cellular and NYNEX in NY), or to just "plain old" auto call delivery. This will undoubtedly involve some not-too-insignificant expense by NYNEX, higher costs to roamers, and a nice fat windfall to Contel. Isn't it nice to see how the FCC administers these things SO well?? ;( Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #276 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27309; 24 Apr 93 7:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14232 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:28:53 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11511 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:28:18 -0500 Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1993 05:28:18 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304241028.AA11511@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #277 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 93 05:28:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 277 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Broadband Symposium Reminder (Steve Agard) Phil Zimmerman on the "Clipper Initiative" (Alan T. Furman) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (L Broadfield) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (R Silvernail) Re: Clipper Chip and Divulsion of Codes (Christopher Wolfe) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sagard@digi.lonestar.org (Steve Agard) Subject: Broadband Symposium Reminder Organization: DSC Communications, Plano Tx. Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 14:54:22 GMT IEEE Symposium Announcement: ---------------------------- | | | SYMPOSIUM ON BROADBAND | | | -------------------------- Presented By IEEE Communications and Vehicular Technology Society Dallas Chapter Broadband - Network services of the future, or just another technology for backbone Public, Private, and Local/Wide Area networks? Broadband networks are expected to provide the foundation of emerging services, synergistic with the Advanced Intelligent Network and the Personal Communications Services network. Aspects of broadband are enjoying the broadest international spectrum of interest and activity yet seen by the Telecommunications and Computer industries. This one-day multi-track symposium with panel discussion will present the latest developments in broadband and wideband markets and technologies. The symposium will address such questions as: How do ATM, SMDS and Frame Relay services inter-relate? What are the most recent technical issues and developments? How do we get to Broadband from here? What are the benefits of Bandwidth-on- Demand services? Is there synergy between telephone and cable TV companies? April 27, 1993 The Richardson Civic Center 411 West Arapaho Rd (@ I 75), Richardson, Texas Registration: 7:45 AM - 8:15 AM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Dave McDysan Boardmember, The ATM Forum; Executive Staff Member, Virtual Data Services Strategic Planning, MCI Telecommunications Tentative Agenda Topics/Speakers Three sessions are presented: Overview and Applications; Technology; Services. The Services and Technologies sessions run in parallel. OVERVIEW and APPLICATIONS ------------------------- The Evolving Network Richard W. Stephenson Director, Customer Applications Analysis Southwestern Bell, Technology Resources CCITT & Trends in ATM Deployment Michael R. Zeug Vice-Chair, T1S1.5; Member of Technical Staff Ameritech Services ATM Technology As it Applies to Services Dr. Krish Prabhu V.P., Research And Development Alcatel Network Systems Information Service Network Architectures (INA / TINA) Dave Brown Principle Member of Technical Staff NEC America Broadband Network Infrastructure Al Pereira Manager, Applications Marketing & Advanced Technology GTE Telephone Operations PANEL DISCUSSION, FOLLOWED BY LUNCH TECHNOLOGY ---------- ATM LANs & Application Requirements Chase Bailey Chief Technical Officer Efficient Network Technology An Introduction to Multimedia, and Its Impact On The Network Jim Pollock President BusinessWorks Issues Between Private & Public ATM Networks Sam Shuler Senior Member of Technical Staff Texas Instruments Multipoint Signaling: A Case Study Michael Gaddis Senior Research Associate; Associate Director of the Applied Research Laboratory Washington University Introduction to Network Management for ATM Networks Gunnar Nilsson Systems Architecture Manager ELLEMTEL Scalable Coherent Interface for ATM Peter R. Fenner President Lightbus Technology SERVICES --------- Irfan Ali V.P., The ATM Forum; Manager, Competitive Analysis & Technology Northern Telecom Benefits of a Common Broadband Services Platform Athar S. Mian Member of Technical Staff NYNEX Science and Technology Internetworking Frame Realy, ATM, SMDS and ISDN Larry Lang Product Manager Cisco Systems Applications and Relationships of Narrowband, Wideband, and Broadband Services Mike McLoughlin Systems Product Manager General DataComm Video Dial Tone Network Architecture Richard Barale Director, Video Systems Marketing DSC Communications Corporation Meeting End-User Demand For Flexible Bandwidth Gary Sanders Product Manager, Transport Network Applications Ericsson Network Systems PANEL DISCUSSIONS, FOLLOWED BY RECEPTION SESSION CHAIRS: Overview and Applications ------------------------- Steven Agard Vice-Chair, The ATM Forum; Chairman, T1S1.5 ATM Subworking Group; Senior Manager DSC Communications Corporation Technology ---------- Demos Kostas Manager, Complex Technologies Standards GTE Telephone Operations Services Services -------- Ron Maginley Senior Manager, Carrier Service Development Northern Telecom Although I am willing to answer Symposium questions e-mailed to me, registration must be provided in writing, with the following form: REGISTRATION FORM: Symposium On Broadband Send your tax-deductible funds, payable to "IEEE" to: IEEE, 2116 E. Arapaho, Suite 474, Richardson, TX 75081. Registrations postmarked before April 7, 1993 are eligible for the Pre-registered rates below. Seating is limited. Check all that apply: Attendee: Pre-registered: (Before April 7, 1993) At the Door: ---------------------- ------------- Student/ Lifetime/ Retired Members [ ] $20 [ ] $30 IEEE Student ID#____________ Group (of 2 or more, price each) [ ] $50 [ ] N/A IEEE Member [ ] $60 [ ] $75 Non-Member [ ] $70 [ ] $95 [ ] Master Card/Visa [ ] PO#____________ Amount $____________ (Sorry, no Amex) [ ] Check#_________ Amount $____________ #_________________________ Exp. date:________________ Planning to Attend: [ ] Overview and Applications + Technology sessions or: [ ] Overview and Applications + Services sessions Name________________________________________________ Company_____________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Chapter Chairperson: Dhawal Moghe, BNR Inc., (214) 684-9907 Symposium Chairperson: Steve Bootman, DSC Communications Corp., (214) 519-2110 Program Chairperson: Steven Agard, DSC Communications Corp., (214) 519-3743 Symposium Treasurer: Stanton Zeff, Alcatel Network Systems (214) 996-5626 [Moderator's Note: I am sorry this 'reminder note' only reached me three days before the conference, with a weekend in the middle at that. Maybe some people will see it in time who want to go. PAT] ------------------------------ From: atfurman@cup.portal.com Subject: Phil Zimmerman on the "Clipper initiative" Date: Sat, 24 Apr 93 01:03:53 PDT The following was posted on the Usenet newsgroup alt.security.pgp by Philip Zimmermann, author of PGP (a public-key crypto program): --------------- Here are some ideas for those of you who want to oppose the White House Clipper chip crypto initiative. I think this is going to be a tough measure to fight, since the Government has invested a lot of resources in developing this high-profile initiative. They are serious about it now. It won't be as easy as it was defeating Senate Bill 266 in 1991. Possible actions to take in response: 1) Mobilize your friends to to all the things on this list, and more. 2) Work the Press. Talk with your local newspaper's science and technology reporter. Write to your favorite trade rags. Better yet, write some articles yourself for your favorite magazines or newspapers. Explain why the Clipper chip initiative is a bad idea. Remember to tailor it to your audience. The general public may be slow to grasp why it's a bad idea, since it seems so technical and arcane and innocent sounding. Try not to come across as a flaming libertarian paranoid extremist [*Moi?* -- ATF], even if you are one. 3) Lobby Congress. Write letters and make phone calls to your Member of Congress in your own district, as well as your two US Senators. Many Members of Congress have aides that advise them of technology issues. Talk to those aides. 4) Involve your local political parties. The Libertarian party would certainly be interested. There are also libertarian wings of the Democrat and Republican parties. The right to privacy has a surprisingly broad appeal, spanning all parts of the political spectrum. We have many natural allies. The ACLU. The NRA. Other activist groups that may someday find themselves facing a government that can suppress them much more efficiently if these trends play themselves out. But you must articulate our arguments well if you want to draw in people who are not familiar with these issues. 4) Contribute money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), assuming these groups will fight this initiative. They need money for legal expenses and lobbying. 5) Mobilize opposition in industry. Companies that will presumably develop products that will incorporate the Clipper chip should be lobbied against it, from within and from without. If you work for a telecommunications equipment vendor, first enlist the aid of your coworkers and fellow engineers against this initiative, and then present your company's management with a united front of engineering talent against this initiative. Write persuasive memos to your management, with your name and your colleagues' names on it. Hold meetings on it. 6) Publicize, deploy and entrench as much guerrilla techno-monkeywrenching apparatus as you can. That means PGP, anonymous mail forwarding systems based on PGP, PGP key servers, etc. The widespread availability of this kind of technology might also be used as an argument that it can't be effectively suppressed by Government action. I will also be working to develop new useful tools for these purposes. 7) Be prepared to engage in an impending public policy debate on this topic. We don't know yet how tough this fight will be, so we may have to compromise to get most of what we want. If we can't outright defeat it, we may have to live with a modified version of this Clipper chip plan in the end. So we'd better be prepared to analyze the Government's plan, and articulate how we want it modified. Philip Zimmermann Forwarded to the Internet TELECOM Digest by Alan T. Furman, atfurman@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: lairdb@crash.cts.com Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 23 Apr 93 21:36:25 GMT In jsm@angate.att.com writes: > Please take two anti-paranoia pills and call your doctor in the morning! > Sorry, but the misinformation in this article forces me to respond. And I (for one) am glad you did so; your response (particularly the attachment from Dorothy Denning) was informative. > This is just not true. The current offering is in stand-alone devices > which YOU can buy at YOUR discretion. There is no purposefully > crippled telephone system. No one is forcing you to attach these > devices to your telephone or buy a telephone which has the Clipper > chip in it. Even if you attach one of the Telephone Security Devices > to your phone, it does nothing unless you push the little red button, > i.e. you have the choice of enabling/disabling the security feature > completely on each call. (Note: I'm writing all of this as an attempt to present the "sane paranoid" view, if you will. Or at least the "polite paranoid" view.) So far so good; I agree with every little thing you say in the above paragraph. What you need to understand, though, is that government measures taken in the past which can be compared to Clipper have rarely _remained_ voluntary. For as long as the use of the Clipper chips remains entirely voluntary, I believe there will be products on the market that will intentionally *not* implement it. Indeed, I believe (and fervently hope) that the non-Clipper products will kick the Clipper products's collective butt in the marketplace, on that issue alone. However, if it turns out that Clipper is made mandatory, or that it is somehow pressured into a de facto standard, then the entire Clipper concept deserves all the villification it has gotten so far, and more. It's even possible that this is all a confusion issue; your post suggests that Clipper is intended as principally for use in export- market devices, to be an automatically-approved encryption method so as to avoid the ITARS restrictions. If this is indeed the case, then all I can say is that whoever put together the "official" announcements is an imbecile: they failed to clearly explain this, and between the recent FBI proposals for "tap access" to electronic telephone equipment and the current administration's increasing disregard for individual rights could have anticipated this outcry with even a moment's thought. > There is however a strong need for multi-national U.S. companies such > as AT&T to be able to secure voice/data/fax from foreign agencies and > competitors. This is a documented need that DOES NOT impact your > rights as an individual for privacy from anyone, including the > government. As far as that is concerned, you can be no worse off than > you are currently with no voice protection. To put it bluntly, the > only reason you may consider your telephone conversation private is > because any number of foreign agencies, companies and individuals have > made a conscientious decision that your phone conversations are not > worth listening to! Again, if you are talking about use of U.S.-exported devices, then I will provisionally agree (whether or not ITARS is sensible is a different debate.) If you are speaking of intra-U.S. use, then you are flat wrong; the reason I may consider my conversation private has nothing at all to do with anyone else's conscious decision about the value of my conversation, it has to do with my conscious decision whether or not to use an STU III (or similar device.) > I do take issue with the current thread in some Usenet groups that > implicates AT&T (and therefore I presume those working on the TSD and > other secure products) as subverting a person's individual right to > privacy by offering a product line with the Clipper chip installed. I will agree that your offering such a product does not subvert individual rights. I would hope that you would choose to also offer better products; perhaps a version with Clipper, and a non-export version with Clipper for calling your overseas friends and FooBar (or whatever) for normal use. > The facts are that there is no government mandate to prevent people > from choosing the encryption scheme of their choice. There are others > available. You can purchase them now. What the government has said > you can not do all along is export them, UNLESS you get their prior > approval which is not often granted. Clipper is a compromise. In my > mind, it is the best compromise (actually the only viable one I've > seed to date) obtainable now. So long as those products remain available, and so long as the government does not prevent their production or free commerce in them, all will be as you say. The American public, however, has a long and well- justified history of mistrusting it's government -- actions which appear to increase the government's power, particularly those which could be construed as leading toward a totalitarian state, tend to elicit a somewhat heated response. > Despite the whining on other newsgroups, I have never seen a > solution suggested that satisfies the needs of law enforcement and > U.S. business in an equitable manner. The question of whether law enforcement *has* "needs" is also innapropriate here (although it is terrifically interesting.) Again, if Clipper is truly intended only for the export market, or to ease that situation, *that's* a different issue. (And the idiot who didn't make it clear in the press releases should be hung. Slowly.) However, if it is the administration's intent to have Clipper used in domestic products, then this is no different from the FBI's "digital wiretap" attempt. Yours for a free marketplace, Laird P. Broadfield lairdb@crash.cts.com ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System From: roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 22:57:23 CST Organization: The Villa's most exclusive annex In comp.dcom.telecom, rdippold@qualcomm.com writes: > Is there anyone who actually thinks they can keep those two keys > secure? The Family Key is the killer. A single key for all the chips that decrypts the session key, encrypted by the user key. This system looks far too easy to hack when that Family Key gets compromised. Anyone else think a single, hard-wired key is a Bad Idea? Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org ------------------------------ From: CHRISTOPHER WOLF Subject: Re: Clipper Chip and Divulsion of Codes Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 13:01:44 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: cmwolf@mtu.edu About this divulsion of codes required to un-encrypt the Clipper Chip's output: Are these codes actually released, or does the information from the conversation get taken to the two agencies who decode it and give it back? If the codes are actually given out, wouldn't the agency just write them down and use them at any point in the future that they wanted to, even if it was a while after when they asked for them. As in: they may not be able to prove anything right now, but if they listen long enough, they can get almost anything, if twisted in the correct manner. Christopher Wolf Electrical Engineer cmwolf@mtu.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #277 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28784; 24 Apr 93 8:46 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00227 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 06:24:05 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28117 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sat, 24 Apr 1993 06:23:19 -0500 Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1993 06:23:19 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304241123.AA28117@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #278 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 93 06:23:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 278 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Germany to Offer Custom Calling Features (Juergen Ziegler) CLASS Features Now Work With My Personal 800 Number (Kevin Paul Herbert) War On Payphones, er, I Mean Drugs (Steve Forrette) Another Data Access Arrangement (Martin McCormick) Caller ID Question (Justin Leavens) Re: Autodialer Recommendations, Please (Brian T. Vita) Re: Bell Canada Restricts International Calls From Pay Phones (Mark Brader) Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required (Carl Moore) Re: Problems in Austin TX (Seth B. Rothenberg) Re: Phone Service Expected to Save Lives (Joe Markovic) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Peter Capek) Re: NTT Telephone Cards - How do They Work? (Anand Datragailda) Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? (birchall@pilot.njin.net) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (Steve Forrette) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (Rudolph Maceyko) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: juergen@jojo.sub.org Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1993 02:14:52 +0200 Subject: Germany to Offer Custom Calling Features Germany, a major G7 nation still has a monopoly in major portions of telecommuncations. As a result German telephone customer were offered really VPOTS (Very Plain Old Telephone Service). Services and features that are commonplace in the USA and other countries around the world for years or even decades will be offered partially this fall. TELEKOM, the German telecommunications operator, will offer starting this fall such *exciting* :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) features like: - itemised billig (pending government approval); - call waiting; - call forwarding; - conference (three-way) calls; - call barring (outgoing calls); - user controlled identification (of POTS lines on ISDN phones). These will be available to all customers that are hooked up to a modern digital switch. According to preliminary information around 40% of the lines will be capable to offer this services by the end of 1993. Nationwide availability will be offered in 1995. But it should be noted that most customers that are hooked up to electromechanical switching gear will get a new phone number if they *wish* to get those services, since these lines will be served by a remote switch. I am anxious to find out, if TELEKOM will assign the same codes for these various features as they are used in other countries. Since these features are available virtually anywhere within the USA, interested readers could send me a list of all feature codes, so that I may compare those with the correspondig TELEKOM codes. Is there somewhere a list/file (FTP) of these various feature codes available? Juergen Ziegler......... Internet: juergen@jojo.sub.org Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 W7580 Buehl (Baden)..... Secondary Mail address: Germany................. uk84@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de ------------------------------ Subject: CLASS Features Now Work With My Personal 800 Number Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 17:13:43 MST From: Kevin Paul Herbert I have a personal 800 number provided by PacBell and Sprint. Last week, I called it from the airport while travelling, and the call didn't go through. I got the "Unable to complete..." recording. I reported this to repair service. They told me that there were switch table errors introduced when preparing for 800 number portability, and that the problem has been fixed. Since I got home, I called my personal 800 number from one line to the other. Distinctive ringing worked, and so did call return. So at least from within the LATA, CLASS features now work in PacBell via their 800 numbers. I'll have to arrange an experiment to see what happens when I get an 800 call from out of the LATA. When I do this, I'll report back here. Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 16:18:29 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: War On Payphones, er, I mean Drugs Here's a new piece in the War On Drugs being waged at a payphone near you. I saw a bank of US West payphones at a gas station here in Seattle. They are located in a high drug/high prostitution area. There is a sign posted above them which reads "These phones may be out of order after 6 PM. Please ask the gas station attendant inside if you need to call 911 for an emergency." Note that these are genuine Bell payphones, not COCOTs. This seems like a really stupid thing to do, IMHO. It seems like the concept of payphones being used as the only available phones by neighborhood residents who don't have private service has completely disappeared. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: Please note that telco *never* implements these changes on their own -- nor the one where the phones work but coins cannot be used during overnight hours, forcing the use of calling cards, collect or third number billing. They make these changes after community pressure, either by citizen's neighborhood groups or in some cases the city authorities. Telco wants their phones to be used and could care less what people talk about; it is the above mentioned people who get on telco's case; so telco goes along to placate the complainers or to accomodate new laws in the community, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Another Data Access Arrangement Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 15:08:22 -0500 From: Martin McCormick There have been several recent postings by people looking for computer- telephone interfaces similar to the old data access arrangement. We are looking for a device which can detect incoming calls, take a line off-hook, and provide a two-way audio channel between the telephone line and the computer which, in this case is a Sun sparc. The Sun Sparc can use its audio channel to generate DTMF tones, play messages over the line, and "listen" to the feedback from the telephone line in order to monitor call progress. We want to be able to send network trouble reports to a mixture of alphanumeric and voice pagers and possibly individual telephones. The audio coupler must be FCC-approved and must prevent any ringing current from appearing in the audio system for obvious reasons. I have thought that an ordinary Hayse-type modem instructed to answer, but not send carrier in parallel with the audio device seems like the cheapest method for line control plus it could function as a modem when dialing the alphanumeric pagers. The ideal audio device would be capacitively coupled to the line and would simply transfer audio when the modem supplied the resistance to pickup the line. If anybody knows of such a device, I would like to hear about it. Thank you. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 13:50:11 -0800 From: leavens@bmf.usc.edu (Justin Leavens) Subject: Caller ID Question Is there any way to get Caller-ID information from a SS-7 equipped switch with CLASS service capabilities that is *not* programmed to offer Caller-ID? I only ask this because I got in a discussion with someone who insisted that such equipped switches actually sent this information, and COs that didn't offer caller ID used filters to remove the information. Justin Leavens Microcomputer Specialist leavens@bmf.usc.edu University of Southern California ------------------------------ Date: 23 Apr 93 23:55:11 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Autodialer Recommendations, Please > I'm looking for an autodialer to hang off of an uninterruptible > power supply. There is a simple two step way of solving your problem: 1. Have your paging company arrange a group page for the four pagers. Usually they give you a special number that will hit all four pagers at once. 2. Pick up a cheap autodialer for a burglar alarm system. Many companies make these including (ugh) Radio Shack. UPS closes contact -> dialer calls group page number -> all four pagers go off. Brian Vita CSS, Inc. 70702,2233 ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Restricts International Calls From Pay Phones Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 15:31:18 GMT > [Moderator's Note: We did have mention of this a month or two ago. But > if the card reader phones won't accept cash to those points, and telco > refuses to allow credit, then *what can* the card reader phones be > used for where international calls are concerned? PAT] Well, there ARE still collect calls and third-number billings! Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com [Moderator's Note: No third number billings unless someone is available at the third number to verify the charges. Regards collect, there are manyt countries were collect calls from the USA are not accepted automatically by the telecom administration; I do not know if this is the case in Canada or not. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 10:02:49 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: USA - Intro to Telecom Area Codes Required rfranken@cs.umr.edu writes: > You cannot ALWAYS insert a 1 before a ten digit number ... in some > places, the rule "1 means toll and the absence of 1 means non-toll" > is enforced strictly, and so if you have a number in a different NPA > that is non-toll, you can't dial 1 first. [mentions local calls between > Omaha in 402 and Council Bluffs in 712] This too can vary. In the Washington DC area, the published instructions are: 7D for local in your own area code; NPA + 7D for local to a different area code; 1 + NPA + 7D for long distance (this includes within 301 and within 703) and I think 1+NPA+7D can be used for any of these, with NPA+7D being useable for any local call. ------------------------------ From: rothen+@pitt.edu (Seth B Rothenberg) Subject: Re: Problems in Austin TX Date: 23 Apr 93 18:16:50 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh A number of years ago, AT&T suffered an outage when workers accidentally cut a fiber from NYC to NJ. I don't know if the workers were AT&T. As I recall, it cut off all of Manhattan from the rest of the world. I was surprised they did not have any copper to fall back to -- or even an alternate route -- eg, to the North through Albany. Companies that could reach other carriers were better off than those that were stuck with AT&T (due to PBX programming). This is almost as bad as the incident with AT&T shutting down the FAA's network due to a bad power supply when they were on 'house power'. Is there ever going to be an FCC ruling that will require carriers to meet certain redundancy capabilities? ------------------------------ From: Joe Markovic Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400 Subject: Re: Phone Service Expected to Save Lives In article reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) writes: > I recall cases where children have tried to call 911 but could not > because they could not find the 'eleven' button on the phone ... In article richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) replies: > This was discussed on alt.folklore.urban a while ago, and the > conclusion was that this is an urban legend. What's so difficult about beleiving that people could be stupid enough to not teach their children how to dial 911. I was in one of AT&T's phone centers and listened to a customer asking about the AT&T videophone. The salesclerk told her that two units would be needed so that each person could see the other. The customer replied that she thought anybody calling from any other phone would see her. Then commenting that it concerned her since she sometimes answered the phone after coming out of the shower. ciao, Joe Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario 416-629-7000/629-7044 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 93 14:13:02 EDT From: capek@watson.ibm.com Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries James Gleick asks: > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the > lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? ... and various people have explained about the relationship between dial pulses and the length of time to dial a number and population of area covered. But there's another "rule" which was used which is little known. That is that area codes which contain a middle "0" were originally assigned to those areas (i.e., states) which were assigned only a single area code. Area codes which contain a middle "1" were assigned to pieces of states which were assigned more than one area code. Thus, originally, all of New Jersey was 609, but New York was 212, 516, 914, 716, and (I think) 315. This "rule" had only a very temporary effect, since the original assignments were modified by area code splits very soon after direct dialing went into operation. I think the first one was adding 201 to New Jersey. Peter Capek ------------------------------ From: Ops Mgr Subject: Re: NTT Telephone Cards - How do They Work? Sender: bridge@tigger.jvnc.net (Anand Datragailda) Reply-To: lee%polarsun@rna.rockefeller.edu Organization: JVNC Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1993 21:12:30 GMT Ops Mgr writes: > I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii and something that struck me > as odd was the fact that NTT Telephone cards with a Hawaiian motif > were being sold there at $15.00 a pop for 500 "credits". > Wonder how long before this gets popular in the US. > [Moderator's Note: Hawaii *is* part of the USA, but I'm sure you meant > to say 'the mainland'. Actually, they are starting to catch on here. > AT&T's largest reseller/aggregator, US Fibercom is ironing out the > details now. See the details in the next message. PAT] When I said "Wonder how long before this gets popular in the US." I meant exactly that. The cards are completely useless (except for aesthetics) anywhere outside of Japan. They were being sold in souvenir shops in and around Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island. Lee ------------------------------ From: birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag) Subject: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? Date: 24 Apr 93 01:09:45 GMT Organization: Screaming in Digital, the Queensryche Digest I thought some telecom folks might find this interesting ... came across it in another newsgroup. dfong@waikato.ac.nz wrote (in rec.music.info): > Split Enz Phone Cards > --------------------- > A couple of months ago it was reported in Rip It Up that Festival were > planning to have a set of Enz phone cards made up for media and record > retail personnel. And also, that other NZ bands may be honoured. > But I haven't heard anything else about it. > I shall ask around - BOUND to be a collectors item. It would, admittedly, be pretty interesting to have my IQ card feature the emblem of my favorite metal group (and actually, I could probably ink a small representation of it below the IQ symbol)... has anyone (outside the US, since I'm fairly sure we can't get such nifty cards here) seen such cards? I'm not sure whether they'd be permanent plastic cards, or the debit cards that've been discussed recently. Perhaps in the near future these debit cards will be the hot "promo" items of choice at conventions -- instead of handing out pens or rulers, give out debit cards with your company's symbol? Heck, you could even go so far as to have your *business* cards be phone debit cards. Might encourage prospective clients to give you a call, if it was "on you." :) Shag (what? time for my medication?) ------------------------ birchall@pilot.njin.net shag@gnu.ai.mit.edu shag@glia.biostr.washington.edu ShagNet - Rutgers/NJIN / Editor of "Screaming in Digital" | PPI 14.4 FaxModem Dialup access serving / The Queensryche Net-Digest. Mail | PC/GEOS GeoSadist Burlington County NJ / queensryche-request@pilot.njin.net | Cannondale SR-500 ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Date: 23 Apr 1993 19:17:20 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article TELECOM Moderator writes: > When the largest aggregator/reseller of AT&T decides to get involved, > then you can assume a trend is probably underway. The program, to be > known as 'Talk Tickets' will not use mag stripes. Instead, there will > be little carboard tickets, almost like bus or train tickets. Tickets > will be available in several denominations including $5, $10 and $20 > sizes. Each ticket will have a unique serial number on it. All calls > will go to an 800 number where voice prompting will tell the person to > enter their ticket number and the number they wish to call. I wonder how much this will solve the problems that have traditionally existed in the United States because of the lack of such a system. For example, will these tickets be generally available at newsstands, vending machines, post offices, etc? If not, then it really doesn't solve the problem of non-US residents needing temporary telecom services. Also, they will have a central record of all calls placed with a particular ticket. If you buy it mail-order, or 'recharge' it with a credit card, they also know who you are. Even without this knowledge, by correlating the calls placed with a single card that was purchased anonymously, they may be able to figure out who you are. One of the advantages of a token card system where the value is actually stored on the card and is subtracted by the phone itself is that it provides for complete anonymity, without having to carry a lot of change. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: I hope to have at least a few of these answers for the group when I publish my next report, hopefully during the week ahead. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rm55+@pitt.edu (Rudolph T Maceyko) Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Date: 23 Apr 93 23:29:36 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh From McDonald's/AT&T's latest promotion: AT&T TeleTickets come with super value meals. The ones you get from McDonald's are expendible; you use the three units and they're done. You can use more than one TeleTicket for one call -- you just feed more numbers in when the first one is used up. You can buy the 'real' tickets from AT&T for a 'suggested retail price' of $0.60/unit, where one unit equals one minute for domestic US calls. From the back of one of the "McDonald's" tickets: AT&T TeleTicket(sm) Service 1. Press 1 800 331 0888 from a puch-button telephone. (pause) 2. Press AT&T TeleTicket Number -> XXXXXXXXXX 3. Select an option: - To call an information service, press * and then press: 1=Sports Update 2=World News 3=US Weather - To call within the US, to Canada or to the Caribbean, press 1; press area code and phone number. - To make an international call, press country code, city code and local phone number. Any Questions? Please call our Customer Service free at 1 800 462 1818 in the US. Outside the US, call Customer Service collect 408 428 2734. DO NOT INSERT CARD IN TELEPHONE. Made in USA. No refund. Offer expires 6/30/93. ----------------- Rudy Maceyko University of Pittsburgh/CIS ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #278 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01344; 26 Apr 93 7:06 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05774 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:31:47 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15149 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:31:03 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:31:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304260931.AA15149@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #280 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 04:31:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 280 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Graham Toal) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (P. Peterson) Re: ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet (Garrett Wollman) Re: Another Kevin Poulsen Indictment (David G. Cantor) Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users (Kevin W. Reed) Re: Phil Zimmerman on the "Clipper Initiative" (Robert L. McMillin) Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan (Andy Brager) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) NYTel Billing Problem Solved (After 19 Months) (Dave Niebuhr) Who I Am (Dan Gillmor) New Disclosures in 2600 Case (David Sobel, CPSR via Dave Banisar) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 21:37:34 GMT From: Graham Toal Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System technews@iitmax.iit.edu (Kevin Kadow) wrote: > Clipper is a good compromise for BUSINESS communication which needs to > be sent encrypted to a nation which is prohibited from having other US > encryption schemes exported to them. Why compromise. Over the last couple of days I've been experimenting with sending voice over a v32bis modem. A sample rate of 3300 samples per second, each sample being 8 bits; and compression of 2.5:1 from the PD utility 'shorten', squeezes understandable speech into 14400bps, with enough CPU left over for encryption. And the nice thing is you can do it over the internet at local call rates :-) Now, my question for the Digest readership: are there any regulations anywhere forbidding speech over the internet. I'm really only thinking about commercial providers like the CIX -- I take it for granted that the NSF backbone prohibits anything useful :-) rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) wrote: > In a similar vein, here's another plug for {Wired} (no, I'm not > selling my way through gradual school on subscriptions). It's got an > interesting sidebar about the Bivens Legal Action Movement (BLAM!), > headed by one Scott McMillan (no *immediate* relation); his father > sued several federal agents who accosted one Mr. Bivens, and won > ({Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents}). At newsstands near you ... At newsstands near me indeed! I was astounded to see issue #1 of Wired on sale at a *tiny* news agents in a London (UK) backstreet this week. [Tavistock Place, if anyone's looking. Two blocks west of Judd Street]. Anyone know who's backing these guys? It must take some up front cash to produce a glossy like that *and* get it on the streets in Britain ... G ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 93 21:14:38 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. PADGETT PETERSON) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Re: Baltimore Clipper: a fast sailing vessel of the mid-1800s designed to be able to avoid unfriendly government interdiction 8*) I have seen just about all of the technical information published so far on Clipper (most via the White House and Dorothy Denning), and IMHO we still have not seen enough to have an opinion, and at least part of what we have seen is wrong. This is based on several considerations, some of which is related to "the strange thing the dog did in the night". 1) The government is not stupid. Ignorant in a number of area perhaps but not stupid. In particular the mathematicians and engineers who design KG equipment are *very* good, they just do not advertise. 2) If Clipper were easily broken then it would not be our government that would be the concern, it would be outsiders. 3) If Clipper were easily broken and after industry (don't kid yourselves, it is not the general middle-class public that Clipper is the response to) invested a few billions in Clipper it were revealed, heads would roll inside the beltway. Elected heads. Therefore I will make some predictions: 1) There will not be one family key, there will be many. There may be one or a set of family keys purchasable by corporations for their use, but these will each be unique. 2) Messages will not be encrypted E(M;K) with a 30 bit key for K, K will be considerably more complex. Once an algorithm is known (and we cannot expect a single algorithm (keyword being "single") to remain secret for very long. A thirty bit key will yield to a massive search in about a minute if plaintext (header) is known. The government knows this (see above). 3) An identifier of the receiver will be broadcast in plaintext as part of the header. (shakey but I believe this will be true). Second generation predictions: 1) Corporate security organizations will be able to monitor any Clipper in their organization (note: this is owner's rights and is different from a wiretap - see 2 & 3 below). 2) When a law enforcement agaency makes a reguest to tap, they will receive a duplicate of the monitored Clipper (hardware). They will not, except in special and not easily granted circumstances, receive the keys. This physical device will be strictly accounted for and certified as destroyed when a tap expires. 3) There will be at least four classes of Clipper chips, some with fixed keys and some programmable. To sum up, I believe in Clipper. I believe it will do what it is supposed to. I believe that it is something I have been waiting for for several years: low cost, reliable general encryption. It is not going to replace STU-IIIs or KG equipment when needed but it will make telecommuting possible. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ From: Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: ATM vs. FDDI vs. Fast Ethernet Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 16:23:09 GMT In article agood@netcon.smc.edu (Aaron Good) writes: > [...] change ATM to ASTM - for ASynchron Trans Mode Sorry, that's already taken by the American Society for the Testing of Materials, a professional society which promulgates standards for safety testing, among other things. For example, I have a whiteboard marker labeled ``NON-TOXIC: Conforms to ASTM D4236''. Disclaimer: I might have the name slightly wrong. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Another Kevin Poulsen Indictment Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 17:32:00 -0700 From: David G. Cantor In TELECOM Digest Volume 13, Issue 273, Ronald Marks writes: > Computer hacker indicted; two others plead guilty . . . > The 19-count federal indictment charges Kevin L. Poulsen, 27 . . . > Ronald M. Austin, 29, and Justin T. Petersen, 32, both of Los > Angeles, pleaded guilty to computer fraud charges . . . It was almost ten years ago when District Attorney Philibosian of Los Angeles County brought felony charges against Ronald Mark Austin, a just-graduated Santa Monica High School Student about to begin his freshman year at UCLA. In a highly publicized press conference, bringing reporters from all over the world, Philibosian accused Austin and Poulsen of illegally accessing classified material through the (then) Arpanet. Charges were not filed against Poulson because he was a minor. These two accessed the net through varous UCLA Computer Science Department computers, initially by accessing an acount with both login name and password of ucb. Austin was convicted of a felony and spent an actual 60 days in prison, undergoing psychiatric observation, and much more time on probation doing community service. Sadly, it appears that some hackers never learn. David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1555 Internet: dgc@math.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: kreed@telesys.tnet.com (Kevin W. Reed) Subject: Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users Organization: Posted via TeleSys Development Systems (Mesa, AZ U.S.A.) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 03:26:35 GMT amcgee@netcom.com (Arthur R. McGee) writes: > Don't forget to let them know that America Online is now CHEAPER than > Prodigy! American Online is ONLY $9.95 month for five hours of service > and $3.50 per hour thereafter. Prodigy is $14.95 per month and I > forget what the price is per hour. Close ... Prodigy is now $14.95 per month and 0.00 per hour for a vast majority of their services offered. They do have some premium areas, but most people that I know that use the service don't use them. The change in fee structure occured when Prodigy opened up higher speed access numbers to their system. They now support 9600 baud in most areas and I believe 14.4kbps in some ares. If you only use America On-line for less than six hours a month, I guess they would be cheaper ... ================== TELESYS DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS ================== Kevin W. Reed Public *NIX Site and Newsfeed Source kreed@tnet.com UUCP: ...!ncar!noao!enuucp!telesys!kreed SCO Xenix/Unix Support Data/UUCP/BBS +1 602 649 9099 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 93 07:04 PDT From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: Re: Phil Zimmerman on the "Clipper initiative" On Sat, 24 Apr 93 01:03:53 PDT, atfurman@cup.portal.com posted a bunch of stuff concerning the "Clipper Initiative". For some interesting background, pick up a copy of {Wired}, whose lead story this month by Steven Levy concerns "cypherpunks" -- crypto activists. I understand that a number of people have had a hard time getting {Wired} in some parts of the country. If you can't find it where you are, e-mail the {Wired} at editor@wired.com. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! #include ------------------------------ Date: 25 Apr 1993 14:36:05 -0700 From: andyb@wndrsvr.la.ca.us (Andy Brager) Subject: Re: Still Another New AT&T Plan In comp.dcom.telecom is written: > A letter in the mail today from AT&T tells of still another plan for > long distance calling, called "Simple Savings", and later it is said > to be part of "The 'i' Plan. There are so many of these things > anymore, it is even starting to get confusing to me! I haven't received any notice, but I happened to call about this exact plan a few hours ago before I read this. The "Simple Savings" plan, the nice lady working in Pheonix, Arizona (where the weather is really nice this time of year) was kind enough to volunteer, was designed by the customer reps themselves, based on customer comments and suggestions. > This deal is based on your making $30 per month or more in long > distance calls. If you do, then you get a 25 percent discount on calls > to any one area code of your choice, and 15 percent discount on your > calls to all other area codes. These discounts will be automatically > deducted from your bill each month. This sounds a lot like the old > 'Pick a Point' plan that Illinois Bell used to offer (maybe still > does) on calls within their LATA in Illinois. > I guess this turns out to be a better deal than Reach Out America, > depending on your application; the time of day you make your calls, > etc. Exactly. For use during the day, it's a bigger savings for me at least. In fact, the reason I called was because the service I wish to call *requires* you to use AT&T. Something about digital access facilities or something :) Otherwise I'd do it more cheaply with Pat's service. > To sign up, you call AT&T at 1-800-358-8231, extension 3269, tell them > which area code you want, then continue calling as always. I dialed 1-800-222-0300 to get information, presumably she would have signed me up if I was ready. But I thought we were boycotting AT&T over their irresponsibility regarding privacy issues and Uncle Sam, not to mention their heavy-handed approach to a low cost Unix (BSDI). > The two things I am curious about are a caveat emptor at the bottom of > the letter which says 'subject to billing availability' and some code > numbers. I live in GTE territory and she said it would not be available here until June. > At the very bottom of my letter, in small print is this legend: > It includes one of my phone numbers, which I replaced with xxx. > C31 312 xxx xxxx Y 074 VEI IWS SS01 9627 $ > I think the 074 refers to the billing office at Illinois Bell here in > Chicago. Does anyone know what the other letters and numbers mean? > Most important, note the dollar sign on the right side ... does this > mean I'd get money for leaving them then being lured back by the > promise of some filthy money? :) I wonder how much? :) Or does the > lack of figures after the dollar sign mean I get nothing? :( Pure guess here, but the lady told me that if I gave her my phone number, she could run it through the computer which would take my last three bills and figure out which plan was best for me based on my calling patterns. (The 'I' plan - as opposed to the "YOU" plan - is a superset of the other "Reach Out America" plans I understood her to say.) Perhaps, if you were to read the above code backwards, it would indicate the amount you would save (or the total amount of the bill perhaps) if you were to switch to one of their plans, which are encoded in the numbers and letters. ie. $72.69 and that SS01 would be "simple saver plan 1" or some such. Again, this is a guess, I really haven't a clue. Andy cerritos.edu!swc!wndrsvr!andyb ------------------------------ From: rfranken@cs.umr.edu Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 19:41:46 CST >> Does it only check that the account is valid, or does it also check the >> account to see if funds are available? >> [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the >> money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant >> debit is the direction things are going. PAT] > Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort > of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. > Andy Behrens, Burlington Coat Factory > [Moderator's Note: You say 'banks don't give this sort of information > to anyone who happens to know an account number ...' ha ha ha ... You would be surprised what I can find out about you given a few selected numbers ... If you would like to know my bank account balance, and you have my account number, you can find out for a dollar. Go to my bank (actually a credit union), and say you would like to deposit $1 in Account # . They will give you a deposit slip to fill out. Do so. No signature or info other than the accountt number required. Give it to them. They will process the transaction and give you a receipt which will have my account balance on it. As an added bonus, it will also have my address. I could give you many more examples like this, but its much more fun to let you discover them :) (And I don't even spend a lot of time thinking these up ... I just like to know what loopholes exist in systems I'm involved with.) Brett (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 07:26:36 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: NYTel Billing Problem Solved (After 19 Months) I have had an ongoing problem with NYTel concerning rate charges for calls made to the Suffolk County, NY, offices throughout the county since Sept. 1991. Back then, three exchanges were assigned to these offices, one to serve the residents of the East Suffolk Calling Region (ESCR) and the latter two to serve the Western Suffolk one (WSCR). Note that these are inside the NY LATA (Area Codes 203 (a samll portion of CT), 212, 516, 718, part of 914 and 917. It turned out in the initial stages that calls made intra-ESCR were charged as if they were inter-region. I first went to my local legislator who referred me to the telecom official for the county who didn't know what the hell was going on and couldn't understand a blasted thing (typical politician); then I went to the telco and got a royal runaround. Next stop was the NY Public Utility (oops Service) Commission who took the complaint and followed up on it to a small degree. After a month I received a letter from them (PU/SC) that the matter was resolved even though I had a bill in front of me which showed that to be a falsehood. Calmly blowing my stack, I forced the PU/SC to re-open the case and make some more half-hearted attempts to resolve the problem. Action started in January, 1992, when I was called by a higher-up person in NYTel who got to work on the problem (a Ms. Evans and I mention her here since she deserves credit for the outstanding work that she did for me until she was transferred to another problem). After a month or so, Mrs. Coluantoni (same reason for her mention) took over and she worked diligently with the attorneys, rate people, PU/SC to get this problem fixed once and for all. January, 1993, saw a resolution to this case with the correct charges being made. February saw a fall-back which no one could understand. My guess is that in building the new rate tables, there were other problems and when the fall-back occurred, guess what rates were applied. Two more bills have been received and I can now say that the problem is finally resolved. What really galls me is that other exchanges were added and the correct routing was applied to them, but not for this one. I even suggested to them that when new exchanges were being opened for business, that I would be willing to test the correctness of their calling patterns and see if there were any errors as long as I wasn't charged for the calls. They could be shown on the bill but the amount would be $0.00 US. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 10:03:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Gillmor Subject: Who I Am A poster to your list wants to know who's listening here. I'm sure some people prefer to remain anonymous, which is their right. But I have no problem saying publicly that I'm a regular reader. I do computer-assisted reporting (working with databases etc.) and write on computer/communications technologies and how they affect our lives. Naturally I read Telecom. I invite others here to email me ideas for articles and columns. Dan Gillmor Internet: dgillmor@msen.com Detroit Free Press CompuServe: 73240,334 3001 W. Big Beaver Rd. -- Suite 602 Voice: 313-649-9770 Troy, MI 48084 Fax: 313-649-2736 ------------------------------ Organization: CPSR Civil Liberties and Computing Project From: Dave Banisar Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 9:43:32 EST Subject: New Disclosures in 2600 Case As you may recall, last November at a shopping mall outside of Washington, DC, a group of people affiliated with the computer magazine "2600" was confronted by mall security personnel, local police officers and several unidentified individuals. The group members were ordered to identify themselves and to submit to searches of their personal property. Their names were recorded by mall security personnel and some of their property was confiscated. However, no charges were ever brought against any of the individuals at the meeting. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility ("CPSR") filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act and today received the Secret Service's response to the FOIA lawsuit, in which we are seeking agency records concerning the break-up of the meeting. I think it's safe to say that our suspicions have now been confirmed -- the Secret Service *did* obtain a list of names from mall security identifying the people in attendance at the meeting. There are three main points contained in the Secret Service's court papers that are significant: 1) The agency states that the information it possesses concerning the incident was obtained "in the course of a criminal investigation that is being conducted pursuant to the Secret Service's authority to investigate access device and computer fraud." 2) The agency possesses two relevant documents and the information in those documents "consists solely of information identifying individuals." 3) The information was obtained from a "confidential source," and the agency emphasizes that the FOIA's definition of such a source includes "any private institution which provided information on a confidential basis." Taken together, these facts seem to prove that the Secret Service wanted names, they had the mall security people collect them, and they came away from the incident with the list they wanted. The agency asserts that "[t]he premature release of the identities of the individual(s) at issue could easily result in interference to the Secret Service's investigation by alerting these individual(s) that they are under investigation and thus allowing the individual(s) to alter their behavior and/or evidence." CPSR, in conjunction with EFF and the ACLU, is planning to challenge the actions of the mall security personnel, the local police and the Secret Service on the ground that the incident amounted to a warrantless search and seizure conducted at the behest of the Secret Service. David Sobel CPSR Legal Counsel dsobel@washofc.cpsr.org ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #280 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01384; 26 Apr 93 7:07 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12623 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:03:49 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15699 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:03:04 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:03:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304260903.AA15699@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #279 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 04:03:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 279 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Did I Get Slammed? (Russell Kroll) Re: Did I Get Slammed? (Ed Greenberg) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Ed Greenberg) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Garrett Wollman) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Mike Stump) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (John Pettitt) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Steve Forrette) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (John Rice) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Tim Gorman) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Jason Hunsaker) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (John Nagle) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Did I Get Slammed? From: rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 02:16:56 GMT Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX TELECOM Moderator noted: > [Moderator's Note: One problem ... if the call would NOT complete > because you were NOT a customer of Company X, then it would seem you > were NOT slammed. AT&T does not refer to itself over the phone lines > as American Telephone and Telegraph -- at least not to my knowledge. > They always play the tone then say 'AT&T'. Did the person attempting > to place the call use 10-something in front of the number, producing > the mentioned result from "American Telephone" about your not being > a customer? Had you been slammed, your call(s) would have gone The person trying to use the phone did get her calls through. I'd shown her 10288, and that's what she used. It turns out that SWBT was changing out the 'laterals' (something like that) behind the houses here. The originals were supposedly older than the houses, and the houses are approaching 30 years! When they put our lines back, on the new wires, they hooked us up to the phone line of the church up the street. When I came home, after being told about this, I tried the 17005554141 and it gave that company's message. I went out to the demarc to make sure nothing had happened out there, and plugged in a phone. Dialing 1073214049889664 revealed that line one had changed phone numbers(!) Anyway, we got them to come out (they had been working up the street), and one climbed the pole, clipped onto something up there, and popped us over to another pair and assigned the number to it. At least, that what's it sounded like from ten feet below. > forwarded his line somewhere on a carrier code *he* couldn't use? It > would be helpful to know at what point the intercept occurred (in the > midst of his dialing; after it dummy-rang once or twice in the local > switch; or after the call had set up and was processing somewhere in > Colorado City.) It would also be helpful to know if other long distance > call attempts (to other numbers) produce the same results; calls to > the same number at different times, etc. If for some reason that line > (did you try your other lines to check the results, and try the orig- > inal line a second or third time?) was 'defaulted' in error by the > local telco to 'no carrier', then generally the intercept is not from > any particular carrier, but simply 'your call cannot be completed as > dialed'. Can you provide more specifics and further test results? PAT] It would basically go like this. Dial a number that's long distance, and you immediately land on their message. No rings, just that message. I guess the church up the street (who we got connected to) didn't have their long distance services straightened out. I did check line two and three with the 1073214049889664 number, and they were fine. It was just a bit odd hearing that 'other' number on line one. Needless to say, everything is working fine now. Problem fixed. richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) writes: > In article rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com > (Russell Kroll) writes: >> Well, it looks as if I've been 'slammed' on one of our lines. Today, > In addition to Pat's suggestions, try calling 1-700-555-4141. > This will give you a recording identifing the default carrier on your > line. That yielded the same results. It was a recording advising me to call their local business office at 713 (something). rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX, (713) 481-3763 1200/2400/9600/14400 v.32bis/v.42bis ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Did I Get Slammed? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 06:19:17 GMT In article rkroll@unkaphaed.jpunix.com (Russell Kroll) writes: > [Moderator's Note: One problem ... if the call would NOT complete > because you were NOT a customer of Company X, then it would seem you > were NOT slammed. AT&T does not refer to itself over the phone lines Yes, but ... It's possible to be assigned a PIC of a company that does not recognize YOU as a customer, and does not accept casual billing. Here is how it happened to me: In July of last year, I had AT&T on both lines (call them Line 1 and Line 2). Line 2 is billed as part of Line 1. Longer term Digest readers may remember that I took a five week motorcycle trip last summer. I signed up for Cable and Wireless FOCUS service ONLY. This service is kind of like Orange Card. It allows LD calling by calling an 800 number. C&W slammed my home phones. We discovered that Slammage, when my spouse could no longer call my Easy Reach 700 service without dialing 10288. We immediately called Pacific Bell, told them that Line 1 had been slammed. They switched it back. When I returned from my trip, I cancelled C&W's FOCUS service. About two months later, I tried to make a LD call on Line 2 (my modem line.) I got a message from C&W that said that I did not have an account with them, and they would not carry my call. I checked my two lines and discovered that while my PIC was AT&T on Line 1, it was still C&W on Line 2, even though C&W rejected my ANI when it was received. So, it's possible for you to have a PIC for a LD company that will not carry your traffic, but it's kinda hard to get that way on purpose. Edward W. Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0511 | edg@netcom.com 1600 Stokes St. #24 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95126 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 06:23:31 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the > money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant > debit is the direction things are going. PAT] These days, most of these things check your drivers license and the checking account number looking to see if you have a record of bouncing checks. The company authorizing is actually insuring your check to the merchant, for a percentage of the amount. If it bounces, they are obligated to buy the bad paper and then sweat it out of your hide (oops, I mean collect it from you.) Instant debit is just a bit harder to do, since the system would have to be careful to invalidate the paper check so you don't get charged twice. Anybody who has ever had a credit card autorization stay on the account after the charge was also debited knows what I mean. Edward W. Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0511 | edg@netcom.com 1600 Stokes St. #24 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95126 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ From: Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1993 16:19:46 GMT In article stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes: > The only systems that can actually verify funds availability are > those that are true Electronic Funds Transfer systems, where you > enter a PIN and there's no check. But, these usually have a limited > number of banks that belong to the network. [...] At least that's > the way this has always worked on every system I've used on the West > Coast. Over here on the West Coast of New England, this is becoming more and more common. There are some reasons why this might be more popular here than elsewhere: - Most banks, including /all/ major Vermont banks, belong to Yankee 24, an ATM network which offers POS services to several local merchants and grocery store chains (e.g., Martin's/Shop & Save/SunFoods). - Many banks, including all of the BankNorth Group's banks (the largest bank holding company) also belong to NYCE, the New York Cash Exchange, which offers similar services to the New York-based grocery store chains (e.g., Price Chopper). So, most people who have an ATM card at all (i.e., everyone with a bank account) have access to one or both of these networks. The grocery stores in particular, sensing this potential to reduce check float and offer an added convenience feature for their customers, have latched onto this idea, and so all the local high-volume grocery stores now offer this feature. Most of the POS terminals also accept major credit cards, although the stores would obviously rather that the customer pay the network fee rather than themselves have to eat the credit card's 2-3% cut, since margins in grocery stores are very thin. I imagine that our readers in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia can confirm a similar situation in that region, since MOST also has near-100% penetration (or at least it did when I was there). Dislaimer: I have no relationship whatever with Yankee 24, NYCE, BankNorth Group, or Price Chopper, except as a customer. Long ago I worked as a service clerk at Martin's. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ From: mrs@cygnus.com (Mike Stump) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Reply-To: mrs@cygnus.com (Mike Stump) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 03:24:25 GMT In article Andy.Behrens@coat.com writes: [ Talk about banks giving out checking account balances to random people. ] > Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort > of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. How truly ignorant you are! You should not make such blatantly false statements, as this one. Well, I am in the US, so let's talk about USA. Lets pick the largest bank in the USA as an example, that would be Bank of America, if memory serves. (If it doesn't, that's not important.) I claim that some banks do give out checking account balances to Joe Random person. To prove this point, provide me with a Bank of America account number (or a Security Pacific account number), and I shall track account balance down to the penny, every day, for a month, and post the results here. You can privately mail me the account number, or you can give it to me live by voice, at +1 415 903 1429. I promise to only use the account number for the purpose stated here, and to destroy the information afterwards. When I post results, I will not post the account number, just daily account balances. If people are interested in the method, please e-mail me. The method is available to anyone in the US, and does not violate any laws that I know of. It does however violate to some degree my idea of what the bank should give out to random people. The offer is open anyone, although I won't track hundreds of balances. :-) ------------------------------ From: jpettitt@well.sf.ca.us (John Pettitt) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 06:14:32 GMT In andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy Behrens) writes: >> [Moderator's Note: Both; all three actually. And before long, the >> money will be debited right out of your account on the spot. Instant >> debit is the direction things are going. PAT] > Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort > of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. BZZZZT. Wrong -- while as you point out SCAN will not give you a balance if you call 408 983 0588 (Bank of America) you can tone in an account number and check amount and be told if it will clear. It does not take a CS grad to binary search the amount in the account. They also have a service where they will tell you the average balance over the last three months. When I complained I was told that all banks do this, and indeed in looking for another bank I have not found one that will promise not to disclose this type of information. ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: 25 Apr 1993 09:06:13 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article andrew@frip.wv.tek.com writes: > [Moderator's Note: So how does Compuserve accept your 'check' over the > computer and make automatic debits each month thereafter? They send a > tape to their bank which sends a tape to your bank. To be specific, CompuServe uses the services of Checkfree Corporation, also of Columbus, OH. In addition to their consumer services, Checkfree provides merchants with the clearinghouse access services necessary for direct checking account debits. Although the transactions from merchants such as CompuServe occur completely electronically, they still operate in much the same way as paper checks do. For example, when CompuServe submits a debit to your checking account, Checkfree doesn't know at that time if the funds are there. They just send the transaction into the ACH (Automated Clearing House) system that's overseen by the Federal Reserve, and hope for the best, just like for a paper check. If the transaction does not go through (due to NSF or any other reason), they get the transaction back (electronically) in one to three days (and your bank will charge you the NSF service charge, and it gets counted against you as a returned check in your account profile). Compare this with a true EFT-POS system, where you swipe your debit card and enter a PIN: in these systems, there is a live check for funds availability, and they are deducted from your available balance immediately, even though the transaction may not actually "post" for a day or so. Also, if you don't have enough money in your account, the EFT-POS system will simply deny your transaction, and there is no NSF or overdraft charge from your bank nor a negative indication in your file. These systems are indeed the wave of the future, but are not universally available either in terms of merchants that have them or in banks that are members. The ACH electronic transactions with work with *any* US bank. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 08:52:49 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries In TELECOM Digest V13 #278 capek@watson.ibm.com writes: > James Gleick asks: >> 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to have the >> lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? > Thus, originally, all of New Jersey was 609, but New York was ^^^ > 212, 516, 914, 716, and (I think) 315. This "rule" had only a very > temporary effect, since the original assignments were modified by area > code splits very soon after direct dialing went into operation. I > think the first one was adding 201 to New Jersey. ^^^ Its the other way around. I can remember when New Jersey was all 201. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 02:25:47 GMT In article , rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) writes: > On Thu, 22 Apr 1993 14:35:01 GMT, deej@cbnewsf.cb.att.com > (david.g.lewis) said: >> In article gleick@Panix.Com (James >> Gleick) writes: >>> 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? In the 60/70s, ANI equipment (Automatic Number Identification -- used for Toll Ticketing) used Light Sensitive hardware to identify lines for Toll Billing. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but it was prone to falsing if the light levels were elevated but things like Photographic Flash guns and Bright sunlight. (One of the reasons that flash cameras were prohibited in Central Offices). One result of this, was the Central Offices were built with no windows, to ensure that sunlight, at certain times of day, didn't increase the problems with false ticketing. As I recall, the ANI equipment wasn't the only equipment with this sensitivity to light levels but It was a long time ago and memory fades :-). John Rice K9IJ | "Did I say that ?" I must have, but It was | MY opinion only, no one else's...Especially | Not my Employer's.... rice@ttd.teradyne.com | Purveyor of Miracles,Magic and Sleight-of-hand ------------------------------ Date: 25 Apr 93 10:14:25 EDT From: tim gorman <71336.1270@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries > Why don't COs have windows? An old architect told me once that the reasons for no windows were: a. so people wouldn't take potshots at telephone people and eqpt when they were mad at the phone company. b. Windows are holes that allow dust and humidity into the environmental envelope. Dust and humidity are the prime enemies of telephone equipment. c. So the people working inside wouldn't be distracted by what was going on outside. Good for efficiency. I think he meant this humorously but based on some of the old chief operators I have met over the years, it may not be far from the truth :-) d. It's cheaper! Tim Gorman - SWBT *opinions are mine, any resemblance to official policy is coincidence* ------------------------------ From: Jason Hunsaker Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 25 Apr 93 11:00:18 MDT Organization: Utah State University In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire > or crosspiece? A couple of reasons come to mind: 1. I've seen some poles that have a small copper wire that runs the length of the pole. This acts as a lighting rodd of sorts. One prefers that the lightinging will travel down the copper wire instead of the telephone lines. 2. To try and keep large birds from using the crosspiece as a perch. Phone lines are probably harmless, but birds usually don't take the time to differentiate between phone lines and electrical lines. Many large birds have been killed by electric lines when they spread their wings and arc across the power lines resulting in electrocution. 3. It could be that they have left room to add more crosspieces or have removed a few. Or it could be just part of the telephone company's specs or some government regulation, or any combination of these. > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from > special logs? Are there particular specifications? They are from special trees. I can't remeber the specific fur tree they come from, But I have seen them here in Logan Canyon on the Crimson Trail (that goes between Spring Hollow campground and Gueneva campground). I've just heard them called telephone pole trees. On most of the trees there is an area where the bark has fallen off, revealing the inner wood. They look like regular telephone poles with branches and wrapping of bark. I once heard that these poles were soaked in croesote (sp?) for two years before they were ever put to use. Internet: slhw4@cc.usu.edu (Jason Hunsaker), Logan, Utah ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 17:43:52 GMT gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 1) Why are there (so often) no windows in telephone company buildings? Basically because there are few, and sometimes no, people inside. > 2) How were area codes assigned? The most populous areas seem to > have the lowest numbers, but is there any geographic logic? As someone else mentioned, the original North American Numbering Plan referenced in the Shipley (1945) and Nunn (1952) articles describe the orignal plan. Also see "A history of science and engineering in the Bell System -- Switching Technology 1925-1975", (A.E. Joel et. al, G.E. Schindler, Jr. ed., Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1982, ISBN 0-932764-02-9), p. 125-127. The original plan provided that area codes would be three digits, with 0 or 1 as the second digit. No area was to cross a state boundary, but a state might contain more than one area. Initially, states with only one area code used area codes with "0" as the second digit and others used "1". The original numbering plan included Canada, but not Mexico. As area codes filled up, they were split into two areas with different area codes, which is how we got to where we are now. There is a numbering plan "czar", who works for Bellcore, and I suggest you interview him for the book. Call Bellcore (in NJ) and ask for North American Numbering Plan administration. He's been interviewed in the press before. > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special > logs? Are there particular specifications? The Bellcore spec for telephone poles is TR-TSY-000060, "Wood Telephone Poles", $21.75. Call 1-800-521-CORE to order your copy now. Happy reading. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #279 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa04939; 26 Apr 93 8:54 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18955 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 05:42:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19962 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 05:42:08 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 05:42:08 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304261042.AA19962@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #282 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 05:42:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 282 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (Mark Brader) 800 Portability ... NOT (Dave Levenson) 1550nm Single-Mode Optics For FDDI Equipment? (Al Broscius) INTRA-LATA 10xxx Calls Within Monopolized Market (Aaron Woolfson) Information Sought on PBX vs Centrex (Jorge Batista) Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI (Tom Gray) Area Code Listing Needed For USA (Ted Dodd) Question About Email/FTP of Telecom Archives (Les Reeves) Cellular Phone Compatibility (Yuan Jiang) Various Items of Interest (or Not) From New England Telephone (Mark Eklof) Caller ID Question (Sean Oliver) Problems in Austin TX (William Degnan) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 01:31:00 -0400 From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Here's one more old {Toronto Star} article. This one was run originally on August 17, 1910, and again, reprinted last year. THE WAR ON THE WORD "HELLO" A Good Many of the Business Places of Toronto Have Cut It Out Entirely, WHILE OTHERS USE IT YET Toronto business houses apparently are rather slow in adopting the suggestion of the Bell Telephone Company that their switchboard operators should answer a call with the name of the firm, and not with the old time-honored "Hello!" In the new telephone directory appears the following advice: "'Hello" means little, and provokes the question 'Who is it?' "How few telephone users make a practice of announcing their firm name answering telephone calls? "It's good advertising. "It saves time for all. Why not adopt it? "If a trainman called 'hello' for every station on the road, a stranger might reasonably ask: "Where do I get off?" To see if Toronto was adopting this plan, which is gaining favor in most of the American cities, a {Star} man called up twenty-five business establishments as a test. From these only five answered with the name of the firm. That is, only 20 per cent. The other 80 per cent said "Hello" in the same old way. The experiment showed that the latter way certainly wastes quite a bit of time. A Test of Toronto. Some of the conversations are given below: The reporter called up Main 343. "Hello," came back the answer. "Hello," repeated the reporter. "Well, what is it?" "I want to know to whom I am speaking." "Why, this is the S. H. Knox Co." "Why didn't you tell me that at first?" The {Star} man next called up a Yonge street dry goods establishment. "Hello!" came back the answer. "Hello!" replied the Star man. "Hello!" repeated the girl. "Who is speaking, please?" The reporter was startled at the next question. "Is that you, Jim?" in a much softer, more seductive voice. "No, I am sorry it isn't. Will you please tell me who is speaking?" "Don't you know?" came back the reply, adorned with all the wiles of the coquette. "No, I do not. I really want to know who is speaking." "Why, this is -- --'s store!" "That is what I wanted you to say at first." "Main 7520." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Yes." "Yes." "Whom are you calling?" "Who is that please, please?" "This is W. A. Murray's." "Don't you think it would be quicker to answer that at first?" "No, I do not. I have been watching this subject rather closely and I have been experimenting myself. I did answer 'Murray's' for a time, but almost invariably the women would immediately ask: 'Is that Murray's?' just as if I hadn't told them." "That is a bad one on the ladies, isn't it?" suggested {The Star}. "Yes, it is," agreed the switchboard girl with a laugh. The reporter's pride in his own sex, however, was shattered at the next call. "Main 5997." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Well?" "Who is that, please?" "Hobberlin's." "I was just trying to see if you were still using the old 'Hello' system." "Yes, we are. We tried the new method, but dropped it for nearly everyone persisted in asking again: 'Is that Hobberlin's?'" Since this is a men's tailoring establishment it looked bad now for the men, until the explanation dawned upon the reporter. "There is nothing funny about that," he thought to himself. "It is probably the men's wives who are looking after the buying of their husbands' suits." The reason why so many are silly enough to ask a question which already has been answered for them is probably simply a case of force of habit. For years they have been accustomed to answer the "Hello" with "Is that so-and-so?" and now they cannot break themselves of the custom. They probably, however, would soon become used to the new way. At the Banks. "Main 6780." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Yes." "Yes." "What do you want?" "Who is speaking, please?" "Who are you?" "It is I who want to know whom I am calling." "I won't talk any more," and the operator banged up the receiver. "Hello!" "Hello!" "Who is it?" "Who is speaking, please?" "This is the Bank of -- --" "Well, how did I know that Central had given me the right number? I was just experimenting to see what answer you used. You don't mind my troubling you, do you?" "Oh, no, not at all," the young lady replied with a rippling laugh. "I didn't know what you were driving at." The reporter called up Main 441, the Union Station enquiry phone, and for the first time in his life the line was not reported busy. "Hello!" came back the answer. {The Star} man was surprised that this should be used on one of the busiest lines in the city. "Hello!" he answered. "Well, what is it?" "What please is that, please?" "Union Station." "Don't you think it would be better to say 'Union Station'?" "All right; let it go at that." The Aikenhead Hardware Company and the King Edward Hotel answered with the firm's name. Among the others who retained the old "Hello" are Barber, Ellis Co., Arnoldi, Gierson, and McMurrich, McKendry's, Massey-Harris, and Aylesworth, Wright, and Moss. The local manager of the Bell Telephone Company is anxious that the new system be introduced widely. "It is certainly quicker," he said to {The Star}. "Not a very large percentage of the business houses seem to use it," suggested the reporter. "Too soon yet," the manager replied. "The note did not appear until this last directory. The custom is sure to spread." Forwarded to comp.dcom.telecom by Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com [Moderator's Note: Again, my thanks for your delightful old stories. I note that as of 1910, 'the Union Station Information Line was always reported busy ...'; at least some things never change. Getting through to Amtrack Information is still very hard at times. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: 800 Portability ... NOT Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:49:41 GMT A customer wanted an 800 'vanity' number, and asked AT&T for the number. Service installation is to be late May, after 'portability' is supposed to have taken effect. AT&T checked the availability of the number and was informed by MCI that the number is reserved for a customer. My customer then called MCI and asked about the number, and was told that it was available. She then told MCI that she wanted the number, but wanted it from AT&T. The MCI representative told my customer that the number would remain 'reserved for a customer' forever, until some customer got it assigned, after which that customer could take the number to another carrier. The customer decided to get the 800 service from MCI -- 48 trunks on two T-1 circuits. I suggested that if she really wanted the service from AT&T, she should get a minimal amount of service from MCI (perhaps an 800 personal line, or whatever is the least-cost service that will occupy the number) and after a couple of weeks, move the number to AT&T and then commit to the the big bucks for bypass T-1 (AT&T Megacom(tm) service). I think the MCI service is already ordered. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 [Moderator's Note: My understanding on this from my contacts at my 800 number supplier are that starting May 3 (May 1 is Saturday), ALL 800 numbers will be in a single database maintained by Bellcore. Each number will be marked as taken by someone, or free to be taken. There will not be 'numbers reserved for customers'. First come, first served. I've been proceeding on that assumption in the process of taking orders for my 800 service. On the same topic: (listen up!) if you presently have 800 service and spend $50-100 per month or so on it and can live with rates of 17-18 cents per minute and no monthly surcharge, *please* give me the account! It'll make it that much easier to keep the Digest coming out 3-4 times per day and me eating once a day. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: broscius@thumper.bellcore.com (Al Broscius) Subject: 1550nm Single-Mode Optics For FDDI Equipment? Reply-To: broscius@thumper.bellcore.com (Al Broscius) Organization: Bellcore MRE Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 16:18:05 GMT Hi, Does anyone know of any current/planned products that support an FDDI SAS or DAS link using 1550nm single-mode optics (preferably wavelength-selectable at time of order to manufacturer). Yes, I know the PMD spec calls for 1300nm but our EDFA-based WDM system only groks 1550nm ;-) Thanks in advance, al ------------------------------ From: awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu (Aaron Woolfson) Subject: INTRA-LATA 10xxx Calls Within Monopolized Market Date: 25 Apr 1993 11:47:46 -0700 Organization: University of the Pacific This is in response to a previous message regarding if it was possible to call the town next to yours with a long distance carrier in an INTRA-LATA market. I hope this is a good enough explaination of what I have discovered. * Posted for informational purposes only; I do not condone using this meathod of dialing. Out of curiousity about a year ago, I decided to do a little network exploration. Something I wanted to do was call the next town, about 13 miles away, without paying the outrageous Pacific Bell telephone rates. So, I discovered something ... 1-700-xxx-xxxx where xxx-xxxx was the local (long distance) number you were trying to reach, you could get to it via the long distance carrier. EXTREMILY interesting, since 1-700-555-4141 was the long distance service verification number. So, I dialed my own number which has call waiting using 1-700-xxx-xxxx (where xxx-xxxx was my own number) and sure enough, I got myself on call waiting. So suprised that I was, in fact, that I decided to try a few different carriers. Here is what I found: 10700 (ExpressTel) --- 10700-1-700-xxx-xxxx will get you the intra-lata number, provided that the area code is the same as yours ... some latas are divided up to cover MANY area codes, and unfortionately it doesn't work. 10511 (Execuline of Sacramento, Inc.) --- 10511-1-700-xxx-xxxx will provide you with the same results. I hope that this information has been helpful. Aaron Woolfson awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu [Moderator's Note: As long as you go via 700 that will usually work if the carrier offers 700 as a substitute for your own area code. I know the old Telecom*USA service did that. But merely dialing 10xxx will NOT get you the xxx carrier unless your local telco wants to hand it off to them and they *do not have to* if it is an intra-LATA call they have the right to carry. Telcos examine the entire dialing string first, *then* deal with the 10xxx in the context of what was dialed. For example, a year ago we found a prefix in Green Bay, Wisconsin which Illinois Bell had not updated in its tables. Trying to reach that exchange, 1+ failed; 10 failed; 800-carrier gateway always succeeded as did '00'. IBT claimed it was AT&T's fault ... but they quit making those allegations once they were shown it the call would complete if IBT kept their hands out of it! But they, like all other telcos, filter everything you dial and hand off what they must, or what you legitimatly bypass them on via 800, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: octtools@niagara.eecs.umich.edu (VLSI CAD Tools) Subject: Information Sought on PBX vs Centrex Organization: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 05:46:45 GMT I am looking for an article published in a trade journal that details the advantages of Centrex over PBXs. Any information would be greatly appreciated. jorge batista ------------------------------ From: grayt@software.mitel.com (Tom Gray) Subject: Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 16:06:58 -0400 Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. In case anyone missed it in Denning's account of the Clipper system, one essential aspect of it is: The service provider will make the encrypted transmission avaiable to the FBI black box. In short the service provider must have the capability of isolating an individual's transmissions from all others. This is just the FBI Digital Network proposal in another form. Aside from the fact that this proposal shows a complete ignorance of the functioning of even today's network, it will severely hamper (even cripple) current efforts to create a broadband network. The possibility of the US functioning in the BISDN multimedia market will become exceedingly remote. I can hear the guffaws coming from Japan and Europe now, Goodbye to North America's lead in telecommunications. ------------------------------ Subject: Area Code Listing Needed For USA From: ted.dodd@ehbbs.com (Ted Dodd) Date: 26 Apr 93 00:22:00 GMT Organization: Ed Hopper's BBS - Berkeley Lake, GA - 404-446-9462 Reply-To: ted.dodd@ehbbs.com (Ted Dodd) I need a list of all area codes and exchanges in the USA. I need it to be an ASCII file with area code, exchange and exchange name, city and state. Thank you for any help. Ted B Ed Hopper's BBS - ehbbs.com - Berkeley Lake (Atlanta), Georgia USR/HST:404-446-9462 V.32bis:404-446-9465-Home of uuPCB Usenet for PC Board ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 26 Apr 93 01:44:05 GMT Subject: Email/FTP of Telecom Archives Patrick, in the introduction to TELECOM Digest you mention Email/FTP of the Telecom Archives is available. I would like to know more about this. Thanks, Les Reeves [Moderator's Note: Perhaps someone will kinly send Les the help files for a couple of the existing ftp <=> email services. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: yjj@ctr.columbia.edu (Yuan Jiang) Subject: Cellular Phone Compatibility Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 16:02:40 GMT I want to buy a cellular phone in the US or Europe, which can be used in Hong Kong. A cellular phone in Hong Kong costs twice as much as in the US. But a regular cellular phone from the US market does not work in Hong Kong. Here are my questions. 1) Are there any venders who sell cellular phones that is compatible with those in Hong Kong? 2) Are cellular phones in Europe compatible with those in Hong Kong? Is it just the frequency difference between phones in the US and HK? 3) Can I modify a cellular phone bought in the US to be used in Hong Kong? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 13:02:14 EDT From: me@stile.stonemarche.org (Mark Eklof) Subject: Various Items of Interest (or Not) From New England Telephone With regards to the discussion of `disconnected' phones being able to place calls to 911, the following appeared in the "Calling All Customers" insert in this month's phone bill. "We've now made it easier and faster for you to set up phone service. Improvements to our internal databases in many areas allow you to walk into your new apartment or home, plug a telephone into a jack, and automatically receive dial tone. You will then be able to access emergency services and your New England Telephone Residence Service Center, where a representative will assist you with ordering your complete phone service -- you don't even need to leave the comfort of your new home." Also, the new phone books came this week. They have (for the first time) the separation of business and residence listings, as well as the last name only appearing once in a column format. The Nashua area book (combined yellow and white pages) breaks down (thickness wise) as follows: residence, just under 1/4"; business white pages, 1/16"; yellow pages, 11/16"; "Community Pages", seven pages; and "coupon section", 3/16". The coupon section is also new, and very annoying. The page edges are green, and they stick farther out from the binding (by about 1/16") than the other pages. This is a bunch (ten per page) of coupons from local businesses, that seem to offer minor savings. They don't appear to be arranged in any order. Also, beginning on 17 July, we start seven digit dialing of all numbers within the 603 area code (i.e. we drop the '1' before in-state long distance calls). Mark D. Eklof Brookline, New Hampshire, USA me@stile.stonemarche.org Sometimes, I wonder if it's me. ------------------------------ From: Sean_Oliver@mindlink.bc.ca (Sean Oliver) Subject: Caller ID Question Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:04:49 GMT Is there a simple way of blocking your number? So when you call your destination it will come up with a number different from your number? Sean Oliver Internet Address: a8647@MINDLINK.BC.CA Mindlink! BBS (604)576-1412 [Moderator's Note: The simplest way is to prepend *67 to your dialing string in most communities. This produces a response of 'blocked' or 'private' om the receiving display, not a false number though. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wdegnan@mdf.fidonet.org (William Degnan) Reply-To: wdegnan@mdf.fidonet.org Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 15:44:34 -0500 Subject: Re: Problems in Austin TX 20 Apr 93, Monty Solomon writes to all: > I reached the following recording today trying to reach a business in > Austin, TX. > "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call cannot be > completed at this time. Please try your call later. 512 4T" > This recording was on both their 800 and direct dial numbers. > [Moderator's Note: After getting your note, I queried 512-555-1212. > She knew of nothing amiss after asking the supervisor. Maybe it was > just a fluke, a very temporary failure of some sort. PAT] I wouldn't expect the directory operator to know that there was a dig=up on Research Blvd near Balcones Woods which caused outages in service to Jollyville, Cedar Park and some other offices. "Well-informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires. Even if it were, it would be of no practical value." -- Boston Post 1865 William Degnan, Communications Network Solutions -Independent Consultants in Telecommunications and Technology- P.O. Drawer 9530 | wdegnan@mdf.fidonet.org | mfwic@mdf.fidonet.org Austin, TX 78766-9530 | Voice +1 512 323 9383 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #282 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07817; 26 Apr 93 10:04 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19769 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:57:12 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17281 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:56:31 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 04:56:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304260956.AA17281@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #281 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 04:56:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 281 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson France to Offer Extra Phone Numbers (Jean-Bernard Condat) Scandal!! Germany: How to Tap Into Another Phone Line (Juergen Ziegler) York University to Start On-Campus Local Service (David Leibold) The Mysteries of the Telephone System (in 1900) (Mark Brader) US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line (John Schroeder) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jbcondat@attmail.com Date: 26 Apr 939 06:59:59 GMT Subject: France to Offer Extra Phone Numbers All week, France Telecom added new direct services to the list of special numbers beginning by {ZAB=} _36. This new "36" numbers are available all over the French regions with some restrictions. Following the list of all services available April 26th: LIST OF 36PQ SERVICES APRIL 26TH, 1993 Number Description of Provided Service 3600 Transpac access (1,200 baud/s) 3601 Transpac access (300 baud/s) 3602 Transpac access (2,400 & 4,800 baud/s) 3603 Transpac X.32 3605mcdu "Numero Vert" by Minitel (it's like the 800 phone numbers but for X.25 computer access). FREE. 36062424 Asynchrounous computer access (300-2,400 baud/s) 360736du Reference PAVI (for X.25 services test procedures) 36086464 Synchronous Transpac access 64 kbit/s 3609mcdu Computer access for Alphapage (the French pager) message delivery. {mcdu=} 0909 for a 80-characters alpha-numeric message 3610 Automatic French access for calls using a "Carte Pastel" (the equivalent of an MCI or AT&T phone card, but with three options: (1) restricted access for children able to phone only to 10 predefined phone numbers; (2) national, and (3) international) 3612 Minicom, the France Telecom videotex mail system directly linked with your phone number 3613 Videotex access Teletel 1 TTY access (no-business services) 3614 Videotex access Teletel 2 3615 Videotex access Teletel 3 3616 Videotex access, business services 3617 Videotex access, business services (high price) 3618 Minitel-to-Minitel communications (for blind peoples for example) 3619 International Minitel services (phone directories, e.g.) 3621 ASCII standard access 3622 Teletel access for Germany, Belgium Italy, Luxembourg and in a short time, all European countries 3623 Minitel--High Speed Access (2,400 baud/s and more) 3624mcdu Business X.25 access 3625mcdu Business X.25 access 3626mcdu Business X.25 access 3627mcdu Business X.25 access 3628mcdu Business X.25 access 3629mcdu Business X.25 access 3637 TV special abbreviated national phone number, like for "Telethon 1993" action 3638mcdu ISDN France-Luxembourg 3642 Technician Position--FRANCE TELECOM (confidential) 36431111 International Phone Book 3644 DERAL (phone qualities parameters tests)--FRANCE TELECOM (confidential) 3646 Configuration tests--FRANCE TELECOM (confidential) 3650 Direct voice phone operator for "Carte Pastel" 3653 Systeme Teletext-Telex 3655 Phoned telegrams 3656 Telegrams posted by Minitel 3658 France Telecom' customers local reclamation service 3659mcdu Local night phone information service 36606060 15-digit message for Alphapage 36616136 Operator's pager messages delivery service 3663mcdu Numero Azur (another type of tarification for extra phone number: FRF 0.73 pro call without any restriction regarding the call duration) 3664mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service 3665mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service: 5 UT (FRF 3.65 pro call) 3666mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service: MEDIA 3667mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service 3668mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service 3670mcdu Audiotel, paided phone service 3672 MemoPhone: public answering system (maximum 5 messages of 30 secondes): FRF 1.46 3673mcdu MemoPhone between all French departements: {mcdu=} {mcmc=} with {mc=} the departement postal code. For example, for Paris, {mc=} 75. 3689mcdu Conference by phone (max. 25 persons) 3699 Voice clock _____Jean-Bernard Condat_____ [Editor of _Chaos Digest_, the first computer security e-journal] CCCF, B.P. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08, France Phone: +33 1 47874083; Fax: +33 1 47877070 InterNet: jbcondat@attmail.com or cccf@altern.com ------------------------------ From: juergen@jojo.sub.org Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 01:15:59 +0200 Subject: Scandal!! Germany: How to Tap Into Another Phone Line This week's "Research and Technology" section of the German news magazine {Focus} (Nr. 17/93, pg. 106) features an *interesting* article about the German telephone network. According to the article all you need to tap into another phone line is a phone line which is hooked up to a modern digital switch and a simple 16 key touch tone beeper. The article shows the original TELEKOM beeper. For interested users, {Focus} included the TELEKOM reorder number and its approval ID. By dialing one of the special "A","B","C" or "D" keys (rightmost column), you get acces to TELEKOMs switch testing facilities. After you are in the testing system, you have to enter a three-digit switch id. Then enter the phone number you wish to call or listen to. If the phone line is busy, then just enter "1" and you will have a *forced* three way call. With a modem or any other computer controlled dialing devices it is rather simple to find the available switch ids in several hours. Since the testing facility will identify itstelf by sending a rather loud test tone, most persons will find out, that there is something strange going on, if they are tapped by someone. But there are also others that will never take much care about this situation. Isn't it STUPID that TELEKOM apprently has NOT learned anything what happend around 20++ years within the USA with the blue/red/ ... boxes that gave interested users nice and mostly free features? This time you even do not need any *illegal* devices, but a rather common and widely available touch tone beeper give you full control over several local switches! As elementary mathematics shows, any additional key to press would lower the chance by 1 to 16 to get access to such a testing system. It would have been so simple to hide the access code to this system within a normal number range. If that number would have been changed regularly, then nobody would ever get access to it. But these measures require work, and that seems to be hard for a monopoly company!!! Life goes in circles, unfortunately! ;-(((((((((((((((( Juergen Ziegler......... Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 W7580 Buehl (Baden)..... Secondary Mail address: Germany................. **uk84@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de **. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 93 23:11:27 EDT From: David Leibold Subject: York University to start on-campus local service [This is an article from Computing News (York University), April 1993. Computing News holds the rights to this material, but its copyright policy permits reproduction for non-commercial purposes provided that author, publication name and issue are acknowledged.] Telecommunications To Provide Residence Phone Services. Ulla Campbell Beginning in September 1993, CCS Telecommunications will offer telephone services to the undergraduate and graduate residences on the York campus; thanks to recent changes to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) regulations. This means that York campus residents will get a wide range of telephone services at rates lower than those of the current carrier, Bell Canada. CCS Telecommunications will offer lower rates for residential service as well as discount rates for long distance that are similar to those already enjoyed by the faculty and staff. Residents will have the options of renting telephone sets from Telecommunications or using their own units. In the near future, Telecommunications may be in a position to offer residence connections to York's data communications network. This would be done only after further analysis, and would give students access to the full range of computing services available via the campus backbone. Armed with an authorized "account", York campus residents would be able to send and receive electronic mail, read news, participate in the Internet, and run computer applications on York's host systems. Telecommunications has assembled a special project team for this substantial undertaking. Key components are design and installation of the communication switch for the residences, and arranging and promoting residential and long distance services. An enormous effort will be needed to upgrade the 20-year-old cable plant to Level 5 UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable, which is required to support both voice communication and high-speed data transmission over computer networks. For more on Level 5 UTP, see _Computing_News_, January 1993. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 01:03:00 -0400 From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: The Mysteries of the Telephone System (in 1900) Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada The {Toronto Star} ran the following article on April 21, 1900 (and it's therefore in the public domain). I clipped it after they reprinted it last year, and have finally got around to typing it in. They don't write like this in the {Star} today ... THE MYSTERIES OF THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM A Visit to the Oval Room Where Young Women Operate Wires That Enable You to Converse With Young Friends Across the City or Across the Continent -- The Telephone. Some thousands of the good citizens of this fair city beheld the telephone exchange scenes in the show this week at the Grand Opera House, representing the shapely girls doing the "Hello" act and incidentally singing songs and doing dances and making themselves generally agreeable. Those who did not have that pleasure, at least those who were able to walk out to sniff the spring zephyrs, and who had the normal optic organs, could not help but notice the gaudy posters on all the bill boards, showing the graceful backs of the telephone maidens, with their blue waists and zebra skirts, as they sat on their stools, ostensibly doing their duty in the imaginary central office. Bill, the ten-year-old bundle of precocity at our house, saw them. "Say, dad," said he, after he had said his prayers for the night. "I want to see a real 'Hello' factory." And so it came about that the very next day Bill and his sedate pater wended their way along Temperance street to the offices of the Bell Telephone Co. "Please, mister," explained the ever-ready youth to the Man. "We want to see your ting-a-ling place," and the courteous official immediately conducted us up the narrow staircase to the sacred abode of the goddesses of the telephone. An Oval Room. This holy retreat consisted of an oval-shaped room surrounded by a sort of light wainscotting, which is all pigeon-holed with tiny round apertures scarcely as big as one's little finger. Circled around in front of the wainscotting were comfortably-looking, high backed chairs, occupied by industrious young ladies, who kept their nimble hands rapidly moving -- now pressing a button on a flat key-board, and then pushing plugs which were suspended to heavy cords, into the pigeon holes within their reach. Each girl had a trumpet bound on her ear, and a little round transmitter hung close to her rosy lips. Bill took in the girls with a twinkle in his eye like unto his dad's, and then surveyed the scene in general. "Golly, it's clean up here, isn't it?" he summarized. "Yes," explained the Man, "we have to keep it scrupulously clean. You might as well chop the wires with a hatchet as let a particle of dust get on the connections." "It's awfully quiet here," complained the youth. "I thought you wouldn't be able to hear yourself think for bells ringing and loud talking and things." "Well, that used to be the case in central offices long ago," replied the fountain of knowledge. "Then they dispensed with the bell ringing and substituted a system of heavy drops, but that, too, made a lot of noise. Now, we have this scheme by which there is scarcely a sound excepting the hum of low-toned voices." How Connections Are Made. "Tell me," demanded the boy, "how a fellow gets the number he wants when he rings up." "It is done in this way. You see those rows of little lids up there along the top of the wainscotting. There is a certain number of them in front of each operator. You also see a tiny incandescent light before each girl. "Now, when you ring the bell to call up someone you cause one of these lids to lift up, and at the same time, the little lamp is lighted. The uplifted lid discloses the number of your telephone and the lamp becoming luminous attracts the attention of the operator to it. She presses a particular button on her keyboard, thus connecting herself with you and you hear: 'What number?' "When she find what you want she takes two of the plugs which are hanging at the rear of her keyboard and one of these she puts in the pigeon hole corresponding to the lid your call has raised and the other goes in a hole belonging to the number you want. The act of shoving this second plug into hole rings your friend's bell, and there you are connected. "Each operator, of course, is within reach of the several thousand holes corresponding to the numbers, one of which you might want. She learns to pick out the one desired like a piano player hits any key he wants to." "How does the girl know when I am finished?" "There is a point. Do you know," and the man's features hardened, "we have kept some statistics and we find that not three out of ten people who use the telephone ring off in such a way as to let the operator know they are finished. The girls all know this and so in order to keep lines from being tied up half the time they have to keep continually breaking in on your conversation with a 'finished.' And that is the way they find out generally when you really are done talking. "To ring off you must do more than give the handle a mere jerk or a quarter turn; you must turn it right around a turn or two to do any good. If you do this one of the lower row of lids is raised and the number shown will indicate what line has been freed." Up to this point I had been a quiet listener. "Each of these girls, you say," I ventured, is "within reach of all of the numbers. What is to prevent half a dozen of them switching different people onto the same line at the same time?" "Notice," said the Man, "one of the girls there. Before she shoves the plug in, she first touches it to the edge of the hole. If the line happens to be in use, a click is produced which she can hear and she returns you the answer, 'The line is busy.' If there is no click the line is not in use and she connects you." Long-Distance Lines. "Over here," he continued, "is the long-distance department. Montreal, New York, Chicago are within each reach of us here, and every day we have many calls for each of these places, as well as many other distant cities. Listen to the operator. She is speaking in quite a moderate tone and yet someone in Boston is probably at the other end. "The way to get the time that one of these lines is in use is interesting. We do it by an instrument with the awe-striking name, calculigraph. You see it has a face like a clock, but instead of its hands moving the disc moves in the reverse way while the hands stand still. "When a connection is made a slip of paper is shoved into the slot of the machine and stamped and again stamped at the moment the speakers are finished, and the elapsed time down to seconds is read off. There can be no error; so don't ever think you are being cheated by a charge for too long usage." We turned to the staircase to go. "Remember this, my boy," concluded the Man. "If you want to be heard distinctly, always speak with your mouth not more than two inches from the transmitter." Bill took a final glance around the girls. "Say, dad," he said, "do you remember the day you were cracking a joke to Central at the telephone up at the house, and maw said, 'Well, if I were you, Edward, I wouldn't be trying to flirt with some wizened up old maid.' Say, maw must have been having a dream that day." "Well, I guess we'll leave her in ignorance as to the comeliness of the 'Hello' girls, anyway, Bill." As we walked home Bill was thoughtful. "Well I believe I would just about as soon go there as to a circus," he remarked. Forwarded to comp.dcom.telecom by Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com [Moderator's Note: Thank you! for passing it along; every word of it was true by late 19th century standards. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oracle@cwis.unomaha.edu (John Schroeder) Subject: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 01:42:41 GMT I have had numerous problems with my phones. Today I got told the following as a US West technician after he told me that he could not fix my line to be good for even 2400 baud service. One note: When I signed up for this line, I was assured I would be able to use my phone with a modem with no problems. I had told those people (at US West) that my primary use would be (and is) for modem use. I still do not have a decent line and have never gotten a totally clear line. Now on with the "transcript". Well, I just had US West leave my house again and this is what I was told: 2400 baud is too fast to be running on a "voice grade" line. I told them that MANY people are running 14.4 baud modems with no problems (this guy seemed like he knew about modems/computers). He: If we find them running 14.4's on voice lines, we'll disconnect them. They are lucky to be getting good transfers at that rate anyhow. Me: Really? Why? He: They interfere with voice communication. The only baud that will work over voice lines effectively is 300 and below lines. 2400 is WAY too fast to be transmitting. If we get calls about problems and they are traced to your modem, we'll disconnect you too. Later: He: You might want to read up on yesterday (Friday, April 23, 1993) edition of the OWH about the new standard of phone communication. BTW: OWH is Omaha World Herald, a local news paper with Int'l events). The moral of the story is this: He did very little to get rid of my static, as they (US West) have NO responsibility to anything but voice transmissions. The funny thing is that when I got my line, I was never told this. I got the phone with the understanding that I would be using it for MODEM USE! (primarily). Now I get told that I have to downgrade to 300 BAUD?!!! *shaking head in disgust* I was told that I would have to buy a digital line or wait for the new lines for (not a direct quote of the proper phrase, but comparitavely it's the same thing) "multimedia" for phones lines to come in. I'm going to be calling US West supervisors ASAP. Thanks for any input on this, John G. Schroeder Data Communication Specialist - University Of Neb @ Omaha The Oracle/NetSeer (NetSeer is now a NetSpec!!!) oracle@unomaha.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #281 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28699; 26 Apr 93 19:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09989 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 17:05:56 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27870 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 17:05:07 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 17:05:07 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304262205.AA27870@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #283 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 17:05:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 283 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson GTE NW Caller ID Offering in Seattle Area (Dave Ptasnik) Public Phone 2000s Still No Data? (Jeff Wasilko) Ameritech Offers Service to Charge Phone Bill to MC/Visa (John R. Grout) Kids and the Internet (Carl Malamud) Has Anyone Compiled Tpage2 Under SVRA? (David Vrona) Misdialed Numbers (Charles McGuinness) 2nd RFD for Open Telematic Group (Ed Pimintel) AT&T Sent Me $75 (Gary Segal) Interesting AT&T Ad (Scott Loftesness) CCITT Standards on Line (Ing. Hugo E. Garcia Torres) Digital Cellular Service (Tom Holodnik) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 10:10:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Dave Ptasnik Reply-To: Dave Ptasnik Subject: GTE NW Caller ID offering in Seattle area. Had the flier for a month or so, but am just now getting around to reporting on it. GTE is offering the following features with their Caller ID announcement: Basic Features - Calling Number ID - (says in big print "INCLUDING NON-PUBLISHED AND NON-LISTED TELEPHONE NUMBERS") Cancel Calling Number ID - Per Call *67, offered free. Cancel Calling Number ID - Per Line One time charge of $10 (residential customers) or $12 (business customers) waived for first 90 days. ******* When I called GTE to ask about this, I had difficulty getting a knowledgable rep. The person I finally got said tha *67 would NOT allow per line blocked customers to SEND their number on demand. I THINK this means that most of the special features listed below will make it difficult for per line blocked customers to call users who have many of the special features listed below. A more cynical person might think that GTE is hoping to discourage customers from using per line blocking, as it will prevent them from calling many of their friends ;). Special Features - Automatic Busy Redial - camps on to a busy line and calls you when it is free. Automatic Call Return - auto dials the last number that called you (will not return calls to callers who have blocked their number). Call Block - list of 12 numbers from which you will not accept calls. Call Tracing - dial a code, get recorded instructions, number forwarded to law enforcement. Special Call Acceptance - Allows you to block calls from all but 12 pre-defined numbers. Can be turned on and off. Gives other callers a message that you are not accepting calls. Special Call Forwarding - Forwards calls only from callers on a list to the number of your choice. Can be turned on and off. Special Call Waiting - allows you to define numbers that can activate call waiting tone. Other callers get a busy signal. VIP Alert - Provides a special ring when you receive a call from someone on a list, also provides a distinctive call waiting tone. Except for one price (per line blocking), no charges mentioned on the flier. But I imagine that they will be in line with the rest of the country. Dave P davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: Jeff@digtype.airage.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Public Phone 2000s Still No Data? Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 13:57:30 EST Organization: Air Age Publishing, Wilton CT USA Reply-To: jeff@digtype.airage.com Chris Turkstra (Turkstra@cs.hope.edu) wrote: > Maybe just more Public Phone 2000's -- they take a card swipe, don't > they? I encountered one in Battle Creek, MI whose data functions were > still disabled. I had thought I heard that the data mode was enabled again on the PP 2000s, but I was in Boston last week and the PP 2000 I needed to use didn't do data. I called AT&T customer service, and they said that AT&T is still being forced to disable data per a FCC ruling. Does anyone know what's up with these things? I find them handy for checking on the system when I'm away, and I really needed it this time since our system was having problems. Jeff's Oasis at Home. Jeff can also be reached at work at: jwasilko@airage.com ------------------------------ From: grout@sp90.csrd.uiuc.edu (John R. Grout) Subject: Ameritech Offers Service to Charge Phone Bill to MC/Visa Reply-To: j-grout@uiuc.edu Organization: UIUC Center for Supercomputing Research and Development Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 18:17:18 GMT My most recent statement from Illinois Bell described a new Ameritech 800 service to make telco payments via MC/Visa. I used this service to pay my bill via Visa yesterday, and liked it because: (A) IBT added a four-digit extension to my phone number as my account number ... making it more difficult for others to use the service to harrass me or telco. (B) It gives me a chance to look at my phone bill before paying. (C) It lets you designate how much to pay ... it doesn't insist on a full payment. (D) Each month is entirely separate ... I can choose to not pay by MC/Visa next month if I wish. (E) I am given a confirmation number for the transaction which I can use with IBT (certainly) and my bank (hopefully ... since I trust my bank somewhat more than IBT). (F) It lets me delay sending in my payment until two business days _before_ it is due ... much safer than trusting the US Mail for two-day service. With the confirmation number, I assume they would have difficulty pulling the "late payment" scam (i.e., my payment being 'late' because they screwed up its processing) on me ... but maybe not. One thing the service needs ... an expert mode. It lets you cut a message short by typing ahead on your keypad, but does not appear to have any options to leave out any of the relatively boring intermediate messages. I wouldn't mind an option where it remembered my Visa number from last time (if it wouldn't get used without my authorization), but I know some who would probably not trust telco enough to want them to store a credit card number ... at least without a written statement that telco would never, ever use it to charge disputed bills without express authorization. John R. Grout INTERNET: j-grout@uiuc.edu ------------------------------ From: carl@malamud.com (Carl Malamud) Subject: Kids and the Internet Organization: Internet Talk Radio Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 00:00:00 CDT Global Schoolhouse Project For the past ten weeks, a team of volunteers from 30 organizations have donated time, money, equipment, software, and bandwidth to make the National Science Foundation's Global Schoolhouse Project a reality. This note briefly explains the project and its significance. For the past six weeks, schoolchildren in grades 5-8 have been conducting original research on the environment in their communities. With the help of a curriculum developed by the FrEdMail Foundation, they have conducted surveys and tests, have prepared videotapes and other materials, and have read Vice President Gore's "Earth in the Balance." The children are located in schools in Oceanside, California; Knoxville, Tennessee; Arlington, Virginia; and London, England. Using the Internet, the children have been exchanging messages with each other using FrEdMail. They have also been using Cornell University's CU-SeeMe videoconferencing software and Sprint audioconference bridges to communicate with each other. On April 28th, they will conduct a videoconference on the Internet to brief each other and national leaders on what can be done about the environment. Several prominent leaders have been invited to participate, and a variety of dignitaries and members of the media have been invited to observe. Technically, the April 28 videoconference consists of CU-SeeMe running on Macintosh computers donated by Apple equipped with a camera. CU-SeeMe sends a video stream to a Sparcstation donated by Sun which acts as a central reflector, sending the video from one site to the other sites participating in the conference. Xerox Parc has modified the NV software to read CU-SeeMe streams, allowing the April 28 videoconference to be rebroadcast to the MBONE. (Note that the 4-site conference is our top priority and if we sense network problems, the MBONE link will be cut.) Each of the schools has been equipped with a local network, with all of the resources donated or furnished on long-term loan. This equipment includes Cisco routers, Cayman Gator boxes, David System UTP hubs. The network connectivity for the Global Schoolhouse has been furnished by SprintLink, CERFnet, the NSFNET, ICMnet, Suranet, Metropolitan Fiber Systems, Pacific Bell and Bell Atlantic. Local loop connectivity uses either T1 lines or SMDS. Each of the schools has a teacher or group of teachers that has worked hard on the curriculum and on using the technology. Working alongside these teachers have been Internet mentors. We are grateful to CERFnet, SNMP Research, the University College London, and Dave Staudt of NSF for taking time out of their schedules to work with these schools. It has been remarkable to see how all these organizations have pitched in to give children the opportunity to use the network as part of their education. The National Science Foundation is contemplating expanding the project in future years to include additional classrooms, other guests, and further advanced and improved technologies. There are several lessons that can be learned from the Global Schoolhouse. First, affordable (though not yet cheap) technology is available that allows K-12 groups to join the Internet. Second, business/government/university partnerships can be a valuable tool for bringing connectivity to new groups. Third, because we have a general-purpose infrastructure in the Internet, we were able to very quickly make this project happen. The list of vendors mentioned here is not exhaustive and is meant only to illustrate the breadth of sponsorship. The summary of this project should not be taken to reflect the official views of the National Science Foundation or any of the project sponsors. My organization, Internet Talk Radio, sees events like the Global Schoolhouse Project as the beginning of an Internet Town Hall, a place where national and international leaders and citizens can hold a continuing dialogue. Internet Talk Radio, in cooperation with other organizations, will be placing a 10 Mbps link from the Internet into the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. We hope that this centrally-located site will be a place where we can bring our leaders onto the network to talk to us on a regular basis. For more information: About NSF: dmitchel@nsf.gov About CU-SeeMe: r.cogger@cornell.edu About FrEdMail: alrogers@cerf.net About This Message: carl@radio.com Regards, Carl Malamud Internet Talk Radio ------------------------------ From: dave@holl.com (David Vrona) Subject: Has Anyone Compiled Tpage2 Under SVRA? Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 13:45:30 CDT Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has compiled the tpage2 software (ixo/tap alphanumeric pager interface) to platforms other than the Sun platform directly supported by the virgin release of the code. I am having some trouble compiling tpage2 under SVR4 and could use some tips. Thanks very much. David Vrona N9QNZ +1 708 680 2829 (voice) Hollister Incorporated +1 708 680 2123 (fax) 2000 Hollister Drive Internet: dave@hp1.holl.com Libertyville, IL 60048-3781 UUCP: {well connected}!ddsw1!hp1!dave Opinions expressed are my own and not those of Hollister Incorporated. ------------------------------ From: charles@marks.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: Misdialed Numbers Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 13:51:47 EDT I have a situation where, given a particular telephone number, I need to estimate the probability of it being mistakenly dialed. (The number in question has three sets of repeating digits!). I realize that there is much about this that is simply unknown (e.g., what "nearby" numbers are being dialed with what frequency), but I was hoping to start with something simple, like the probability of a user accidentally doubling a digit. It may be possible to guess the rest of the numbers. Any pointers would be appreciated! Charles McGuinness, JYACC Inc. +1 212 267 7722 charles@jyacc.com ------------------------------ Subject: 2nd RFD for Open Telematic Group From: edimg@willard.atl.ga.us Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 09:09:34 EDT Organization: Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 RFD Request For Discussion for the OPEN TELEMATIC GROUP OTG I have proposed the forming of a consortium/task force for the promotion of NAPLPS/JPEG, FIF to openly discuss ways, method, procedures,algorythms, applications, implementation, extensions of NAPLPS/JPEG standards. These standards should facilitate the creation of REAL_TIME Online applications that make use of Voice, Video, Telecommuting, HiRes graphics, Conferencing, Distant Learning, Online order entry, Fax,in addition these dicussion would assist all to better understand how SGML,CALS, ODA,MIME,OODBMS,JPEG,MPEG, FRACTALS,SQL,CDrom,cdromXA,Kodak PhotoCD,TCL, V.FAST,EIA/TIA562,can best be incorporated and implemented to develop TELEMATIC/Multimedia applications. We want to be able to support DOS, UNIX, MAC, WINDOWS, NT, OS/2 platforms. It is our hope that individuals,developers, corporations, Universities, R & D labs would join in in supporting such an endeavor. This would be a NOT_FOR_PROFIT group with bylaws and charter. Already many corporation have decided to support OTG (Open TELEMATIC Group) so do not delay joining if you are a developer An RFD has been posted to form a usenet newsgroup and a FAQ will soon be be compose to start promulgating what is known on the subject. If you would like to be added to the mailist send email or mail to the address below. This group would publish an electronic quarterly NAPLPS/JPEG newsletter as well as a hardcopy version. We urge all who wants to see CMCs HiRes based applications & the NAPLPS/JPEG G R O W, decide to join and mutually benefit from this NOT-FOR_PROFIT endeavor. NOTE: Telematic has been defined by Mr. James Martin as the marriage of Voice, Video, Hi-res Graphics, Fax, IVR, Music over telephone lines/LAN. If you would like to get involve write to me at: IMG Inter-Multimedia Group| Internet: epimntl@world.std.com P.O. Box 95901 | ed.pimentel@gisatl.fidonet.org Atlanta, Georgia, US | CIS : 70611,3703 | FidoNet : 1:133/407 | BBS : +1-404-985-1198 zyxel 14.4k edimg@willard.atl.ga.us (Ed pimentel) gatech!kd4nc!vdbsan!willard!edimg emory!uumind!willard!edimg Willard's House BBS, Atlanta, GA -- +1 (404) 664 8814 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 10:41:02 CDT From: segal@ranger.rtsg.mot.com (Gary Segal) Subject: AT&T Sent Me $75 Last month I recieved an envelope from AT&T. Being an MCI customer, I wondered what AT&T wanted. When I opened the envelope, I found a check for $75 made out to me. Cashing it would switch my dial-1 service to AT&T. I've been using MCI for many years and have been quite satisfied with voice quailty, price and service; so I felt no great need to change. But $75 is no small hunk of change, so I decided to do some investigation of my options. My first thought was to go ahead and cash the check, but continue to use MCI by dialing their 10xxx code. So I called MCI to find out if I could switch my account to "secondary" status and maintain all of the plans I use (Friends & Family, Free Speech, e.t.c.). I explained to the service representative that the reason I wanted to do this was because of the $75 AT&T check. He said that they could set me up as a secondary account and keep all my plans, but he offered me two other options as well. First, I could send the check to MCI and they would credit my account with $75. Or, I could cash the check switch to AT&T and then switch right back to MCI. Before I made my descion, I wanted to talk to AT&T too. So called the number on that came with the check and talked to an AT&T rep. I asked her what AT&T plan would make the most sense for me. I described my calling habits and she proposed the "i" plan: I'd pay straight AT&T rates, but if I had over $30 (or so) a month, I'd get a 25% discount for all calls to one area code, and %15 off the rest. I asked for rates for one number that I call often. Even with the %25 discount, the cost per minute was 10.5 cents. With MCI, I pay 10 cents a minute and then get a 20% Friends & Family discount. So I decided to stay with MCI and let them give me a $75 credit. Who knows, in another month, AT&T may ofer me $150!! Gary Segal Motorola Inc. segal@rtsg.mot.com Cellular Infrastructure Division ------------------------------ Date: 26 Apr 93 09:58:21 EDT From: Scott Loftesness <76703.407@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Interesting AT&T Ad [from a full page ad in Sunday's {San Francisco Examiner} Business section.] BRAVO, Pacific Bell California, Get Ready. You're About to Start Communicating Like Never Before. Pacific Bell has just announced its vision for the future of communication. And it's filled with exciting ideas and better ways for all of us to be brought closer together. Today and into the next century. It's seeing the person at the other end of the phone line. It's working and living in Lake Tahoe when your office is in Sacramento. It's participating in city hall meetings from your home. It's even having doctors make video house calls. And it's all in California's future. We at AT&T Network Systems applaud Pacific bell's vision -- and the determination it will take to see it through. We share their determination and we're committed to supporting Pacific Bell with world-class technologies. To learn more about the future of communications, send your name and address, by May 7, to Brave!, 251 Michelle Court, South San Francisco, Calif. 94080. We'll do the rest. So, bravo, Pacific Bell. For moving California forward. AT&T Network Systems ------------------------------ From: hgarcia@mexnet.mty.itesm.mx (Ing. Hugo E. Garcia Torres) Subject: CCITT Standards on Line Date: 26 Apr 1993 17:48:19 GMT Organization: ITESM, Campus Monterrey I am looking for a online source of the CCITT standards, do anyone know where to find them, maybe via ftp??? All the help would be appreciated, Hugo Garcia ITESM Monterrey Mexico ------------------------------ From: Tom Holodnik Subject: Digital Cellular Service Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 12:31:32 -0400 Organization: Data Communications, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA I've heard several references made to cellular digital service, where data is carried over the cellular spectrum. Can any one provide me with more details? - what companies provide this? - is it ubiquitous? - what market projections are they making? - does this include "follow me roaming?" Is anything like this approaching standard form? Thanks in advance for any hints! Tom Holodnik Network Development CMU ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #283 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01407; 26 Apr 93 21:05 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09218 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 18:43:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17207 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 18:42:31 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 18:42:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304262342.AA17207@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #284 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 18:42:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 284 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: 800 Portability ... NOT (Klaus Dimmler) Re: Broadband Symposium Reminder (Will Martin) Re: Area Code Listing Needed For USA (Carl Moore) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Dale O. Miller) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Carl Moore) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Mark Brader) Re: Clipper Chip and Divulsion of Codes (James J. Menth) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Hierophant) Re: Did I Get Slammed? (Justin Leavens) Re: Cellular Phone Information Needed (Hing Tong Ngan) Re: Cellular Phone Compatibility (John R. Covert) Re: Various Items of Interest (or Not) From New England Tel. (Paul Sawyer) AT&T 4ESS Switch; References or Information Needed For Modelling (Hank Lim) Prodigy: Privacy Thereof! (Ken Stratton) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: klaus@cscns.com (Klaus Dimmler) Subject: Re: 800 Portability ... NOT Organization: Community_News_Service Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 13:36:28 GMT On the issue of 800 reservations: A long distance company may reserve any 800 number that it wishes. It must pay to Bellcore the same money as it would if that number were actually in use by a customer. Many long distance carriers are choosing the best vanity numbers and reserving them for that reason. A customer may purchase that number from a long distance carrier that has ownership of that number. After the customer owns it, they may transfer it to any long distance carrier they like.. that number now belongs to them. So in the case of the MCI/AT&T situation: You can get the number from MCI, and then transfer it to AT&T. Klaus Dimmler klaus@cscns.com CNS, Inc 1155 Kelly Johnson Blvd, Suite 400 Colorado Springs, CO 80920 719-592-1240 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 8:44:33 CDT From: Will Martin Subject: Re: Broadband Symposium Reminder An announcement like this totally confuses me. For well over a decade now, my Activity has had a Sytek broadband network as one of our LANs. In a previous site, it was the only LAN, and where we are now it is one of several (the others are Ethernets). Now, we are in the process of moving away from the broadband LAN (mainly due to the maintenance costs of the Sytek boxes) and moving over to Ethernet, gradually. During this time, I've gone to various meetings and conferences where LANs are discussed, and it has always been like broadband doesn't exist. People talked about Ethernet, Token Ring, Novell, etc., and *never* mentioned broadband. Now I read this announcement and it gives the impression that broadband is the wave of the future. It reads like broadband is something new and it will replace Ethernet and suchlike networks. There's no hint of the fact that the technology has not only been around a long time, but that it had been generally denigrated. (It seemed to me that only government agencies were using it, and the private sector had ignored it.) So naturally I'm confused by this. Tell me, is what these people mean by "broadband" something different, not the same as the cable-tv-like technology used by our Sytek broadband LAN? That the term has changed definitions? Or is there some other rationale for this discrepancy? Regards, Will If header address doesn't work, try: wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil OR wmartin@stl-04sima.army.mil [Moderator's Note: *Everything and anything* can be the 'wave of the future' Will, depending on who is peddling what. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 9:56:50 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Area Code Listing Needed For USA I am not sure what the telecom archives have at this writing, but be warned that it is a huge amount of information you are asking for. The V&H tape (I believe it's from Bellcore) has this information. (Perhaps someone should incorporate your message in an FAQ?) I will be shipping a copy of an area codes list for country code 1. This includes the United States, but also has Canada and many Caribbean points (the Caribbean points would be in area code 809). [Moderator's Note: One of the reasons I've held off so long putting it in the Telecom Archives has been the sheer volume of data. The archives has every country in the world, in great detail, including Canada in the 'country.codes' directory, and yet this entire compilation would be dwarfed by the USA listings. PAT] ------------------------------ From: domiller@ualr.edu Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Date: 26 Apr 93 11:51:19 GMT Organization: University of Arkansas at Little Rock In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? Several people have mentioned the Bellcore spec on telephone poles. However, there are very few poles which are telephone ONLY. According to my North Supply catalog, all of their poles meet ANSI and REA specifications (they did not supply the particular specification number, simply stated their poles met it.) Poles are listed as class 1 through 9 (with no descriptive text explaining the class, I suppose if I were ordering poles I would know :-)) in lengths of 25 to 80 feet. Poles are available with either creosote or pentachlorophenol treatment. Just for more trivia information, there is an accompaning chart (lifted from the ANSI spec) which provides approximate weight of sothern yellow pine poles. The lightest is a 25' class 9 pole at 293 lbs. The heaviest is an 80' class 1 pole at 6400 lbs. If you wish to order poles, North Supply may be reached at 913-791-7000. Dale O. Miller - Systems Programmer University of Arkansas at Little Rock domiller@ualr.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 10:26:39 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Responding to capek@watson.ibm.com: In New York state, notice that you left out 518, which does fits that old N1X rule. (607 does not fit it; 718 and 917 are much too new.) How do you arrive at 609 covering all of New Jersey? What limited information was in telecom had it the other way around: 201 covered all of NJ, then it split to form 609. Furthermore: Potshots at telephone buildings? I don't know about this with respect to last year's L.A. riots, but as a result of such riots, flights to/from L.A. airport were curtailed, and one of the reasons was concern about shots being possible at low-flying aircraft. (The L.A. curfew also cut off much traffic to/from the airport on the ground.) [Moderator's Note: During the April, 1968 riots here, the Chicago-Kedzie central office sat right in the middle of the riot zone. No one bothered them at all, however they did have armed guards on duty during and after the riot. In those days, Kedzie had a large force of operators working at the old 'cord boards' and sent the entire crew which got off at 11 PM each night (and brought in the handful of overnighters) by Yellow Cab for close to a month at the company's expense. They did the same thing for the operators at Chicago-Hyde Park which had its shift change at 11:30 each night. Always charge-account fares, with IBT getting the bill. I remember well riding downtown to work (I also worked the midnight shift at Amoco Credit Card) in a Yellow Cab -- I had a charge account with them also -- and listening to the dispatcher who started out routinely about 10:15 PM and wound up sounding like a radio evangelist by 11 PM or so: "Drivers, I need another thirty cabs at Kedzie Bell ... great fares! Remember, you don't ask for money, just mark the fare down and add fifty cents for your tip. Have the ladies each sign one. Turn the slips in for credit on your cab rental. All drivers should wait in the parking lot near the rear entrance. Kedzie Bell!! Kenwood Bell!!!!! Ah yes, Kenwood lets out at 11:30, I need 45 cabs there starting around 11:20. When you drop your loads, go over there, wait behind the UC dormitory at 60th and Kenwood in the alley. (now almost screaming in the radio) Kedzie Bell!!!!!!!!!! get them first!!!! Whose going? Okay that's twelve, I still need eighteen more drivers for Kedzie Bell!!! .... all good fares and you get a fifty cent tip added on automatically." And about 11:10 or so the pitch would be feverish, but the emphasis had changed to 61st and Kenwood Streets for that bunch and it went on until almost midnight, with the cab dispatcher exhorting the drivers to service waiting telephone operator passen- gers: Kenwood Bell!!!! Kedzie Bell!!! ("Another X cabs needed") PAT] ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 21:29:50 GMT > ... The original plan provided that area codes would be three digits, > with 0 or 1 as the second digit. No area was to cross a state boundary... But Canadian provinces and territories were not so privileged. Area code 902 still covers Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and originally included New Brunswick also. Similarly, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories share area codes with provinces and each other. Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ From: jjm@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (james.j.menth) Subject: Re: Clipper Chip and Divulsion of Codes Organization: AT&T Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 14:38:47 GMT In article cmwolf@mtu.edu writes: > About this divulsion of codes required to un-encrypt the Clipper > Chip's output: Are these codes actually released, or does the > information from the conversation get taken to the two agencies who > decode it and give it back? > If the codes are actually given out, wouldn't the agency just write > them down and use them at any point in the future that they wanted to, > even if it was a while after when they asked for them. As in: they > may not be able to prove anything right now, but if they listen long > enough, they can get almost anything, if twisted in the correct > manner. I probably won't be alone in pointing this out but the possession of clear text matching a given ciphertext is very damaging to the security of the system. I believe that, if this scheme was used, the requesting agency would be able to decode all other messages sent using the same key pair, whether past or future and outside the time constraints of the warrant. It should also be possible for the agency to produce fraudulent messages that would be difficult to detect by the 'suspects' (the subjects of the warrant). Standard disclaimers!! Jim at Little Rock jjm@cbnewsb.cb.att.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 11:21:23 -0500 From: Hierophant Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System In article tep@galt.galt.sdsc.edu writes: > In article johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us > (John R. Levine) writes: >> You might also consider reports that Clipper has been in development > Also, please note that "Clipper" is a trademark for a CPU chip that Gee, and *I* thought "Clipper" was a database language developed by Nantucket in 1986. Silly me :) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 09:42:42 -0800 From: leavens@bmf.usc.edu (Justin Leavens) Subject: Re: Did I Get Slammed? > It would basically go like this. Dial a number that's long distance, > and you immediately land on their message. No rings, just that > message. I guess the church up the street (who we got connected to) > didn't have their long distance services straightened out. I signed up for Com Systems for my LD on one line a couple years ago, and when I went to make a LD call, I got the same thing: straight to a message saying to call their business office. Apparently some of these companies are not setup to immediately start accounts for everyone who selects them as their 1+ company. A call to their business office got my account setup, though it did take about four days for them to make my 1+ dialing work. Justin Leavens : Microcomputer Specialist : University of Southern California leavens@bmf.usc.edu My opinion is that my opinions are my opinions ------------------------------ From: Hing Tong Ngan Subject: Cellular Phone Information Needed Regards British System Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 16:10:16 EDT One of my friends wanted to have a large quantity of Motorola cellular phones which are compatible with the British system. So, would you be so kind as give me the information such as company names and contact phone no. Thanks in advance. Samuel Ngan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 15:06:07 EDT From: John R. Covert 26-Apr-1993 1503 Subject: Re: Cellular PHone Compatibility Yuan Jiang made the incorrect statement that a regular cellular telephone for the U.S. does not work in Hong Kong. This is not true; my regular AMPS cellular telephone worked just fine in Hong Kong when I went there a few years ago. Hutchison operates both a AMPS and a TACS system (and may be adding GSM soon). The issue is not whether the phone needs to be modified or not. The issue is whether the local Hong Kong carriers will sign you up if you show up with a phone. I would have been glad to sell you my old Motorola Micro-TAC for $200 when I upgraded to a Micro-TAC-Lite a few weeks ago (someone else already bought it). But Hutchison will charge you an extra service charge equivalent to the difference in price between phones in the U.S. and phones in Hong Kong if you come to them and ask for service on a phone you didn't buy in Hong Kong. I don't know if the entire problem is Hutchison, or whether the GPO (General Post Office) is also involved in this, er, arrangement. john ------------------------------ From: paul@unhtel.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Various Items of Interest (or Not) From New England Telephone Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services, Durham, NH Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 16:35:26 GMT In article me@stile.stonemarche.org (Mark Eklof) writes: > Also, the new phone books came this week. They have (for the > first time) the separation of business and residence listings, as well > as the last name only appearing once in a column format. [...] Another interesting "feature" is "pre-highlighted" listings in the business section. They have actually overprinted selected listings in yellow (apparently a premium that can be added on to a larger type with border listing). If you like to highlight only those listings interesting to YOU, then it is a big bother. We have had these "new, improved" directories in this part of N.H. almost a year, since they stagger the printing schedule for different areas. > Also, beginning on 17 July, we start seven digit dialing of > all numbers within the 603 area code (i.e. we drop the '1' before > in-state long distance calls). Maybe. It was scheduled to start in April in some parts (Seabrook??) and either the PUC or the Legislature put it on "hold" because of the oft-discussed here "1+ means..." debate. Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - paul@unhtel.unh.edu Telecommunications and Network Services - VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road - FAX: +1 603 862 2030 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ From: hl@cypress.com (Hank Lim) Subject: AT&T 4ESS Switch; References or Information Needed For Modelling Organization: Aspen Semiconductor/San Jose, CA Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 20:18:12 GMT Hello, I'm sure this is a shot in the dark, but I was wondering if anyone could give me some references or share with me some experiences on modelling the above mentioned telecom network. Specifically I am trying to model the network using the simulator "NetworkII.5". I'm trying to get a feel for what level of detail I need to arrive at a meaningful simulation without getting mired in the minutiae. Thanks in advance, Hank ------------------------------ Organization: University of Maine System Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 12:34:36 EDT From: Ken Stratton Subject: Prodigy: Privacy Thereof! I heard a rumor that the people at Prodigy can not only to my harddrive but also look at the contents of my drive! Do they check to see what applications I use and sell this information to other software companies! Or am I just being too paranoid? -Ken [Moderator's Note: You are just being too paranoid. This is an old urban legend which started one day when someone (I think it was a lawyer in the original version of the story) discovered a file which Prodigy had placed on his hard drive which was mostly empty but upon examination was found to contain personal data of his which had earlier (he thought) been erased. It turns out he had deleted a file on his own, but the information remained on the hard disk. Prodigy started a file, but did not zero out all the data which had been there in the old file. This legend stems from the general ignorance of people who are computer users (but not experts in the way DOS operates on their hard drives) not realizing that 'deleted' information stays on the drive even after a file is deleted until it physically gets over-written with new data. Anyway, if Prodigy *did* want to spy on you via your hard drive, *what* file name(s) would they look for? A number of points could be raised about Prodigy's services; but spying on people is not legitimatly one of them. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #284 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08518; 27 Apr 93 0:43 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31869 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:11:20 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00711 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:10:29 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:10:29 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304270310.AA00711@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #285 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 93 22:10:20 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 285 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Looking for DB SW (Summary) (Tony Dal Santo) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Paolo Bellutta) Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? (Laird Broadfield) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (Peter M. Weiss) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (Graham Toal) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom (rfranken@cs.umr) Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? (Daniel Omundsen) Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users (Seng-Poh Lee) Alpha Pager Questions (Jeff Wasilko) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tony@mtu.edu (Tony Dal Santo) Subject: Looking for DB SW (Summary) Organization: Michigan Technological University Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 16:01:42 GMT Here are the responses I received about my post asking if anyone knew of software for managing wire plan, host info, phone info, and billing. Thanks to all those that replied, Tony Dal Santo tony@mtu.edu ------------------------- From: call: Stonehouse & Company, Reston, VA 703-476-2215 They make a product called "Monies" (or something sounding like that) which tracks cable records, circuit numbers, etc. not cheap, but looked like the most complete package at ComNet. Another place is: ISIcad (but I don't have their address handy. :-( ) Their product is like the Stonehouse product, but PC-based instead of workstation/mainframe-based. Hope this helps! John Balogh, Penn State, Office of Telecommunications, Systems Engineer --------------- From: David A. Titzer Tony, Believe it or not, a guy here at NRL is using Autocad with floor plans, merging a flatfile database of equipment and locations, and displaying a full layout of buildings and where things are placed. He says that Autocad has the capability to program it to fetch information if you click on an object (say a bridge in a building) and pull information from a database, or in this usage, run a script to find and display flat file information. I hate flatfile databases, so something like dbase and Autocad would work nicely together. Talk to the techies, rather than sales gomers, about this at Autocad. David A. Titzer titzer@net.nrl.navy.mil --------------------------- From: johnsonp@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil Tony, I'm not really sure that a database software product is all you need to store the types of information you need. You may have to rely on a combination of software products to produce the desired results. For example: You may want to use a graphics and wordprocessing combination of software to draw your system layout and write out the addresses associated with the users. You may also want to supplement this with a database that is sortable to maintain an accurate log of addressees. For costing data, you may want to use some form of spreadsheet to keep up to date with this type of information. I suggest you may want to look into things like Paradox, Harvard Graphics, WP or Microsoft Word, Quatro Pro or Lotus 123, to start getting ideas about how you want to archive your network data. I may be off track a little here, but from my past experience with various software products, I have learned that in a lot of cases, one type of software product isn't enough to get the job done efficiently. I hope this info helps. Phil Johnson ---------------------- From: Jeff@digtype.airage.com (Jeff Wasilko) First, let me say that I'd like a copy of anything you hear of. I maintain a list of help-desk related stuff... ONe that I can reccomend you look at is Delmarva Light + Power's Help desk Management System. They include capabilites for tracking a cable plant (both data and voice). The HDMS is free, but the catch is that you have to have the Unify database environment. That'll run you around $5k (to start). You can get HDMS from ftp.delmarva.com. Even if you can't get Unify, the HDMS documentation and database schema is helpful. I've got a collection of pointers to other help desk apps. I'll include it at the end. You might want to talk the folks at Switchview (214-918-9979 or 519-746-4460). They have a suite of apps for telecom management, centered on the Northern Telecom Meridian 1 systems. They claim to have the following modules: sys admin, traffic mgmt, acd mgmt, network routing, call accounting, fault mgmt, asset mgmt, cable mgmt, directories, dial by name & VMX mgmt. The software runs under SCO Unix. Please be sure to forward anything you get... Jeff (Jeff Wasilko's collection of pointers) ------------------------------ From: bellutta@ohsu.EDU (Paolo Bellutta) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Organization: Oregon Health Sciences University Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:19:14 GMT In article charles@marks.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) writes: > I have a situation where, given a particular telephone number, I need > to estimate the probability of it being mistakenly dialed. (The number > in question has three sets of repeating digits!). This is a typical pattern analysis problem. You might want to take a look into that. Basically what you should do is to define the "tokens" (strings of digits) and the distance between the "elements" (the digits) of the tokens. You might define 1 the distance between 5 and 4, 6, 8, 2, while define 2 the distance between 1 and 7, and so on. Then you define the distance between the tokens as min between the corresponding elemnts, or the average of the distances, or anything you believe represents the "difference". _ /| Paolo Bellutta -- e-mail: bellutta@ohsu.edu \'o.O' B.I.C.C - Oregon Health Sciences University =(_o_)= 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd. - Portland, OR ------------------------------ From: lairdb@crash.cts.com Subject: Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? Date: 26 Apr 93 23:52:00 GMT In birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag) writes: > Perhaps in the near future these debit cards will be the hot "promo" > items of choice at conventions -- instead of handing out pens or > rulers, give out debit cards with your company's symbol? Heck, you > could even go so far as to have your *business* cards be phone debit > cards. Might encourage prospective clients to give you a call, if it > was "on you." :) Aha! Epiphany. Okay, follow along here: First, think back to Aliens, when Ripley inserted what was clearly Carter's business card (clear plastic, otherwise rather business-card looking) into the phone, and it called him. Same idea as Shag has. Can't do it today, because phone doesn't have a place to put card, right? (I looked all over, I couldn't find one ...) Now, how many of you have seen those musical greeting cards, or the COMDEX invitations to some of the parties that actually had about 30 seconds of recorded speechand music? Generating DTMF should be at least an order of magnitude easier; presto! "Hold my business card up to the handset, and squeeze the corner." Laird P. Broadfield lairdb@crash.cts.com ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb ------------------------------ Organization: Penn State University Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 13:21:22 EDT From: Peter M. Weiss Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom In article , rm55+@pitt.edu (Rudolph T Maceyko) says: > 2. Press AT&T TeleTicket Number -> XXXXXXXXXX Wouldn't it be a hoot if they were sequentially, or predicably assigned? Master the possibilites. Pete [Moderator's Note: I think some algorythm is used to number the cards so that the creation of a valid number on the fly is difficult at best. Hint: the authorization codes are eleven digits long. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 93 21:53:34 GMT From: Graham Toal Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom > [Moderator's Note: I think the reasoning here is that in the USA we > have a dispropportionate number of 'regular' pay phones as opposed to > the card reader type. Maybe one out of a thousand here is a card > reader; the rest are not capable of handling cards that are swiped. > Speaking of shrines, maybe I could get them to print up a series with > my picture on it. :) PAT] Yes, in Britain you could! I can't remember whether it was Mercury or BT, but I saw an advert a couple of years ago when the cards first came out offering just that - your custom design on a card for use as a business promotion. In fact, I also remember that BT executives were giving them away instead of ordinary business cards for a time. G ------------------------------ From: rfranken@cs.umr.edu Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 19:34:49 CST [Reference a previous message from Pat about a new debit type calling card from AT&T and Pat's comments about them wanting the Digest list, and not getting it, but possibly AT&T making samples available to Digest readers, and No mention of PAt about the Orange Card]. Inserting tongue in cheek ... Pat ... How dare you post this message :) It's one thing to allow mention of competition to the Orange Card in order to make yourself not look so bad, but to promote the card by allowing them to possibly announce a free sample in the Digest, and then, of all thing, to fail to follow the message with a [Moderator's Note:] mentioning the Orange Card? I am shocked. Why, do you realize how silly this will make all those who are criticizing your alleged commercialization of the Digest look? After all their criticism of you, you have the audacity to do something reasonable and fair, and put the Digest and its readers ahead of the Orange card for even ONE MESSAGE. Removing tongue from cheek ... Seriously, no offense is intended to anyone here. I realize that some people who criticize the Orange Card are expressing valid concerns (that I don't happen to agree with) about commercialization of the internet; however, I couldn't resist the urge to point out the absurdity of some of those arguing that Orange Card is bad --> Orange Card is mentioned occasionally in c.d.t --> Digest appears in c.d.t, --> -Pat moderates Digest --> therefore, PAT is bad. Brett (rfranken@cs.umr.edu) [Moderator's Note: Well, the natives are going to be restless tonight for sure then ... since I today got the final word on the Talk Tickets and will be mailing out a special summary Monday night explaining how to get them for $2 each (normal denominations will be $5, $10, $20, $50 when the program gets officially underway early in May.) Anyone who wants them -- and I am sure our non-USA readers will find a use for them above all -- will be able to get all they want by following the instructions in the notice I will mail later tonight. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Daniel Omundsen Subject: Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? Organization: Telecom New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand > dfong@waikato.ac.nz wrote (in rec.music.info): >> Split Enz Phone Cards >> --------------------- >> A couple of months ago it was reported in Rip It Up that Festival were >> planning to have a set of Enz phone cards made up for media and record >> retail personnel. And also, that other NZ bands may be honoured. >> But I haven't heard anything else about it. >> I shall ask around - BOUND to be a collectors item. > It would, admittedly, be pretty interesting to have my IQ card feature > the emblem of my favorite metal group (and actually, I could probably > ink a small representation of it below the IQ symbol)... has anyone > (outside the US, since I'm fairly sure we can't get such nifty cards > here) seen such cards? I'm not sure whether they'd be permanent > plastic cards, or the debit cards that've been discussed recently. In New Zealand, most pay phones use plastic, credit-card sized debit cards which are purchased in fixed denominations ($5.00, $10.00, $20.00, etc). These have a graphic design on the front and a series of magnetic stripes on the back, into which is encoded an encrypted pattern representing the amount on money left on the card. Payphones deduct the cost of your call from the value on the card, and write the new value onto the card before returning it to you. Calls are charged at 20c per minute (US 10c) for local calls, and at peak rates for all toll calls. When the value of the card is used up, it is discarded. The design on the front of the card is changed from time to time, often depicting current events such as the Olympic games or Christmas -- much in the same way as postage stamps do. Special batches of cards do get printed up for various promotions or special events, as mentioned above. Like postage stamps, phone cards have become somewhat of a collectors item. Dealers here will often buy up your used cards for 20c each. Used $2 cards from the initial trial will fetch $2 to $5 each. Flawed or errored cards are worth much more, in the order of several hundred dollars. I know a guy who has an uncut sheet of cards that were printed up in order to test the printing process before the cards were manufactured -- it has no magnetic stripes but is reputed to be worth somewhere around $15,000. >Perhaps in the near future these debit cards will be the hot "promo" >items of choice at conventions -- instead of handing out pens or >rulers, give out debit cards with your company's symbol? Heck, you >could even go so far as to have your *business* cards be phone debit >cards. Might encourage prospective clients to give you a call, if it >was "on you." :) Individualised cards like this have not really taken off here (at least, as far as I am aware) but I have heard of this happening in Japan. Perhaps someone from there would like to comment? Daniel Omundsen. *DISCLAIMER* - Although I work for the phone company, I have nothing whatsoever to do with phone cards. These observations are made purely as a user of the service, and are NOT official in any way. So there. [Moderator's Note: The ten thousand dollar denomination Talk Tickets being started here will have my picture on them, in my role as Comptroller of the TELECOM Digest Treasury; you know, all the money I've accumulated from my abuse of the Internet and its denizens and all that. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:23:53 -0400 From: Seng-Poh Lee Subject: Re: Latest Prodigy News: New Charge For Users Organization: Public Domain Inc. In article is written: > amcgee@netcom.com (Arthur R. McGee) writes: >> Don't forget to let them know that America Online is now CHEAPER than >> Prodigy! American Online is ONLY $9.95 month for five hours of service >> and $3.50 per hour thereafter. Prodigy is $14.95 per month and I >> forget what the price is per hour. > Close ... Prodigy is now $14.95 per month and 0.00 per hour for a vast > majority of their services offered. They do have some premium areas, > but most people that I know that use the service don't use them. > The change in fee structure occured when Prodigy opened up higher > speed access numbers to their system. They now support 9600 baud in > most areas and I believe 14.4kbps in some ares. This is not correct. That was the PREVIOUS rate change. The RECENT rate change adds timed charges (about $4.80/hour after two hours free per month) to the following previously untimed services: All Bulletin Boards (except the one for Prodigy Feedback) Stock Quotes Dow Jones Company News AA Sabre Online Reservation They removed the surchage for 9600 bps access. These timed charges are due to go into effect July, unless you've prepaid for the year. Apparently, these services cost Prodigy the most in terms of tied up modems, and outside company fees and communication charges. However, the on screen advertisments still come for free :-) Seng-Poh Lee ------------------------------ From: Jeff@digtype.airage.com (Jeff Wasilko) Subject: Alpha Pager Questions Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 20:31:24 EST Organization: Air Age Publishing, Wilton CT USA Reply-To: jeff@digtype.airage.com I've finally decided to pick up a pager to keep in touch with the office. I think I'd like to pick up an alpha pager so that I can recieve textual messages via 'tpage' from our system. What can you recomend as a good alpha pager? A answering service we deal with sells both Motorola and NEC pagers (and they prefer NEC). Also, can alpha pagers receive a simple numeric page (dial a number, hear a tone, dial a call-back number)? Our voice-mail system provides for notification of urgent messages via a numeric pager, so I'd like to be able to use the alpha pager for that, too ... Any other comments about alpha pagers would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeff Jeff's Oasis at Home. Jeff can also be reached at work at: jwasilko@airage.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #285 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08717; 27 Apr 93 0:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00116 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:25:53 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26635 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:24:56 -0500 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 22:24:56 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304270324.AA26635@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: Talk Ticket Debit Cards Now Available by Mail The 'Talk Ticket' telephone debit calling cards I mentioned last week are now available as (very) limited-value samples for anyone who wants them. When the program gets officially underway during May, the cards will be in denominations of $5, $10, $20 and $50. There were some errors in my earlier report I want to correct at this time. The cards will NOT be renewable. There were too many privacy concerns about using a credit card over the phone to re-instate the authori- zation codes when they were used up. I agree with that concern. There are lots of people who want ANONYMOUS long distance calling without the ability to back-track through records to them. So instead of renewing the cards, you will simply buy new ones and toss out the old ones each time, in the quantities desired. If you think you want more to start with, just ask for more when you originally order them. They do not expire after any certain time; they are good until you use them. I was slightly incorrect on the *price per minute of usage*. The base rate on small purchases will bring the effective rate to fifty cents per minute -- but with no surcharge. So like the Orange Card, you are best off using these debit pre-pay cards to your advantage from pay phones, hotels, etc where a surcharge would apply, and holding your call down to two or three minutes. The cards can be used for local or long distance calls, all at the same price. Where the cost per minute grows less is in the bulk purchase of the cards. For instance, a person buying several of the $50 denomination cards -- once the program gets underway -- will be given a substantial discount. I'll have more precise details on the discount structure later on. For the people who want to try the program now with the special two dollar tickets, there will also be a 25 percent discount in quantity. You can use these tickets to call anywhere in the world. Bear in mind that an overseas call will only get you about a minute of talking with the two dollar sample card. Cards cannot be associated with each other; that is, you cannot use the four units on one card in combination with the four units on another card to get eight units of talking (or about two minutes) on an international call. When one card dries up, the phone line is disconnected. So for all intents and purposes, to get at least a few minutes of talking on an international call, you will need to have a larger denomination ticket(s) ... The switch where these tickets will be honored is an 800 number you dial, followed by the ticket serial number and the number where you wish to call. Included in the deal is voicemail, news, a speed dialing arrangement for frequent users, etc. All this gets charged off on the ticket as well as the actual calls you make. Each time you use the ticket the computer will tell you how many units (or minutes) remain available. All the traffic will move on AT&T. With the sample tickets will be a telephone number you can call should you wish to deal in these tickets yourself at your company, your school or whatever. If all you want is a few tickets for your own use as you travel around the USA this summer, that is fine also. You should remember that fraud is limited to the value of the ticket, which in our application at hand is two dollars. You would not carry all these tickets in your possession at one time, I presume, any more than you would carry all your money around at one time letting people see it, etc. Here is how to order: Send $2 for each sample ticket desired. I am reluctant to say send cash through the mail, but I am equally reluctant to ask you to write a check or buy a money order for that little. Obviously if you want several tickets, a check/money order would be a better idea for your protection and mine. If you want ten sample tickets or more, send $1.50 for each (fifteen dollars for each group of ten Talk Tickets, in other words.) Make checks or money orders payable to 'Telecom Digest'. I am handling these at cost (other than a few sample tickets -- very few -- they tossed my way) in order to aquaint Digest readers with this new product, so I am asking that you include a LONG, SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED ENVELOPE *or* a 29 cent postage stamp with your request. I'd prefer to be able to toss the tickets in an envelope and send them back to you with no further bother. If you are reluctant to send much money, then just get one for two dollars; I'll have more for awhile, but no guarentees how long. I'm hoping if you like these Talk Tickets and find them useful, you will consider buying more of them from me when the program gets under way with the larger denomination 'regular cards' next month. Anonymous purchases: Mail is delivered to a post office box by box number only. Send your two dollars (or a money order if for more than that, as you wish) in whatever name you wish. Tickets will be sent to that box address in the name specified, if any, or just to 'occupant'. Ditto, 'occupant' with a specific street address and apartment number usually gets through okay. If you are in the Chicago area you can pick them up at my office by appointment. Any one of you can buy several on behalf of friends who do not wish their name given out. If this works out okay, you'll want to buy more tickets as time goes on. If outside the USA: Bear in mind that calls on the ticket must *originate* in the USA, although I guess you could use a 'call home' program and connect to our 800 number if desired. If you will be coming to the USA this summer, order a few sample tickets for use when you are in this country. If someone in Europe (for example) wants to be responsible for a large quantity of these tickets for redistribution to students or others coming here this summer, contact my office by phone or fax. Also if outside the USA and buying a ticket or two for casual use by yourself, please send US currency and postal union coupons good for an ounce of postage. So that's about it: $2 per sample requested or (multiples of) $15 for (each group of) ten; Enclose a LONG stamped envelope addressed however it will reach you; Checks (or money orders if purchasing anonymously) payable to Telecom Digest or my name; Telecom Digest 2241 West Howard Street - Suite 208 Chicago, IL 60645 Phone for information: 312-465-2700 Fax: 312-743-0002 Allow about ten days; my rep will be here this week to see me with the ticket stock. I'll fill as many orders each day as I can. When/if the initial stock runs out, I will get more but it takes a couple days for them to get the tickets to me. Right now nothing but the $2 size is available, as they are just 'testing the water' so to speak. For confirmation order was received/sent if desired: When you put it in the mail, send email to 'ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu' with a subject line 'tickets ordered' and a single line message 'number ordered, when mailed'. I will cross check this and reply by email when the order leaves here. Only if you want the additional check on the postal service, etc. All samples will be sent in total confidence. NO ONE will ever know who bought what (particularly if John Doe sends a money order to have one sent to a PO Box somewhere!) PAT   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa20533; 27 Apr 93 6:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13560 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Apr 1993 02:43:19 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28654 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Apr 1993 02:41:36 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 02:41:36 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304270741.AA28654@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #286 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Apr 93 02:41:30 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 286 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Block CNID vs Call Block/Return (Brad Hicks) Interesting Phone Call (Jim Surine) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (John Nagle) Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (Tony Harminc) Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (Barry Margolin) Re: 800 Portability ... NOT (Tony Harminc) Re: 800 Portability ... NOT (Steve Forrette) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Harold Hallikainen) Re: AT&T Sent Me $75 (Bryan J. Abshier) Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line (Harold Hallikainen) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 27 Apr 93 02:57:46 GMT Subject: Block CNID vs Call Block/Return I live in Southwestern Bell territory (there are worse fates, I gather), and enrolled in all of the CLASS features as they became available. Use most of 'em, too, which is more than I expected. Call Queue (*66) surely came in handy when my cable was knocked out during the other night's hailstorm, and half of the county tried to call Continental Cablevision at once ... but that's another story. But lately when I've gone to *60 (Call Block) teleslime, or *69 (Call Return) calls that hung up as soon as I answered, six out of the last seven times I got an error message that said something to the effect of, "This service won't work with that number." Now, I refuse to believe that I'm getting carpet salesmen calling from outside the St. Louis LATA, and I can't believe that four out of five wrong number hangups happen to be from the only four small clumps of exchanges (only two local to me!) in the St. Louis LATA that aren't CLASS compatible. It's not that my CLASS services are down, either. I use *69 to return most of my calls now (being lazy), and it always works with my friends; it just never works with teleslime or silent hangups. (Burglars wanting to know if I'm home? Or -- say it softly -- surveillance?) (=What= anti-paranoia shots? Did THEY tell you to ask me that?) The (very helpful, very friendly) SWBT repair rep that I asked about all of this insisted quite firmly that per-line blocking has not been implemented for anyone, =period=. He was also pretty sure that per-call blocking hadn't been implemented yet, either, but I have my doubts about that. What I'm beginning to wonder is if people who make their living annoying people with phones are dialing *67 (Block CNID) before they call me (and presumably others), and if they are, is that what's killing my Call Return/Block? So here's what I need: somebody with a listed number in the St. Louis LATA, preferably a free call to/from 314-878-xxxx, who'll make arrangements with me to dial *67 and then my number and see if I can Call Return or Call Block it. (E-mail me for the phone number.) I'll report the results to the Digest. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ From: xevious@zen.holonet.net (Jim Surine) Subject: Interesting Phone Call Organization: Information Access Technologies, Inc. of Berkeley, CA Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 03:29:30 GMT I just had a most interesting one-sided phone call. I got home from work just in time to catch a hangup after four rings call. My answering machine also had one of these earlier. But I later I got another call. I could here only one side of the conversation interspersed with what sounded like relay clicks and pauses. This person appeared to be calling from someplace related to the phone company. I could here in the background a woman say something like "you should call 1-800- ..." with office sounds in the background. However this man was discussing with some other party setting up a telephone wiretap. All I could catch were snippets of conversations but here are some of the ones I was able to write down afterwards. "Ya, the wiretap should be all set up." "We do it all over the satellite from here." "It's all fiber optics..." "No I think SETI has some international juristiction ..." "... SETI ..." "I don't think it should disturb the phone at all." "... let me put you on hold a minute." The phone went to dial tone a short time after that. Either the government is wiretapping my phone and doing a real poor job of it or there are just doing a bad job. I have know idea where SETI fits in with this but I was not expecting it when I heard that. He definitely said SETI. Anyone have any idea what is going on? I suppose if you actual do you can't tell me, then I'll take guesses instead. Jim Surine xevious@holonet.com San Francisco CA ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 03:34:32 GMT jpettitt@well.sf.ca.us (John Pettitt) writes: > BZZZZT. Wrong -- while as you point out SCAN will not give you a > balance if you call 408 983 0588 (Bank of America) you can tone in an > account number and check amount and be told if it will clear. It's worse than that. Call the BofA customer service number, then select "Credit Rating", and enter the account number as instructed. This will give you the approximate balance, given as, say, "high four figures" ($6666 - 9999). This is a service BofA offers to anybody; no password is required, and you can ask for any account (even savings accounts!). Clearly they consider this public information. For your own accounts, you can find out more, but the "Credit Rating" thing is clearly for asking about the accounts of others. John Nagle [Moderator's Note: As I said earlier, banks talk about anything and everything. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 00:10:51 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) > From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) > "It is I who want to know whom I am calling." > "I won't talk any more," and the operator banged up the receiver. Hurray for that operator! I get all sorts of callers who ask me "who is this?". The nerve! Those callers will not get much further until they identify themselves. > The Aikenhead Hardware Company and the King Edward Hotel answered with > the firm's name. > Among the others who retained the old "Hello" are Barber, Ellis Co., > Arnoldi, Gierson, and McMurrich, McKendry's, Massey-Harris, and > Aylesworth, Wright, and Moss. It's amusing to note which of these firms are still in business. Aikenhead Hardware is still there (in fact until a couple of years ago they were still at the same address they had had since 1850 or so). The King Edward Hotel is still in the same place (I had my wedding reception there in 1987). Barber, Ellis still exists (though now out in the suburbs). Massey-Harris is a shell of its former self (once the largest farm equipment manufacturer in the world, it became Massey-Ferguson in the 1950s or 60s, and more recently much downsized, shuffled off to Buffalo, NY under the name Varity Corp.) Union Station still exists, though not the same one. The current one (the one that featured in the 1970s movie Silver Streak) was built about 1920. And of course the Bell Telephone Company (now known as Bell Canada) is still going strong. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: barmar@Think.COM (Barry Margolin) Subject: Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) Date: 27 Apr 1993 04:53:21 GMT Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA In article msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) writes: > The reason why so many are silly enough to ask a question which > already has been answered for them is probably simply a case of force > of habit. These days most businesses do seem to answer with the firm's name. However, I find that I must often ask this redundant question, because I can't understand the name. I expect that they're saying it while the receiver is still moving towards their mouth. Or it's just gotten so repetitive that they no longer enunciate well. On the other side, I always answer my office phone with my name, yet frequently the first thing a caller says is, "May I speak with Mr. Margolin?" The reporter's attitude in those transcripts sure seemed annoying. It's pretty rude for a caller to demand to know who the callee is before identifying himself. After all, the callee has a reasonable expectation that the callee is who he expects, but the callee has no idea who is calling. And the callee is also interrupting the callee. These rules of phone etiquette are less strict when calling a business (if you reach a receptionist, answering your call *is* the job, not an interruption); however, if you're not sure that you've reached the correct party, you may have reached a residential number and should follow the protocol. Barry Margolin System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 00:47:40 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: 800 Portability ... NOT Reply-To: Tony Harminc > [Moderator's Note: My understanding on this from my contacts at my 800 > number supplier are that starting May 3 (May 1 is Saturday), ALL 800 > numbers will be in a single database maintained by Bellcore. Each number > will be marked as taken by someone, or free to be taken. There will not > be 'numbers reserved for customers'. First come, first served. I've > been proceeding on that assumption in the process of taking orders for > my 800 service. On the same topic: (listen up!) if you presently have > 800 service and spend $50-100 per month or so on it and can live with > rates of 17-18 cents per minute and no monthly surcharge, *please* > give me the account! It'll make it that much easier to keep the > Digest coming out 3-4 times per day and me eating once a day. Thanks. PAT] So what happens to the other NANP countries? Canada will have 800 and 900 number portability *for US numbers* starting 1st May, but not for Canadian numbers until some months later (mainly because until last year there was no long distance competition, and equal access won't be here for some time yet.) So are the prefixes currently used by Canadian carriers unavailable to US customers until complete portability? Maybe PAT could request a 387 or 268 or 668 number and see what happens. [Two nifty Bell Canada 800 prefixes are NOT and FUR. A former employer's helpline was FUR-HEAD (quite by accident).] Tony Harminc [Moderator's Note: Special cases such as you describe will be shown as unavailable in the database where Bellcore has no control over the number because it is outside USA jurisdiction. They'll be listed, I think, but with a notation they cannot be used by USA customers at the present time. Has anyone noticed any changes in the way calls to 800 numbers are being processed lately (since the database was installed)? Illinois Bell apparently has a record of all 800 numbers which relate to *its* local area subscribers; when I call an 800 number which is in Chicago from another phone in Chicago it rings instantly -- not even a two second delay. Maybe it is in a cache of some kind which they check as part of the look-up process in order to avoid any more trips to the database than necessary -- I know calls to 800 numbers in Chicago have never been so fast. Furthermore, in the past when a call to ones's own number resulted in a busy signal but a call to one's 800 number -- even if it wound up on the same line -- resulted in call waiting or referral to voicemail, etc after a five second or so round trip to the 800 carrier's switch where it got supervised and sent on its way back, (to you) now IBT seems to have the ability to dump the call right on the subscriber's line if speed in handling is a factor and the fact that the call is still unsupervised when its return path hits the same line where it started out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: 800 Portability ... NOT Date: 27 Apr 1993 07:09:31 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA Another interesting thing that is now happening as a result of 800 portability is that calls to unassigned numbers get intercepted by the local telco, and a local telco "not in service" recording is played. Presumably, when the local telco does the database lookup, the database returns "not in service" instead of the carrier code, so there's no reason to hand it off to any long distance carrier. I would imagine that all 800 calls from just about any telco are now going through the lookup procedure in preparation for the May 1 introduction of portability. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 05:16:32 GMT In article rice@ttd.teradyne.com writes: > In the 60/70s, ANI equipment (Automatic Number Identification -- used > for Toll Ticketing) used Light Sensitive hardware to identify lines > for Toll Billing. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but it was > prone to falsing if the light levels were elevated but things like > Photographic Flash guns and Bright sunlight. (One of the reasons that > flash cameras were prohibited in Central Offices). > One result of this, was the Central Offices were built with no > windows, to ensure that sunlight, at certain times of day, didn't > increase the problems with false ticketing. > As I recall, the ANI equipment wasn't the only equipment with this > sensitivity to light levels but It was a long time ago and memory > fades :-). At last week's National Association of Broadcasters convention, I got to visit with the guy who installed the broadcast automation system at a station I worked at in 1972 or thereabouts. The next company he worked for used photosensors instead of mechanical limit switches to determine where a tape cartridge was. He told of people taking a flash photo of the system at conventions. The flash would cause all the cartridge machines to tray out the carts, rotate around to the correct position again, then tray back in. Also, they kept getting customer service calls from one station at a certain time of day. The system worked fine the rest of the time. Turned out the afternoon sun was falsing those same opto detectors. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: babshier@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Bryan J Abshier) Subject: Re: AT&T Sent Me $75 Organization: The Ohio State University College of Law Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 05:49:56 GMT I used to be a Sprint customer until AT&T sent me that $75.00 check. I really don't know how much thought they put into this incentive program. How did they select the people to whom the send these checks? I have been a student for the past seven years and have had roughly five different homes and phone numbers. I will be moving again in a few months and when I sign up for new phone service I'll probabily go with Sprint again. Furthermore, my monthly long distance bill is not usually more then $40.00 a month. Now I really don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I kinda like this competition thing. Bryan J. Abshier _O_ Abshier@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 06:16:59 GMT In article oracle@cwis.unomaha.edu (John Schroeder) writes: > The moral of the story is this: He did very little to get rid of my > static, as they (US West) have NO responsibility to anything but voice > transmissions. The funny thing is that when I got my line, I was > never told this. I got the phone with the understanding that I would > be using it for MODEM USE! (primarily). Now I get told that I have > to downgrade to 300 BAUD?!!! *shaking head in disgust* I was told > that I would have to buy a digital line or wait for the new lines for > (not a direct quote of the proper phrase, but comparitavely it's the > same thing) "multimedia" for phones lines to come in. I did a quick look thru parts 40 to 69 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, hoping to find specs on a POTS line, but I didn't find any. There are lots of specs on customer provided terminal equipent in part 68, but I didn't find anything on what the line was supposed to do. I imagine such specs exist in the tarriffs filed with the PUC or FCC (but don't know for sure). I'd certainly expect numeric specs on noise, frequency response, loss, envelope delay distorition, etc. Having a telco tech say "sounds ok to me" hardly guarantees consistent service. Further, I'd be real surprised if a telco disconnected a line for running a 14.4 K modem. If the modem is FCC registered under part 68, it should not cause interference to other users. So, it would be interesting to know what the telco specs are as to what kind of quality they are supposed to deliver. It would then be interesting to see graphs of bit error rates for modems under various degrees of line impairment. It sure doesn't seem right to be restricted to 300 bps! Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #286 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa20730; 27 Apr 93 20:24 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06015 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 27 Apr 1993 17:01:44 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15370 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Tue, 27 Apr 1993 17:00:59 -0500 Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 17:00:59 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304272200.AA15370@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #287 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Apr 93 17:01:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 287 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (David W. Tamkin) Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (Steve Forrette) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Jeffrey Jonas) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Steve Forrette) Re: Public Phone 2000s Still No Data? (Edwin G. Green) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Mike Vevea) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Scott Dorsey) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Brad Hicks) Re: Faxmail Service in Manhattan (Lynne Gregg) Re: Digital Cellular Service (Jim Rees) Talk Ticket Privacy Problem? (J. Harrison) Grand Canyon Phone Service (Ed Greenberg) DTMF Universality? (John Perkins) Re: Wireless City (hu@geophy.physics.utoronto.ca) 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? (Bob Longo) Needs For Telecom: The "Smart Toilet" Story (Ross Stapleton via Boolootian) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 12:06 CDT Subject: Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) Reply-To: dattier@genesis.mcs.com (DWT) Organization: Contributor Account at MCS, Chicago, Illinois 60657 From: dattier@genesis.MCS.COM (DWT) Mark Brader shared in in comp.dcom.telecom: > Here's one more old {Toronto Star} article. This one was run > originally on August 17, 1910, and again, reprinted last year. ... > "No, I do not. I have been watching this subject rather closely and I > have been experimenting myself. I did answer 'Murray's' for a time, > but almost invariably the women would immediately ask: 'Is that > Murray's?' just as if I hadn't told them." > Yes, we are. We tried the new method, but dropped it for nearly > everyone persisted in asking again: 'Is that Hobberlin's?'" For the few people who caught the name, the runaround was saved, and for the many who didn't, it was no worse than "Hello": never worse and sometimes better. So neither of those stores really had a reason to revert to "Hello". Substitute the single word "Murray's" or "Hobberlin's" when callers expect the single word "Hello" and of course the callers won't notice. Had their receptionists answered the phones with "You've reached W. A. Murray's. How may I help you?" or "Good morning. This is Hobberlin's Haberdashery," most callers would have noticed the difference and gotten the message. David W. Tamkin Box 59297 Northtown Station, Illinois 60659-0297 dattier@genesis.mcs.com CompuServe: 73720,1570 MCI Mail: 426-1818 ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) Date: 27 Apr 1993 18:06:22 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article barmar@Think.COM (Barry Margolin) writes: > These days most businesses do seem to answer with the firm's name. > However, I find that I must often ask this redundant question, because > I can't understand the name. I expect that they're saying it while > the receiver is still moving towards their mouth. Or it's just gotten > so repetitive that they no longer enunciate well. I think this reflects the general laziness and lack of attention to detail that plagues so many American businesses. What do these people think the point of announcing the company name is if the caller can't understand them? I suppose that in a lot of cases if you know the name of the company you are calling, you'll be able to understand a sloppy pronunciation, but many times people may just have a phone number, and really need a clear announcement. I think it was Zig Ziglar who claims that he can select any ten businesses at random from the Yellow Pages, and be sure that in no more than four cases will he be able to tell the name of the business based on how they answer the phone. I guess that with the advent of more and more businesses having automated attendants answering the phone, that this problem is diminishing. Sometimes I have people call me that must be some sort of sleazy sales people or list builders -- I've never been able to nail it down. They'll ask a question such as "How long have you worked there?" I'll respond with "Work where?" I often have several different numbers forwarded to the same location, and I honestly won't know what the context of the call is until the caller lets me know where they called. In this particular case I'm thinking of, the caller replied "There!", then hung up without saying anything further when I asked another question. Who knows what they're up to. While we're on the subject of telephone protocol, shouldn't be standard procedure to always leave an area code in a message wherever a telephone number is given? I've had several times where I'll have a message in my voicemail where the caller gives just a seven digit number. Many times, I have several numbers in different area codes that terminate at the same voicemail box, and I have no way of telling what the context of the call is. I suppose that this can be a big problem in a place like Los Angeles, where there are several area codes within the "local" area. I now make it a point to always give the area code with the phone number. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 12:00:35 EDT From: jeffj%jiji@uunet.UU.NET (Jeffrey Jonas) Subject: Re: Misdialed numbers I'd think that some Bell Labs Technical Journal would have that somewhere under statistics, or perhpas an ACM journal. The failure modes are mostly human factors, but there are technical details too. Rotary phones were prone to "off by one" dialing of any digit if your finger slipped from the hole. I'm not sure what error worn dialers would make (due to dirty contacts failing to tap, or bounding, or the dial going at a wrong speed). Touch tone phones seem to be prone to dialing adjacent keys in error. I'd guess the keys underneath the desired key is often struck. Using that logic, numbers that favored the lower rows (7, 8, 9, 0) would be less mis-dialed. Transcription errors: reversed digits, confusing the letter O with the number 0, the letter I with the number 1. I wish I could be more constructive and give references, but I'm no longer at AT&T with their library and lovely librarian. I'm personally favored numbers that repeat a digit so I can keep a finger on that button and dial quite rapidly as I rock my fingers back and forth. 555-1212 is fast and easy to dial. So are numbers that form a pattern on the keypad, such as across a row or column, or the corners (think of Tic Tac Toe or bingo patterns). Numbers such as 5456 are fast to dial if you start with your little finger on the 5 and type as on a calculator. Jeffrey Jonas jeffj@panix.com ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Date: 27 Apr 1993 15:54:39 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article charles@marks.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) writes: > I have a situation where, given a particular telephone number, I need > to estimate the probability of it being mistakenly dialed. (The number > in question has three sets of repeating digits!). A couple of years ago, I had the number 841-7249. With great frequency, when I gave the number to someone, they would transpose the 2 and the 4, and say 841-7429 when they read it back to me to verify. It was always those two digits that got transposed, and it happened a lot. I've never had another number that had that property. With all of the other numbers I've had, people generally get it correct the first time, with the occasional random error that has no pattern to it. It has really intrigued me as to what is special about 7249 such that a great many people would routinely transpose the middle two digits. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 08:30:24 EDT From: egg@inuxy.att.com Subject: Re: Public Phone 2000s Still No Data? Organization: AT&T In article is written: > Chris Turkstra (Turkstra@cs.hope.edu) wrote: >> Maybe just more Public Phone 2000's -- they take a card swipe, don't >> they? I encountered one in Battle Creek, MI whose data functions were >> still disabled. > I had thought I heard that the data mode was enabled again on the PP > 2000s, but I was in Boston last week and the PP 2000 I needed to use > didn't do data. > I called AT&T customer service, and they said that AT&T is still being > forced to disable data per a FCC ruling. > Does anyone know what's up with these things? I find them handy for > checking on the system when I'm away, and I really needed it this time > since our system was having problems. The FCC has not forced AT&T to turn off data services. AT&T has voluntarily turned off all data services pending FCC approval. The services have not yet been restored. I will post to this group as soon as there is any change in status of this situation. Sorry for the inconvenience. Edwin G. Green AT&T Bell Laboratories Indianapolis, Indiana, USA INH 1E-506 317-845-3659 egg@inuxy.att.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 09:02:41 EDT From: mike@nmr-mike.MGH.Harvard.Edu (Mike Vevea) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? Yes, they are from `special' logs. I haven't been involved in timber sales for over 15 years, but in the mid seventies, in central California, pole sales were very desirable. There were a variety of requirements; I don't remember details, but they had to do with minimum size, maximum taper (they want logs which are close to cylendrical, not sharply tapered), size, number and tightness of knots, max and min growth rates, and a few other things. Dealing with the poles was a bit of a hassle, particularly for the truckers (the mill, for `ordinary' logs, was about 25 miles away, but the people who wanted poles were about 150 miles away. Even so, after the loggers figured in the extra handling, extra driving, etc, the stumpage (that's the amount we were paid) was over twice what we got for `ordinary' logs. mikeV ------------------------------ From: kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 27 Apr 1993 13:46:58 GMT Organization: NASA Langley Research Center and Reptile Farm In article Hierophant writes: >> Also, please note that "Clipper" is a trademark for a CPU chip that > Gee, and *I* thought "Clipper" was a database language developed by > Nantucket in 1986. Silly me :) Oh, come on. Everybody knows that "Clipper" is a RISC processor developed by Fairchild. scott ------------------------------ From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 27 Apr 93 14:30:57 GMT Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions I use a Motorola Advisor (not that I can tell by looking at it, Cybertel pasted their logo over the Advisor logo), and I think it's just about the coolest toy I have. It stores about 20 pages, and hasn't choked on long ones, either, so apparently it can handle up to the 230 or so byte limit of IXO. It also has a "personal storage area" where you can store a kilobyte or two worth of pages and they won't age off. The text display is 4 rows by 20 columns, with 5x9 pixel characters in mixed case; it can display any ASCII character from 32 to 126 (and doesn't choke on characters > 126, it just doesn't display them right). Each message is stamped at the end with time and date. The controls are a snap: two function keys and a standard cursor pad (up, down, left, right). The green button is the "read" key and the red button is the "action key." While reading, the left/right buttons take you from page to page and the up/down buttons scroll through them. When you press the "action" key, you get an iconic menu (a GUI on a pager!) at the bottom of the screen, and use the left/right keys to select from it. The functions are change beep, set clock, set alarm time (yes, it also serves as a travel alarm clock), audio vs. vibrate, lock the current page (keeps it from aging off), add the current page to personal storage, and delete the current page. It has six different beep patterns, giving you control over volume, duration, and whether or not it starts of soft and gets louder with each beep. When set to vibrate, it can be also be set to chime once when the page comes in. It's also easy to set one of the two settings to be "no notify"; I normally just press a button when I go to bed to switch it from vibrate to no notify, and check it in the morning. If you press and hold the action button for about a half-second, a flourescent panel behind the display lights up, bright enough to be used as an emergency flashlight. It is a fairly heavy unit, and the vibrate motor is accordingly pretty strong, so the thing goes through batteries like they were going out of style. If you do get a Motorola Advisor, you may want to invest in a battery charger and some AAA rechargables. Also because it's so heavy, the unit is actually in two pieces, a solid plastic belt-clip that stays on your belt and into which the main unit snaps. This plus the weight is a drawback for some users; in particular, my co-worker Shelly one complains that few of her normal work outfits have a heavy enough belt to hold it, so she ends up leaving it behind a lot. Overall, I give it the big Thumbs Up. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Faxmail Service in Manhattan Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 10:16:00 PDT > I want to know if there is a Enhanced Faxmail Mailbox service > available from NYTel/NYNex 212 area code folks. Something similar to > the Faxtra/US West Enhanced Fax offering. The Droid in the NYTel Biz > office didn't even know what enhanced fax services were. AT&T offers a service called Fax Mailbox. For further details, try 800/446-2452. Regards, Lynne ------------------------------ From: Jim.Rees@umich.edu Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Service Date: 27 Apr 1993 19:14:16 GMT Organization: University of Michigan CITI In article , Tom Holodnik writes: > I've heard several references made to cellular digital service, where > data is carried over the cellular spectrum. Can any one provide me > with more details? There are two competing digital cellular systems in the US, TDMA and CDMA. As far as I know, TDMA makes no provision for data. CDMA is the Qualcomm system and does provide for data, at rates up to about 10 Kbps. It's spread spectrum and operates in 1.25 MHz slices of the current analog cellular spectrum. There is a pilot system in San Diego but no commercial providers yet. I think most cellular operators see digital as a way of cramming more voice users onto the system rather than a way of going after data users, so you're not likely to see data cellular in widespread use any time soon except maybe in the saturated markets like LA, NYC, and Chicago. There is also something called Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), or Celluplan II. It's a data overlay for existing analog FM systems. It sends packet data on idle channels using slow frequency hopping. Supports tcp and osi protocols. It's seen as mostly a stopgap until full digital cellular (CDMA or TDMA) is available. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 09:18:08 +0100 From: J.Harrison@bra0401.wins.icl.co.uk Subject: Talk Ticket Privacy Problem? Nobody can trace back who bought which ticket, but can any individual call be tracked to any particular ticket? Suppose you use a ticket to call home 17 times, then use it to make a call you really want to be anonymous. If somebody were to look at the list of calls made by that ticket it would be fairly clear who you might be. The practical benefits sound like they surely outweigh any small chance of un-anonymity though. Joe Harrison Phone: +44-344-480013 | ICL Ltd. Bracknell S=Harrison/I=J/O=icl/P=icl/A=gold 400/C=GB | Berkshire RG12 1BD J.Harrison@bra0401.wins.icl.co.uk | United Kingdom [Moderator's Note: So use one ticket exclusively for calling one number and another ticket exclusively for calling another number if you do not want called numbers associated with each other. Although the Talk Ticket program *can* be used for anonymous calling without coins as you go along, it is mainly intended for people who want the convenience of calling that way instead of with a regular calling card. As long as an envelope arrives here addressed to *some name somewhere*, I'll send out the tickets without regard to who it is. PAT] ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Grand Canyon Phone Service Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 8:04:46 PDT Who provides phone service at the Grand Canyon. I note that all service for hotel properties listed in the AAA book is from the 602-638 exchange. This is true for both North and South Rim. Does anybody know: Is this an old step office? Is there something interesting to see, telecom-wise? Edward W. Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0511 | edg@netcom.com 1600 Stokes St. #24 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357 San Jose, CA 95126 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ From: johnper@bunsen.rosemount.com (John Perkins) Subject: DTMF Universality? Organization: Rosemount, Inc. Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 17:12:47 GMT Does anyone know if the rest of the world generally uses the same DTMF frequencies (and button assignments) as are used in the US? (I'm particularly interested in the UK.) DTMF Frequencies: 1: 697+1209 2: 697+1336 3: 697+1477 4: 770+1209 5: 770+1336 6: 770+1477 7: 852+1209 8: 852+1336 9: 852+1477 *: 941+1209 0: 941+1336 #: 941+1477 John Perkins ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 14:59:32 EDT From: hu@geophy.physics.utoronto.ca Subject: Re: Wireless City Days ago I read in {Globe and Mail} (a Canadian newspaper) a story which mentioned a company in Montreal. SR Telecom makes point-to- multipoint microwave products for telephone system in remote areas. I am wondering if there are any similarities between the SR system and the InterDigital system mentioned here? MIN ------------------------------ Subject: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? From: longo@kodiak.sfpp.com (Bob Longo) Date: 27 Apr 93 10:53:48 PST Organization: Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines With all of the concern recently about cellular telephones causing cancer, I'm curious about an ad I saw yesterday. It seems that there is a handheld cellular phone available that boasts 1.2 watts. The picture of this Blaupunkt model TC-132 shows that it is a true handheld -- antenna next to your head and all. The ad says: "With twice the power of any other portable cellular telephone available, the TC-132 gets through when others fail". Anyone have any information on this phone and how they got around the "rules" (whatever they are) on maximum wattage for handhelds? Bob Longo (longo@sfpp.com) Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines Los Angeles, CA ------------------------------ From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian) Subject: Needs For Telecom ... The "Smart Toilet" Story Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 08:04:18 -0700 (PDT) [Moderator's Note: Mark forwarded this to the list. PAT] Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 21:11:18 -0700 (MST) From: STAPLETON@bpa.arizona.edu (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton) The comment about AARP constituency reminded me ... at NCF'92 in Chicago in October, one of the speakers talked about Japan, and the idea of "smart toilets." What's a "smart toilet?" I hear you ask. A toilet that networks, of course. But why would you network a toilet, and who in his/her right mind would buy one? The apparent answers: to economize on health care, and geriatric Japanese. According to the speaker, there is a growing market for "smart toilets" containing embedded sensors, which allow them to perform tests on what it is that they process (and, of course, there's always "traffic analysis" :-) The networking of these sensors allows them to communicate their analysis to the local clinic -- for the price of a tiny slice of telephone bandwidth (plus the commodus intelligentus itself), elderly Japanese can cut down on the number of clinic visits required, with those clinics automatically compiling health data ... net gain is in more efficient health care, at resulting lower cost. It's this sort of thinking that is letting the Japanese eat our lunch (and subsequently deposit it in smarter toilets, post processing), and it's this sort of innovation that's needed to deal with problems such as health care cost. And there's no telling which constituencies may find real needs for high-performance telecom ... Ross Disclaimer: "The opinions expressed above are mine and mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Arizona or the US Government, nor any other organization with which I am affiliated." Ross Alan Stapleton ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #287 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07794; 28 Apr 93 6:10 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25520 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 03:15:58 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31126 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 03:15:05 -0500 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 03:15:05 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304280815.AA31126@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #288 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Apr 93 03:15:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 288 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A Star is Born (Jack Dominey) V.35 Null Modem / Modem Eliminator (Lenny Jacobs) AT&T Area Code Handbook (Shawn Nunley) Any Good Cabling Reference? (Wong Chee Heng) Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople (Nigel Allen) Satellite Services and Regulations (Ing. Hugo E. Garcia Torres) Re: Digital Cellular Service (Ron Dippold) Re: Miscellaneous ATM's (Lynne Gregg) Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? (Steven H. Lichter) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Brian T. Vita) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (David Singer) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Stephen Fleming) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Dave Levenson) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jdominey@nesca.attmail.com Date: 27 Apr 93 21:44:48 GMT Subject: A Star is Born Regular Digest contributor J. Brad Hicks is prominently featured in the April 19 edition of {InfoWorld} magazine. The article, in the Enterprise Computing section, is a case study of the telecommunica- tions challenge that Hicks and a SWAT team at MasterCard International faced. Their job was to provide "transparent access to E-mail, host systems, and remote file servers via MasterCard's global network," as the article says. I thought the piece was well written, seemed to highlight the important issues and concerns pretty well, and mentions a fair number of products for anyone interested in the topic. And as a bonus, you get a 3"x2" photo of J. Brad's smiling face. (BTW, nice hat.) P.S. I didn't send a copy of this message directly to Mr. Hicks because I'm not smart enough to figure out his address from AT&T Mail. Jack Dominey AT&T Network Planning, Atlanta GA (404) 810-6936 AT&T Mail !dominey or try dominey@attmail.com ------------------------------ From: ljacobs@Panix.Com (Lenny Jacobs) Subject: V.35 Null Modem / Modem Eliminator Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 19:49:20 GMT We are trying to connect two V.35 DTE devices located about 15 feet from each other in the same room. Specifically these are an AT&T Datakit VCS equipped with a SAMSL card and an AT&T SAM 64 equipped with a SAMSL card. The SAMSL's were designed to connect to a 56 kbps data circuit via a DSU. We believe that we can do this without using a modem eliminator (about $500 from Black Box) by using some sort of null modem cable. Both devices have "Winchester" type connectors (a male at the Datakit and a female at the SAM 64). We tried to construct such a cable from a diagram in the Black Box catalog as shown below: B------B C------F F------C D------H E------H H------D H------E R------P P------R T------S S------T U------V V------U X------W W------X We departed from the Black Box diagram by adding the D to H connections in order to satisfy CTS. We can't seem to establish a connection. We would appreciate it if someone could supply us with the proper wiring diagram. (I think that we're pretty close with this one) <-> lenny <-> ljacobs@panix.com <-> ka2eyw@n2mdq.ampr.org <-> ------------------------------ From: shawnn@Novell.COM (Shawn Nunley) Subject: AT&T Area Code Handbook Organization: Novell, Inc. Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 22:51:03 GMT With all the discussions about area codes that go on here, I thought this handbook would be of interest. It is published by AT&T, and I beleive you can get it for free from: AT&T's Customer Information Center Indianapolis, IN 46219 1-800-432-6600 My copy is Issue 15, for 1993. Contents: Index to States, Provinces, International Countries, and Other Locations Alphabetical Listing of Area Codes for the United States, Canadian Provinces, and Other Locations Map of the United States with Area Codes Area Codes for States, Provinces, and Other Locations Numerical Listing of Area Codes for the United States, Canadian Provinces, and Other Locations *** New Area Code Changes, Present and Future Dialing the U.S. from an International Country and International Access Codes Alphabetical Listing of International Country and City Codes Numerical Listing of International Country and City Codes For the curious, the area code changes coming up that were listed were: OLD NEW Effective Permissive Dialing NPA NPA State Date Date End 714/909 California 11-14-92 11-14-92 8-14-93 416/905 Ontario 10-02-93 10-02-93 3-26-94 919/910 North Carolina 11-14-93 11-14-93 2-13-94 313/810 Michigan 12-01-93 N/A N/A 215/610 Pennsylvania 1-94 N/A N/A Also, there is a note about the 917 NPA for New York: *917 is not an NPA Split - It is only for new growth. At this time there is no plan to move an existing customer of 917. Only new Cellular and Pager customers will be given 917 telephone numbers. As of 12/01/92, some new residence and business customers have been issued the 917 exchange. So, there you have it. Shawn Internet: Shawn_Nunley@novell.com UUCP: {ames,sun,apple,mtxinu,cae780,sco} !novell!shawn Shawn Nunley Tel: (408) 473-8630 [Moderator's Note: Your article is good, but there is one correction. The Area Code Handbook is not free; the price was $2 a couple years ago and it may be $3 now (haven't called to inquire in awhile). When you call, ask for Select Code 999-600-111. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ccewch@nusunix1.nus.sg (Wong Chee Heng) Subject: Any Good Cabling Reference? Organization: National University of Singapore Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 03:27:37 GMT Is there a good reference guide book/reference on campus network wiring covering voice, data, video using UTP, fiber, coax, etc? How does the latest Telecom and network technology like ATM, ISDN , FDDI, affect the cable choice and the network equipment? Any input is welcomed. ccewch@nusunix.nus.sg. Systems Programmer NUS ------------------------------ From: Nigel Allen Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400 Subject: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto People in the U.S. have described how long distance companies use telemarketers and direct mail to get consumers to sign up for long distance service, but a Canadian long distance reseller, Smart Talk Network, is using an additional sales technique: door-to-door salespeople. The one at my front door was wearing a jacket with the Smart Talk Network logo on it. Apparently the company is using both students and full-time employees for its door-to-door program. Has anyone in the U.S. encountered a representative of a long- distance company at their front door? Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada nigel.allen@canrem.com Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario 416-629-7000/629-7044 ------------------------------ From: hgarcia@mexnet.mty.itesm.mx (Ing. Hugo E. Garcia Torres) Subject: Satellite Services and Regulations Date: 28 Apr 1993 00:31:33 GMT Organization: ITESM, Campus Monterrey I am looking for information regarding a catalog or a list of the service providers of satellite broadcast video transmission. I am looking for a satellite service provider with coverage over Canada, Mexico (northern part) and the USA. I know that many small companies offer the uplink service. What is the procedure to ask for satellite service? Do companies like GE or Hughes offer this kind of service? Who operates the satellites? How are they maintained? What if someone in Mexico want to use the service of an American or Canadian satellite? Is this possible? What are the regulations? What if someone in the southern US received and repeated a signal from the Mexican satellites? Is this legal? Any help would be appreciated, Hugo Garcia ITESM Campus Monterrey, Mexico ------------------------------ From: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Service Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 19:02:16 GMT Tom Holodnik writes: > I've heard several references made to cellular digital service, where > data is carried over the cellular spectrum. Can any one provide me > with more details? > - what companies provide this? > - is it ubiquitous? > - what market projections are they making? > - does this include "follow me roaming?" > Is anything like this approaching standard form? There are two competing standards for digital in North America, CDMA and TDMA. TDMA has been an official standard for a long time, but CDMA just passed balloting by the TIA (Telecom Industry Association). Outside North America, there's GSM and CDMA. The driving force behind TDMA is industry biggies such as Ericsson and Hughes Network Systems. The driving force behind CDMA is QUALCOMM, Inc. (I'm an engineer on the CDMA project). However, a driving force is not sufficient, you need manufacturers to build equipment and carriers to offer the service. Both CDMA and TDMA have plenty of carriers and manufacturers lined up behind them, so there's no problem in either case. It's not ubiquitous yet (although the planning is ubiquitous). It should be eventually, because both systems allow the old analog phones to work, as well as the new digital phones, and the advantages of the digital phones are many. CDMA phones use 10-1000 times less power, sound far better than analog phones in marginal coverage situations (they should both sound good where the signals are strong), and offer 10-20 times more capacity for the carrier. This is a big issue in areas that are approaching saturation (or have already reached it) like LA, New York, Chicago. Every mobile that can't make a phone call is lost revenue to the company. In addition, the data capabilities of CDMA phones have carriers drooling, since this is potentially a big, big revenue area. TDMA and CDMA are incompatible. TDMA phones should work as regular analog phones in CDMA systems but they won't get the "advantages" of TDMA, and CDMA phones just act as regular analog phones under TDMA. This is just what the industry wanted to avoid. As a little history, TDMA was accepted as an industry standard long ago (two years?), but the advantages of CDMA over TDMA are so great (obviously I'm biased, but this isn't just our opinion, and if I thought TDMA was superior I'd be working on that instead) that we've come out of literally nowhere in that time to a position of precedence. TDMA has had the advantage of being the official standard, but we've got the momentum. Market projections I can't give you, although initially I expect that the digital phones will go to people who make lots and lots of calls. Because the phones are going to be slightly more expensive till they reach equivalent quantities. I will note, however, that almost every projection of analog phone growth has been too conservative. Follow me roaming is a registration thing, I believe it's IS-41 or something like that. CDMA phones should do the appropriate thing, it's a matter of whether the individual phone company supports the database stuff that has to be done for Follow me. Now, if you just want to send data over the existing system, you can buy a modem that can handle the extra stresses put on it by cellular (such as a CellBlazer) and do that right now. The speeds aren't phenomenal, but it usually works. ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Miscellaneous ATM's Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 11:28:00 PDT No, no ... not automatic teller machines. Though most of us STILL think of ATM's as cash dispensers, THIS one requires you to put the cash IN. The state of ATM is similar to that of FDDI in 89-91. Few companies have boldly ventured into ATM deployment, though Bear Stearns has been singing the praises of ATM for the last year or so (again in last week's {Information Week}). Although BS's managing director finds FDDI 'too constricting', that's exactly what most firms are choosing for high speed data transports (backbone). The price of FDDI has come down to the point that it's realistic to choose FDDI as your backbone. ATM is still in that early phase where you'll be on the bleeding edge and you'll pay extra for that privilege. Sooner or later, as an Ethernet grows, it runs out of gas. Lashing Enets together on an FDDI backbone is the way to go. There are also some companies that build channel interfaces allowing you to take Enet direct to a host channel (avoiding a FEP bottleneck). So what's the big deal with ATM? The promise to support data, voice, vid, and graphics -- all at high speeds. FDDI is data transport only. Who's doing ATM? Adaptive was an early developer and I suppose is considered the leader. Fore Systems also makes an ATM switch. ADAPTIVE (division of N.E.T.) 200 Penobscot Drive Redwood City CA 94063 415-366-9500 Regards, Lynne ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? Date: 27 Apr 1993 20:49:07 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) I believe the ad maybe a little missleading. Having looked at that phone before I bought by OKI I was told that you would get the added power when used as a hands free phone in a car power supply. I do the samething with my OKI with the extra add ons. ------------------------------ From: paul@unhtel.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services, Durham, NH Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 22:33:36 GMT In article edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) writes: > Who provides phone service at the Grand Canyon. I note that all > service for hotel properties listed in the AAA book is from the > 602-638 exchange. This is true for both North and South Rim. > Does anybody know: Is this an old step office? Is there something > interesting to see, telecom-wise? I was there about a month ago, but the last thing I was looking at was the telephones ... :-) I did use a pay phone on the South Rim, and it was US West. The label said that LD service was AT&T, but I got some other name when I dialed, so I hung up and 10288. I would be glad to go back and do some research, though, if there is grant money ... :-) :-) Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS paul@unhtel.unh.edu Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road - FAX: +1 603 862 2030 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ Date: 27 Apr 93 23:07:44 EDT From: Brian T. Vita <70702.2233@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions I've been carrying a Motorola Advisor pager with vibe option for about two years now and I'm quite happy with it. I've also have a Motorola PMR2000 for coverage in Vt. By comparison the PMR2000 is a pig as it is much larger and uses either an expensive mercury battery or a nicad with an incredibly short life. Most of the questions that you asked are specific to your "airtime" provider. Here are some answers that seem to be consistant from carrier to carrier: 1. Most pagers are dispatched having your software dial a local or "800" access number, sending out the data string, acknowledging and hanging up. 2. In a pinch you can use any standard communications program by using the steps below: a. Dial the terminal b. At the prompt "Id =" type an upper case "M" c. At the prompt "Pager Id = " enter the pager id as directed by your paging carrier d. At "Enter Alphanumeric message" type away There are slight variations on this from company to company. 3. Most paging companies assign a regular (3A type) telephone number to the pager so that it can be dispatched as a numeric pager from any DTMF telephone. In many cases this phone number is also used as the pager id for the alpha dispatch. A typical script for your modem would be as follows: Dial 1-800-XXX-XXXX WAIT RETURN PROMPT "ID=" TYPE "M" RETURN PROMPT "PAGER ID" TYPE XXX-XXXX PROMPT "ENTER ALPHA...." Be forewarned that most paging company customer service reps know as much about their product as my butt knows about piccolo playing. They will promise you all kinds of service and coverage. Make sure that you see their rates in writing and check out their printed coverage maps. Hope that this helps. Brian T. Vita CSS Inc. CI$ 70702,2233 ------------------------------ From: (David Singer) Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Reply-To: (David Singer) Organization: IBM Almaden Research Center Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 21:23:04 -0800 I also have a Motorola Advisor pager (with a PageNet logo); in general, I agree with Brad Hicks' comments, but I have one warning -- there seems to be no way to disable the "low cell" warning on the pager. So, if you keep your pager on your bedside table, and one night at 2am the voltage gets a little low, be prepared to be awakened by very loud, very annoying beeping. I now turn my pager off at night because of this. (By the way, PageNet provides both alphameric and numeric paging numbers for the pager -- both work fine. I don't know if this is an extra-cost service or normal operation for paging companies.) David Singer -- Internet: singer@almaden.ibm.com BITNET: SINGER at ALMADEN Voice: (408) 927-2509 Fax: (408) 927-4073 ------------------------------ From: fleming@cup.portal.com Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 18:57:16 PDT A couple of details. The Motorola unit has nicer controls than the NEC. Also, the NEC unit is 2400 bps, while the Moto is 1200 bps. Imperceptible difference in U.S. operation, but the NEC units do not work in Canada! (I had to swap mine out ...) Stephen Fleming fleming@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 21:51:40 GMT In article , andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy Behrens) writes: > Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort > of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. Pat adds (in part): > ... The float seldom will buy you more than a day or two now; it > used to be I could go to the store on Tuesday and write a check for > which funds would be deposited Friday and get by with it; Pat is correct here; the banks are transferring debit and credit information electronically (plug: some of them even use Westmark systems to accomplish this!) and very fast. But before we get too upset over it, let's remember that it works both ways. Pat, next time you deposit a check you have received from someone else, watch how fast you get credited! Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #288 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02125; 28 Apr 93 18:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14777 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 15:53:47 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16666 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 15:53:08 -0500 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 15:53:08 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304282053.AA16666@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #289 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Apr 93 15:53:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 289 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: A Star is Born (Justin Leavens) Re: Cellular Phone Compatibility (Mark Rudholm) Re: Talk Ticket Privacy Problem (Tony Harminc) Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards (John G. Myers) Re: Interesting Phone Call (Jeff Sicherman) Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? (Ron Dippold) Re: Misdialled Numbers (Dave Niebuhr) Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook (Carl Moore) Re: DTMF Universality (Tony Piper) Re: Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing (Joe Markovic) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (John R. Gersh) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (Marc Wiz) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (Don Wegeng) Vocoders and Transmitters Mailing List (Marcus J. Ranum) Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision (Joe Markovic) Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways (Sarat Vemuri) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: leavens@bmf.usc.edu (Justin Leavens) Subject: Re: A Star is Born Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 08:00:00 PDT In article jdominey@nesca.attmail.com writes: > Regular Digest contributor J. Brad Hicks is prominently featured in > the April 19 edition of {InfoWorld} magazine. The article, in the > Enterprise Computing section, is a case study of the telecommunica- > tions challenge that Hicks and a SWAT team at MasterCard International > faced. Their job was to provide "transparent access to E-mail, host > systems, and remote file servers via MasterCard's global network," as > the article says. > And as a bonus, you get a 3"x2" photo of J. Brad's smiling face. (BTW, > nice hat.) Oh, now see, this isn't his first brush with the public. His smiling face was projected on a big screen at a Shiva Corp. Remote Networking Seminar I attended some months ago. In glorious QuickTime video, he described the remote computing needs of Mastercard to us all. In fact, I think he garnered the only laugh of the morning ... > P.S. I didn't send a copy of this message directly to Mr. Hicks > because I'm not smart enough to figure out his address from AT&T Mail. I sent one at the time, but have no idea if he got it.... :~) Justin Leavens : Microcomputer Specialist : University of Southern California leavens@bmf.usc.edu My opinion is that my opinions are my opinions. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 17:43:32 PDT From: rudholm@aimla.com (Mark Rudholm) Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Compatibility In TELECOM Digest V13, #282, Message 9 of 12, yjj@ctr.columbia.edu (Yuan Jiang) writes: > I want to buy a cellular phone in the US or Europe, which can be used > in Hong Kong. A cellular phone in Hong Kong costs twice as much as in > the US. But a regular cellular phone from the US market does not work > in Hong Kong. Here are my questions. > 1) Are there any venders who sell cellular phones that is compatible > with those in Hong Kong? > 2) Are cellular phones in Europe compatible with those in Hong Kong? > Is it just the frequency difference between phones in the US and HK? > 3) Can I modify a cellular phone bought in the US to be used in Hong > Kong? Hong Kong is the only city in the world (that I know of) that has an AMPS (the US system) and a TACS (most of the non-AMPS world) cellular system. The AMPS system is run by Hutchison Telecom. Any AMPS cellphone that works in the US will work on Hutchison's AMPS system in HK. They allow credit-card roaming to Americans who bring their phones with them to HK while visiting. Get in touch with them, I'm sure they can help: Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd 27th Floor, Great Eagle Centre 23 Harbour Road Wanchai Hong Kong +852 828 3222 Mark D. Rudholm Philips Interactive Media rudholm@aimla.com 11050 Santa Monica Boulevard +1 213 930 1449 Los Angeles, CA 90025 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 23:07:58 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Talk Ticket Privacy Problem J.Harrison@bra0401.wins.icl.co.uk wrote: > Suppose you use a ticket to call home 17 times, then use it to make a > call you really want to be anonymous. If somebody were to look at the > list of calls made by that ticket it would be fairly clear who you > might be. It's been pointed out that the German and French stored value cards (the kind that are read by the phone) do have serial numbers and they do pass it to the switch during call setup. I doubt that the British (BT) ones are smart enough to do it though. > [Moderator's Note: So use one ticket exclusively for calling one > number and another ticket exclusively for calling another number if > you do not want called numbers associated with each other. Although > the Talk Ticket program *can* be used for anonymous calling without > coins as you go along, it is mainly intended for people who want the > convenience of calling that way instead of with a regular calling > card. As long as an envelope arrives here addressed to *some name > somewhere*, I'll send out the tickets without regard to who it is. PAT] So how long before these cards are outlawed because they might allow the evil Drug Dealers to make anonymous calls from payphones? Tony Harminc [Moderator's Note: The next article today raises similar questions, so I will respond after that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Gardiner Myers Subject: Re: Talk Tickets - New Debit Cards From AT&T/US Fibercom Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 12:15:24 -0400 Organization: Systems Group 97, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Any guesses as to how long it will be before people figure out how to prevent TeleTicket use from public phones in high drug traffic areas? [Moderator's Note: I think we are a few years away from that scenario. Look how long it took people (relative to when pagers and cell phones came into common use) to decide pagers (and the touch tone pad) on pay phones could be used for the purpose of putting in calls to drug dealers. The Talk Tickets *can* be used for a degree of relative anomynity in calling from pay phones, but their main purpose is to provide convenience in calling long distance without having to have a pocket full of coins; wait for approval of third number charges; or carry a calling card you may use only once every two years when you visit the USA, etc. As one reader pointed out, you could examine the usage patterns on an expired ticket and finding all or mostly all calls to one number make some reasonable assumptions about the purchaser of the card, but assumptions are not evidence or proof. Likewise, if you examined the coin-paid traffic from a payphone and found it mostly going to one number, you could make some assumptions about the person(s) using the payphone for whatever good it would do legally. My plan with the Talk Tickets is to stick them in an envelope however the envelope is addressed and put them in the mail. If the purchaser is going by a false name they don't have to necessarily tell me. I've developed another technique where tickets can be sent out in the mail anonymously to anyone **without it costing them anything except the cost of the tickets**, without me knowing who they are at all. I will elaborate on this later today. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 01:25:50 -0700 From: Jeff Sicherman Subject: Re: Interesting Phone Call Organization: Cal State Long Beach In article xevious@zen.holonet.net (Jim Surine) writes: > The phone went to dial tone a short time after that. Either the > government is wiretapping my phone and doing a real poor job of it or > there are just doing a bad job. I have know idea where SETI fits in > with this but I was not expecting it when I heard that. He definitely > said SETI. Anyone have any idea what is going on? I suppose if you > actual do you can't tell me, then I'll take guesses instead. SETI : Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence OK, come clean, what planet are you *really* from ? Jeff Sicherman ------------------------------ From: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold) Subject: Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 10:25:21 GMT longo@kodiak.sfpp.com (Bob Longo) writes: > handheld -- antenna next to your head and all. The ad says: "With > twice the power of any other portable cellular telephone available, > the TC-132 gets through when others fail". > Anyone have any information on this phone and how they got around the > "rules" (whatever they are) on maximum wattage for handhelds? Okay, the normal limit is 0.6 watts for a portable phone ... but you can get around that by having it in a car kit, at which time it becomes a mobile. Thus, if it's plugged in (and thus hands free), you can boost the power. Generally it's upped to 1.2 watts. If this is what they're doing, this is really "questionable" advertising, as this is hardly unique. If not, I don't know what they're doing ... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 07:17:40 EDT From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Misdialled Numbers I have a misdialled problem with my phone ((516)-281-XXYZ where the intended party has XYYZ and I get these about once a month or so, often repeatedly by the same person. The best sequnce would be combinations of 1-3-5-7-9 and 2-4-6-8 with zeroes thrown in for good measure. Dave Niebuhr Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, LI, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 Senior Technical Specialist: Scientific Computer Facility ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 8:27:19 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook Comparing the following excerpts with what is now in history.of.area.splits: OLD NEW Effective Permissive Dialing NPA NPA State Date Date End 416/905 Ontario 10-02-93 10-02-93 3-26-94 313/810 Michigan 12-01-93 N/A N/A 215/610 Pennsylvania 1-94 N/A N/A I have 416/905 as 4 Oct. 1993, with full cutover 10 Jan. 1994; I have seen a Bell leaflet with the 4 Oct. date. I have 313/810 as 10 Aug. 1994, 8 months after what is listed above. (No full cutover available yet.) I only have "1994" listed for 215/610 effective date. ------------------------------ From: tpiper@pinnacle.demon.co.uk (Tony Piper) Subject: Re: DTMF Universality? Organization: Pinnacle Insurance Company Limited Reply-To: tpiper@pinnacle.demon.co.uk Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 09:56:42 +0000 In article johnper@bunsen.rosemount. com writes: > Does anyone know if the rest of the world generally uses the same DTMF > frequencies (and button assignments) as are used in the US? (I'm > particularly interested in the UK.) Well, I'm not sure of the actual frequencies, but my Panasonic phone I bought in the USA last year works absolutely fine (American model). Hope this helps. Cheers Tony Piper Internet: tpiper@pinnacle.demon.co.uk * Voice: 081 953 4433 CIX : tpiper@cix.compulink.co.uk * Fax : 081 381 6718 pinnacle.demon.co.uk is not associated with any other sites in the demon domain. All opinions are my own, not my boss's ------------------------------ From: Joe Markovic Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400 Subject: Bell Canada Phases Out Rotary (Pulse) Dialing In article , amdunn@mongrel.UUCP (Andrew M. Dunn) writes: > Well, it had to happen! After years of people complaining about being > charged more for TouchTone (which actually costs less to provide), > Bell Canada has solved the problem. They've phased out rotary > service. That's only part of the story. Bell may have initiated the filing to phase out rotary service, but the CRTC decided to approve it. ciao, Joe RoseReader 2.00a P003447 Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario 416-629-7000/629-7044 ------------------------------ From: gersh@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (John R. Gersh) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 12:56:47 GMT In article , gleick@Panix.Com (James Gleick) writes: > 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire > or crosspiece? This is something of a guess, but it seems fairly obvious: So that linefolks can work on the wires! Think of how a repair person works on a pole: spikes on the boots anchor the feet, and a strap attached to the belt goes around the pole, leaving both hands free to do the work. If the crosspiece, and therefore the wires, were at the top of the pole, where would the strap go? You want to have the wires at waist level, or not much higher, so that the work can be done without having to keep your arms elevated, and enough pole above that level to let you climb up that high and anchor your strap safely _above the crosspiece._ John Gersh John_Gersh@jhuapl.edu The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 (301) 953-5503 ------------------------------ From: mwiz@austin.ibm.com (Marc Wiz) Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 08:35:47 -0600 (CDT) I don't remember who provides phone service at the Grand Canyon but I have hiked the canyon all the way to the bottom three times. The last time I did this was in '83 and I was downright shocked that there was a payphone at Phantom Ranch which is at the bottom of the canyon. I love high-tech and the ability to stay in touch but I think this is going a bit too far. Marc mwiz@austin.ibm.com (512) 823-9330 Yes, that really is my last name. I type only for myself. ------------------------------ From: wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com (Don Wegeng) Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service Reply-To: wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com Organization: Xerox Corp., Henrietta, NY Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 15:24:40 GMT > Who provides phone service at the Grand Canyon? I note that all > service for hotel properties listed in the AAA book is from the > 602-638 exchange. This is true for both North and South Rim. > Does anybody know: Is this an old step office? Is there something > interesting to see, telecom-wise? I am not certain of this, but I believe that telephone service to the north rim is provided via a feed from the south rim, using a buried cable that runs along the Bright Angel Trail and the North Kaibab Trail (spelling?). The south rim water supply is fed from the north rim along the same route (except in the opposite direction). They both cross the Colorado River on a suspension bridge near Phantom Ranch, which is a hotel at the bottom of the canyon (accessible only by foot or mule train). As I recall there is a payphone at Phantom Ranch, though I didn't use it when I was there two years ago. Don Wegeng ------------------------------ From: mjr@TIS.COM (Marcus J Ranum) Subject: Vocoders and Transmitters Mailing List Date: 28 Apr 1993 15:49:56 GMT Organization: Trusted Information Systems, Inc. A bunch of us have started up a mailing list devoted to the discussion of an implementation of inexpensive vocoders and transmitters for Internet or modem use. Objectives of the list are to get together people who are working on digital speech transmission hardware and software, so that effort isn't wasted. NIST's announcement of Clipper has spurred an upsurge of interest in this area of study. The mailing list is NOT intended as a place for the discussion of the Clipper, or related politics. While the type of hardware and software we're discussing is applicable to building encrypting speech transmission equipment, we're not specifically implementing privacy devices. The goal of the list is to identify one or more (and build one if we have to) inexpensive means of digitally transmitting voice with assist from some form of general purpose computer (laptop, desktop, whatever) for use in internet talk radio, applications for the handicapped, internet relay chat, and possibly privacy enhanced network telephony. This is not a project for profit. If you're working in this area, or are interested in writing software or building hardware, contact netphone-request@moink.nmsu.edu. mjr ------------------------------ From: Joe Markovic Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 20:00:00 -0400 Subject: Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision > For an upcoming demo, I need to find a coupling device to which I can > feed audio that will answer when the line "rings", supply the audio > over the line, the hang up when the far end does. Who might make such > a device? That sounds suspiciously like an answering machine. ciao, Joe RoseReader 2.00a P003447 Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario 416-629-7000/629-7044 ------------------------------ From: root@krishna.info-gw.mese.com Subject: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 22:26:22 +0000 (GMT) Hello all, My friend is doing a study on the telecom industry's role (or what is going to be its role) in implementing Gore's information super highway plan, as a part of his class project. He wants to start a discussion about this issue in this group. He just needs different opinions about the following issues. 1. What role should the telecom industry play in implementing or designing the information super highways? 2. What advantages does the telecom industry have over other industries competing (like CATV etc)? Technical? Equipment? Expertise? 3. What are the pros/cons of the telecom industry playing a major role in building and operating them? 4. What, as subscribers, will we gain/lose by the telecom industry being the major player? Any input you can provide is appreciated. I can forward any E-mail replies to him. He reads this newsgroup but can not post or send E-mail. Thanks in advance. Sarat Vemuri root@krishna.info-gw.mese.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #289 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa04192; 28 Apr 93 19:28 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32237 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:45:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19407 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:45:00 -0500 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:45:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304282145.AA19407@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #290 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Apr 93 16:45:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 290 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: A Star is Born (Brad Hicks) Re: GTE NW Caller ID Offering in Seattle Area (John R. Levine) Re: Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI (Greg Andrews) Re: Satellite Services and Regulations (Bruce Taylor) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Jeff Hall) Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) (Kenneth Herron) Re: V.35 Null Modem / Modem Eliminator (Andrew Robson) Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? (Chris Turkstra) Re: Satellite Services and Regulations (Mark Chartrand) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Rob Levandowski) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 28 Apr 93 18:26:08 GMT Subject: Re: A Star is Born Thanks for the mention. It's an excellent photo; the photographers worked hard on it and did a great job. If you'd like to mark up a copy, here are the errors and other points that need clarification: Paragraph 4: LanRover/L's are not interface cards, they're stand-alone units about the size of the average modem. Paragraph 5: MasterCard doesn't "control more than one-third of all electronic credit card authorizations around the globe." We do, on the other hand, carry about that many as traffic on our network. The member banks authorize about 99% of the transactions, using MasterCard BankNet X.25 to route the signals between each other. Paragraph 7: Nonsense. I wasn't even vaguely nervous, I do stuff like this all the time. Besides, MasterCard isn't at all a vicious environment; no matter what I'd suggested, as long as I did my best, I wouldn't be punished. So why would I be nervouse? The editor put words in my mouth to make the story more dramatic. Paragraph 9: BankNet's reliability is 99.9999%, not merely 99.99%. Given our transaction volume, the difference is significant. Pargaraph 12: We don't have 500 programmers working on Project Omni. We only have about 500 programmers =period=. Paragraph 13: Misleading. Macintoshes don't connect to the Netway terminal server over leased lines, they connect via AppleTalk over PhoneNET. The only leased lines involved are the wide area network links between buildings. Paragraph 14: No, we had DS1 lines most of the way, all we would have needed was a T-1 connection from Southern Bell, probably from the Miami office (Latin America headquarters). I doubt it would have taken 60 to 90 days, even if we had needed a long-haul DS1; AT&T gives us much better service than that on circuits. (AT&T Mail is another issue.) I never said anything about circuit cost or delay getting circuits installed; this is 100% invention on {InfoWorld}'s part. Paragraphs 16-17: The editor cut a paragraph from the reporter's story that makes this whole section make sense. The last time I had to connect a temporary office, we used a pair of Shiva NetModem V.32's. The other building was local (in fact, just down the street). The problem I had was, the &!@#! NetModem V.32 won't redial after a dropped connection, and the bloody SWBT line wouldn't stay up for more than about a day at a time. I ultimately wrote a hack using XCMDs in SuperCard to detect when the remote office's zone disappeared from the Chooser, then kick off a QuicKeys macro that would bring up the Shiva Config control panel and redial. That raised my reliability from about 70% (not 80%) to around 90%. Paragraph 19: You don't install LanRover/L's "in" a PBX. We have a bank of four (was three at the time of the story). Only the first one has an inbound dial number; the rest are forwarded when busy. And that's the only thing our PBX has to do with the subject. Also in paragraph 19: I should clarify that $325 is =our= price on the Supra FaxModem V.32bis Mac Bundle, from Software Plus in St. Louis. List price is considerably higher; Steve Wiggins at Software Plus takes mucho good care of us; everyone in the St. Louis area knows that Software Plus is the people you want to deal with. (They did get this right: I think the Supra is the coolest modem I know. =Love= that front-panel display.) Last paragraph: Another invented quote. Now that the Orlando office is closed and the people who were working there are back in St. Louis, all we're going to use those LanRover/L's for is evening support of critical applications. I'm working on Security to approve another general category, namely people on sick, family, or maternity leave. Sidebar: A few dropped paragraphs make this a little bit misleading. The AppleTalk LAN doesn't go anywhere near BankNet, so even if somebody =does= hack past our dial-back security and get AppleTalk access, they can't threaten the world's credit card system. But we're a big, famous target, so it's worth the effort to make it harder for people to try. Why did I go to the trouble of writing this all up for you folks on TELECOM Digest? So you'd see that even with Ms. LaPlante submitting her second to last draft to me for corrections, once it passes through an editor, there's no guarantee of any accuracy; in this case, there were an even dozen errors or misrepresentations. You should probably assume that ALL articles in {InfoWorld}, or any other trade magazine, are about this accurate. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ Subject: Re: GTE NW Caller ID Offering in Seattle Area Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 28 Apr 93 11:53:47 EDT (Wed) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > ... The person I finally got [at GTE] said that *67 would NOT > allow per line blocked customers to SEND their number on demand. I > THINK this means that most of the special features listed below will > make it difficult for per line blocked customers to call users who > have many of the special features listed below. ... Not at all. A CLID blocked line still sends the calling number, but adds a "no-display" control bit that tells the receiving exchange not to send the number in the CLID message when the phone rings. All of the other features such as priority ring, call block, call return, and call trace still work since the callee's exchange knows the calling number even though the callee doesn't. Or at least they're supposed to. It's not inconceivable that GTE screwed it up. It has occurred to me in the past that in places like New Jersey that have mandatory CLID there is no technical reason why they couldn't display CLID on incoming calls regardless of the blocked bit. "But it would be wrong." Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: gerg@netcom.com (Greg Andrews) Subject: Re: Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:53:36 GMT grayt@software.mitel.com (Tom Gray) writes: > In case anyone missed it in Denning's account of the Clipper system, > one essential aspect of it is: > The service provider will make the encrypted transmission avaiable to > the FBI black box. In short the service provider must have the > capability of isolating an individual's transmissions from all others. > This is just the FBI Digital Network proposal in another form. Aside > from the fact that this proposal shows a complete ignorance of the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > functioning of even today's network, it will severely hamper (even ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > cripple) current efforts to create a broadband network. The > possibility of the US functioning in the BISDN multimedia market will > become exceedingly remote. Perhaps I'm not understanding you correctly, but if the service provider doesn't have the ability to isolate my transmissions from all the others that pass through their equipment, how are my transmissions able to reach their intended destination? Network "sniffer" devices that key on the source and destination addresses and show the contents of the data packets have been around on computer networks for years now. They are an important part of the arsenal of tools for debugging large networks. The technical leap from a "sniffer" to a digital tap is a pretty small one. I don't see how this would be a difficult thing for the telco to provide. Greg Andrews gerg@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 13:46:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Bruce Taylor Subject: Re: Satellite Services and Regulations Hugo, You might start by talking with VitaLink (or is it VitaCom?), the US company who set up ITESM's compressed video satellite links (using Compression Lab's 'Spectrum Saver' units). You might also try "IDB Communications" in the US, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and just about everywhere else. They sell everything from air-transportable uplinks thru satellite time, thru ... There are a myriad of companies that will sell "space segment time" on a market basis (ie: it costs more if you want it right now, as opposed to regularly buying two hours slots every day). I believe (but do not know for sure) that one is required to use specified service providers to pass signals across borders -- but that many folks just ignore that and use whatever bird has a useful footprint for their uplink and downlink locations. Best wishes on your search, and please let us know about the legalities of cross-border reception! Bruce Taylor (blt@cmu.edu) (412) 268-6249 New Projects Coordinator, Telecommunications, Carnegie Mellon University ------------------------------ From: Jeff Hall Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Date: 28 Apr 93 17:44:00 GMT This debate is interesting, however until it appears on credible media, such as Larry King or other CNN newscasts, and if they can make it understandable to the average Joe, the Congress will pass this along without any hoopla. I would think that if you are using your phone legitimately, then having a Clipper Chip is another layer of protection from outsiders. If you have something to say that you don't want ANYONE else to hear, go see the guy in a crowded coffee shop and no one will notice. Take the politics to a political forum. ------------------------------ From: kherron@ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron) Subject: Re: The War on the Word "Hello" (in 1910) Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 17:06:07 GMT dattier@genesis.MCS.COM (DWT) writes: > Substitute the single word "Murray's" or "Hobberlin's" when callers > expect the single word "Hello" and of course the callers won't notice. > Had their receptionists answered the phones with "You've reached W. A. > Murray's. How may I help you?" or "Good morning. This is Hobberlin's > Haberdashery," most callers would have noticed the difference and > gotten the message. In a previous life I worked for a local towing service, which included radio dispatching. Our radios used a repeater, so any time you hit the transmit button the first 1/4 sec. or so of your transmission wouldn't get heard. On top of that, truck cabs are noisy places and drivers had other things to think about; you couldn't just assume that because you were talking you had everyone's attention, and if a driver didn't think you were talking to him he would usually miss most of what you said. In this environment, I quickly decided that the best action was to start each transmission with some non-important word. If I wanted to address a truck, I said "Unit twenty-five" instead of just "twenty-five." Most other transmissions started with an "Uh" or similar. This worked out very well; the extra delay this caused gave the drivers time to realize the dispatcher was on the radio and to mentally shift gears to listen to it. I don't think anyone realized just what my technique was, but several of the guys mentioned that I was very easy to talk to over the radio. Applying this to telephones, it makes sense that the first word said into the mouthpiece should be something without information content; whether we realize it or not, we as callers must at that point shift from "waiting" to "listening" as well as identify a bunch of minor things (man? woman? familiar voice? accent?) that the brain does automatically when it hears a new voice. Kenneth Herron kherron@ms.uky.edu University of Kentucky +1 606 257 1429 Dept. of Mathematics [Moderator's Note: One of the reasons I never did like a voice-actuated microphone on any of my radio equipment was the very thing you describe in your article. I got tired of saying 'uh', or blowing a little air at the microphone to avoid having the first word cut off. On the flip side, if my hands were both busy (for example, typing) I hated to stop in order to key up each time. My solution was to either use a microphone which hung down from the ceiling on a swag-chain in front of my face a few inches away, or one of those extendable, hinged, bend-at-any-angle things which clamps on the side of your desk which typically has a light on the end of it. Mine had a microphone. I also had a Plantronics tele- phone operator's headset which had been modified through which I could listen (in lieu of the larger speaker in the radio) or talk. I keyed all of these from a foot pedal switch on the floor that I got from an old Dictaphone unit and modified with one pair to key the microphone, one pair to cut off the speaker (when using the Plantronics headset) and a third pair to cut out the telephone ringer -- it was paralleled to a beehive lamp -- when the microphone was keyed up. Thus, I could sit there and tap my foot to transmit. There was also a problem with ambient room noise with the vox-activated units from time to time, causing the radio to start talking by itself sometimes. Then there was the time I fell asleep with a cigarette burning; it melted through the control wire and turned the microphone on. How did I find out? Well, not from the Fire Department breaking my door down, but a good friend calling on the phone to ask, "Pat, have you been keyed-up over there for about twenty minutes now with dead air just throwing a carrier?" Gawd, was that an embarassment! PAT] ------------------------------ From: arobson@uswnvg.com (Andrew Robson) Subject: Re: V.35 Null Modem / Modem Eliminator Date: 28 Apr 93 17:33:18 GMT Organization: U S WEST NewVector Group, Inc. Lenny Jacobs (ljacobs@Panix.Com) wrote: > We are trying to connect two V.35 DTE devices located about 15 feet > from each other in the same room. Specifically these are an AT&T > ... [equipment specifics omitted] I have a similar need, though with different devices on the ends. > data circuit via a DSU. We believe that we can do this without using a > modem eliminator (about $500 from Black Box) by using some sort of I don't believe it will work unless you can get clocking signals from one of the ends. Synchronous links need to agree on the time when bits start and stop. Usually the DCE end supplies the clocking and you don't have a DCE. The need to generate clock pulses is why that box costs so muchi, it is not just a pricey cross connected plug. ... [pinout discussion omitted] > proper wiring diagram. (I think that we're pretty close with this > one) I would *love* to be proved wrong. If you do succeed please post the results! Andy (N6VRP) U S WEST NewVector Group (206) 450 8419 ------------------------------ From: turkstra@cs.hope.edu (Screwtape) Subject: Re: Phone/Debit Cards and Rock Music? Reply-To: turkstra@cs.hope.edu Organization: Hope College Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:55:02 GMT In article 3@eecs.nwu.edu, lairdb@crash.cts.com writes: > In birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag) > writes: >> Perhaps in the near future these debit cards will be the hot "promo" >> items of choice at conventions -- instead of handing out pens or >> rulers, give out debit cards with your company's symbol? Heck, you >> could even go so far as to have your *business* cards be phone debit >> cards. Might encourage prospective clients to give you a call, if it >> was "on you." :) > "Hold my business card up to the handset, and squeeze the corner." I remember about three or four years ago a computer company doing exactly this with it's 800 support number. Possibly Acer, but I'm not positive. It was a white plastic box about the size of a Zippo lighter with holes for the speaker. I remember it had a magnet somwhere so you could stick it to the case of the computer. Seems these days it could be done much smaller ... Chris Turkstra Turkstra@cs.hope.edu ------------------------------ From: mrc@access.digex.net (mark chartrand) Subject: Re: Satellite Services and Regulations Date: 28 Apr 1993 14:39:51 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA In article hgarcia@mexnet.mty.itesm.mx (Ing. Hugo E. Garcia Torres) writes: > I am looking for information regarding a catalog or a list of the > service providers of satellite broadcast video transmission. I am > looking for a satellite service provider with coverage over Canada, > Mexico (northern part) and the USA. I know that many small companies > offer the uplink service. What is the procedure to ask for satellite > service? Do companies like GE or Hughes offer this kind of service? > Who operates the satellites? How are they maintained? > What if someone in Mexico want to use the service of an American or > Canadian satellite? Is this possible? What are the regulations? What > if someone in the southern US received and repeated a signal from the > Mexican satellites? Is this legal? Your best reference is The 1993 World Satellite Directory, from Phillips Business Information. You can order by mail from them at 800-777-5005. I think the cost is about $225. For cross-border communications, you should check with your PTT. There are some bi-lateral agreements, but not sure about Mexican ones. You could also check with individual satellite system operators (e.g., Hughes, PanAmSat, Telsat Canada, etc.) As for booking time, contact a transponder broker or system operator. COntactt info is in the WSD mentioned above. mrc@digex.access.com ------------------------------ From: macwhiz@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu (Rob Levandowski) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Organization: Computer Interest Floor - University of Rochester, NY Date: 28 Apr 93 19:03:19 GMT In dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: > In article , andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy > Behrens) writes: >> Sorry, Pat, but that's the wrong answer. Banks don't give this sort >> of information out to anyone who happens to know an account number. Pat adds (in part): >> ... The float seldom will buy you more than a day or two now; it >> used to be I could go to the store on Tuesday and write a check for >> which funds would be deposited Friday and get by with it; > Pat is correct here; the banks are transferring debit and credit > information electronically (plug: some of them even use Westmark > systems to accomplish this!) and very fast. But before we get too > upset over it, let's remember that it works both ways. Pat, next time > you deposit a check you have received from someone else, watch how > fast you get credited! I'd love to know what bank you go to; both Fleet Bank NA here in Rochester New York, and Fleet Bank in Connecticut as well as Winsted Savings Bank also in Connecticut -- all of whom I have recently done business with -- take three to five banking days to make deposited funds available. Longer if you make a large deposit. I've found they like to play with my money, and it makes me leery of using the bank unless I really really have to. :) Not to mention the fact that an electronic fund transfer from my Dad's Connecticut Fleet Bank account to my New York Fleet Bank account costs him $15 to send the cash and me $10 to recieve it, meaning I get $75 out of the $100 he sends me. In this age of instant cheap telecom I'm not sure what the reasoning behind that is ... besides screw the customer. :) Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor / University of Rochester [Moderator's Note: One thing about First National Bank here in Chicago is I have been with them at the same branch for many years. When my own financial condition started going downhill several months ago as a result of a poor business judgment on my part, one of the first people I talked to was the manager of the branch. They've never lost a nickle on me, and I think when the bank knows that they'll go along with an old time customer 'for the duration'. They've expedited cashing checks for me when it was an emergency, etc. The 'duration' has been a lot longer than I would like this time around, but I'll rebound sometime. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #290 ******************************   Received: from [129.105.5.103] by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa29002; 29 Apr 93 8:30 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15145 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Apr 1993 03:48:55 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16776 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Apr 1993 03:48:11 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 03:48:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304290848.AA16776@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #291 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Apr 93 03:01:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 291 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Craig R. Watkins) Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways (David Ohsie) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Mark Walsh) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Ed Gehringer) Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople (Mark Fraser) They Didn't Name it After a 19th Century Ship For No Reason (Tom Gray) Bay Area Cell Carrier (Laurence Chiu) Supra Modem / Caller-ID (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook (Ed Gehringer) Number Creep (David Leslie) Anonymous Purchase of Talk Tickets (TELECOM Moderator) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig R. Watkins Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Date: 28 Apr 93 20:16:35 EST Organization: HRB Systems, Inc. In article , (David Singer) writes: > I also have a Motorola Advisor pager (with a PageNet logo); in general, I > agree with Brad Hicks' comments, but I have one warning -- there seems to > be no way to disable the "low cell" warning on the pager. So, if you keep > your pager on your bedside table, and one night at 2am the voltage gets > a little low, be prepared to be awakened by very loud, very annoying beeping. > I now turn my pager off at night because of this. It can be disabled via a programmer which attaches to the contacts on the left side of your pager. See your paging company or a Motorala service provider. Tell them you want to disable "Low Battery Alert." Craig R. Watkins crw@icf.hrb.com HRB Systems, Inc. +1 814 238-4311 ------------------------------ From: ohsie@cs.columbia.edu (David Ohsie) Subject: Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways Organization: Columbia University Department of Computer Science Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 02:04:47 GMT In article root@krishna.info-gw.mese. com writes: > 1. What role should the telecom industry play in implementing or designing > the information super highways? > 2. What advantages does the telecom industry have over other industries > competing (like CATV etc)? Technical? Equipment? Expertise? > 3. What are the pros/cons of the telecom industry playing a major role in > building and operating them? > 4. What, as subscribers, will we gain/lose by the telecom industry > being the major player? Perhaps it would be more relevant to ask these questions with the words "federal government" in place of the words "telecom industry"? david alan ohsie internet: ohsie@cs.columbia.edu usenet: ...!rutgers!columbia!ohsie bitnet: ohsie%cs.columbia.edu@cuvmb ------------------------------ From: walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Date: 28 Apr 93 19:22:36 GMT Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA From article , by stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette): > A couple of years ago, I had the number 841-7249. With great > frequency, when I gave the number to someone, they would transpose the > 2 and the 4, and say 841-7429 when they read it back to me to verify. About ten years ago, I had 457-5611. The nearby church that did Bingo on Wednesday nights was 457-6511. Man, did I get some funny calls! "Hi, this is Mytrle, did you want the brownies with or without nuts ..." P.S. Pat, we hope all is well. It's high time you gave us an update! Mark Walsh (walsh@optilink) -- UUCP: uunet!optilink!walsh Amateur Radio: KM6XU@WX3K -- AOL: BigCookie@aol.com -- USCF: L10861 [Moderator's Note: Thanks for your postscript of concern. Things are glued together ... barely ... nothing that isn't in danger of getting cut off is being paid yet, and I have a very deep hole to climb out of. I don't think I'll know for sure if my little company is going to be solvent or not for another month or two; but there comes a time for many people -- myself included -- when they stick their middle finger in the air at 'society' and say to hell with your nine to five jobs; I am going to do my own thing. I'll survive, and rebound a little -- I always have before. A very bad error in judgment on my part several months ago led to my present predicament. When I first gave -- as the late humorist Robert Benchley would phrase it -- The Treasurer's Report a few weeks ago, a few stalwart denizens of the 'net' gpt so unhinged and angry at my temerity and bald-faced message I decided to say noth- ing more about it. But too many people like yourself kept sending notes of sympathy and asking for updates. I felt like I had to say something, namely thanks to everyone who is concerned and cares. To paraphrase the Reverend Bob Dobbs of the Hour of Slack Radio Ministry regarding the few others, "F--k 'em if they can't deal with it." PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 19:08:29 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System >> Dorothy Denning is quite notorious in the crypt community as an >> apologist for giving the govenment the right to read your mail ... > I don't know how many people read her articles in the {Communications > of the ACM} about crypto stuff, but it seemed just a tiny bit (okay, > *very*) biased inasmuch as they gave her final say. In formal debate, > the proponent of a proposition usually has to defend it, with > gainsayers rebutting after each defense. Well, as a former intercollegiate debater who had Dorothy Denning on his Ph.D. committee a few years later, I can tell you that in most formal debate formats, the proponents of change get both the first word and the last word, with the opponents getting more time during the give-and-take in between. My argumentation text said something like, "There are good theoretical reasons for this." But it did not quote them. ------------------------------ From: mfraser@vanbc.wimsey.com (Mark Fraser) Subject: Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople Organization: Wimsey Information Services Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 03:53:16 GMT Well, not exactly at my front door, but would you believe at a Flea Market in North Vancouver. Along with the tacky 1950's coffee table glassware and old coffee pots, was a (dot matrix) computer-generated banner advertizing a U.S. reseller's service. The tabletop operator approched customers very politely, and gave his pitch while the customers were eyeing the electric can openers ... [Moderator's Note: Orange Communications sent me some very nice, professional looking graphics to use if I decided to do the Flea Market circuit. Now that all the Digest readers interested got first crack at it, the enrollment fee has gone up to $12, by the way ... but Canada and international calling should be added soon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: grayt@software.mitel.com (Tom Gray) Subject: They Didn't Name it After a 19th Century Ship For No Reason Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 14:44:16 -0400 Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. Ever wonder how the Clipper proposal would handle a simple thing like a multi-party conference call? Ever wonder how Clipper can fit into a modern network? Well .. The proposal doesn't handle conference calls. This is just another indication of the complete ignorance of the network demonstrated in this proposal. Another question, how does the telco handle conferencing compressed voice on leased line trunks. Answer: The telco service provider doesn't. It is up to the owner of the private network to be able to confenrence proprietary compression algorithms. The service provider cannot handle conferencing, the service provider cannot handle isolation. The Clipper proposal is just another indication of the ignorance demonstrated in the FBI Digital Network proposal. The FBI has difficulty bugging calls on even today's network as demonstrated by the conference example given above. The FBI will find it impossible to bug the multimedia broadband network. The FBI's solution -- legislate the broadband network out of existence with regulations that make it uneconmic. Keep the North American telecommunications market firmly in the 1970's while Japan and Europe produce a 21st century network. The US can make its choice but Clinton wants to encourage telecomunications as a strategic technology while at the same time he allows some gum shoe Luddites to prevent new development. ------------------------------ From: lchiu@holonet.net Subject: Bay Area Cell Carriers Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access System: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 02:39:31 GMT I am thinking of getting cell phone service in the Bay Area. Around here there appear to be two carriers, Cellular One and GTE Mobilnet. I will be using the service for personal use, primarily so that I can be reached while commuting etc. I know I can call each carrier or their agents and get their information on the service, but I would be interested in the comments/experiences of any Bay Area readers of the Digest. I don't plan to do much roaming expcept perhaps to LA occasionally. Good service in the Caldecott is important. Both carriers are offering about three hours of free peak air time at the moment which is slight incentive I guess. Thanks, Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 22:55:32 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Supra Modem / Caller-ID When I get a good product, I like to plug it and the SUPRA is one of them. I bought mine from Computability in Wisconsin (800.558.0003) that used to be the only mail-order source though this month's Computer Shopper lists a couple more. The prices for the external are $279 without software or $299 with Windows or DOS software (also have MAC but do not remember price). Apparently to get the Caller-ID function you have to buy upgrade ROMs from Supra -- they were $19.95 extra when I bought mine. Since then I wrote a Caller-ID .ASP for ProComm + that works with them and provides a table lookup to decide whether to answer the phone. I sent it to the Supra BBS (503)967-2444 but do not know if they posted it. Incidently, some time ago CS did a comparison study on modems, since then Supra apparently had an upgrade since mine will renegotiate back up in speed and has MNP-10 (cellular) capability. One other thing: while the manual is a bit skimpy on the FAX protocols (uses a subset of the AT commands e.g. AT+FCLASS=? will return classes supported - 1 & 2) the BBS has one of the best and most complete descriptions I have seen in a pair of ASCII text files. A final note -- I have yet to find anything it would not connect to though on occasion I have had to turn off the ECC and/or compression. In one case a complaint revealed a ROM problem -- in the modem on the other end which was not a Supra -- the solution was to tell it to use MNP and not v.42 protocols. Note: I have no connection with Supra, I just really like the one I bought. I sure hope this will satisfy the requests; I have gotten a flood of requests for information. It is best used with 16550A chips. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 23:54:05 -0400 From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook Actually, Carl, I think 919 and 910 are the worst of all, because it is easy to confuse a hastily written 0 with a 9. USPS has adjacent zipcodes adjacent in area, but never, as far as I know, is any zipcode with a 9 near a zipcode with a 0 in its place. This problem was obvious; given that the N10 ACs started being assigned with the lower numbers (310, 510, 410) and that the NC split happens before the 313/810 split in MI, I can't understand why NC wasn't given 810 instead of 910. Not only that, but 919/910 is the only case of off-by-one-click area code ever created by an AC split. Finally, it is the only case where an AC split has ever been effected by changing only a single digit in an area code. This is important, because people may think they "know" an AC for some city and mentally "correct" it to the old value. All these factors point to the most confusion ever caused by an AC split, coming this fall to NC. Ed ------------------------------ From: jpdavid@netcom.com (David) Subject: Number Creep Organization: Netcom Institute for the Incorrigible (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 20:51:26 GMT I remember when I was about 14, and my Dad got MCI long distance service for his business. At the time (around 1984), it struck me how strange it was to have to dial all those digits to complete a simple phone call. Oh well, if it saved $.005, it must be worth it. :) To make a short story long, I was visiting friends when I decided to check my voice mail. As I was dialing away, I realized that we were all victims of 'number creep', that meaning: being forced to punch alot of buttons to compete a call. ;) This is a hypothetical example of a modern phone call. Not too different from what I dial regularly. 3 + 3 + 5 + 11 + 14 + 8 + 10 = 54 digits *67 *70 10288 03105569230 55555555555555 55555555 3105555555 kill Caller ID kill call waiting switch to AT&T Pac-bell message center AT&T calling card # voicemail Pswd home # confirm The scary thing is how natural it feels to to dial all that. David Leslie jpdavid@netcom.com dleslie@scf.usc.edu [Moderator's Note: The first time you did it with another area code, did you feel it was wrong? Did you feel guilty about it afterward, and consider it unnatural? Did you decide to try it after watching Phil Donahue interview someone on his show who admitted before a natioal audience of halfwits that he had called into voicemail using his calling card from another area code on a phone which did not default to AT&T, and that he had to take extra steps to avoid the embarassment of premature disconnection and invasion of his privacy? Have you ever had fantasies about there being at least a dozen messages waiting and you were forced against your will to punch at least twenty more keys before you were allowed to disconnect yourself? Some of us, you know, were around before the Age of Enlightenment -- before the federal judge enlightened us, was gracious unto us and saved us from ourselves. There was a time when one came home from work, or school, or play and simply picked up the receiver. On hearing the "Voice With a Smile Behind the Dial" (*) -- but this was long before dials -- he'd say, "Is that you, Myrtle? Say Myrt, were there any calls for me while I was out this afternoon?" (*) An AT&T advertising slogan in the 1950's, the smiling, grandmoth- erly operator was intended to convince the public that despite the rapid post-war conversion from manual to dial service which was underway, "Myrtle" would still be there to serve them. More important than the public perception however was getting the Union to shut up and quit spreading the rumors about 'all the operators being fired en masse' once an exchange was cut over. One of the big strikes, or work- stoppages at 'the phone company' in the 1950's was based on operators protesting the automation, fearful about their job security. That strike did more than anything else to convince Mother to hurry on with the task at hand. No one lost their job after automation; in those days a very bloated Mother kept everyone on the payroll forever unless you were loose-lipped with her secrets, washed her bed linens where the public could see it, or got caught stealing from her fat, overstuffed purse. You stayed employed with the phone company until the day you had a heart attack standing in the cafeteria line at lunch. Literally ... several years ago I was talking to a directory assistance operator who suffered a cerebral hemmorage -- a stroke -- while she was helping me. She was talking to me; there was silence in mid-sentence; I kept repeating 'hello' for about a half a minute. I was able to hear noise in the background and some confusion. Presently a different operator took over my call, looked up the number I was requesting and told me candidly what had happened to the other lady: she had fallen from the chair where she was sitting; she was laying on the floor and 'the other girls' were trying to make her comfortable; the company medical department had been called and told to come immediatly. :( PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 16:43:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Anonymous Use of Talk Tickets Some people have written to say the Talk Ticket program still leaves a limited audit trail -- I think of dubious value legally -- since a post-use audit of the calls made would permit drawing certain conclusions about the person who owned/used the ticket. Presumably with this knowledge, one could then approach the seller of the ticket to learn the identity of the purchaser if same was known (that is, via mail order or a check being used to make the purchase, etc. Not yet being in a position to take the cards around to drugstores, magazine and newspaper stands, etc where they can be sold for cash to a person who walks up to buy one (although Chicago area people can get them from my office with cash in hand by appointment), I chatted with my contact at US Fibercom to see what could be done to cloud the purchaser of the ticket(s) if that was their desire. Bear in mind most users won't find this necessary, but for those who have no easy way to *receive* mail at an address removed from themselves, I am now authorized to add another method of ticket delivery: email via an anonymous email service. Since you do not actually put the ticket in the phone, you do not actually need to be in possession of the ticket(s). All you need are the instructions for calling and the ticket serial numbers. So, use this routine: Send mail to me via an anonymous server. Note whatever anonymous net-address it gives you, and keep that for the later retrieval of email. Picture it sort of like you are writing to one of the alt.sex.unusual.behavior groups. Send a money order for the number of tickets desired ($2 each or 10 for $15) and reference the anonymous email address. You will get back a help file explaining what number to call and other things you need to know, and the ticket serial numbers will be included in the email. For testing purposes, try it a couple dollars at a time if that is your preference. As stated earlier, most people will not need this extra layer in the process, but if you feel that you do, then use it. Order from: Telecom Digest 2241 West Howard Street #208 Chicago, IL 60645 Phone: 312-465-2700 Fax: 312-743-0002 Email advices to: ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu Pat ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #291 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa20591; 29 Apr 93 19:35 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20608 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 29 Apr 1993 16:45:53 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12383 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Thu, 29 Apr 1993 16:45:11 -0500 Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 16:45:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304292145.AA12383@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #292 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Apr 93 16:45:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 292 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Markey Panel to Explore Issues of Privacy, Security (Carl Malamud) Repost: CFV: Newsgroup: comp.std.wireless (Wesley S. Jones) Deregulation Of Telcos In Texas (coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu) Card Calling From Public Phone (Richard Cox) How I Answer The Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") (Nigel Allen) Re: AT&T Sent Me $75 (Robert J. Woodhead) Re: Germany to Offer Custom Calling Features (Marko Ruokonen) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Chas Hoequist) Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? (Bill Bailey) Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook (Carl Moore) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 01:06:10 EDT From: Carl Malamud Subject: Markey Panel to Explore Issues of Privacy, Security The following hearings will be broadcast on the Multicast Backbone (MBONE) and will be rebroadcast on Internet Talk Radio. The Subcommittee staff requested that this notice be distributed on the network so the Internet community is aware of these important hearings. U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Edward J. Markey, Chairman David H. Moulton, Chief Counsel and Staff Director =================================================== Markey Panel To Explore Issues of Privacy, Computer Hacking, Cellular Eavesdropping, and Data Encryption Washington -- U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, will hold an oversight hearing today on the rights and responsibilities of individuals and organizations in cyberspace. A high tech presentation highlighting issues such as encryption, electronic invasions of privacy, fraud, civil liberties and computer crime, will precede a panel discussion. "The rapid technological convergence of telecommunications, computers and digital technology creates a synergy that can empower people," Markey said, "yet the same technology can imperil its users by facilitating invasions of people's privacy or 'electronic wilding.'" "As the nation considers upgrading the national telecommunications 'infostructure,' we must not overlook issues such as personal privacy or electronic fraud, that may pervert our hopes for a national network that promotes community, freedom and empowerment," Markey added. The "high tech-in-the-round" demonstration will be presented by Mr. John B. Gage, Director, Science Office of Sun Microsystems, Inc. The demonstration will include "reprogramming" an ordinary cellular phone to become a radio scanner, making it capable of eavesdropping on other people's cellular conversations; a recorded view of a electronic break- in from Amsterdam to the Pacific Fleet Command in California; and demonstrations of other new telecommunications technologies and how they affect data security and privacy. The panel will consist of Raymond Kammer, Acting Director of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), who will provide testimony on technology standard setting issues including the government-endorsed "Clipper Chip" encryption technology; Mr. Bruce Sterling, noted science fiction writer on cyberspace and also author of the non-fiction book, "The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier," which discusses computer crime and civil liberties; Mr. John Lucich, State Investigator with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. Mr. Lucich combats computer and electronic fraud crimes by electronically infiltrating the underground computer bulletin boards of the "hacker" and "phone phreak" community; and Mr. Joel Reidenberg, Professor of Law at Fordham University Law School, who has studied how personal privacy is affected by telecommunications and computer technologies and the various privacy protections afforded citizens of different countries. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on April 29 in room 2133 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. ------------------------------ From: jonesw@rtsg.mot.com (Wesley S. Jones) Subject: Repost: CFV: Newsgroup: comp.std.wireless Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 16:14:55 GMT C A L L F O R V O T E S --------------------------- This is a formal Call For Votes (CFV) for the creation of a moderated newsgroup to discuss communication techniques, protocols and standards for wireless computer networks. PROPOSED NEWSGROUP: comp.std.wireless STATUS: Moderated. This is mainly to generate a useful, readable archive. The plan is to make posting as automatic as possible. BACKGROUND: There is a clear need for a shared forum for technical discussions between members of various standards groups concerned with wireless networks. Several committees are dealing with the same basic technical issues and need to track each other's evolving positions. As the issues develop and the questions become more detailed, the danger of needless inconsistencies increases. PURPOSE: The primary goal of this newsgroup would be to to promote consistency and mutual awareness between existing committees (e.g., IEEE 802.11 and ETSI RES-10) and any future committees. The newsgroup would expedite their deliberations by providing a convenient forum for technical discussion between their scheduled meetings. Additionally, the open nature of the newsgroup would help the standardization process by allowing people not normally connected with the standards groups to provide their input. The newsgroup would have no official standing with any standards group or other organization. A secondary goal would be to explore applications for wireless network technology. The emerging standards must, after all, correctly anticipate these applications. Acceptable Postings: Any questions, comments, results, or suggestions which are related to any of the existing committees discussing wireless technologies. This can include, but is not limited to, current research, development or general applications of wireless networks. JUSTIFICATION OF UNIQUENESS: The proposed newsgroup, comp.std.wireless, would ease communication between people around the world who are specifying or will be affected by wireless network standards. Currently, there is a not a newsgroup dedicated to supporting communications between wireless network standards groups. VOTING PERIOD: Voting will conclude on WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1993 23:59 EST HOW TO VOTE: All votes must be mailed to: 'std-mod@wes.mot.com'. The votes will be counted as "yes" or "no" votes according to their subject line and/or message body. Please use the following format: Subject (If Applicable): [Yes/No] I vote ["Yes"/"No"] for the creation of "comp.std.wireless" [Last Name], [First Name] [(E-mail Address)] : [Yes/No] VOTING RULES: -Only one vote per user (Two different people cannot vote under the same user name). -Any votes which are received after the voting period will be discarded. -Anyone who wants to change their previous vote may do so by voting again. They must indicate that they have previously voted and are changing their mind in a footnote. A changed vote will discard your previous vote. AMBIGUOUS VOTES: Ambiguous votes -- those who do not follow the specified format, or do not make clear the voter's intent, will, where possible, be returned to their senders for clarification. Ambiguous votes which cannot be returned to their senders or for which no clarification is provided will be identified in vote mass acknowledgements and in the final vote tally. Thank you for your participation in the CFV effort. John McKown & Wesley S. Jones Motorola, Inc. Paging and Wireless Data Group ------------------------------ From: coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Deregulation Of Telcos In Texas Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 07:42:13 -0600 According to the {Austin American Statesman} business section for Tuesday, the Texas senate has deferred changes in phone regulation. The article is somewhat unclear, as any report on the Texas legislature must necessarily be. :-8 Apparently Texas Public Utility Commission procedures have been streamlined. Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, who is opposed to deregulation, tried to broker a compromise and found the issue too complicated to deal with in this session. He has proposed deferring action until after a two year study. (The Texas legislature meets for 140 days every two years, so this session is growing short. Two years would be the next regular session. I prefer two days every 140 years.) The Texas Telephone Association says they will continue their efforts in the house of representatives. Something could happen in a senate - house conference commitee. A great quote from the article attributed to Sen. Carl Parker D-Port Arthur, "lengthy hearings cost the consumers money." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 13:17 GMT0BST-1 From: Richard Cox Subject: Card Calling From Public Phone Reply-To: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk > It's been pointed out that the German and French stored value cards > (the kind that are read by the phone) do have serial numbers and they > do pass it to the switch during call setup. I doubt that the British > (BT) ones are smart enough to do it though. British (BT) cards (and cardphones) are made by Landis and Gyr, and the same system is used in a number of countries: I've used it myself in Belgium. The "value" appears to be stored physically, in something like a hologram, and there is no other data transferrable from the card to the phone. There are other payphones in the UK ... COCOTs are becoming more common in high usage areas, but the most common type of cardphone apart from BT's, are the Mercury cardphones. These use a magnetic strip to hold the credit -- and the card serial number is read by the phone and stored, to help detect and prevent clone-card fraud. This information is NOT passed to the Central Office as we know it, becuase some Mercury phones are connected to BT local exchanges! However, every eight or so "transactions", the phone "calls in" to its control centre, and downloads all the waiting call data. So I guess that this *could* be used to trace the usage on individual cards although it wouldn't bother me if it was. Mercury is part of the Cable & Wireless group. Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, Cardiff Business Park, Llanishen, CARDIFF, Wales CF4 5WF Voice: +44 222 747111 Fax: +44 222 711111 VoiceMail: +44 399 870101 E-mail: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk - PGP2.2 public key available on request ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 03:31:54 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto While telephone companies have been able to persuade companies to answer their phone lines with their company names, most individuals in Canada and the United States answer their phones with "Hello" (or the equivalent in their own language). However, you will find a handful of people -- politicians and their families, people with home-based businesses, eccentrics like me -- answering their home phone lines with their name. When I shared a house on Major Street in Toronto with some other people, I would answer the shared house phone with the words "Sixteen Major". (For my own sanity, I had a phone line of my own, and I answered calls on that line with my name.) The house at 16 Major Street was owned by Doctors Hospital, incidentally, which wasn't a very nice landlord. People show much more creativity in their answering machine messages than in their "answering phrase" for answering the phone live. However, I really don't like excessively cute answering machine messages, particularly when I'm calling long distance. A functional answering machine message is just fine for me: "Hello. This is Nigel David Allen. Please leave a message at the tone." Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: trebor@foretune.co.jp (Robert J Woodhead) Subject: Re: AT&T Sent Me $75 Organization: Foretune Co., Ltd. Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 13:07:26 GMT segal@ranger.rtsg.mot.com (Gary Segal) writes: > Even with the %25 discount, the cost per minute was 10.5 cents. With > MCI, I pay 10 cents a minute and then get a 20% Friends & Family > discount. So I decided to stay with MCI and let them give me a $75 > credit. Which shows you what idiots MCI are. AT&T basically screwed them out of $75 for the price of a stamp and some paper. If the folks at MCI Marketing had any brains, they'd say "Thanks for calling; by all means, cash the cheque, use the prefix to dial for a month, and we'll put a note in the computer to change you back after that and credit your account $25." End result: MCI screws AT&T out of $75 for only $25, keeps loyal customer for 1/3 the price. Robert J. Woodhead, Biar Games / AnimEigo, Incs. trebor@forEtune.co.jp AnimEigo US Office Email (for general questions): 72447.37@compuserve.com ------------------------------ Date: 29 Apr 93 09:46:20 EDT From: Marko Ruokonen <100031.31@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Germany to Offer Custom Calling Features > TELEKOM, the German telecommunications operator, will offer starting > this fall such *exciting* :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) features like: > - itemised billig (pending government approval); > - call waiting; > - call forwarding; > - conference (three-way) calls; > - call barring (outgoing calls); > - user controlled identification (of POTS lines on ISDN phones). I called TELEKOM Customer Service yesterday and they were glad to send an article covering the new features. The article mentions the functions: - call Waiting ("Anklopfen"), - start a second call ("Rueckfragen"), - call forwarding ("Rufumleitung"), - call barring (Long Distance, out-of-country and different continents) - three-way-calling A line has to be connected to a digital switch to use these functions starting in fall 1993. Naturally, they need DTMF to access them. As mentioned in the text, billing will be on a per-month-basis: Call waiting, three-way-calling and call forwarding should each cost DM 5/mo, second conversation DM 3/mo, call barring DM 7/mo. The all-in-one package should cost DM 19/mo. There was no information if there would be any setup charges, but I bet TELEKOM always collects bucks for something. Nowadays, a change to the setup costs DM 65. :-( Starting a second call and three-way-calling look quite similiar to me. Neverthelsess, it seems that I would have to pay DM 10/mo just to have both on my line. :-(( I could get all the stuff for DM 19/mo ... Hmm. TELEKOM certainly aims at selling the all-in-one-package. If somebody has more information on the plans (e.g. full list of supported features, how it all works) I would be anxious to hear about it. Marko Ruokonen e-Mail adress: 100031.31@compuserve.com Phone/Fax: +49 221 896479 Disclaimer: I only speak for myself. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 09:51:00 +0000 From: Charles (C.A.) Hoequist Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Secure Phone System No comment has appeared in the Digest on the following part of the original panicky Clipper-chip post, so I guess it's my turn: > The NSA has spent several $billions on terabyte disk archives; The NSA is willing to spend $billions to get a few *terabytes*? Let me be the salesman! This beats selling the Brooklyn Bridge! > they can search telephone calls recorded on these archives > at their leisure with more $billions worth of high-speed computers. Search? With what? fgrep? These aren't text archives. Is the poster claiming that the NSA (or anybody) can do reliable speech recognition on arbitrary speakers, continuous speech, toll-quality recordings? This chestnut doesn't crop up as often as the modem tax, but it's a lot sillier. Some very sharp folks at AT&T and elsewhere have been working on this for years, and for all their progress, searching telephone archives is a long way off. (Search for what, by the way? Subversive callers saying, 'hi, here's my subversive plan'?) Wait, I just figured it out. The $billions are for big mainframe false fronts hiding lots of stenographers transcribing all the conversations. Yeah! Charles Hoequist, Jr. | Internet: hoequist@bnr.ca BNR, Inc. | voice: 919-991-8642 PO Box 13478 | fax: 919-991-8008 Research Triangle Park NC 27709-3478 USA ------------------------------ From: bailey@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (- -) Subject: Re: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellular Phone? Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston IL Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 05:04:17 GMT In article longo@kodiak.sfpp.com (Bob Longo) writes: > With all of the concern recently about cellular telephones causing > cancer, I'm curious about an ad I saw yesterday. It seems that there > is a handheld cellular phone available that boasts 1.2 watts. The ^^^^^^^^^ I recently worked for a Cellular + PDN company in the Czech Republic. Their phones (Nokia 450) in addition to resembleing a boat anchor put out something like 10-15 watts!!! Bill bailey@casbah.acns.nwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 11:03:43 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu writes: > NC [919/910] split happens before the 313/810 split in MI This agrees with what was posted just recently regarding the area code handbook from AT&T: 919/910 North Carolina 11-14-93 11-14-93 2-13-94 313/810 Michigan 12-01-93 N/A N/A But the history.of.area.splits , which I update from time to time, has: 919/910 North Carolina, 14 Nov 1993 (full cutover 13 Feb 1994) 313/810 Michigan, 10 Aug 1994 So does anybody in Michigan know what is going on? Could that August 1994 date actually be the full cutover? My earlier concern was seeing 610 and 910 being announced for Pa. and NC respectively at around the same time. I know about the area code shortage, but, given that 215 and 919 needed to be split, why wasn't 910 used for Pa. and 610 for NC? (200,300,400,500 -- and now not 600? -- can be used for area codes if any more new ones are needed before 1995.) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #292 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa15364; 30 Apr 93 8:53 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11041 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 06:26:51 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08088 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 06:26:10 -0500 Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 06:26:10 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304301126.AA08088@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #293 TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Apr 93 06:26:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 293 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Misdialed Numbers (Jeff Kenton) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Laurence Chiu) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (M. Cheeseman) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Dave Levenson) Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in Phone System (Craig Nordin) Re: White House Encryption Proposal (Charlie Mingo) Re: Clipper Chip, et al. (Laird Broadfield) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Marc Unangst) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Dub Dublin) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Steven Warner) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Arthur Rubin) Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways (Garrett Wollman) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (David W. Barts) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jkenton@world.std.com (Jeff Kenton) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Organization: Kenton Systems Corporation, Weston MA Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 17:59:06 GMT walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) writes: > From article , by stevef@wrq.com > (Steve Forrette): >> A couple of years ago, I had the number 841-7249. With great >> frequency, when I gave the number to someone, they would transpose the >> 2 and the 4, and say 841-7429 when they read it back to me to verify. > About ten years ago, I had 457-5611. The nearby church that did Bingo > on Wednesday nights was 457-6511. Man, did I get some funny calls! > "Hi, this is Mytrle, did you want the brownies with or without > nuts ..." Along a similar line, the phone I have for my computer has the number 894-4510. The local courthouse is 894-4500, which the recorded voice of information gives as eight nine four, four five hundred. There are many people who dial this as 894-45 100. Hey, what's an extra digit! Jeff Kenton (617) 894-4508 jkenton@world.std.com ------------------------------ From: LCHIU@HOLONET.NET Subject: Re: Misdialed numbers Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access System: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 04:43:58 GMT In an article in comp.dcom.telecom, Jeffj%jiji@uunet.uu.net had the following to say about Re: Misdialed numbers > I'm personally favored numbers that repeat a digit so I can keep a > finger on that button and dial quite rapidly as I rock my fingers back > and forth. 555-1212 is fast and easy to dial. So are numbers that > form a pattern on the keypad, such as across a row or column, or the > corners (think of Tic Tac Toe or bingo patterns). Numbers such as > 5456 are fast to dial if you start with your little finger on the 5 > and type as on a calculator. Which leads me to ask a related if somewhat trivial question. What are telephone keypads laid out in a different orientation that calculators or even the numeric keypads on PC's or terminals (the 123 row is at the top while it's at the bottom for calculators and keypads). I find this quite annoying at times. Weren't at least calculators and/or terminals with keypads around before the advent of pushbutton telephones? Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ From: Mark Cheeseman Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: Your Computer Magazine, Sydney, Australia Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 10:43:02 GMT In article Graham Toal writes: >> In a similar vein, here's another plug for {Wired} (no, I'm not > Anyone know who's backing these guys? It must take some up front cash > to produce a glossy like that *and* get it on the streets in Britain ... And Australia. Pretty good distribution for a first issue! Mark Cheeseman, Your Computer. Phn: +61 2 353 0143 Fax: +61 2 353 0720 Internet: cheese@runx.oz.au cheese@asstdc.oz.au Fido: 3:712/412.0 AMPRNet: vk2xgk@active.vk2xgk.ampr.org [44.136.8.70] ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 18:56:35 GMT In article , Hierophant writes: > Gee, and *I* thought "Clipper" was a database language developed by > Nantucket in 1986. Silly me :) Some of us are old enough to remember Pan American World Airways, the original owner of the Clipper trade mark! Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: craig@osh3.OSHA.GOV (Craig Nordin) Subject: Re: Warning: AT&T Putting NSA Wiretap Chips in "Secure" Phone System Organization: U.S. D.O.L - Occupational Safety & Health Admin. Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 22:43:59 GMT I speak only for myself ... In Jeff Hall writes: > I would think that if you are using your phone legitimately, then > having a Clipper Chip is another layer of protection from outsiders. > If you have something to say that you don't want ANYONE else to hear, > go see the guy in a crowded coffee shop and no one will notice. > Take the politics to a political forum. But it is mixed. Here is the problem: The combination of a few lesser changes in law and technology may give our government *unprecedented* levels of control over private citizens' communication. Each of the lesser changes is rather weak, but put together -- they make a monster. NOTE THESE PIECES: The White House statement insinuates that no U.S. Citizen has a right to a strong encryption scheme. The White House may very well start legislation that will outlaw non-Clipper encryption schemes. You may be forced to use only Clipper. The Justice Department needs no warrant to record your Clipper-encrypted packets -- it only needs the warrant to read them. Each Clipper-encrypted packet has sender and destination ID on it. The Police will be able to set filters in any packet stream they want to troll for your id (WITHOUT WARRANT!). They could save it for years and then decide to get the warrant and read it. The announcement was vague about the institutions that would archive the "split" keys. This does not engender trust or faith. This Clipper algorithm may be impressive, but I wonder how long it will last with tens of thousands of hackers concentrating only on it. Then who will have access? Each day all of us depend more and more on electronic communications. We conduct more and more of our lives over the networks. In ten or twenty years e-mail will be like breathing for a very large (and the most powerful?) segment of the population. It may become hard to take a breath on the Net without being monitored. US Department of Labor Craig Nordin craig@osh3.osha.gov OSHA OMDS FSDB #N3661 uunet!osh1.osha.gov!osh3!craig 200 Constitution Ave. NW Phone (FTS/202) v:219-7788 x57 fax:219-5830 Washington D.C. 20210 Standard, Complete, and Constant Disclaimers ------------------------------ From: charlie.mingo@his.com (Charlie Mingo) Reply-To: charlie.mingo@his.com Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 18:22:43 Subject: Re: White House Encryption Proposal bcapps@atlastele.com (Brent Capps) writes on 20 Apr 93: > trh42502@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Dream Weaver) writes: >> There also seems to be a consensus that to make this workable ALL >> other private cryptology and nonregistered keys will be outlawed. > I seriously doubt whether a prohibition like this would stand > up to a court challenge. This would be tantamount to the government > setting up an official approval process for certain kinds of > speech (encrypted) which it is clearly forbidden to do under > the First Amendment. The First Amendment does not prohibit the government from any sort of regulation of speech. To simplify a bit, it prohibits the government from regulating speech on the basis of _viewpoint_, while leaving it free to impose "reasonable time, place and manner restrictions." Thus, the government can require parade permits or can prohibit (say) noisy activities in residental neighborhoods at night, so long as it does so without regard to the viewpoint of the persons regulated. It seems to me that the use of encryption relates more to the _manner_ of conveying a message, rather than to the viewpoint being expressed. You might argue that regulation of encryption was actually designed to burden the speech of those who were most likely to use encryption (be they drug smugglers or EFF members), but the courts have not been too sympathetic to such arguments in the past, unless it could be shown that prohibiting encryption other than the Clipper Chip would effectively _prevent_ some group of people from communicating. This it does not do. ------------------------------ From: lairdb@crash.cts.com Subject: Re: Clipper Chip, et al. Date: 29 Apr 93 22:11:23 GMT Followup to a RISKS article ... In digest risks@csl.sri. com writes: > I'm wondering how the Clipper Chip (actually, the entire genre of encrypted > telephone technology) impacts the rules of evidence presented in a court of > law. I believe that current rules of evidence require that, when a phone is > being tapped, that a person be listening in on the phone at the time that it > is being recorded (tapped). A tape recording by itself is not admissible; > there must be a person who will testify that he (she), indeed, listened in on > the phone line and that the tape recording is an accurate representation of > what was said. > With encrypted (digital) telephony and POST-HOC decryption, it is not > possible to have a human listen in on the live conversation in order > to testify to the authenticity of the tape. The only way for this to > work is to get the keys in advance and decrypt the conversation in > real time. Okay, try this out: would it be possible to transmit both a "genuine" encrypted data stream *and* a "spoof" Clipper stream on a single line, where the spoof stream contains only boring traffic (local radio station, for example?) When the authority first listened to the line, they would see a Clipper-stream (and some other stuff), get the ID, get the keys, and presto, they've got the greatest hits playing, with some static in the background (the real data stream)? Just a thought; not sure what it gains (other than royally irritating the investigators.) Laird P. Broadfield lairdb@crash.cts.com ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb ------------------------------ From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Date: 29 Apr 1993 00:15:47 -0400 Organization: The Programmers' Pit Stop, Ann Arbor MI (David Singer) wrote: > So, if you keep your pager on your bedside table, and one night at > 2am the voltage gets a little low, be prepared to be awakened by very > loud, very annoying beeping. I wish my pager did that. I have a Motorola Bravo Plus pager (numeric-only), and it doesn't beep or vibrate when it goes to LO CELL mode. It doesn't beep for OUT OF RANGE, either, another feature that I find annoying. A couple nights ago, I went to sleep and accidentally left the pager in vibe mode. When I woke up, the batteries were dead. Apparently I had gotten a page sometime overnight, and the pager had completely run down the batteries by vibrating every two minutes all night long. Of course, I lost the page. It would be awfully nice if the pager would go into "low-power" mode when it displays LO CELL; perhaps turning off the constant clock display, going to a faster backlight timeout, and just flashing the light when in "silent alert" mode instead of vibrating. I also wonder why Motorola chose to use incandescent lamps for the alert light and the LCD backlight. They suck much more power than LEDs for the equivalent illumination, and LEDs are smaller to boot. A red LED also doesn't kill your nightvision, like a white incandescent lamp does. >I now turn my pager off at night because of this. Unfortunately, that's not an option for me -- one of the bigger reasons I have a pager in the first place is so that people can contact me at any time without disturbing the other people that I share my main phone line with. Marc Unangst, N8VRH mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us ------------------------------ From: hwdub@chevron.com (Dub Dublin) Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Reply-To: hwdub@chevron.com Organization: Chevron Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 20:10:04 GMT I looked at both an NEC and the Motorola Advisor before selecting the Advisor. We didn't even bother to test the NEC though, because its display was only 4 lines x 16 chars as opposed to Motorola's 4 lines x 20 chars. When the display is already small, this makes a BIG difference. NEC may have a new model by now, but they have a tough sell against my experience with Motorola's quality and durability. Contrary to what one poster has said, I get great (actually, damn near amazing) battery life from my Advisor -- a battery lasts me about two or three weeks (I don't bother to turn it off when I get home -- this seems to _extend_ the battery life!) I also almost never use the vibrator, though - if you insist on the good vibes, you'll pay in AAA's. (Hint: I've found that the most comfortable way to carry the thing is to clip it sideways through a belt loop, which makes the vibrator mode pretty useless, but makes sitting much more comfortable.) In all I get nearly the same battery life from the AAA battery in the Advisor that I got from the AA battery in the Bravo I had before. Also, although the Advisor is bigger than a Bravo, it's about the same weight. I will be posting a summary of what I've learned about Alpha paging programs for DOS, Windoze, Macs, and UNIX by Monday (I hope.) Dub Dublin Chevron Information Technology Company email: hwdub@chevron.com phone: (713) 596-3199 PROFS: never again... ------------------------------ From: Steven Warner Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Organization: RTFM / beachSystems, Sunnyvale, CA, USA Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 21:41:49 GMT In article (David Singer) writes: > be no way to disable the "low cell" warning on the pager. So, if you keep > your pager on your bedside table, and one night at 2am the voltage gets > a little low, be prepared to be awakened by very loud, very annoying beeping. This is a programmable feature. The low cell warning can be made silent. Motorola will change any programming options (there are hundreds) for $10, if you send it to them. Steven Warner (34W 36L) sgw@boy.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) From: a_rubin%dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) Date: 29 Apr 93 16:02:33 GMT Reply-To: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) In macwhiz@roundtable.cif. rochester.edu (Rob Levandowski) writes: > In dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: >> Pat is correct here; the banks are transferring debit and credit >> information electronically (plug: some of them even use Westmark >> systems to accomplish this!) and very fast. But before we get too >> upset over it, let's remember that it works both ways. Pat, next time >> you deposit a check you have received from someone else, watch how >> fast you get credited! > I'd love to know what bank you go to; both Fleet Bank NA here in > Rochester New York, and Fleet Bank in Connecticut as well as Winsted > Savings Bank also in Connecticut -- all of whom I have recently done > business with -- take three to five banking days to make deposited > funds available. Longer if you make a large deposit. I've found they > like to play with my money, and it makes me leery of using the bank > unless I really really have to. :) I believe most (US) banks have set their default "hold" period on deposits to the maximum allowed by Federal law; the first $100 is immediate; the next $5000 within 5 business days, and the rest within 10 business days. However, if you are a good regular customer, (as Pat notes in his moderator's note, which I unfortunately deleted), the bank might give you some leeway. In addition, even if you aren't a good customer, the banks I've used here (Security Pacific (now gone) and First Interstate Bank) will, after 3 days, on specific request, call the issueing bank to ask them if the check has cleared there, and release the hold. Telecom question: why not a data link? Hmmmmm. Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea 216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal) My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer. ------------------------------ From: Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 17:31:36 GMT In article ohsie@cs.columbia.edu (David Ohsie) writes: > [original questions omitted; see the referenced article] > Perhaps it would be more relevant to ask these questions with the > words "federal government" in place of the words "telecom industry"? And while we're at it, "cable television industry", too. (I have always strongly believed that the ONLY business either Telcos or cable companies should be permitted to engage in is provision of the pipe -- no origination of any "services" or "programming". I imagine just this once I'll find a sympathetic audience out in lelecom land ... unfortunately, it doesn't look like things will end up this way.) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 10:29:28 -0700 (PDT) From: David W. Barts Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service wegeng.henr801c@xerox.com (Don Wegeng) writes: > I am not certain of this, but I believe that telephone service to the > north rim is provided via a feed from the south rim, using a buried > cable that runs along the Bright Angel Trail and the North Kaibab > Trail (spelling?). The south rim water supply is fed from the north > rim along the same route (except in the opposite direction). They > both cross the Colorado River on a suspension bridge near Phantom > Ranch, which is a hotel at the bottom of the canyon (accessible only > by foot or mule train). As I recall there is a payphone at Phantom > Ranch, though I didn't use it when I was there two years ago. Egad! Talk about your high-pressure pipelines! A little back-of-the- envelope calculating gives me a rough estimate of a water pressure of 2800 psi at the bottom of the canyon. I remarked in private E-mail to the original poster that perhaps there was no phone service at the North Rim and the number was that of an answering service in someplace like Flagstaff, but it looks like my guess was wrong. My guess was based on how guest lodges in Stehekin, WA handle their reservations. Stehekin is in a valley in the North Cascades at the far end of a 50-mile long lake. There are no roads connecting it to the rest of the world; access is by hiking trails, float plane, or a boat ride up the lake from Chelan, WA. There are also no phone or electric lines serving Stehekin from the outside -- there once was phone service but the lines would get knocked out each winter by avalanches and it was simply too expensive to keep repairing it. The community has its own small hydroelectric plant, and phone service is limited to a few (possibly only 1) radiotelephone channels. Guest lodges have phone numbers listed, but these all go to an answering service in Chelan, and are relayed up the lake by radiotelephone or mail. David Barts N5JRN UW Civil Engineering, FX-10 davidb@ce.washington.edu Seattle, WA 98195 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #293 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa24576; 30 Apr 93 13:51 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06024 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 09:16:47 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16135 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 09:16:04 -0500 Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 09:16:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199304301416.AA16135@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #294 TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Apr 93 09:16:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 294 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson DCR Adds 11 Music Channels (Brad Hicks) InfoWorld Accuracy (was A Star is Born) (Tad Cook) Fax Machines in P.R. China (Bob F. Howard) Tapping the Line (Brian Zimmerman) 411 - Automatically Transfers? (Andy Chan) Interact 93, Interactive Services Conference, July 18-21 (Nigel Allen) NPA 905 and Mexico (Tony Harminc) Cordless Always Transmitting? (Steve L. Edwards) Help Available For Users of Franklin Datacom Equipment (Micheal Parkhurst) Re: DTMF Universality? (Brent Capps) Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line (Michael Bender) Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Hamish Moffatt) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") (David Tamkin) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=0205925@mhs.attmail.com Date: 29 Apr 93 19:44:45 GMT Subject: DCR Adds 11 Music Channels I just got a notice that on Monday, May 3rd, Digital Cable Radio (not to be confused with Digital Music Express) will be expanding their offerings from 19 channels to 30 channels. For those of you who missed the previous discussion, DCR and DMX are rival services that offer 24 hours daily, seven days per week music service to cable companies, who resell it to you. The music is shipped in digital form, sample sample size and rate as compact disks, in the bandwidth left over from unused TV channels. Your monthly rental fee typically includes a converter box (which plugs into your stereo) and a remote control. DCR has a toll free number which will tell you the artist, song, and album names for the last three songs on any channel; DMX displays this info on the remote control. I slapped together a table comparing DCR's old offerings to their new offerings. To Pat's would-be delight, they're adding a third classical channel. They're also expanding from one country channel to three, from seven rock channels to ten (adding rap, dance, and reggae), from two jazz channels to three (plus moving New Age from the second jazz channel to one of its own), and splitting each of the following single channels into two: alternative, Latino, and Big Band/Nostalgia. As before, every other form of music is shoe-horned into scheduled hours on the last channel, renamed "Spectrum America." They didn't say =when= on Monday they're going to make the change-over. It could matter; if, for example, you leave your DCR tuned to channel 18 when you go to bed Sunday night because you sleep better with Christian music, you might get blasted awake at midnight if that's when channel 18 changes to rap. Or you could go to sleep to Solid Gold Oldies and wake up disoriented by "space music" on the New Age channel. Or you could drift off to sleep to a gentle flow of Easy Listening and be blasted awake by Bruce Springstein when that channel switches over to Classic Rock. You get the picture. This reviewer says: a good deal gets better. Old Channel New Channel 8 Classical Favorites 1 Classical Favorites 9 Classical II 2 Classics in Concert 3 Classical Adventures 4 New Age 10 Easy Listening 5 Easy Listening 12 Love Songs 6 Love Songs 7 Contemp. Jazz/New Age 7 Contemporary Jazz 14 Jazz 8 Jazz 9 Blues 6 Classic Rock 10 Classic Rock 4 Sold Gold Oldies 11 Solid Gold Oldies 1 Soft Rock 12 Soft Rock 13 Modern Acoustic Alternative 16 Modern Rock 14 Modern Rock 17 Hard & Heavy Rock 15 Hard & Heavy Rock 2 Hit List 16 Hit List 17 Dance 18 Rap 5 Urban Beat 19 Urban Beat 20 Reggae 15 Musica Latina 21 Latin Pop 22 Latin Tropical Rhythms 18 Contemp. Christian/Gospel 23 Contemporary Christian 3 Country 24 New Country 25 Classic Country 26 Country Gold 11 Big Band/Nostalgia 27 Big Band/Swing 28 Show Tunes 13 For Kids Only 29 For Kids Only 19 Spectrum 30 Spectrum America J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ Subject: InfoWorld Accuracy (was A Star is Born) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 12:27:47 PDT From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) (J. Brad Hicks) mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com writes: > Why did I go to the trouble of writing this all up for you folks on > TELECOM Digest? So you'd see that even with Ms. LaPlante submitting > her second to last draft to me for corrections, once it passes through > an editor, there's no guarantee of any accuracy; in this case, there > were an even dozen errors or misrepresentations. You should probably > assume that ALL articles in {InfoWorld}, or any other trade magazine, > are about this accurate. This reminds me of a bizarre article I saw in {InfoWorld} a couple of years ago. This was then the government was starting to talk about a major reassignment of VHF radio frequency allocations that were not being used by the military and federal government. Of course the spectrum could be allocated for many different modes and users, but I think the reporter or editor got some buzzwords confused. Wherever the article (and the headline) used the word SPECTRUM, referring to the frequency allocations, they used the expression SPREAD SPECTRUM. So reading the article, it sounded like this major reallocation was being made for just ONE of many possible transmission modes, spread spectrum! In other issues around the same time there was lots of talk about using spread spectrum modes for the various license free LAN linkup schemes at 902 Mhz, so perhaps this is where they got their words confused. I sent both an e-mail message and eventually a follow-up fax to the reporter asking for clarification, since reallocation of this huge expanse of RF spectrum to only ONE type of use should be a major news story and a major shift in government policy, but I never received an answer, nor did {InfoWorld} ever print a correction. Oh by the way, that WAS a great picture of Brad in {InfoWorld}! >From his posts here, I never quite pictured him looking like that, but then people that I only talk to on the phone or email with never do. Geeze ... he looks like me in the late '60s! tad@ssc.com (if it bounces, use 3288544@mcimail.com) Tad Cook | Packet Amateur Radio: | Home Phone: Seattle, WA | KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 206-527-4089 ------------------------------ From: Bob.F.Howard@aabbs.calcom.socal.com (Bob F. Howard) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 11:53:18 -0800 Subject: Fax Machines in P.R. China I have several friends that took personal fax machines to China but they did not work. Murata's and Minolota's model not known. They all have t/p swtiches and power adpaters have been used for 220V. Any reason why they don't work? I suspect the China side may be using 10 pps on the pulse so it is slower than the built-in 20pps pulse. That may be the problem. Now, I have heard there is a particular brand and model that does work, in fact a cheaper low end model ... thing is the guy who told me could not name the brand model. Note, that currently personal faxes are not allowed in China. Having a fax machine access thru state run firms and joint investment firms are a precious connection there to get anything done. Heavy fines and jail penalties can occur. Any input on this subject would be appreicated. -< Asia America Bulletin Board Service (818) 284-4519 Fido 1:102/774 >- * Origin: Asia America (1:102/774) ** calcom.socal.com ** ------------------------------ From: brianz@software.pulse.com (Brian Zimmerman) Subject: Tapping the Line Date: 29 Apr 1993 12:45:12 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway In a "Next-Generation DLC", one simple message on the EOC can set up an undetectable tap of any channel. The switch must allocate the DS0(s) as necessary, but the RDT (at least) can add the duplicate DS0(s) as well as the actual DS0(s) back to the switch. The worst is that it doubles the bandwidth used on the link. There is no *electrical* way of detecting the duplication. Only a query to the Time Slot Interchange unit can reply as to the presence of a tap. As Greg Andrews points out, it is just a sniffer. Once the FBI black box receives the DS0s, only a scrambler at the handset could protect a conversation, or an encrypter to protect the data. Now, if I can do that easily at the RDT, why can't the switch do the same thing *without* wasting the bandwidth to the RDT? You should be *very* concerned about the wide range of mis-use that can occur. Anything that hits the network can be tapped within seconds. Will that create a large market for handset scramblers (and black box de-scramblers)? Brian Zimmerman [brianz@pulse.com] Pulse Communications Inc., a division of Hubbell (not the telescope) All opinions are my own, none other ------------------------------ From: abc@netcom.com (Andy Chan) Subject: 411 - Automatically Transfers? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 20:03:32 GMT Ok, how come there's no option to have the phone number be automatically dialed when I call 411? For example: Operator: "What City?" Me: "San Jose" Operator: "place?" Me: "Towne Theatre." Operator: "here you go ..." Machine: "the number is xxx-xxxx ..." Machine: "press 1 to have this number dialed for you ..." Machine: "you will be charged xx cents for this." Whatddayathink? Andy [Moderator's Note: What you describe is common in many areas, and has been available for a couple of years for people who want to spend the additional money. Some telcos (apparently yours as well) have not yet implemented it; I suspect all will before too long. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 20:01:20 EDT From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Interact 93, Interactive Services Association conference, July 18-21 Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca Interact 93, Toronto, July 18-21, 1993 will be the 8th Annual Conference of the Interactive Services Association, formerly the Videotex Industry Association. The ISA is an 11-year-old North American association serving companies that provide network-based interactive services. For more information about attending the conference or joining the association, contact: Interactive Services Association 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 865 Silver Spring, MD 20910 U.S.A. telephone (301) 495-4955 fax (301) 495-4959 Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ae446@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 20:09:19 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: NPA 905 and Mexico I thought the biggest problem with the upcoming 416/905 split for the Toronto suburbs was that 905 borders 705. But I recently received a FAX from a Mexico City company that listed their FAX number on the cover page as (905) xxx-xxxx! Dialing Mexico City using 905 hasn't worked for a least a year now, but if people *there* still think that's the way to dial them, I suspect more than a few people in the new 905 are going to be getting wrong numbers starting in October. And I note that the AT&T "International Telephone Guide" found in a California hotel room recently (dated 3/92) still says "if International Direct Dialing (sic) is not available in your area ..." and lists 905 and 706 for places in Mexico. Sigh ... Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: sle@world.std.com (steve l edwards) Subject: Cordless Always Transmitting? Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 07:45:04 GMT I have a Cobra cordless telephone. I noticed there is no switch hook. Does this imply that the base unit is always transmitting even if the cordless unit is sitting unused in the cradle? Steve ------------------------------ From: mikes%franklin@holonet.net (Micheal Scott Parkhurst) Subject: Help Available For Users of Franklin Datacom Equipment Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 13:44:24 -0800 Reply-To: mikes@franklindata.com Organization: Franklin Datacom, Inc. (SoCal) Hello all, Please respond via email, not posting! I would like to ask anyone who is using Franklin Datacom equipment to please send me a short note discribing your installation. Things like what protocols (SNA, X.25, UTS, Burroughs Poll Select, ect..), what kind of card (icp9,icp188,icp186, ect..), how many cards/ports in use, and lastly what version of software (MPP, NCC, EM3274, ect ...). We have been making equipment since 1986 and some of you out there have not bothered to upgrade since your first purchase. Notices about our new products will be posted from time to time. If there are enough responses Franklin will establish a news group of our own for responses to new products and technical support. Again, please respond via email, not posting! Thank you, Mike Parkhurst Tech. Supp. Manager ------------------------------ From: bcapps@atlastele.com (Brent Capps) Subject: Re: DTMF Universality? Organization: Atlas Telecom Inc. Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 15:51:36 GMT johnper@bunsen.rosemount.com writes: > Does anyone know if the rest of the world generally uses the same DTMF > frequencies (and button assignments) as are used in the US? (I'm > particularly interested in the UK.) The DTMF *frequencies* are the same throughout the world, however watch out for the minimum digit duration, interdigit timeout, return loss, and twist which vary from country to country. Also some don't implement *, #, ABCD. Unlike North America and most of the rest of Europe, the UK has no required minimum digit duration or interdigit pause time for manual DTMF senders, but it is recommended that the digit duration be at least 40ms. Automatic senders are required to have 68ms minimum digit duration and interdigit pause. DTMF receivers homologated for use in North America will occasionally miss DTMF digits if used in the UK. As for pushbutton keypad assignments around the world, there was a long thread on this subject a couple of months ago, it should be in the archives. Be aware that DTMF is generally called MFPB (multifrequency push button) in many parts of the world. Brent Capps bcapps@agora.rain.com (gay stuff) bcapps@atlastele.com (telecom stuff) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 14:33:14 PDT From: Michael.Bender@Eng.Sun.COM (Duke of Canterbury) Subject: Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line Organization: SPARK's R US Reply-To: Michael.Bender@Eng.Sun.COM In article is written: > He: If we find them running 14.4's on voice lines, we'll disconnect > them. They are lucky to be getting good transfers at that rate anyhow. > Me: Really? Why? > He: They interfere with voice communication. The only baud that will work > over voice lines effectively is 300 and below lines. 2400 is WAY too > fast to be transmitting. If we get calls about problems and they are > traced to your modem, we'll disconnect you too. So, how does US West reconcile this with AT&T offering their videophone that runs at speeds "greater than 300 baud" (around 14.4K I think)? Sure sounds like a case of one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. Maybe it's because neither hand is attached to the body :-). mike bender DOD# 007 415-863-8913 (home) 1991 FJ1200 bender@oobleck.eng.sun.com 415-336-6353 (work) [Moderator's Note: Maybe what is needed is a press release to the major media along with telecom industry publications stating that 'US West acknowledges lines and facilities not compatible with AT&T Videophones ... Company says high speed modem users not allowed on network due to antiquated lines and switching equipment.' Quote extensively by name the fellow who was out there to correct the original problem who claimed things could not be fixed to work any better, and how the company policy was to disconnect service to people with modems, etc. Let *him* explain to his superiors why he would have made such statements. That happened one time with NY Tel a number of years ago when they sent out someone to 'repair' the lines of a reporter for the {New York Herald-Tribune}. The repair person did not know the customer was telecom saavy and a newspaper reporter to boot. The repair guy gave the customer a crock about 'company policies' ... the reporter quoted him verbatim, "according to Mr. XX, an employee of NY Tel ... etc." The manure *did* hit the fan! :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 29 Apr 1993 16:56:53 +1000 From: hamish@cloud.apana.org.au (Hamish Moffatt) Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries Organization: Cloud Nine BBS, Melbourne, Australia. dale@access.digex.com (Dale Farmer) writes: > Any special handling of a number costs extra. not listed, not > published, multiple names per number, whatever ... Actually, down here in Australia, not published is free. (Not listed / silent incurs a $2.50/month charge, though). In fact since your number is not published, you are saving the phone company space in the phone book, and if enough people have unpublished numbers, they can save paper and publishing costs. In fact, perhaps the phone company should pay US to for unpublished numbers. :-) hamish ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 23:12 CDT Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Reply-To: dattier@genesis.mcs.com (DWT) Organization: Contributor Account at MCS, Chicago, Illinois 60657 From: dattier@genesis.MCS.COM (DWT) Nigel Allen wrote in in comp.dcom.telecom: > While telephone companies have been able to persuade companies to > answer their phone lines with their company names, most individuals in > Canada and the United States answer their phones with "Hello" (or the > equivalent in their own language). > However, you will find a handful of people -- politicians and their > families, people with home-based businesses, eccentrics like me -- > answering their home phone lines with their name. Businesses welcome calls from the public and the notion that using the company name is the professional thing to do has spread to businesses that cater only to others within their industry. People at home aren't glad to receive just any phone call from anyone at all. "Hello?" is intoned as a question because it is: on a call to a residence it's up to the caller to identify himself or herself be- fore the callee does. I lost count of how many times in my childhood some futz friend of my late father would call, get angry that I and not my father had answered the phone, and demand of me, "Who's this?" I'd say, "You dialed our number. You know who I am. But our phone sounds the same no matter who calls us [before Multi-Ring and Dis- tinctive Ringing]. *I* don't know who *you* are." More so, I don't want someone who may have dialed my home number at random or by mistake to learn the phone number that reached me and certainly not to learn my address. Maybe if I shared a phone line with several non-relatives as Nigel did at 16 Major I'd have to make other choices, but then I'd feel less vulnerable because people found at home would be unlikely to be alone. Still, if I'd been there with him I'd have suggested that we name the residence and answer the phone with its name rather than its address. I'm not even keen on offering my name (though I must in my answering machine greeting so that people know they've reached me and (1) can hang up if they wanted someone else and (2) can feel free to say something intended for my ears only; nothing is worse than those canned celebrity impersonation greetings that leave you not knowing whose machine you've reached but still have the gall to ask you for your name and number) until I know who has called my home phone. David W. Tamkin Box 59297 Northtown Station, Illinois 60659-0297 dattier@genesis.mcs.com CompuServe: 73720,1570 MCI Mail: 426-1818 [Moderator's Note: It is worth noting there are still a few business places which answer the phone saying 'hello' also, to add still another twist to this. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #294 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13162; 30 Apr 93 22:58 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08825 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:36:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12370 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:36:00 -0500 Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:36:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305010036.AA12370@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #295 TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Apr 93 19:36:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 295 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson LA. PSC Cracks Down on Long-Distance Slamming (Wm. Bryant Faust) Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! (Jerry Stubbs) Toronto Area Freenet Meeting Report (Rick Zwiep) Telephone Line Impedence (Thomas Chen) Baltimore Clipper (A. Padgett Peterson) Secretive Areas (Justin Leavens) Cellular Systems in Various Countries (How do They Differ)? (Farooq Butt) E-Mail/Modem Connections Between USA and Mexico (E. Drew Einhorn) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Carl Moore) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Larry Jones) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Matt Simpson) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Roger Theriault) Debit Calling Cards (Laurence Chiu) Re: Anonymous Use of Talk Tickets (Jack Powers) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. ***DO NOT*** cross post the articles here to any other Usenet/alt newsgroup or vice-versa. Send tithes to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Apr 93 13:43 CDT From: Wm. Bryant Faust, IV Subject: LA PSC Cracks Down on Long-Distance Slamming From the April 30, 1993 {Times-Picayune} PSC CRACKS DOWN ON LONG DISTANCE SLAMMING Long distance telephone companies wanting to sign up new customers in Louisiana will have to get the customers to sign on the dotted line. The Public Service Commission Tuesday orders universal use of a form signed by customers as a way of preventing "slamming," the practice of switching customers long-distance service without their knowledge. The order follows hudreds of complaints by people against two companies, Cherry Communications Inc. of Chicago and Heartline Communications Inc. of Houston. The commission also agreed to let Heartline resume marketing its services in the state, after the firm agreed to abide by the new ruling. Heartline will continue to market their services by distributing coupons at restaurants and other public places that say two percent of long-distance charges will be given to children's charities, or that the person filling out the form might win a pickup truck. But the form now clearly says -- in large letters -- that it is an application to switch long-distance services. And company officials will follow up the form with a written confirmation letter. The commission held off on allowing Cherry Communications to begin signing up customers again, after Assistant Attorney General Tammy Velasquez said an investigation into consumer fraud allegations involving the company isn't complete. Velasquez said the company had attempted to refund switching charges to a number of customers who complained of being slammed, but said several of the $12 checks bounced. Attorney Edmund Reggie, who represents the company, said that the bounced checks resulted when the company accidentally closed the account on which the checks were drawn. Reggie said new checks were sent out as soon as the mistake was discovered, but Valasquez said several of those who complained to her office were afraid to cash them for fear of being charged bounced check fees by their banks a second time. Edward Callegos, an administrative law judge for the commission, said the company hasn't provided evidence that its promises to customers of bills 10 percent less than other carriers was true. Wm. Bryant Faust, IV La. State Univ. Medical Center wfaust@nomvs.lsumc.edu ------------------------------ From: Jerry Stubbs Subject: Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! Organization: University of Kansas Computer Science Dept Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:56:34 GMT A friend of mine's roommate ran up a big 900 bill over a three month period and has split. I guess the phone company will bump off one month of it but they want the rest. What can this guy do? The scoundrel hid the phone bills until they shut off the service. I'll check mail and this group again today. If anyone knows of any good legal recourse it will be much appreciated. [Moderator's Note: There is legal recourse, but it is against the former roomate, and would involve skip-tracing him from what you say. Neither telco or the 900 carrier -- as sleazy as most of them are -- can be held responsible. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Rick_Zwiep@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com Organization: Macintosh Awareness Group In Canada Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 22:25:39 EST Subject: Toronto Area Freenet Meeting Report Just back from the {2nd?} public meeting of the Toronto Area Free-Net. Over 150 (my count) attended -- they turned people away from the Palmerston Library meeting room. Dave Sutherland from Carlton gave a demo and background on the National Capital Free-Net, which went "public" on Feb 1.They have 40 x 2400bps links for some 4000 enrolled {free} members, with 50-100 apps a day coming in (some with donation cheques! {Mark, take note - they have raised $20K this way already!}. The current Toronto Steering Cttee. consists of 6 folks: Allan Earle 597-6947 Judson Newell 391-5480 jud.newell@rose.com Laine Ruus 978-5365 laine@vm.utcc.utoronto.ca Sam Sternberg 636-3354 David Tallan 944-3782 tallan@flis.utoronto.ca Peter Tindall 620-3113 ptindall@delphi.com The first meeting of the Hardware/Software committee will be Thur April 22 at 5:00pm in room 4049 at Robarts Library (UofT -- St. George/Harbord) for anyone interested in helping spec out the operational setup of the free-net. This is a tremendous opportunity for anyone wanting to get involved at the grassroots level, right from the beginning, with a community information and communications service. {kind of nets out to being MAGIC for the masses}. Will post more details tommorrow, as my time is up today. ------------------------------ From: tchen@sdesys1.hns.com (Thomas Chen) Subject: Telephone Line Impedence Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:24:54 GMT Organization: Hughes Network Systems Inc. Does anyone out there know what the line impedence can be before the line become unusable? Tom ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Apr 93 11:06:09 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. PADGETT PETERSON) Subject: Baltimore Clipper Actually, long before the Boeing or Martin "Clippers", there were the "Baltimore Clippers". As near as I can tell the term came into use right around the war of 1812 to describe an exceptionally speedy ship and most were designed to be able to run blockades. The term "China Clipper" referred to those used for the opium trade with China, again being very fast and able to outrun government ships. Interesting heritage wot? Re: "listening in" requirement for wiretaps. Again if what the law enforcement department was issued on receipt of a warrent was a "receive only" duplicate Clipper chip. This would be easily satisfiable, however with one important difference -- a court *might* be able to admit a pre-recorded tape on the grounds that a Clipper code could not be forged. Interesting thought. This comes closer to what I think the real intent of Clipper is: not necessarily to enforce privacy but to provide a legal defense for doctors, hospitals, lawyers, etc., etc. who have a legal requirement to protect information from disclosure but no inexpensive way to do so electronically. In short, protected information is still going to be protected and there will still be a need for secure information transmittal. Clipper does not provide this but what it does do is allow *reasonable* protection for day to day information that is not now protected but should be. At the same time is will provide a cloak that will make it difficult to tell which information is *only* Clipper protected and which has other layers. Telecommuting data for the most part does not require KG-class encryption but it does need authentication and it must be shielded from routine evesdropping or companies will not permit it on a large scale, something which the current administration seems to be committed to. Clipper can provide both, a *good enough* shield for routine commerce while also providing effective authentication that can be far more secure than just passwords or PINs. *By the fact that two or more parties can communicate, they will authenticate each other.* And far better than the simple dial-up mechanisms that we use today. Further, it is designed to be cheap -- $30 chip price should add less than $100 to the price of a cell phone or a modem. This then is what I expect from Clipper, not a "perfectly secure" answer but one that is "good enough" to protect routine telecommunications from interception and fraud. I would be very surprised to find out that it could not do this. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 08:46:54 -0800 From: leavens@bmf.usc.edu (Justin Leavens) Subject: Secretive Areas Taken from the {LA Times}, 4/30/93: Nine of the ten regions with the highest percentage of unlisted phone numbers are in California, according to Survey Sampling Inc. of Fairfield, Conn. Don't bother with the sociological theories about the Golden State. Pac Bell has one of the cheapest rates for concealing one's phone number. The charge is about 30 cents a month in California, compared to $1.88 in New York and $4 in Idaho. The ten regions most likely to have unpublished phone numbers: 1- Las Vegas (64.6% unlisted) 2- Fresno (63.1%) 3- L.A.-Long Beach (61.7%) 4- Oakland (61.6%) 5- San Jose (60.2%) 6- Sacramento (59.8%) 7- Riverside-San Bernadino (57.7%) 8- Anaheim-Santa Ana (57.1%) 9- San Diego (56.5%) 10-Bakersfield (55.2%) (Now, why so many people in Bakersfield wish to remain anonymous, I'll never know - JL) Justin Leavens : Microcomputer Specialist : University of Southern California leavens@bmf.usc.edu My opinion is that my opinions are my opinions ------------------------------ From: fmbutt@engage.sps.mot.com (Farooq M. Butt) Subject: Cellular Systems in Various Countries (How Do They Differ)? Organization: Motorola RISC Software, Austin, TX Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 20:42:09 GMT Please enlighten this dcom.neophyte :-) We all know that one can purchase a regular phone in the USA and take it say to South East Asia and have it work fine using the pulse mode. My question: what's involved with taking a **cellular** phone, say a Motorola MicroTac II to Asia? Are the cellular systems there totally different and incompatible? Is there *any* hope of coaxing (no pun intended) a cellular phone purchased in the USA to work anywhere else or is this purposely disabled? If there are incompatible/compatible systems worldwide, could someone let me know which systems are compatible with the USA's? Finally, IF cellular systems are completely different, exactly how much effort is involved in getting a stateside phone to work elsewhere? Does one need PROMS or does the whole phone have to be reworked? I am thinking of taking one to Hong Kong and China was wondering whether the hitches I'll run into will be technical or administrative (i.e. whether I'll be told "sir there's no way in hell we CAN get your USA MicroTac to work here" OR "sir there's no way in hell we WILL let you use your MicroTac here")? Sorry for the beginner-type questions, but I am blissfully ignorant about the implementations of cellular systems. Any advice and opinions will be GREATLY appreciated! Please email and I will summarize if there's interest, Thanks, fmb These are MY Opinions NOT my employer's. ------------------------------ From: einhorn_d@apsicc.aps.edu (E. Drew Einhorn) Subject: E-Mail/Modem Connections Between USA and Mexico Date: 30 Apr 1993 11:08 MST Organization: Albuquerque Public Schools - Career Enrichment Center At work I need to establish an E-Mail connection between our Albuquerque, NM office and our office in Mexico City. We are running Lotus' cc:mail system in our American offices. The simplest approach would seem to be: send them a copy of cc:mail and a garden variety modem. Will a modem designed for domestic USA use work on a Mexican phone line? Are there other technical issues? Are there regulatory issues with state or national governments on either side of the border with the export/import/use of the hardware/software? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Apr 93 10:40:25 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers At the 278 prefix in Aberdeen, Md. (previously in 301, now in 410), on various extensions, I got calls for: Paterson, NJ (apparently 201-278, and Aberdeen was in 301); Providence, RI (401-278, and Aberdeen was in 301; I am not yet aware of calls coming to 410-278 intended for area 401) North East, MD (287 prefix, same area code as Aberdeen) Baltimore, MD (728 prefix, same area code as Aberdeen) Beverly Hills, CA (310-278, during the 301/410 permissive dialing; therefore, I had to say this was 301 or 410) And last but not least were calls to a gynecology clinic elsewhere on the Aberdeen 278 prefix; this turned out to be a case of two digits transposed. ------------------------------ From: scjones@thor.sdrc.com (Larry Jones) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Date: 30 Apr 93 21:32:24 GMT In article , LCHIU@HOLONET.NET writes: > Which leads me to ask a related if somewhat trivial question. What are > telephone keypads laid out in a different orientation that calculators > or even the numeric keypads on PC's or terminals (the 123 row is at > the top while it's at the bottom for calculators and keypads). I find > this quite annoying at times. Weren't at least calculators and/or > terminals with keypads around before the advent of pushbutton > telephones? They were around, but only a miniscule fraction of the telephone-using population had ever used one. Most calculators went by the name "adding machine" and were used by accountants. Electric adding machines where most common, electronic adding machines were just starting to become available. Terminals were rare -- most computer users were still using punched cards and magnetic tape. Bell Labs did an extensive time and motion study of various button arrangements with random telephone users and picked the current arrangement as having the best combination of speed and accuracy. Larry Jones, SDRC, 2000 Eastman Dr., Milford, OH 45150-2789 513-576-2070 larry.jones@sdrc.com ------------------------------ From: sysmatt@aix3090b.uky.edu (Matt Simpson) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 09:32:04 GMT It seems incredibly rude to me to say "Who is this?" when calling someone. If I'm not sure the person who answered is the one I wanted, I ask to speak to So-and-So. When I answer and hear "Who is this?" from the other end, I almost never give my name; partly because I think the caller is a rude jerk, and partly for the reasons mentioned by others of being reluctant to give their name to someone unknown to them. If I'm feeling fairly polite, my normal response to "Who is this?" is "Who did you want?" If I'm feeling a little less polite, my response is "Who wants to know?" Occasionally I respond, with first name only, "This is Matt? Who are you?" Sometimes I just say "Wrong number" and hang up ... nobody I want to talk to says "Who is this?" The answering machine question is a little tougher. My outgoing message has no identifying information (name or phone number) .. I figure my friends know who I am. Of course, that doesn't help people who dial my number by mistake, and don't know me, and aren't sure if I'm who they want. I do occasionally get messages for someone else. I know a lot of people's OGMs have their number, but not their name. This is helpful to people who know what number they wanted, but must mis-dialed it, as long as they're alert enough to catch the number when they hear it. It still doesn't help those who correctly dialed the wrong number. An OGM with first name only would be a good solution for those who want to help the caller determine if s/he has the right number, but not give their full name to every random caller. ------------------------------ From: theriaul@mmddvan (Roger Theriault) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: Motorola - Mobile Data Division; Richmond, BC Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 19:34:31 GMT DWT (dattier@genesis.MCS.COM) wrote: > People at home aren't glad to receive just any phone call from anyone > at all. "Hello?" is intoned as a question because it is: on a call to > a residence it's up to the caller to identify himself or herself be- > fore the callee does. I lost count of how many times in my childhood And just the other day I received at home, Yet Another Stupid Wrong Number. I prefer to know who is calling first, before becoming more sociable, and thus always answer just "Hello?". Most people, even those calling regarding my ski club, pick up on the intonation and either say "Hi this is so-and-so how's it going?", or if they don't recognize my voice, "Is this so-and-so?" or "Is this the Pacific Ski Club?" My answering machine just says "This is Roger and Carmen's phone ... if you're calling the Pacific Ski Club, the 24-hour info line is 877-1422. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you!" If they dialed incorrectly they have no idea what my last name is and thus can't figure out where I live, and they can't call again unless they have redial or a display phone. So this clown, sounding like he was calling from rather far away, responds to my "Hello?" query with one of his own ... the rather annoying conversation went something like this ... (me) "Hello?" (him) three second pause, then "Hello?" (me) "Hello!?" (him) three second pause, then "Yes, hello?" (me) [loudly] "Who is calling?" (him) "Hello?" (me) "Who is this!" (him) "Is this gdsgjag [indecipherable]?" (me) "I'm sorry ... who are you calling for?" (him) "Is Sam there? It's [indecipherable mumble]" (me) "Sorry, you must have the wrong number..." (him) (click) This happens a lot, and I bet it happens to everyone ... but I refuse to tell some stranger anything just because they managed to get me to answer my phone! (Another variation goes ... "Is Mary there?" "No, I'm sorry, there is no 'Mary' here..." "Are you sure?") 8-| Roger Theriault Internet: theriaul@mdd.comm.mot.com UUCP: {uw-beaver,uunet}!van-bc!mdivax1!theriaul CompuServe: 71332,730 (not too often) I am not a spokesman for Motorola or anyone else besides myself. ------------------------------ From: LCHIU@HOLONET.NET Subject: Debit Calling Cards Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access System: 510-704-1058/modem Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 04:44:30 GMT Much has been written lately about telephone debit cards (or value stored cards) and how they are a good way to avoid telephone credit card fraud, etc. I have always had quite strong opinions about these cards and wonder if Digest readers would like to comment. In New Zealand, the majority of pay phones are now card phones where you can ONLY use a stored value card or a calling card.(As was noted by a Telecom NZ staffer in a recent article, calling card calls are always charged at peak time rates on top of the calling card surcharge). Coins are just not an option. So one is forced to carry around a debit card in case one needs to make a call from a pay phone. (As an aside, I remember a couple of years ago some friends from the US came to visit me when I lived in NZ and decided to surprise me. They tried to call me and found the phones only took these cards and had no idea where to buy them from -- it was late at night. How convenient!). My question is, I am sure Telecom NZ wants you to use these phones and wants you to carry the cards. So given that cards can be bought at stationery stores, convenience stores etc. there must be a large number of these cards in circulation. This must be wonderful for Telecom since it gives them effectively a free float of the value of money in the cards. It's rather like Karl Malden exhorting you to keep your Amex traveller's cheques in the drawer for the next trip rather than cashing them in. Amex love having the float available for investment, interest etc. I heard Amex's float was around the $2B mark. I am quite sure Telecom's float would not be that high but it would be useful. An an aside, I am sure this situation exists everywhere stored value cards are used. The UK comes to mind since this is where I first encountered them many years ago. In fact the phones in NZ look very similar to the UK ones -- perhaps they were manufactured there. Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, CA ------------------------------ From: jackp@NETSYS.COM (Jack Powers) Subject: Re: Anonymous Use of Talk Tickets Organization: Netsys Inc. Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 05:51:09 GMT PAT (Revered Moderator): I am gratified to see such support for anonymous telecom, and I'm not kidding. I am a registered Libertarian and *really* believe such options should be available to anyone. My puzzlement is that such things seem a bit out of character for my mental picture of someone who who seems to yearn for the Old Days of a monolithic Ma Bell. Am I drawing bad conclusions from tenuous data, or are you getting more -- er, cough, "LIBsomething"? Normally, I would avoid political matters in a group like this, but I respectfully submit that Moderators have considerable influence, and should acknowledge whatever viewpoints they can. In any case, keep up the good work. Yours is the only group I ALWAYS read. Jack Powers [Moderator's Note: I have some 'small /l/' libertarian leanings for the most part. I do not belong to the Libertarian Party; there are several things about the organized Libertarian movement which I dislike and/or find unrealistic. I still support Ma Bell in large part. Just because you are big does not make you of necessity evil or bad. The Talk Tickets being demonstrated here at the moment are in fact the re-sale of AT&T via US Fibercom, AT&T's largest aggregator/ reseller to the best of my knowledge. I've always tried to cover as many points of view here as I can, but the constant backlog of stuff waiting gets hard to handle sometimes. Thanks for your note. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #295 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16424; 3 May 93 1:04 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09523 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 2 May 1993 22:46:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06118 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 2 May 1993 22:46:01 -0500 Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 22:46:01 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305030346.AA06118@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #296 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 May 93 22:46:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 296 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Steve Forrette) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (John R. Levine) Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) (Justin Leavens) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Mark Petersen) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Harold Hallikainen) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Gordon Hlavenka) Re: Cordless Always Transmitting? (John Gilbert) Re: Cordless Always Transmitting? (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (Carl Moore) Re: Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision (Harold Hallikainen) Re: Anonymous Use of Talk Tickets (Bram Smits) Re: E-Mail/Modem Connections Between USA and Mexico (Tarl Neustaedter) Re: Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI (Tom Gray) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) Date: 2 May 1993 08:38:05 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article a_rubin@dsg4.dse. beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) writes: >> I'd love to know what bank you go to; both Fleet Bank NA here in >> Rochester New York, and Fleet Bank in Connecticut as well as Winsted >> Savings Bank also in Connecticut -- all of whom I have recently done >> business with -- take three to five banking days to make deposited >> funds available. > I believe most (US) banks have set their default "hold" period on > deposits to the maximum allowed by Federal law; the first $100 is > immediate; the next $5000 within 5 business days, and the rest within > 10 business days. I've heard a lot of people make similar complaints about this problem. Consumer pressure was one of the main reasons for the new laws concerning "hold" times that went into effect a few years ago. I've always wondered what kind of banks these people are dealing with. Every bank I've dealt with has always given me same-day availability on just about any check I deposit. I haven't had to request this service specifically, or had a special type of account -- that's just the way these banks did business. I know that before the recent changes, many credit unions would automatically place holds on all check deposits, sometimes up to 14 days. Not only did you not get to take out the money, but you didn't earn interest until the hold was over. That's one of the ways that the credit unions were able to quote you a higher interest rate on deposit accounts -- they got to loan out your money during the hold period and not pay you for it. I don't think that it is hard to find a bank with a reasonable hold policy - just go to a major bank in your region, and I'm sure you'll be fine. I stay away from savings banks and credit unions, and don't have these problems. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ Subject: Banks and funds Availability Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 2 May 93 12:56:11 EDT (Sun) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > I believe most (US) banks have set their default "hold" period on > deposits to the maximum allowed by Federal law; the first $100 is > immediate; the next $5000 within 5 business days, and the rest within > 10 business days. It depends where you are. My bank, Bank of Boston which is a largish international commercial bank, gives you all of your money overnight except for a small and reasonable set of exceptions such as accounts with a history of bouncy deposits. I don't know of any bank in this area that holds funds for more than three days. California banking is dominated by a few large banks so banking is much less competitive than here and banks there can get away with higher prices and worse service. Some small banks here still offer no-minimum no-charge checking, something that's disappeared most places. But back to Telecom. As others have noted, banks are minimizing float wherever they can. My bank sent me a nearly indecipherable "modification to the deposit agreement" a few months ago, the gist of which was that they can now debit my account as soon as they get electronic advice that a check of mine was paid by some other bank, even though the physical check may not arrive for a few days. One local bank offers as an option to send you a statement with pictures of your checks on it rather than the actual checks, sort of like an American Express statement. They charge an extra $1/month for the privilege of not getting your actual checks, so I doubt it's become very popular. If people accept pictures of checks (or, as is standard in some countries, just the line items on the statement) the stage after that is "check retention", in which the bank where the check was cashed physically retains the check and sends only an electronic confirmation to the payor's bank. This is quite popular among large businesses, because banks are willing to give them a large break on check fees if they waive getting the physical checks, and a business that writes 10,000 checks per month would rather get their statement in electronic form anyway. I don't know whether the extra data for check retention is passed over the same wires as other checking info (like your automatic Checkfree check-like-things are) or whether banks have to make their own networking arrangements. The latter isn't at all unlikely -- large banks already quite commonly have their own private arrangements to exchange cancelled checks, so similar arrangments to exchange retained check data would be an obvious follow-on. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 09:17:20 -0800 From: leavens@bmf.usc.edu (Justin Leavens) Subject: Re: SCAN (Shared Check Authorization Network) In Volume 13, Issue 293, Message 11 of 13, Arthur Rubin writes: > I believe most (US) banks have set their default "hold" period on > deposits to the maximum allowed by Federal law; the first $100 is > immediate; the next $5000 within 5 business days, and the rest within > 10 business days....Telecom question: why not a data link? Hmmmmm. I would tend to believe (though I have no educational fact to base this on) that this current practice would allow banks a little float with your money while they wait their time to give it to you. Of course, I don't trust banks to begin with. I had a $70 check written to me and deposited in the same branch as it had been written from, saw the money credited to my account, and ten business days later saw the check bounce. On the other hand, I've never really noticed any hold on my deposits in the last few years (as in, I deposit one day, funds available the next). Go figure. Justin Leavens : Microcomputer Specialist University of Southern California leavens@bmf.usc.edu My opinion is that my opinions are my opinions ------------------------------ From: markpet@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Mark Petersen) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Date: 2 May 93 16:18:20 GMT Organization: Alpha Science Computer Networks, Denver, Co. Let's not forget that some telemarketing machines are programmed to recognize the word "Hello." I answer the business line with the business name. When it's a machine on the other end, I usually hear nothing. I'll then repeat the company name, and still hear nothing. I'll say "Hello?" -- then, and the recording starts. At which point I hang up quickly. Grr. Mark C. Petersen markpet@scicom.alphacdc.com Loch Ness Productions CompuServe: 76702,1062 ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 05:58:37 GMT In article ae446@freenet.carleton.ca writes: > People show much more creativity in their answering machine messages > than in their "answering phrase" for answering the phone live. > However, I really don't like excessively cute answering machine > messages, particularly when I'm calling long distance. A functional > answering machine message is just fine for me: "Hello. This is Nigel > David Allen. Please leave a message at the tone." Some of the creativity in answering machine out-going messages is pretty good! A local radio station ran an "answering machine olympics" where people sent in their phone numbers. The station then called the machines, recorded the messages, aired a bunch of them, then chose who had the most creative message. Last year, my former wife won with a song she wrote. She now has a new answering machine! I understand that some machines let callers who are familiar with your out-going message hit a DTMF key to skip it and leave their message immediately. Nice feature. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: Vpnet Public Access Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 02:46:53 GMT > People show much more creativity in their answering machine messages > than in their "answering phrase" for answering the phone live. At the office where I work we have a phone used primarily for outbound calls; the number is only given to friends etc. It happens that the number is xxx-0911, the phone is bright red, and my first name is Gordon. So I always answer it "Batphone, Comissioner Gordon speaking." Occasionally it's a telemarketer or wrong number ... My father often answers his phone as "Archie da Manager" from Duffy's Tavern. I won't repeat the spiel here -- if you don't know it it wouldn't be funny to you anyway. Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us ------------------------------ From: johng@comm.mot.com (John Gilbert) Subject: Re: Cordless Always Transmitting? Organization: Motorola, LMPS Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 18:33:58 GMT In article sle@world.std.com (steve l edwards) writes: > I have a Cobra cordless telephone. I noticed there is no switch hook. > Does this imply that the base unit is always transmitting even if the > cordless unit is sitting unused in the cradle? It could use a magnet and a reed relay or a hall effect sensor. John Gilbert KA4JMC johng@ecs.comm.mot.com ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Cordless Always Transmitting? Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 01:25:04 GMT In sle@world.std.com (steve l edwards) writes: > I have a Cobra cordless telephone. I noticed there is no switch hook. > Does this imply that the base unit is always transmitting even if the > cordless unit is sitting unused in the cradle? Many telephones that appear to lack a switch hook actually have one in the form of a magnet and reed switch. The handset has the magnet and the cradle has a reed switch that detects it. With such handsets it is wise to keep clear of floppy disks, charge card magstripes, etc. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (intellectual property lawyer) 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112-0228 voice 212-408-2578 fax 212-765-2519 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 May 93 10:45:50 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service At least one of you mentioned 602-638 prefix. I have it as GRAND CANYON, which is a postal name (zip code 86023, with post office in Coconino County, same county as Flagstaff). ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Need: Coupler With Answer Supervision Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 20:28:09 GMT >> For an upcoming demo, I need to find a coupling device to which I can >> feed audio that will answer when the line "rings", supply the audio >> over the line, the hang up when the far end does. Who might make such >> a device? A couple companies come to mind. Try Henry Engineering, phone 818 355 3656 and Telos Systems at 216 241 7225. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: bram@fangorn.hacktic.nl Subject: Re: Anonymous Use of Talk Tickets Date: Sun, 02 May 19:03:00 93 GMT Organization: Fangorn Systems TELECOM Moderator writes: > Some people have written to say the Talk Ticket program still leaves a > limited audit trail -- I think of dubious value legally -- since a ---cut---> > authorized to add another method of ticket delivery: email via an > anonymous email service. Sounds nice ... maybe faster, too? Hmm, if I ever get to the US I might decide to buy a few tickets. Do you also support PGP encryption, for security (that not someone en route reads the number and start using it ...)? Bram 'mouser' Smits All views expressed herein are my own, etc, etc. bram@fangorn.hacktic.nl All disclaimers apply. Fangorn Systems Heerlen, The Netherlands [Moderator's Note: I don't really think I need to get into encryption of ticket numbers. That is a bit much for a two dollar ticket, or even a couple dozen two dollar tickets. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tarl@coyoacan.sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter) Subject: Re: E-Mail/Modem Connections Between USA and Mexico Date: 2 May 1993 03:44:18 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering In article einhorn_d@apsicc.aps.edu (E. Drew Einhorn) writes: > At work I need to establish an E-Mail connection between our > Albuquerque, NM office and our office in Mexico City. > [...] Will a modem designed for domestic USA use work on a Mexican > phone line? Are there other technical issues? My mother lives in Mexico City and has periodically used a standard Apple modem to dial into various computer services in the U.S. It works, but some random features won't -- modems which recognize ringing and busy will not understand Telefonos de Mexico signals. This means that you can establish a connection but won't have the normal hints when things fail. The other thing you'll have to deal with is the terrible phone service. When Telefonos was privatized, they took the entire repair staff and set them to work installing new phones. It's the same incompetent staff as before, same anti-work union, the same management, and the same creaky obsolete phone switches. If your phone lines go bust, they will stay that way for a long time. I also suspect that you won't be able to use anything better than 1200 baud. You might consider trying to get on the internet. I know that both the national university (UNAM) and the Technologico de Monterrey (ITESM) are reachable via email, so presumably it should be possible to get a connect (with suitable application of funds). You'll also do better if you have your counterparts in mexico investigate - anyone involved in telecom in mexico is likely to have dealt with the specific case of U.S.-Mexico connections. Tarl Neustaedter tarl@sw.stratus.com SS7 Networks, Stratus Computer, Marlboro, Mass. Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions. ------------------------------ From: grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray) Subject: Re: Ignorance, Clipper and the FBI Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 15:59:17 -0400 Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. In article gerg@netcom.com (Greg Andrews) writes: > grayt@software.mitel.com (Tom Gray) writes: >> The service provider will make the encrypted transmission avaiable to >> the FBI black box. In short the service provider must have the >> capability of isolating an individual's transmissions from all others. >> This is just the FBI Digital Network proposal in another form. Aside >> from the fact that this proposal shows a complete ignorance of the > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> functioning of even today's network, it will severely hamper (even > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> cripple) current efforts to create a broadband network. The >> possibility of the US functioning in the BISDN multimedia market will >> become exceedingly remote. > Perhaps I'm not understanding you correctly, but if the service > provider doesn't have the ability to isolate my transmissions from all > the others that pass through their equipment, how are my transmissions >able to reach their intended destination? One of the key parts of today's and tomorrow's network will be the private network. A company will lease a portion of bandwidth from one of many (or several of them) service providers and then multiplex its own transmissions onto this bandwidth. The service provider is only responsible for providing a clear path on this link, it will have no knowledge of the switching, multiplexing, addressing, compressing, encrypting, etc which the client will use on it. Now if the telco cannot isolate criminal transmissions since they are hidden in the normal stream, who is going to do it? Suppose a crooked bank is laundering money for some drug dealers. They will just communicate over their private network with their own addressing and multiplexing. Now is the FBI and Dorothy Denning going to ask this bank to send all criminal transmissions off to some black box in Washington? Clipper is unworkable to tap organized criminality. However Clipper as a means of enforcing the FBI Digital Network Proposal is ingenious. The3 FBI has trouble tapping private networks. The FBI sees that BISDN networks will become even more diffcult (if not impossible) to tap. The solution is simple. Make such networks uneconomic by imposing impossible regulations. Keep the North American network firmly entrenched in the 1970's. The Europeans and the Japanese will gladly develop the next generation network for us. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #296 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa22225; 3 May 93 3:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28276 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 3 May 1993 01:19:39 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27120 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 3 May 1993 01:19:00 -0500 Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 01:19:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305030619.AA27120@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #298 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 May 93 01:19:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 298 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson The Bearable Heaviness of Data - USA NPA/NXX List (Paul Robinson) FAIL Telecom of Bay Springs, MS (Lubos Elias) Modem Certification Process - Europe (John Murray) Can an Unlisted Number in US be Found? (Yoav Weiss) Wanted: Hints and Tips on Setting up a Faxmodem (Ramon F. Herrera) What You're Really Buying is Downtime (Steve Forrette) Unit to Disconnect Answering Machine When I Pick up Phone (Povl Pedersen) Is Residential ISDN Pricing as Expensive Internationally? (Dan Sahlin) Caller ID Information to a PC (Wilf Rosenbaum) DTMF Detection (Benjamin Chigier) Telecommunications Cost Estimate Needed (Dr. Laurence Leff) Voice Phone Wanted (Bryan Hains) IXC Echo Cancellers (Bill Garfield) Manual Wanted For Fax Switch (Tad Cook) Keypad Layouts (Andrew Cowie) Cordless and Always Transmitting (Les Reeves) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross post the Digest articles to other Usenet or alt newsgroups! Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 15:44:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: The Bearable Heaviness of Data - USA NPA/NXX List Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA There was a play that I've never seen called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", and it provides an interesting pun to an issue that comes up every so often. Every so often someone wants to get a copy or find a copy of the complete list of all Area Code and Prefix combinations in the U.S. (Known as NPA/NXX in the trade.) Moderator Pat Townson points out this would be a heavy amount of data. Since data has no physical existence other than as changes of electrical state on magnetic media, the above title provides an odd pun. Pat Townson is correct of course, because I have this information from an older release. At least two companies have released the cross-reference of Zip Code* to NPA/NXX data on diskette. I have an older release which uses older data. It takes up slightly under 700K in compressed packed decimal and would probably use about one meg if uncompressed. A couple of years ago I got the Postal Service to send me the USA Zip Code to city cross reference tape, which contains some 70,000 Zip Codes. This file, in DBASE III* format, is about five meg. Therefore a complete list of city and state to NPA/NXX would use probably six meg. If in a compressed form such as my tokenized compression form for ZIP archives, might use three meg, but could be looked up randomly. If kept in a printable text file, it would probably be about 65,000 lines of text, or a listing of about 1100 pages, a stack of computer paper two feet thick, or 1/4 mile long. Plus the NPA/NXX correlations I have are old -- about three years old. If someone can send me the new data or the information from the previous release, I could create one. If someone isn't that interested in it being all that current, I could create one from the data I have, but it would be about three years old. * "Zip Code" is a Registered Trademark of the U.S. Postal Service DBASE III is a trademark of Borland International Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: elias@mvax.uakom.sk Reply-To: elias@uakom.sk Subject: FAIL Telecom, Bay Springs, Mississippi Date: 2 May 93 11:06:23 +0100 Organization: Institute of Automation and Communication Hi, I would be glad to have anybody's opinion on FAIL Telecom, Bay Springs, Mississippi. They want to invest in East Europe and provide telecom systems covering switching systems, CATV, data comm, paging, cellular systems ... for small cities up to 100,000 inhabitants. Thanks for any information, Lubos Elias Inst. of Automation and Communication Slovak Republic Lubos.Elias@uakom.sk (or elias@uakom.cs if your system is not configured for new top level domain .sk) ------------------------------ From: jxm@engin.umich.edu (John Murray) Subject: Modem Certification Process - Europe Date: 2 May 1993 23:36:29 GMT Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor I've been asked by a colleague who doesn't have Usenet access to post this request. Replies to me are okay; I'll be happy to pass them along. Does anybody know of companies or organizations which handle the PTT certification procedures for modems in Europe? Germany and France are of particular interest, as well as the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy. I don't think there's an EC-wide certification process, but if one does exist, then any contacts who deals with that would also be much appreciated. Apologies if this sort of information is common knowledge in these newsgroups; I'm not on my home turf in this arena! Regards, John Murray ------------------------------ From: yoav@tau.ac.il (Yoav Weiss (Mack)) Subject: Can an Unlisted Number in US be Found? Organization: DataServe Information Services LTD. Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 23:58:57 GMT Hi, When I order an UNLISTED NUMBER in the US, can it possible be found? (Legally/illegally) ... if so, how do I prevent it? How can anyone find it? Yoav Weiss (MACK), Israel yoav@zeus.datasrv.co.il (mail me at this address) [Moderator's Note: Your non-pub/unlisted number is secure with the local telco and other telephone companies/carriers which may obtain it for billing purposes only. Exceptions exist if a telco employee is corrupt or dishonest; but this is not too common a method of getting such a number. If someone calls the operator or business office and claims that an emergency exists requiring contact with the non-pub, heretofore presumably unknown number, then the caller will generally speak with a supervisory or management person at telco who has the authority to obtain these numbers on a 'need to know' basis. That person will listen to the caller's description of the emergency, remind them that under the law in many places, persons who make false claims about emergencies in an effort to influence (or deny) the use of the telephone by another is a misdemeanor crime. The telco person will call the non-pub number, tell the subscriber the name and phone number of the caller, and ask if they wish to have their number relayed in turn to the inquirer or not. In either case, they will call back to either advise the inquirer of the subscriber's number *or* advise them that 'the party you were attempting to reach has been told about your attempts to reach them ...'. Police, fire and emergency response units of the various governments have a contact within telco to deal with as needed. It is to no avail to call directory assistance and claim to be a police officer relaying news of a car accident, etc ... if you were, and there had been, your department would have a procedure in place with telco which does not involve calling the Directory Assistance operator or supervisor. What is more likely the reason people learn the non-pub numbers of others is they check a 'criss cross' book, a listing by street address of telephone subscribers **compiled by private firms** who use not only the phone book listings, but information from a variety of other *public records*. Did you list your phone number on the form you filled in for a (a) driver's license; (b) library card; (c) business license; or on privately owned (but frequently sold) documents such as a (a) application for credit; (b) a check written in a store to induce the merchant to accept it; (c) a credit card telephone order for mer- chandise, etc? All those are fair game. You cannot prevent the spread of public information about yourself, nor really, any private infor- mation you choose to give out (such as in the check cashing example, or the credit card application example). All you can do is list the phone under the name of a 'roomate'; calls asking about this person will at least give you an advance tip off that someone has been snooping around in telco records (if that is the only place you've invoked your roomate alias). PAT] ------------------------------ From: herrera@athena.mit.edu (Ramon F Herrera) Subject: Wanted: Hints and Tips on Setting up a Faxmodem Date: 2 May 1993 02:05:27 GMT Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology I have been thinking about setting up a fax modem to be used from a Unix host. More specifically: - the modem is a Telebit WorldBlazer - the computers is an IBM RS/6000 - there is a Xylogics Annex involved (via rtelnet and a faked /dev/tty) - the fax software would be GNU's which requires GhostScript Now the questions, of course: Is there anyone out there that can share tips and hints on setting up GhosScript on an AIX machine? How hard is it? Ditto for GNU fax 3.2. How compatible are the different kinds of faxmodems? How compatible are fax machines, for that matter? Will I be able to fax to _any_ fax machine? Will they be able to fax to me? Any recommendations on extra software to be used for things such as converting the raw images to TIFF, PS, GIF? Hey, as long as I am getting ambitious, is there any PD OCR software out there? Thanks for your assistance, Ramon Herrera ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 93 02:39:21 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: What You're Really Buying is Downtime Last week, I called in to my US West Cellular voicemail account to check for messages. It was around 11:30pm on Friday night. I repeatedly got a recording telling me that "All circuits are busy." I called customer service and was told that the voicemail system would be down until 6am the next morning for maintenance. I told them what I thought of a telecom service being down for seven hours for maintenance. They said that they had sent out a broadcast message that day telling everyone of the upcoming outage. I responded that nobody had every told me that checking for messages daily was a prerequisite for getting reliable service. It turns out that it was down until almost 6pm the next day, meaning a full day of no voicemail service. Fortunately, I don't use this mailbox very much, but this is yet another example on my long list of experiences which show that the cellular carriers in general don't know how to provide reliable service, and don't understand the commitment to reliability and availability that the telcos in the US have traditionally provided. The RBOC side of US West is able to cut a #5 crossbar over to a 5ESS with less than 30 seconds of downtime, but the cellular side can't "upgrade" a voicemail system without losing a full day of service. And the worst part of it is they don't seem to understand why this is not acceptable. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com [Moderator's Note: Ameritech works on their voicemail once every couple months or so. They always send out two or three broadcast messages during the week before, and they do their work during the hours of 2 AM through 8 AM Sunday morning, and if more time is needed, then the same hours on Monday morning. PAT] ------------------------------ From: povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk (Povl H. Pedersen) Subject: Unit to Disconnect Answering Machine When I Pick up Phone Organization: UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 14:50:17 GMT My answering machine does not hang-up when I pick up the phone and the answering machine has started playing its message. Can I build a unit that will do this for me ? My answering machine is in parallel to my phone, both connected to the same wall outlet. Povl H. Pedersen - Macintosh specialist. Knows some DOS and UNIX too. pope@imv.aau.dk - povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk --- Finger me at pope@imv.aau.dk for PGP Public Key --- [Moderator's Note: Check out the file on this in the Telecom Archives. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dan@sics.se (Dan Sahlin) Subject: Is Residential ISDN Pricing as Expensive Internationally? Organization: SICS, Swedish Inst. of Computer Science Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 13:59:19 GMT Swedish Televerket has just announced a residential ISDN service. The basic service "2B+D" has an installation fee of USD 775 and a quarter- ly fee of USD 185. I believe these prices are far to high to attract individuals. Is residential ISDN pricing as expensive internationally? Please send me information how much residential ISDN costs where you live. I will later summarize the information I receive. Next week I will meet people at the ISDN department of Televerket and it would be very nice to confront them with some hard facts. Dan Sahlin, SICS, Sweden email: dan@sics.se ------------------------------ From: rosen@sfu.ca (Wilf Rosenbaum) Subject: Caller ID Information to a PC Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 16:17:40 GMT Hi there, I'm looking for a way to translate incoming caller ID information into a form that can be read by a PC. What I would like to set up is a situation like the following: When the phone rings, the phone number of the caller is forwarded to the PC, where it is checked against a list of previous callers. If found, some information about the caller would be displayed on the screen, otherwise some "Register New Caller" screen would be displayed. The phone would be answered by a person in either event. I believe the ZyLex and Supra modems with caller ID may be useful here, but seem like overkill since there is no need for data communications or fax; I just need to get the incoming phone number into the computer with no operator intervention. Some kind of programmer interface for the device would be useful as well. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this far. Wilf Rosenbaum rosen@sfu.ca ------------------------------ From: ben@speech.com (Benjamin Chigier) Subject: DTMF Detection Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 16:08:13 GMT Organization: ISS I am looking for something and was wondering if anyone has seen this or something like it? I would like to buy a box which has on one side a telephone line jack, and on the other side a line level input/output and something like a rs232 connection. Through the rs232 connection I would like to be able to do things like DTMF dialing and detection as well as on/off hook. Any info or pointers to info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ben ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 01:30:38 -0500 From: Dr. Laurence Leff Subject: Telecommunications Cost Estimate Needed I am in need of the following information, or better yet, a reference for same: An upper bound estimate of the cost per mile per gigabit for information transmission over high-speed communication lines (T1, D1, etc.) This needs to only be approximate. Certainly, the exact costs would vary depending upon precisely where one might go. I am using this for a journal/conference paper I am writing on the cost benefits and policy implication of large-scale networks for financial transactions. A generous and conservative upper bound estimate of this figure is all I need for my calculations. I figured out how much bytes transmission I need, and the average miles each byte travels. I need to multiply this by a cost of transmitting one byte for one mile to get a total transmission cost. I got a rough-guess figure from MCI. I want a more scholarly reference, that (MCI, personal communication). The telecommunication costs are much less than other costs (basically terminal equipment). Thus, I can afford to have a sloppy estimate, as long as I can convince my readers that if I am off, the costs are less than I am claiming. Thank you for your help in this minor matter. Dr. Laurence Leff Western Illinois University, Macomb IL 61455 (309) 298-1315 Stipes 447 Assistant Prof. of Computer Science ||Pager: 837-5909 FAX: 298-2302 Moderator: Symbolic Math List, Technical Reports List||mflll@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art hierarchy ||BITNET: mflll@ecnuxa.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 13:43 EST From: HAINS@STETSON.BITNET Subject: Voice Phone Wanted Greetings: Has anyone seen these telephones that you speak the (pre recorded) name of the individual who you want to call and the phone dials the number for you? You have to record the name and nnumber beforehand but the phone has some voice recognition circuitry to detect what you speak and dials it. Where might I pick one of these up? Thanks for the tips! Bryan Hains hains@stetson.bitnet ------------------------------ Subject: IXC Echo Cancellers From: bill.garfield@yob.sccsi.com (Bill Garfield) Date: Sun, 2 May 93 17:10:00 -0600 Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569 Reply-To: bill.garfield@yob.sccsi.com (Bill Garfield) I recall there being a previous discussion in one of the newsgroups relating to high speed modem use and problems with echo cancellation circuitry on some of the various long distance carriers. Would anyone care to give me a refresher on the topic? Was there any one specific carrier where the problem persisted? How was the matter dealt with? Is the carrier at fault? Is there a good workaround besides prepending 10xxx to your dialing string to bypass the problem? What are the symptoms of dysfunctional echo cancellers? Details appreciated Thanks in advance. Bill Garfield Ye Olde Bailey BBS 713-520-1569 (V.32bis) 713-520-9566 (V.32bis) Houston,Texas yob.sccsi.com Home of alt.cosuard ------------------------------ Subject: Manual Wanted for Fax Switch Date: Sun, 2 May 93 20:08:41 PDT From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Does anyone have a manual for a fax line switch made by Technology Concepts? It is model number FLM-103. A friend needs the manual because it appears to have some programmable features, and he has no clue as to how to program it. tad@ssc.com (if it bounces, use 3288544@mcimail.com) Tad Cook | Packet Amateur Radio: | Home Phone: Seattle, WA | KT7H @ N7DUO.WA.USA.NA | 206-527-4089 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 93 17:59 GMT0BST-1 From: Andrew Cowie Subject: Keypad Layouts Reply-To: ajcowie@cix.compulink.co.uk AFAIK, the two alternative layouts (123 at the top for phones, at the bottom for PCs, etc) are both standard; one is an ISO standard and the other is CCITT. I am not certain which is which, but I think the PC layout is ISO. It's a real pain for my employer, who has a large number of staff using PC keyboards and phone keypads all the time, and who have to enter (the same) phone numbers numbers into both. Mis-dials are fairly rare, but mis-keys on the PC are rife! Andrew ------------------------------ From: lesreeves@attmail.com Date: 02 May 93 20:31:52 GMT Subject: Re: Cordless and Always Transmitting? I am not sure about all Cobra cordless phones, but mine (like most) transmits only during ring or conversation. However, in the 1992 Radio Shack catalog, They have what looks like an overweight Trimline (the ET-385 cordless trim-fone). This thing requires continuous carrier, regardless of hook status. Fortunately they discontinued it the same year. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #298 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23439; 3 May 93 4:29 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27718 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 2 May 1993 23:47:45 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02255 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Sun, 2 May 1993 23:47:02 -0500 Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 23:47:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305030447.AA02255@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #297 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 May 93 23:47:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 297 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries (Patton Turner) Re: Digital Cellular Service (D.J. Molny) Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways (Harold Hallikainen) Re: 411 - Automatically Transfers? (Daniel Burstein) Re: Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! (Eli Mantel) Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook (Terry Kennedy) Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line (Steve Forrette) Re: Cellular Phone Compatibility (Jan Richert) Re: Scandal!! Germany: How to Tap Into Another Phone Line (Povl Pedersen) Re: Alpha Pager Questions (Steven Warner) Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople (Jeffrey Groves) Touch Dial Layout (John R. Levine) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Joe George) Re: Misdialed Numbers (Mark Brader) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. Reprinting encouraged, but credit the Digest and the author, and send us a copy. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: turner@Dixie.Com Date: Sun, 2 May 93 10:04 EDT From: rsiatl!turner@rsiatl.UUCP Subject: Re: Author Queries: Phone Mysteries James Gleick asks: > 6) Why do telephone poles extend far above the highest wire or crosspiece? Unless you are looking at some really old plant that used open wire (bare copperweld conductors), TELEPHONE POLES DON'T HAVE CROSSARMS. Power poles do have crossarms for power line conductors. The telco cables are located at least 40" below the line conductors. If the pole has power lines on it, 99.9% of the time it is owned by the power co, even if it was errected by the telco. A less smartass response to your question would involve cutting the gains (mortise for the crossarm) below the top for two reasons: 1) As the pole ages you don't want the crossarm to be near the end of the pole which my decay first. and 2) if the crossarm must be replaced, the linemans safety strap can't be near the top of the pole, lest it slip off. FWIW, telco line types some times refer to the power companies as elcos. > 7) Where do utilities get telephone poles? Are they from special logs? Are > there particular specifications? Big utilities buy them with a contract, smaller companies can buy them as needed from a line supply dealer, such as Hughes Line Supply in Orlando. Here in the SE, they are mostly pine, in other areas they may be doug fir, or maybe larch or cedar. The poles are treated with cresote, CCA, or Penta to preserve them. Yes there are specs for poles. While Bellcore has its requirements, it's ANSI that does the ratings. Poles are rated by class, with given 6' above butt and top diameters depending on length. For example, a class 6 pole 40' in length has a minimum tip dia of 8.6" and a 6' above butt dia of 9.1 ". A complete chart is in {The Lineman and Cableman's Handbook}. If you want to know more, email me. I have a degree in Ag Engineering, have done outside plant contracting, run a sawmill, and sold timber. I know a whole lot more about this than ATM. :-) Patton Turner KB4GRZ FAA Telecommunications turner@dixie.com Not the opinions of the FAA. ------------------------------ From: djmolny@evolving.com (DJ Molny) Subject: Re: Digital Cellular Service Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 15:14:14 GMT Organization: Evolving Systems, Inc. tjh+@cmu.edu (Tom Holodnik) writes: > I've heard several references made to cellular digital service, where > data is carried over the cellular spectrum. Can any one provide me > with more details? > - what companies provide this? > - is it ubiquitous? > - what market projections are they making? > - does this include "follow me roaming?" > Is anything like this approaching standard form? There is an emerging standard called Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) which co-exists with the existing Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) radio spectrum. CDPD utilizes gaps in voice conversations to transmit and receive data. To help maintain a steady data stream and to avoid interference with voice traffic, CDPD conversations "hop" between channels. The CDPD network will route IP and/or CLNP (OSI connectionless) packets to and from "subscriber units" (basically CDPD modems) without regard to the current physical location of the subscriber. This entails substantial changes to conventional notions of network routing and topology, since existing standards assume fixed end points. Every U.S. cellular carrier is looking at providing CDPD service, and some have announced firm plans to do so. If widely deployed, CDPD availability could be equal to that of cellular voice service, making it nearly ubiquitous. A consortium of cellular service providers is driving the CDPD spec toward completion; it is presently at a 0.9 release level, with the 1.0 release due around the end of May. The current pace could best be described as "feverish". I hope this information answers your questions. I would be happy to discuss CDPD in more depth via E-mail. It's exciting technology, and it's right around the corner. DJ Molny djmolny@evolving.com Evolving Systems, Inc. ------------------------------ From: hhallika@tuba.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen) Subject: Re: Telecom Industry Role in Info Super Highways Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Date: Sun, 02 May 1993 20:08:34 GMT In article Garrett.Wollman@UVM.EDU (Garrett Wollman) writes: > (I have always strongly believed that the ONLY business either Telcos > or cable companies should be permitted to engage in is provision of > the pipe -- no origination of any "services" or "programming". I > imagine just this once I'll find a sympathetic audience out in lelecom > land ... unfortunately, it doesn't look like things will end up this > way.) A while back I read an analogy to having the telco in the programming business. Imagine you were in the pizza biz and you had to rely on Dominoe's for delivery. The question as to whether a CATV company is a common carrier or a publisher is an interesting one... and currently in the courts, regarding must-carry for broadcast stations. Harold Hallikainen ap621@Cleveland.Freenet.edu Hallikainen & Friends, Inc. hhallika@oboe.calpoly.edu 141 Suburban Road, Bldg E4 phone 805 541 0200 fax 544 6715 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590 telex 4932775 HFI UI ------------------------------ From: dannyb@Panix.Com (Daniel Burstein) Subject: Re: 411 - Automatically Transfers? Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 21:13:37 GMT In abc@netcom.com (Andy Chan) writes: > Ok, how come there's no option to have the phone number be automatically > dialed when I call 411? > [Moderator's Note: What you describe is common in many areas, and has > been available for a couple of years for people who want to spend the > additional money. Some telcos (apparently yours as well) have not yet > implemented it; I suspect all will before too long. PAT] New York Tel (or maybe NJ Bell) just filed the tariff on this. It's something like 35 cents to have the call conected after your directory assistance talkthrough ... ------------------------------ From: Eli.Mantel@lambada.oit.unc.edu (Eli Mantel) Subject: Re: Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 02:15:31 GMT In article Jerry Stubbs writes: > A friend of mine's roommate ran up a big 900 bill over a three month > period and has split. ... > [Moderator's Note: There is legal recourse, but it is against the > former roomate, and would involve skip-tracing him from what you say. Let's make sure there's no confusion here. These charges are imposed by information providers (IPs), not the phone company, which is merely acting as a collection agency for the IPs. The FCC has explicitly declared that the local phone company cannot disconnect service for non-payment of such charges. So as far as your friend and the local phone company go, there can be no problem, except for the fact that the phone company may continue to list the 900 charges for a while. Your friend might want to include a note with each payment (mailed to some address other than the standard bill payment address) that none of the payment is to be applied towards 900 charges and that he disputes the 900 charges. The phone company's removal of one month of charges is of no real consequence, since the IPs will simply attempt to collect directly from your friend, who will begin to get bills from the IPs themselves. So he will wind up having to disclam any responsibility for these charges to each IP individiually. Eli Mantel (eli.mantel@launchpad.unc.edu) The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service. internet: laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80 [Moderator's Note: What you say is true, however my assumption was the original writer was looking for a final conclusion the matter, not just getting them taken off his phone bill at some inconvenience to himself and the loss of his own ability to dial 900/976 in the future since telco nearly always insists on a block on the line against future calls in the process of removing charges on the bill presently. Yes, telco will remove the charges, and the IP will try to collect from him then eventually place him with an agency. He'll have to argue with the agency for awhile, finally they will start looking for the other guy, maybe, or maybe the IP/collection agency will still regard our writer as the deadbeat and write him off unfairly. The final solution is to find the bird who made the calls and sue him, but as the writer noted, he flew the nest and can't be found. If he were locatable, then our writer could have gone to him, squeezed hard in a couple places, gotten the money to pay the bill, paid it and reached a fair conclusion for all concerned. As it stands, it is not fair to our writer to have to go to the hassle of speaking with telco ==> IP ==> collection agency several times with dubious end results, nor is it fair to ask the IP to take the loss. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Terry Kennedy Subject: Re: AT&T Area Code Handbook Organization: St. Peter's College, US Date: 2 May 93 23:09:07 EDT Organization: St. Peter's College, US In article , Telecom Moderator notes: > The Area Code Handbook is not free; the price was $2 a couple years > ago and it may be $3 now (haven't called to inquire in awhile). When > you call, ask for Select Code 999-600-111. PAT] The current one is Issue 14, 70 pages, US $2.95. The Select Code remains the same. If our Moderator is interested, I could post interesting selections from the AT&T Customer Information Center's offerings on a monthly (or so) basis. These can be both technical (switch information) and interesting/amusing (1993 Moscow Yellow Pages, Select Code UR001, US $45.00; 5ESS Hologram Desk Display [a holographic view of the 5ESS mounted in a lucite frame], Select Code 3859H, US $16.33), all from AT&T CIC, 800-432-6600 (USA), 800-255-1242 (Canada), or +1 317 322 6557 elsewhere. Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA terry@spcvxa.spc.edu +1 201 915 9381 [Moderator's Note: Sure, give us some interesting titles and an occassional review when you can. Be sure and do it up like a big time commercial message for AT&T -- the kind they show on the idiot box -- so my critics won't be disappointed. The cowboys need something new to talk about; their messages have gotten altogether too repititious and boring lately. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line Date: 2 May 1993 09:06:56 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article Michael.Bender@Eng.Sun.COM writes: > In article is written: >> He: If we find them running 14.4's on voice lines, we'll disconnect >> them. They are lucky to be getting good transfers at that rate anyhow. >> Me: Really? Why? >> He: They interfere with voice communication. The only baud that will work >> over voice lines effectively is 300 and below lines. 2400 is WAY too >> fast to be transmitting. If we get calls about problems and they are >> traced to your modem, we'll disconnect you too. Here's the tack I would take: Inform them that your modem is a Part 68 registered device, and is certified to meet all FCC requirements for connection to a regular telephone line. As long as your modem is functioning properly, then by definition any interference with others' lines is the telco's problem, as you are using only certified equipment. Explain to them that they are going to have a hard time justifying the disconnection of service to someone using a properly-functioning Part 68 approved device. This bunk as to modems over 300, 1200, 2400, etc., needing "leased data lines" just does not make sense. Many, if not most, of these modems are designed to exclusively work over regular analog switched lines, and will not work over leased facilities. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: jrichert@krefcom.GUN.de (Jan Richert) Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Compatibility Organization: Krefcom UUCP Server, FRG Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 10:28:41 GMT yjj@ctr.columbia.edu (Yuan Jiang) writes: > I want to buy a cellular phone in the US or Europe, which can be used > in Hong Kong. A cellular phone in Hong Kong costs twice as much as in > the US. But a regular cellular phone from the US market does not work > in Hong Kong. Here are my questions. > 1) Are there any venders who sell cellular phones that is compatible > with those in Hong Kong? > 2) Are cellular phones in Europe compatible with those in Hong Kong? > Is it just the frequency difference between phones in the US and HK? The Motorola GSM cellular phones sold in the US do work fine with the German GSM networks without modifications. There is just one difference: The US version of the Motorola phones do not have a slot for your SIM-card. Instead of this there is an ID burned into the phone. So you have to find a service provider in Germany who accepts this (we found one). Greets, Jan Richert (NIC-ID: JR482) | Internet: jrichert@krefcom.GUN.de Sindelfingen, FRG | Datex-J: 02151399843-0001 Voice & FAX: +49 2151 313124 | IRC-Nick: jrichert ------------------------------ From: povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk (Povl H. Pedersen) Subject: Re: Scandal!! Germany: How to Tap Into Another Phone Line Organization: UNI-C, Danish Computing Centre for Research and Education Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 15:03:38 GMT Many PBXs sold here in Denmark also have a testing mode. You can call it from the outside, and then enter a code to get a new clean line out of the PBX. It was quite popular for some time here in Denmark. One of the better known examples is the PBX at the police HQ in the 3rd largest city in Denmark. Here somebody used it to call 900 numbers for phone-sex :-) Povl H. Pedersen - Macintosh specialist. Knows some DOS and UNIX too. pope@imv.aau.dk - povlphp@uts.uni-c.dk --- Finger me at pope@imv.aau.dk for PGP Public Key --- ------------------------------ From: sgw@boy.com (Steven Warner) Subject: Re: Alpha Pager Questions Organization: RTFM / beachSystems, Sunnyvale, CA, USA Date: Mon, 03 May 1993 01:11:40 GMT In article hwdub@chevron.com writes: > In all I get nearly the same battery life from the AAA > battery in the Advisor that I got from the AA battery in the Bravo I > had before. Rumor has it that Motorola is coming out with an updated ADVISOR that uses an AA battery (longer life) and has more memory. Their synthesized (programmable) receiver is long over due too. > I will be posting a summary of what I've learned about Alpha paging > programs for DOS, Windoze, Macs, and UNIX by Monday (I hope.) I know if a few too. Steven Warner sgw@boy.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door Salespeople From: groves@groves.atl.ga.us Reply-To: groves@groves.atl.ga.us Date: Sun, 02 May 93 13:43:29 EDT Organization: Groves BBS Nigel Allen writes: > Apparently the company is using both students and full-time employees > for its door-to-door program. > Has anyone in the U.S. encountered a representative of a long- > distance company at their front door? I haven't seen any door-to-door salespersons here in Atlanta, Georgia selling long distance service, but I do know that the "pyramid scheme" people sell a lot of long distance service, and they as annoying as door-to-door salesperson. Jeffrey Groves (404) 246-9276 groves@groves.atl.ga.us Alternate addresses: 0004008547@MCIMail.COM ap250@Freenet.Cleveland.Edu [Moderator's Note: One of the complaints I have with the growing number of small businesses getting into the resale of long distance and/or prepaid debit cards, etc is the number of pyramid and multi- level marketing schemes going on in the process. One of the reasons I resisted (and still resist) talking to the Amerivox people about their debit phone card is because of how deeply entrenched in MLM the whole thing is. Amerivox kept talking to me about sales people recruiting other sales people, sales people 'winning prizes' for recruiting others, etc. It seemed like MLM was more what they were into rather than the sale of long distance. Then, you could collect 'points' and take a vacation somewhere at only 110% of the price others had to pay for the trip, etc. I selected the programs I did because they are intended to sell phone service rather than use the telecom industry as the newest gimmick in an MLM or pyramiding scheme, etc. Nothing is wrong with telemarketing or door-to-door sales per se; if the sales people are trained to be polite, unintrusive and helpful -- and to go away without resistance if requested -- they can be useful. A lot of Americans buy things when solicited on the phone or at their door, and many prefer to do business that way. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Touch Dial Layout Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 2 May 93 11:29:23 EDT (Sun) From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) > Weren't at least calculators and/or terminals with keypads around before > the advent of pushbutton telephones? Not really. Back in 1960 your typical calculator had hundreds of moving parts and the keypad was a large array with a full set of digits per adder column, and cost so much that only bookkeepers and accountants used them. And a terminal was a model 15 Teletype. Or maybe a Flexowriter, with a moving carriage. AT&T did the usual exhaustive human factors study and found that the layout they used was the least error prone of those they tried. I have no idea why the modern calculator layout is different. Touch-tone dialing was introduced at the 1964 World's Fair (a friend got touch service real early because he happened to be on the same CO as the fair.) Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers From: jgeorge@whiffer.atl.ga.us Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 19:50:01 EST Organization: The Waffle Whiffer, Atlanta, GA In comp.dcom.telecom, jkenton@world.std.com writes: > walsh@optilink.com (Mark Walsh) writes: > Along a similar line, the phone I have for my computer has the number > 894-4510. The local courthouse is 894-4500, which the recorded voice > of information gives as eight nine four, four five hundred. There are > many people who dial this as 894-45 100. Hey, what's an extra digit! When I was a child in Chicago, my home phone number was 339-3930 (very easy to misdial by itself). However, what made life tragic was that 339-9330 was the 24-hour customer inquiry line for Northern Illinois Gas Company. We would get calls at all hours of the night from people complaining about bills, or asking why we'd shut off their gas, etc. My father, back when he still had a sense of humor, would invariably answer the phone after about 9pm with "Northern Illinois Gas Company, 'We give you gas', may I help you?" Joe George (jgeorge@whiffer.atl.ga.us, emory!dragon!whiffer!jgeorge) begin 644 foo K0V]G:71O(&5R9V\@6%M+F%M` end ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Misdialed Numbers Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Sun, 2 May 93 22:56:55 GMT > Bell Labs did an extensive time and motion study of various button > arrangements with random telephone users and picked the current > arrangement as having the best combination of speed and accuracy. However, a reference given in this forum in the past suggests that the "calculator keypad" was not one of the arrangements tested. Note that the study or studies took place in the era when telephone numbers in North America were still commonly quoted with letters in them, e.g. BE9-4801. If the calculator keypad had been adopted, the alphabet would have appeared in the order PRS TUV WXY GHI JKL MNO ABC DEF and perhaps this was considered stupid enough to rule out out of hand. Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #297 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa01773; 3 May 93 21:39 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA17314 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 3 May 1993 18:18:38 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04617 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 3 May 1993 18:18:00 -0500 Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 18:18:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305032318.AA04617@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #299 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 May 93 18:18:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 299 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Finnish ATM Pilot Network in Operation (Uusitalo Mika) Wanted: Information on Fiber Optics (Gerald Kong) Overcharging the Battery (Yilmaz Cengeloglu) Modem Certification Process - Europe (Richard Cox) Setting Up For Large Incoming Call Volume (Ike Brenner) Where is "Whooz Calling"? (Chris Norloff) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (William H. Glass) Re: Baltimore Clipper (Paul Houle) Re: Modem to Mexico (Tom Tengdin) Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line (Brett Person) Re: Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! (Alan Boritz) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Monty Solomon) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. *DO NOT* cross post articles to/from other Usenet or alt newsgroups or compile mailing lists based on the net-addresses of people whose articles appear here. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: uusitalo@butler.cc.tut.fi (Uusitalo Mika) Subject: Finnish ATM Pilot Network in Operation Date: 3 May 1993 16:17:35 +0300 Organization: Tampere University of Technology, Computing Centre Europe moves to broadband - Tampere Finland May 3, 1993. Telecom Finland, Tampere University of Technology and Finnish University and Research Network, FUNET, today put the Finnish ATM pilot network into operational use. The network initially interconnects ATM LANs of the participants in Tampere and Helsinki metropolitan areas, the distance being about 200km. The pilot network provides a living testbed for ATM service provision and a development platform for the next generation computer applications, where the use of visual information is playing the key role. The driving force behind the Finnish ATM R&D project is the rapidly increasing use of voice and video in various computer applications, such as workstation based video conferencing. These applications not only require high network bandwidth, but also low and predictable delays. ATM satisfies the requirements by transferring data extremely fast in small, fixed length packets, called cells. In early 1994, the Finnish ATM pilot network will be connected to the European wide ATM pilot network by 13 European Telecommunications operators giving the participants an international ATM access. Telecom Finland announces the first commercial ATM pilot service in the world - The wide area portion of the ATM pilot network is provided by Telecom Finland as part of its simultaneously announced ATM pilot service. In developing ATM technology Telecom Finland is preparing for the future needs of its customers in multimedia environments and high speed LAN interconnection. "The ATM pilot network gives Telecom Finland an excellent opportunity to develop ATM into a high-capacity platform for high-quality network services," said Dr. Juha Heinanen, Telecom Finland's director for advanced network technologies. "The experience gained from the pilot network will guarantee that the use of ATM in a production environment in early 1994 will fully match the needs of our extremely sophisticated customer base," added Juha Heinanen. Finnish research tackles multimedia networking and ATM technology - The Finnish research behind the pilot network is organized by FASTER program at Tampere University of Technology in co-operation with several Finnish telecommunication companies, teleoperators and research centers. The FASTER task force includes telecommunication researchers, mathematicians and specialists in digital signal processing, electronics and software engineering. Tampere University of Technology implemented ATM campus network and interfaces to wide area portion as part of the Finnish pilot. "For us the pilot network is a platform where we can test new ATM related concepts and applications in practise", said Research Scientist Mr. Mika Uusitalo from Tampere University of Technology. The experimental applications of the FASTER program have special focus on multimedia. They include applications such as realtime audio visual communication, distributed design and medical imaging. Finland's fastest supercomputer located at Tampere University of Technology will also be connected with high-speed ATM link in June. According to Mika Uusitalo, "We already have advanced knowledge and practical experience in ATM. The Finnish companies now have a real competitive edge in developing new ATM related products, applications and services". ATM will implement "Meta-Computer Finland" - FUNET provides research network services to all Finnish universities. In participating in the ATM pilot network FUNET wants to gather invaluable information and experience about ATM, a promising candidate for the high bandwith and real-time compliment network of the next generation. "By means of the ATM network it is possible to implement a "Meta- Computer Finland", a concept of equal and consistent computational services all over the country and independent of physical location of computers", said Mr. Markus Sadeniemi, director of FUNET. "High-speed data communication facilities are today vital to the research community. ATM provides the researchers with much needed bandwidth and allows them to exploit visualization in computer applications no matter where data sources are located." Netcomm provides switches - According to Netcomm's International Business Manager David Wells, "This application, demonstrates the potential of ATM in the wide area as well as the local area environment. In the current Finnish pilot configuration, all switches have plenty of room for expansion. I believe this illustrates the flexibility and efficacy of Netcomm's DV2 Switch in a situation where ATM is being implemented to supplement the service available through existing LAN and WAN technologies". For further information: Juha Heinanen, Director of Advanced Network Technologies, Telecom Finland, Tel: +358 31 2432249, Fax: +358 31 2432211, Mika Uusitalo, Research Scientist, Tampere University of Technology, Tel: +358 31 3162429, Fax: +358 31 3162172 Markus Sadeniemi, Director, FUNET, Tel: +358 0 457 2711, Fax: +358 0 457 2302 David Wells, International Business Manager Netcomm Limited, Tel: +44 (0)268 534228, Fax: +44 (0) 268 534160 Editor's note: Telecom Finland is Europe's leading public data communications operator. It pioneered the multiprotocol routing service and was the first European operator to deliver a Frame Relay service in 1991. Telecom Finland is a member of the ATM Forum. Tampere University of Technology has been a pioneer in researching and using new communication network technologies in Finland. For example the first European FDDI network was build in the campus area already in 1989. The research on telecommunication is mainly focused on signal processing and software systems applied on digital networks and multimedia. FUNET is a non-profit public organization sponsored by the Ministry of Education and providing domestic and international network services for it's members consisting of universities and research institutions. Today FUNET connects over 20,000 computers. Netcomm is UK manufacturer of high performance X.25/Frame Relay Switches, Network Management Systems and ATM switches. Mika Uusitalo, Tampere Univ. of Tech., Computer Center, Finland mail: uusitalo@cc.tut.fi voice: 358-31-162429 fax: 358-31-162172 ------------------------------ From: e1slkong@economics.adelaide.edu.au Subject: Wanted: Information on Fiber Optics Date: 3 May 93 23:22:05 ACST Organization: Economics, University of Adelaide Hi there fellow netters, I am but a poor ol' uni student who is doing a research on Telecom Australia's use of fibre optics in its telecommunications line linking the capital cities in Australia. What I would like to know is: i) are the telephone lines really fibre optical? ii) the disadvantages and advantages of these fibre optics in linking the capital cities of Australia; iii) Does Telecom use AUS-SAT or any other form of telecommunication when someone calls STD? I am not very familiar with the set up of Telecom Australia's system so I do not know a lot (that's why I am a COMMERCE student). Any further information will be accepted with open arms. If you can help, please post the info to: e1slkong@eco.adelaide.edu.au or ecslkong@eco.adelaide.edu.au Many thanks in advance, Gerald Kong Dep't of COMMERCE Faculty of ECO & COMM E- Mail : e1slkong@economics.adelaide.edu.au ------------------------------ From: cengelog@cambridge.dab.ge.com (Yilmaz Cengeloglu) Subject: Overcharging the Battery Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 12:46:54 GMT Organization: Martin Marietta, Simulation & Automated Systems Hi, Although I do not need a cellular phone, I could not stop myself from buying a Novatel PTR825 hendheld phone with charger for only $38. (McDuff Electric Stores) I do have question that I could not find an answer for in the manual. 1-) Charging the battery takes eight hours. What would happen if the battery stays more than eight hours on the charger? Would it do any damage? 2-) It lasts for 11 hours standby, one hour of talking. What does standby mean? Thanks in advance, Yilmaz [Moderator's Note: The battery can stay in the charger longer than eight hours. A day or two at a time does not hurt. I would not just leave the unit in the charger all the time. Another good thing to remember is the battery occassionally needs to be run down very low, to the point the phone won't operate, *then* recharge it. This will make the rechargeable battery last longer in the long run. "Standby" refers to the times the phone is turned on, monitoring the airwaves for a signal, but not actually talking. In other words, according to your documentation, you can have the phone turned on, waiting for an incoming call for up to eleven hours. A good rule of thumb is that five minutes of talking uses about the same power as one hour of standby, meaning if you spend 30 minutes per day talking on the phone, you will have about four or five additional hours the battery will last with the phone monitoring the airwaves for a call intended for it. If you spend 45 minutes talking, you may have an additional hour or two of standby time. Spend five minutes per day talking, you have about 9-10 hours of standby time remaining. If you are not expecting to receive any calls, then of course the phone can be kept turned off except when you wish to place a call; this will get you the full hour of talk time, maybe even a couple minutes longer. Every hour the phone is 'standing by' waiting for a call, you should assume five minutes less of talk time before the battery runs down. In my experience with my phone, I can be gone all day carrying the phone turned on; make or recieve a couple of calls lasting five or ten minutes each and still have enough standby battery time to last the rest of the day. When I return several hours later, I put it in the charger where it stays overnight or until the next time I go out a few hours later, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 93 11:51 GMT0BST-1 From: Richard Cox Subject: Modem Certification Process - Europe Reply-To: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk John Murray [jxm@engin.umich.edu} asked: > Does anybody know of companies or organizations which handle > the PTT certification procedures for modems in Europe? In the UK the authority is the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications phone: +44 932 222289; but they do not physically do the testing, as that is handled by several independant testing houses. One such testing house is: Kingston Telecommunications Laboratories, in Hull, UK. Contact: Andrew Ombier at Newlands Science Park, Inglemire Lane, HULL, North Humberside, HU6 7TQ, United Kingdom [Phone +44 482 801801, Fax +44 482 801806] Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, Cardiff Business Park, Llanishen, CARDIFF, Wales CF4 5WF Voice: +44 222 747111 Fax: +44 222 711111 VoiceMail: +44 399 870101 E-mail: mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk - PGP2.2 public key available on request ------------------------------ From: ike@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu (Ike Brenner) Subject: Setting up For Large Incoming Call Volume Reply-To: ike@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu Organization: Welch Medical Library Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 15:32:53 GMT Could someone point me to information on setting up an operator assisted environment to handle a large incoming call volume? I'm also interested in being able to obtain information on the caller. Pointers to that information would be great. Thanks. L8r, Ike E-mail: ike@welch.jhu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 93 11:23:35 EDT From: cnorloff@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil Subject: Where is "Whooz Calling"? Somebody earlier mentioned an Atlanta company that makes/made a unit called "Whooz Calling" that hooked a computer with database to your phone line(s), and only let through numbers in the database. Anybody have more information on this company? Thanks, Chris Norloff cnorloff@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil ------------------------------ From: William H. Glass Reply-To: glass@mgi.com Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service Date: 3 May 93 01:04:59 CDT Organization: Management Graphics, Inc. In article , mwiz@austin.ibm.com (Marc Wiz) writes: > The last time I did this was in '83 and I was downright shocked that > there was a payphone at Phantom Ranch which is at the bottom of the > canyon. Yep, there's one there. You can only use a credit card -- no coins. How would you like the job of collecting the coins and carrying them back up? BTW, the phone number is (602) 638-0903 (according to my credit card billing). Give 'em a call and ask for the wise guy who ordered the Domino's pizza. Bill Glass ------------------------------ From: houle@nmt.edu (Paul Houle) Subject: Re: Baltimore Clipper Organization: Electrical Eng. Dept. - New Mexico Tech Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 06:09:15 GMT In article padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. PADGETT PETERSON) writes: > Telecommuting data for the most part does not require KG-class > encryption but it does need authentication and it must be shielded > from routine evesdropping or companies will not permit it on a large > scale, something which the current administration seems to be > committed to. > Clipper can provide both, a *good enough* shield for routine commerce > while also providing effective authentication that can be far more > secure than just passwords or PINs. *By the fact that two or more > parties can communicate, they will authenticate each other.* And far > better than the simple dial-up mechanisms that we use today. Yes, but if it is never put in the light of public review, many of the best people in the cryptography world will never get a chance to attack it before it is in common circulation. This seems especially a problem since the published descriptions of clipper seem to indicate that it is crippled to have a limited keyspace. "Secure" microchips are not secure against people who have the right resources. With a small CNC milling machine (don't really need the CNC, but it is going to take a while to mill off the covering in layers) and a Scanning Electron or Scanning Probe Microscope, the design of the chip can be read and the algorithims discovered. One would hope that this would be done by a bunch of kids with time on their hands, and the information published in {Phrack}, but the problem is that it will be done by others. Domestic and Foreign companies that want to get a jump on their rivals; Foreign intellegence agencies. Security through Obscurity just doesn't work. The problem is that the average American doesn't know this; most people don't know anything about the modern science of cryptography or computer security. They'll think that keeping the algorithm secret is a great idea, just like many of them don't see anything wrong with the government having a 'legitimate means' of tapping communications -- after all, most of them think that No Knock searches are justified against drug dealers until some cop busts in their door and kills their relatives. If Clipper gets adopted, like any standard, it is going to be with us for a long, long time -- look at the history of video standards; we develop a crippled color video standard (NTSC) that is compatible with the old black+white standard, and now we're trying to pack HDTV signals in the same bandwidth that a NTSC signal takes; some of the attempts to make analogue HDTV systems compatible with NTSC were pathetic. If Clipper turns out to be weak, we'll be stuck with it for a long time. If we get hacked clipper chips that can provide fake authentication, it will provide a royal road for hackers. Since we are starting from scratch, we have a great opportunity to build a very powerful cryptosystem. We probably need both a good public key system and a good conventional cypher. RSA is good, but the rights to it are restricted (When does that patent run out?) LUC and several other algorithms look good and probably will be more publically availible. DES is strong if used in a feedback mode (And various information I've gotten from people who've put a great deal of effort into breaking DES seems to indicate that the NSA knew about some very sophisticated attacks that have only appeared in the literature recently), and IDEA looks excellent, as well as being less restricted. Using the best algorithms, we can design a system that can work in both centralized and decentralized organizations. Such a standard can give individuals and industry the tools they need for real security. ------------------------------ From: bluewtr!tom@orca.mbari.org Subject: Re: Modem to Mexico Date: Sun May 2 22:38:54 1993 I did an email link to a site in Russia that had terrible phone lines. I used the Telebit PEP protocol and had better luck than anyone over there imagined. If you are expecting bad phone lines I would say the Tbit PEP protocol is the right choice. Tom Tengdin Former Alvin Pilot and Worlds Deepest UNIX Programmer. ------------------------------ From: person@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett Person) Subject: Re: US West Says I Can't Use 301+ on Voice Line Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 07:25:47 GMT Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network I wonder where US West gets these people! I recently witnessed such an occurence with a friend's line. Telephone Man(r) told him that he had mumble mumble mumble ... wrong with his line and went through a few months of excuses why it couldn't/wouldn't be fixed. Said friend complained loudly to another friend who worked for US West, and somehow, got the problem resolved that way. I've no idea where they get some of these guys, but sometimes it's scary. Brett Person Guest Account North Dakota State University person@plains.nodak.edu person@plains.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: 03 May 93 07:36:54 EDT From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Help!! Roommate Runs $2100 900 Tab! In an article written Sun, 2 May 1993, Eli.Mantel@lambada.oit.unc.edu writes: >> A friend of mine's roommate ran up a big 900 bill over a three month >> period and has split. ... >> [Moderator's Note: There is legal recourse, but it is against the >> former roomate, and would involve skip-tracing him from what you say. > So as far as your friend and the local phone company go, there can be > no problem, except for the fact that the phone company may continue to > list the 900 charges for a while. "A while," until telco turns off service and sues his friend. If the telephone account is in his name, then HE is solely responsible for the telephone's use and account payment. Telco doesn't HAVE to know about the deadbeat roommate, since the phone is not in the deadbeat's name. The deadbeat is only directly responsible to the original writer's friend, not the local telco or the IP. Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com [Moderator's Note: Well, I used to think the tariff requirements making 'the subscriber responsible for the use of the instruments' also applied to premium services such as 900/976, but a few writers here have said the tariff only pertains to services actually sold by telco (that is, phone calls) and not the premium stuff they simply bill for. So, it appears to be kind of a gray area if telco can turn off service or not based on unpaid charges from a 900 outfit. I know telco can't disconnect based on unpaid Yellow Pages advertising. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 07:04:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") > This happens a lot, and I bet it happens to everyone ... but I refuse > to tell some stranger anything just because they managed to get me to > answer my phone! On a few occasions I have reached an incorrect long distance number and tried to ascertain the number that I reached from the party that answered the phone so that I could get credit for the call or to make sure that I correctly dialed the call. The called party seems to think that their number is a big secret and refuses to divulge it which is quite silly since it will appear on my phone bill. Monty Solomon / PO Box 2486 / Framingham, MA 01701-0405 monty%roscom@think.com [Moderator's Note: Apparently some carriers no longer need this information to issue a credit *if you call and tell the operator right away*. I've had the same thing happen you described, and I immediatly dialed the AT&T operator who punched it up on the tube and said 'you called xxx, what number did you intend to call?' I told her, she said okay and put through the credit. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #299 ******************************   Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12266; 4 May 93 2:14 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26083 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 3 May 1993 23:24:01 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09607 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecomlist); Mon, 3 May 1993 23:23:02 -0500 Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 23:23:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199305040423.AA09607@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #300 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 May 93 23:23:00 CDT Volume 13 : Issue 300 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson History of Mark and Space (DECUServe Journal via Jonathan Welch) Answering Machine OGMs (was How I Answer the Phone) (Gregory M. Paris) Want Digital Voice Recorder and Panel Phones (Paul Cook) Supra Modem Does Not Have MNP 10 (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Marc A. Runkel) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Andrew Funk) Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on "Hello") (Rebecca Snyder) Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door (Alan Boritz) Re: Touch Dial Layout (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service (Jerry Glomph Black) ---------------------- TELECOM Digest is an e-journal devoted mostly -- but not exclusively -- to discussions on voice telephony. The Digest is a not-for-profit public service published frequently by Patrick Townson Associates. PTA markets a no-surcharge telephone calling card and a no monthly fee 800 service. In addition, we are resellers of AT&T's Software Defined Network. For a detailed discussion of our services, write and ask for the file 'products'. The Digest is delivered at no charge by email to qualified subscribers on any electronic mail service connected to the Internet. To join the mail- ing list, write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. Before submitting articles for publication, please read a copy of our file 'writing.to.telecom'. All article submissions MUST be sent to our email address: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu -- NOT as replies to comp.dcom.telecom. Back issues and numerous other telephone-related files of interest are available from the Telecom Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous, then 'cd telecom-archives'. At the present time, the Digest is also ported to Usenet at the request of many readers there, where it is known as 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Use of the Digest does not require the use of our products and services. The two are separate. All articles are the responsibility of the individual authors. Organi- zations listed, if any, are for identification purposes only. The Digest is compilation-copyrighted, 1993. **DO NOT** cross-post articles between the Digest and other Usenet or alt newsgroups. Do not compile mailing lists from the net-addresses appearing herein. Send tithes and love offerings to PO Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690. :) Phone: 312-465-2700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jonathan_Welch Subject: History of Mark and Space Date: 3 May 93 10:24:18 GMT Pat, I thought the following article might be worth reposting in TELECOM Digest. The original message was posted into a notes conference on a vax DECUS members may subscribe to. Once a month tidbits from various notes conferences are reposted to the outside world. Jonathan Welch VAX Systems Manager Umass/Amherst JHWELCH@ecs.umass.edu ----------- DECUServe Journal, May, 1993 Beginning at page 15 (09/22/90 Harvey: Mark and Space) "Mark" and "space" are curious terms to find in a hardware topic discussing data communication. They seem more appropriate for the Windows conference. But they are truly electrical communication terminology and have many related forms, such as "steady mark", "continuous spacing" and a seemingly unrelated term: "running open". I thought their origin might be of interest and along the way, we'll discover where that curious "break" key came from that many of us have on our keyboards and these days often use to get the attention of the terminal server. These terms are very old and originated with an early graphical device. People never think of the telegraph as graphical communication, but that's the way it was originally conceived. Our impression of the telegraph comes largely from movie stories of times a century ago, when telegraph operators listened to the strange ticks, tocks and rattles from the telegraph sounder and converted them into urgent messages that pushed the plot forward. Morse didn't invent it that way. His original device was an electromagnet that pulled a pen (possibly a quill) against a moving strip of paper. When current flowed through the electromagnet, the pen touched the moving paper and made a mark. When the current was off, a spring retracted the pen and there was a space on the paper. Short marks were called dots. Long marks were called dashes. Now this explanation is so simple and pat, it just has to be largely legend and over-simplification. There were many different schemes, such as keeping the pen in contact with the paper and moving it sideways by the electromagnet. But the mark/space concept seems to have stuck, because it appears in very early communication literature. This graphical device was actually used in production communi- cation for a while. Some of the operators of the machines found that they could recognize the "call letters" of their telegraph office when the electromagnet and pen started tapping out a message on the strip of paper. If the message was for another office, they didn't need to get up to see if the message was for them. Soon, they were able to just write the message down on the telegraph form as it came in without needing to "read" the tape. When the operators were able to fully "read" Morse code with their ears, they could stop putting ink in the pen. The telegraph sounder was born. You couldn't see the marks and the spaces between them anymore, but they were still there in the minds of the engineers designing telegraph systems. For good electrical engineering reasons, telegraph offices were wired in series. At one end of the railroad (for example) there was a powerful battery with one pole connected to a rail and the other connected to a wire that ran on posts for the length of the railway, where it was also connected to the rail. This constituted a simple series circuit with the battery current flowing through the wire, into the rail at the far end, and back through the rail to the battery. At each telegraph office along the line, the wire was cut, brought into the office, sent through the coil of the electromagnet of the sounder, then through the telegraph key, then back up to the pole and on down the line to the next office. But you may have noticed a problem. The telegraph key is normally an open circuit. When the operator pressed down on the key, the circuit was closed and the current flowed. How, then, did the current flow when everything was hooked in series and all those keys were open circuits? If you've ever looked closely at a real telegraph key, you may have noticedthat it has a knife switch build into it, and that switch is arranged to short the contacts of the key. When the operator was not actually sending a message, he or she (many early telegraph operators were women) would close the knife switch so that the key contacts were shorted and the whole series circuit was unbroken. Thus the normal idle telegraph line was in a "steady mark" condition - a current flowed through all the sounders which if the pen was still there would have caused a mark to be made on the moving strip of paper. The knife switch on each telegraph key was perhaps the first "push to talk" button. The operator had to "open" the knife and break the circuit so the key could turn the current on and off and send a message. Not surprisingly, this knife was called the break switch. When an operator opened the knife the current stopped flowing in all the sounder electromagnets and they went tock. Everyone up and down the line knew someone was about to start sending a message. The break switch alerted them. When the Indians cut the telegraph wire, the circuit was open and all the sounders went tock. "Open" meant trouble. The graphical device didn't disappear, however. The interest in having the message automatically recorded on paper that could be read without having to learn the arcane art of "reading" Morse code by ear remained. The inventors worked to improve on the simple marks separated by spaces and actually make letters and figures appear. One early attempt was the telautograph. It attempted to servo the up/down and sideways movements of a pen being used to write a message in longhand to a remote pen reproducing the motion and hence re-creating the longhand. It worked well for very short distances but they didn't have the technology to send the control signals useful distances. There were other schemes using many wires. Expensive. The big winner was the stock ticker. It was the ancestor of all the various asynchronous communication gadgets we have today. It was a triumph of mechanical ingenuity that enabled an ordinary telegraph wire (and there were many) to be converted to actually print a message in letters and figures on that moving strip of paper. You didn't need an expensive telegraph operator hanging around to "read" Morse and you didn't have to puzzle out the strange patterns of marks and spaces. But the communication technology was telegraph and the marks and spaces were still there in the minds of the engineers. The stock ticker used the same series circuit technology of the telegraph. The wire ran from the floor of the exchange to the nearest broker's office, through an electromagnet in the ticker machine, and then on to the next office. And yes, if the Indians (or a cleaning lady) broke the wire anywhere, all the tickers went dead. Dead? No, they went crazy. The continuous telegraph current when there were no stock trades being reported kept the ticker mechanisms idle. Steady mark. Good. The start of a trade message was a break in the circuit (start pulse) which caused the ticker mechanism to start spinning. The following sequence of marks and spaces caused the mechanism to select a particular character on its wheel and a hammer struck the paper strip against it. When the circuit was broken by the cleaning lady, it was in a "continuous space" condition, causing all the ticker machines to spin their clockwork, "running open" until someone fixed the break. These terms stayed with communication technology to the first minicomputers. The venerable ASR 33 Teletype, one of the foundation stones of the minicomputer industry, used telegraph series current loop technology, marks and spaces, and "ran open" when you disconnected it from the PDP-5. Well, if you got this far, you're probably wanting to know about where your break key came from if you haven't figured it out already. Yep, it's that knife switch on the side of the telegraph key. You didn't know you're a telegrapher, did you? [Moderator's Note: Thank you for passing along a fascinating story. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 93 17:22:01 -0400 From: Gregory M. Paris Subject: Answering Machine OGMs (was How I Answer the Phone) Reply-To: paris@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com sysmatt@aix3090b.uky.edu (Matt Simpson) writes: > The answering machine question is a little tougher. My outgoing > message has no identifying information (name or phone number) .. I > figure my friends know who I am. Of course, that doesn't help people > who dial my number by mistake, and don't know me, and aren't sure if > I'm who they want. I do occasionally get messages for someone else. I wouldn't worry about including too little information in your OGM. People apparently don't pay much attention to these messages; our experience is that they'll leave messages for the wrong number/person regardless of what the outgoing message says. We've tried using our phone number in the OGM, and when that produced too many wrong messages, our names, but still we often get messsages for wrong numbers. Mostly we get calls from doctors and dentists confirming appointments for people we've never heard of. Once we got yelled at for the floral arrangements "we" supplied having leaked water on the deceased. Recently, we got a message saying how much the caller liked our OGM, yet the message wasn't for us (figure that!). Greg Paris Motorola Codex, 20 Cabot Blvd C1-30, Mansfield, MA 02048-1193 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 93 22:59 GMT From: Proctor & Associates <0003991080@mcimail.com> Subject: Want Digital Voice Recorder and Panel Phones I need sources for a couple of items: Panel Telephones (either a standard telephone or key system phone mounted behind a panel); Instant Playback Voice Recorders (used in emergency answering centers for digital storage of audio signals, affording instant playback of the past 30 seconds or so of speech to aid in deciphering grabled speech); Anyone have any suggestions for manufacturers of these devices? Paul Cook 206-881-7000 Proctor & Associates MCI Mail 399-1080 15050 NE 36th St. fax: 206-885-3282 Redmond, WA 98052-5378 3991080@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 May 93 17:34:42 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. PADGETT PETERSON) Subject: Supra Modem Does Not Have MNP 10 It appears I was wrong about the MNP-10 support by the Supra modem Nonetheless I am highly satisfied with it (personal opinion). See below, a note received from Tech Support. Padgett Date: Mon, 03 May 93 08:37:45 PDT The v.32bis modems do not support MNP 10 at this time. I am not sure when, or if, it will be available in the future. Terri Supra Tech Support supratech@supra.com 503-967-2440 ------------------------------ Date: 03 May 1993 08:51:37 -0400 From: marc.runkel@registrar.umass.edu (Marc A. Runkel) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst markpet@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Mark Petersen) writes: > Let's not forget that some telemarketing machines are programmed to > recognize the word "Hello." Actually, the word spoken doesn't matter, the machine simply waits for noise on the line, the pause is explained by a poorly maintained machine. Modern telemarketing centers use devices that wait to hear human voices before switching the line to a waiting telemarketer. I don't believe there are any "automated telemarketers" that are that sophisticated though. Marc A. Runkel marc.runkel@registrar.umass.edu Network Analyst Of course, this is just my Registrar's Office * Systems Support Group tiny, insignificant, humble University of Massachusetts, Amherst opinion. If you don't like it.... ------------------------------ From: kb7uv@Panix.Com (Andrew Funk) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: Me organized? Nyaaah! Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 21:13:24 GMT There's a phone at work we only use for outgoing calls. When it rings I've been answering: "Drug Enforcement Agency, Special Agent Smith!" Most callers kinda cough, then hang-up! Andrew Funk, KB7UV Chair, Radio Amateur Telecommunications Society (RATS) ENG Editor/Microwave Control, WCBS-TV Channel 2 News, New York Internet: kb7uv@panix.com Packet: kb7uv@kb7uv.#nli.ny.usa [Moderator's Note: Cute answer-phrase, but take care someone along the way does not claim -- to your detriment -- that you are impersonating a government employee ... that's bad news if they make it stick. PAT] ------------------------------ From: msnyder@prism.nmt.edu (Rebecca Snyder) Subject: Re: How I Answer the Phone (was The War on the Word "Hello") Organization: New Mexico Tech Date: Mon, 3 May 1993 18:05:36 GMT One thing I learned from my father for dealing with chronic wrong numbers -- those people who (presumably) have the number written down wrong and keep calling back over and over. It goes something like this: Answerer: Hello, <>. Caller: Is John Doe there? A: No, sorry you have a wrong number. (Caller does this one or two more times, and then ...) A: Hello? (no name given) C: Is John Doe there? A: Who is this? C: Jane. A: Uh, hang on, I'll see if he's here. (muffled a little) Hey John, its Jane. Are you home or not? (talking to C again) No, he's not here now. This nearly always stopped the person from calling back again, and it has the side effect of being slightly entertaining. [Moderator's Note: Either that, or you could say something lewd, crude and rude about John's activities at the moment and why he isn't willing to come to the phone. That always stops 'em dead in their tracks. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 03 May 93 07:37:45 EDT From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Canadian Reseller Uses Door-to-Door In an article written Sun, 02 May 93 groves@groves.atl.ga.us writes: >> Apparently the company is using both students and full-time employees >> for its door-to-door program. >> Has anyone in the U.S. encountered a representative of a long- >> distance company at their front door? > I haven't seen any door-to-door salespersons here in Atlanta, Georgia > selling long distance service, but I do know that the "pyramid scheme" > people sell a lot of long distance service, and they as annoying as > door-to-door salesperson. U.S. Sprint sales reps used to regularly set up tables on 34th Street, in Manhattan, between the illegal street vendors, Dyanetics pitchmen (or pitchpeople? ;), and three-card-monte dealers. It's difficult to take any company seriously that depends upon cheap sales gimmicks for their income. Alan Boritz 72446.461@compuserve.com [Moderator's Note: So what kind of 'sales gimmicks' do you think would enhance their reputation? Should they be the principal tenant in the Empire State Building? Nearly everyone uses telecom services; and that includes the next-door neighbors of the {New York Times}, the street people of Times Square along 34th Street. Sprint was doing something AT&T has only begun to learn how to do: actually sell some- thing directly to people who use it without transferring them on the phone through a dozen other departments and voicemail systems. Sales people working in impoverished, lower class inner city areas like Manhattan or Chicago do things differently. Here in Chicago, 'door to door sales' could mean spending an entire day -- eight or nine hours -- knocking on one door after another in one single highrise building of the Chicago Housing Authority. Or, you would set up a table in the lobby with the management's okay, and chat with the tenants as they came in and out of the building. People like that definitely need to have a way to make calls on limited amounts of credit since they have to use payphones so much of the time -- payphones which won't accept coins at night due to the War on Drugs. Sprint knows it, I know it, the people at AT&T panic and ask 'who gave you my number?' as they transfer you to someone else. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: Touch Dial Layout Date: Mon, 3 May 93 14:58:36 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In article johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes: >> Weren't at least calculators and/or terminals with keypads around before >> the advent of pushbutton telephones? > Not really. Back in 1960 your typical calculator had hundreds of > moving parts and the keypad was a large array with a full set of > digits per adder column, and cost so much that only bookkeepers and > accountants used them. And a terminal was a model 15 Teletype. Or > maybe a Flexowriter, with a moving carriage. Sorry, John, but there is/was a standard layout for ten key numeric pads long before Touch-Tone telephones came into existence. All office adding machines going back to at least the 1930s had a keypad in the form: _____________ | 7 | 8 | 9 | ------------- | 4 | 5 | 6 | ------------- | 1 | 2 | 3 | ------------- | 00 | 0 | ------------- This layout existed and was in common use in every office long before DTMF was a glimmer in Ma's eye. There were some variations, but the decimal point was usually not found. These machines were used almost exclusively for accounting and it was assumed that all entries would have a fixed point two digits from the right. Hence, a "00" instead of ".". These were all mechanical machines and a good electric unit was a thousand dollar item. They were the one item sure to be stolen in any break-in. It is true that Ma did a big human factors study and found that this layout was wrong and chose the pad we see today, but calculators and terminals descend from the adding machine and retain its layout. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ From: Jerry Glomph Black Subject: Re: Grand Canyon Phone Service Organization: McGill University, McRCIM Date: Mon, 3 May 93 13:46:54 -0400 In article mwiz@austin.ibm.com (Marc Wiz) writes: > I don't remember who provides phone service at the Grand Canyon but I > have hiked the canyon all the way to the bottom three times. > The last time I did this was in '83 and I was downright shocked that > there was a payphone at Phantom Ranch which is at the bottom of the > canyon. Yup, next time yer at the Phantom Ranch, standing outside at the payphone, look up. Just above your head, attached to the building, is a little (microwave? UHF?) antenna pointed up at the South Rim. Much better quality than a similar remote phone atop Mt. Washington, NH. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #300 ******************************